Vince Laws is a poet, artist, performer, campaigner. He writes poetry, performs poetry and makes visual poetry, paintings, collage, posters, film, installations and recordings: “As an artist, I define what art is. As a poet, I define what a poem is. If my art can be anything from a painting to a concept, so can my poetry. I am a poem.”

Vince Laws shares a piece of visual artwork about what 'they' did to his head

25 June 2010

Blog

Last year I got called in to the Job Centre during a long period of illness. “I see you are a magazine editor,” the person behind the counter said. “I was,” I explained, “but I don’t want to do that any more. It’s too stressful.” “What do you want to do?” “I want to be a poet and an artist.” I fully expected to be told to stack shelves. “We can help you with that...” And they did. First I saw a Shaw Trust...

Comments: 5

Vince Laws recalls one fine Father's Day

21 June 2010

Blog

I was living in Brighton, when Father’s Day came around, and in my house I’m the Daddy! Neither my boyfriend nor my dog sent me a card or said a word all day, so I went for a walk in a huff. Badger was just a 3-month-old pup then, and this is what happened… My Father’s Day Gift I took the dog for a walk feeling a touch sorry for myself, Father’s Day sun was touching the Downs and no one had said a word that much mattered. But then Badger saw rabbits today, for the...

Comments: 4

Vince Laws joins the Human Library

19 June 2010

Blog

I’d never heard of the Human Library until I was asked to be a ‘book’ in February as part of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans) History Month. As it happens, that event was cancelled, but I liked the concept so much I went on the training course and held a Human Library within a 2-week art exhibition I curated in May/June. Instead of borrowing a book, visitors borrow a Human, and sit down with them and chat for 30 minutes. Titles at my event included Wiccan Priestess,...

Comments: 6

Vince Laws redefines poetry with a performance of his Silent Poem

17 June 2010

Blog

The silver lining to a prolonged period of depression and inactivity last year was the time to think. I came out from under the duvet of darkness determined to pursue a career as a poet and artist. More specifically I wanted to perform my poetry in front of live audiences because that’s when it’s at its most powerful. And I wanted to continue exploring visual poetry, taking poetry off the page in every sense. I became increasingly dissatisfied with the definition of poetry –...

Comments: 13

Vince Laws on the importance of Disability Pride

14 June 2010

Blog

I was telling a disabled woman I know, let’s call her Tina, that I was about to perform at Disability Pride. “I don’t get it,” she said, with a frown. “What have we got to be proud of?” I was a bit taken aback. Maybe it’s easier for me to understand as a gay man because I’ve grown up with Gay Pride events. These events have given the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) community visibility, strength in numbers, a chance to educate the wider...

Comments: 4

Vince Laws goes in search of his missing Poster Poem

14 June 2010

Blog

I got tired of hearing that to suggest the troops come home is unpatriotic. The logical conclusion of that argument must be: Support the Troops – Start Another War. I first hung this poster poem on the railings of a church in Norwich, stepped back, and listened in. Some people laughed, some frowned and shook their heads, a man of the cloth tutted and hurried past. Three schoolgirls were outraged, “Why would anyone want to start another war?” they wailed at each other. Why...

Comments: 6

Vince Laws gets out of a spot of bother with the BBC

13 June 2010

Blog

No Complaints So Far… I do like firsts, don’t you? Last week was Refugee Week and the giant Fusion screen at The Forum in Norwich screened a whole series of short films made by the participants around the theme of ‘Identity’. In some ways it’s easier for a poet. I turned up at the BBC Open Studio with my script - the poem Human, something I’d already worked on for a considerable time, honing and crafting - and two volunteers filmed me on the streets of...

Comments: 5

Vince Laws talks about the commission of his radio play Small Frayed Knot

7 June 2010

Blog

Late last year, Future Radio, Norwich, commissioned a 15-minute radio play from me. Soon after that, I spent a week in Yorkshire on an Arvon residential poetry course in Ted Hughes’s old house, specifically aimed at taking poetry from page to stage. I was encouraged to fill in the back-stories to some of my more confessional poems. All this together resulted in The Small Frayed Knot. The title is a line from my poem Diagnosed, which I made into a visual piece by painting the left side of...

Comments: 3

DAO is pleased to welcome a new blog from visual poet Vince Laws

4 June 2010

Blog

Disability Pride Tonight, June 4, I’m performing at the Norwich Arts Centre, at a Disability Pride benefit gig. Tomorrow, June 5, I’m showing visual poetry in the Disability Pride art show at the Forum in Norwich. One of the pieces is called Human. I wrote it for World Aids Day 2009 and then wondered how to make it visual. I decided to write it out letter-by-letter on my empty HIV and Hep C and side-effects empty medication boxes and bottles. A week before I was due to show it, I...

Comments: 5