In conversation with Chris McCabe, Head of the National Poetry Library
“We're looking towards the future of arts centres and how young people will be those who will shape, develop and keep poetry relevant.”
- Chris McCabe
Chris McCabe, August 2025. Photo Pete Woodhead. Image courtesy the Southbank Centre
This weekend, the Southbank Centre’s longest running festival, Poetry International, is back. The South Bank Centre continues their 75th anniversary celebrations from Friday 10 – Sunday 12 July.
The centrepiece of the weekend is Benjamin Zephaniah: A Celebration (Fri 10 July), a multi-artform event in honour of the life and legacy of the social activist and cultural force known as the 'people's poet'. Collaborators and admirers will reflect on his influence through poetry, music and personal tributes.
Confirmed guests include hosts Lemn Sissay and Pauline Black, along with Michael Rosen, Kofi Stone, Jackie McKay, Jasmine Gardosi, Raymond Antrobus and Big Narstie. More guests from music, literature, film and TV will be announced soon.
FLO London spoke with Chris McCabe, Head of the National Poetry Library and the programmer behind many of the festival's events, to hear his thoughts on the evolution of poetry, platforming young poets, and celebrating the life and legacy of poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
In what ways do you see poetry evolving, and how have you and the team curated the Poetry International festival accordingly?
Over the past decade poetry has developed as a public art, becoming an artform that people can shape into whatever they want it to be. From Instagram to YouTube, there are so many platforms available to find an audience. The subtitle for this year's Poetry International is 'Taking Poetry off the Page' which visitors can experience through all the different ways they can take part in the festival: through joining a masterclass with a leading poet, to dropping in to a free live performance on the Royal Festival Hall Ballroom Floor or through attending the poetry-specific Zine Fair. If you're someone who's unsure but curious about poetry, come along and explore the huge free offer and see what you think!
On Friday 10th July, you are celebrating the life and legacy of the great man and poet, Benjamin Zephaniah. What does his legacy represent to you at the South Bank Centre?
Benjamin Zephaniah represents an important shift from contemporary poetry being a space held by often public-educated gatekeepers to an artform reshaped by working-class poets from all over the country. Zephaniah did this with playfulness and humour while never holding back from speaking truth to power. Taking our cue from Zephaniah's electrifying blend of Jamaican patois and Birmingham English, this year we're celebrating the dialect of the UK's coastal regions with our travelling A Poet in Every Port project, which exists in the form of a mobile National Poetry Library. Don't miss your chance to get on board the vehicle in London on Sunday 12th July and maybe record your own poem in our recording studio, before we travel on to Blackpool and Bangor in Northern Ireland.
Benjamin Zephaniah, courtesy of the Benjamin Zephaniah Estate.
What is your own definition of poetry?
Exceptional speech.
For those who are not into poetry, are there any events on the programme you’d recommend as an entry point?
The Poetry Zine Fair is a great entry point for people new to poetry. Come along to this free day-long event on Saturday 11th July to meet 20 poetry zine makers and experience how poetry is a DIY artform that merges visual art and publication-making to become a vehicle for whatever you want to say.
T.S. Eliot famously wrote that 'next year's words await another voice' - that feels relevant to any festival trying to balance legacy with the new. How have you struck that balance when putting this festival together?
If there is one theme running through this year's Poetry International Festival it is the voice of young people. The festival is part of Southbank Centre's 75th birthday celebrations where we're looking towards the future of arts centres and how young people will be those who will shape, develop and keep poetry relevant. As part of the Apples and Snakes Word Cup, over 50 young people will be visiting London for the first time to take part in the festival. The brilliant Peckham-based Poetic Unity will bring spoken word and music to our Ballroom Floor. They're worked with our very own Arts & Wellbeing Team and The Well Centre to help develop confidence and skills in young people who will be giving their first performances on a stage. The voices of young people will be unmissable, as over 90 lines of poetry created with thousands of children from across London, Birmingham and Manchester are realised on an epic scale as part of our site-wide installation Gift to the Future. All of these young voices will share the festival with some of the world's best-known poets, from Ilya Kaminsky to Kim Hyesoon, and we're really excited to pair together the young Palestinian poet, Batool Abu Akleen - who's coming to the UK for the first time - with celebrated and always unforgettable Alice Oswald, as they perform together on Sunday 12th July.
Find out more about the Poetry International Festival here: southbankcentre.co.uk
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