Hampshire Poet blog - June 2026
- Damian Kelly-Basher
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
During his tenure, your Hampshire Poet - Damian Kelly-Basher - will be writing a series of blog posts for us sharing what he has been up to, telling us his poetic plans for the future, and inviting you to get involved in poetry in Hampshire. Read on to find out what's happening in Damian's world!
For March, Damian Kelly-Basher's Hampshire Poet blog is on Black Poetry.
For this blog he has handed the reins to Hampshire-based poet Pab Low.
Black Poetry - guest blog by Pab Low.
Because of their own, personal, lived experience, many Black artists are prompted to address the racial inequality most vividly reflected in the ongoing Civil Rights movement.
Yet all is potential inspiration, every movement rebellion or embrace is a chance to riff the unifying truth that poetry’s history, just like its future, weaves through the endless honesty of restless authors, past, present and as yet unknown.
My main influence, black poetry, quite rightly does, has and will always, categorically refuse, to be categorised. It permeates western culture enthusing and energising every part of it. Born from ancient African origins of storytelling, most famously championed by the original politicians, the Griot, jèli/jali or WHMW. They who were the keepers of our collective wisdom.
All black poets descend in essence from them and it is their modern day resurrection and resurgence in poets such as Smokey Robinson, Lauryn Hill, Benjamin Zephaniah, DMX and Saul Williams that demands the downtrodden, abused and ignored, be heard now and remembered in perpetuity.
Some links to explore:
Pab Low: I am a Black British male Artist in the audio-visual storytelling tradition. Typically my poetry is performance rhyming spoken word with a theatrical twist. Inspired by the crime of social injustice, the grit of urban living and the divinity of life itself.
My Jamaican parents settled in England decades before giving birth to their postgraduate Bachelor of the Arts ninth child of ten who has mostly lived in Southampton since moving from the West Midlands in the mid Nineties.
Damian Kelly-Basher is Hampshire Poet Laureate 2024-26. The appointment of the Hampshire Poet takes place every two years and is jointly led by Winchester Poetry Festival and Hampshire Cultural Trust. The position of Hampshire Poet provides the opportunity for a Hampshire-based poet to undertake commissions, lead workshops and give readings and talks throughout the county, as well as acting as an advocate for poetry and poets.
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