Written with wit, technical skill and a personalised knowledge of the subject matter, SHTUM explores the vagaries of stammering not just as a communication blockage but also other aspects such as stigma, bullying, isolation and avoidance. David Bateman's unusual poetry collection also follows the therapeutic experience - both successful and otherwise, combining a lightness of touch with a deep intensity. The poems come from several surprising angles - not the least of which is the proposal of marketing the stammer as a luxury item. DAVID BATEMAN is a Liverpool poet and well-known poetic activist on the Merseyside cultural scene. His previous hilarious and absurdist collection of verse, The Curse of the Killer Hedge was published by IRON Press and went to a second print. David has been a lifelong stutterer. Extract from: Shtum I've got this stutter. Tend to squawk when I mutter. My words cut like a blade of grass through frozen butter. I stick and I splutter on every sentence I utter. The spoken word's an open world beyond a locked-up shutter. Extract from: It's Hard to be Suave with a Stutter For it's hard to be suave with a stutter: It's hard to be a dashing sort of dude.
All the spitting and the snorting At the dEbutante you're courting Can tend to dampen something of the mood. I dream of being slick and glib with stardust on my tongue: The grandest MC yet to grace the room, With streams of words that scintillate like fireflies in the dusk, A subtle bouquet bursting into bloom. But it's hard to be suave with a stutter: It's hard to be a jaunty sort of gent. When your very best oration Has no words, just punctuation, It can slightly sap the zest from the event.
Written with wit, technical skill and a personalised knowledge of the subject matter, SHTUM explores the vagaries of stammering not just as a communication blockage but also other aspects such as stigma, bullying, isolation and avoidance. David Bateman's unusual poetry collection also follows the therapeutic experience - both successful and otherwise, combining a lightness of touch with a deep intensity. The poems come from several surprising angles - not the least of which is the proposal of marketing the stammer as a luxury item. DAVID BATEMAN is a Liverpool poet and well-known poetic activist on the Merseyside cultural scene. His previous hilarious and absurdist collection of verse, The Curse of the Killer Hedge was published by IRON Press and went to a second print. David has been a lifelong stutterer. Extract from: Shtum I've got this stutter. Tend to squawk when I mutter. My words cut like a blade of grass through frozen butter. I stick and I splutter on every sentence I utter. The spoken word's an open world beyond a locked-up shutter. Extract from: It's Hard to be Suave with a Stutter For it's hard to be suave with a stutter: It's hard to be a dashing sort of dude.
All the spitting and the snorting At the dEbutante you're courting Can tend to dampen something of the mood. I dream of being slick and glib with stardust on my tongue: The grandest MC yet to grace the room, With streams of words that scintillate like fireflies in the dusk, A subtle bouquet bursting into bloom. But it's hard to be suave with a stutter: It's hard to be a jaunty sort of gent. When your very best oration Has no words, just punctuation, It can slightly sap the zest from the event.
Originally from River Hill in rural west Kent, David Bateman arrived in Liverpool via Middlesbrough and Leasowe. Having had a severe stutter as a child and teenager, he finally had successful speech therapy in Liverpool in 1980, and though still stuttering slightly in ordinary life, has since performed his poetry widely, winning numerous poetry slams and competitions. He has also read poetry on local and national BBC radio, and was a winner on Dave Gorman's comedy TV show, Genius, with his scheme to make the Isle Of Wight symmetrical. As well as poetry, he writes stories and occasional scripts and articles; he has worked as a writer and facilitator for various arts projects, and also as a creative writing tutor, including much work in mental health resource centres. Recently he has worked with the Canning History Project, set in the Canning Street area of Liverpool, and is working with composer Tommy Moss on a musical comedy for stage, Spooks! - Things That Go Bump.
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