Sarah L Dixon is a poet also known as The Quiet Compere who has published a new book of poetry nostalgic for the '90s indie music scene. A Bit Like Falling in Love “takes you dancing in the kitchen, making mosh pit friends, meeting musicians in dreams and life”.
We are delighted that Sarah will be sharing some of her poems, as well as interviewing '90s legend Jim Bob from Carter USM, at Medway River Lit in November.
We asked Sarah about her writing and her love for music.
Tell us about your writing journey...
SLD: I wrote the usual poems as a teenager about boys I liked going off to university. I did an Open University social science degree including 2 years of an Economics diploma while working full time in NHS admin roles. When this finished I wanted something freer than graphs and charts I had been hand-drawing. No home PC in 2004.
I joined subsidised NHS courses in photography, art and Creative writing and kept all up to some extent. I went on a Swanwick Summer school week and there decided I wanted to focus on poetry. I went to an Arvon course with Roger McGough and Julia Copus and I returned from that week to find out I had won first prize in journalism for the association of clinical pathology news and a £250 cheque. So I used those to pay for a second Arvon course with Lavinia Greenlaw. Poetry workshops at Manchester Cathedral and in Sheffield with Peter and Ann Sansom, Copland Smiths Wordsmiths and Manky Poets and Jo Bell's online group, all helped me become a better poet and hone my skills and strengths and test out other ways to write, themes, etc.
I have now hosted poetry workshops for 20 years at festivals and regular local events. I have also hosted Lead Poets, Post Box Poets and Quiet Quiet Loud! As well as The Quiet Compere showcases in 40+ places and at least a dozen online events including staying connected ones on zoom over lockdown.
Tell us about A Bit Like Falling In Love...
SLD: This is my fourth book and probably my most personal. I have poured my '90s indie fan girl heart into it. At the same time as being an extended love poem to the music, the bands, being a teenager, I am hoping this book will connect with more people than my usual poetry circles. Fans of music, dancing, gigs and the connection that brings should all get things from this book. It is not only for those who might know some of the bands within the pages.
There is a buzzing vibrant '90s indie scene partly because many musicians or bands are that much more available and able to keep in touch with their fan bases. Facebook is really where it is at with fan appreciation groups alongside band pages and lots of crossover between.
What inspired you to write it? SLD: I suppose it is the same reason I have written a lot of poems about my son, Frank, almost 14. I felt he could not take all the love I had to give so I put that love into poems and hosting events.
The same with '90s indie fans and bands well, it is actually a bit more - I want them to see what they mean to me. Both the people I make fleeting connections with in crowds and coat queues, and the bands themselves. '90s indie revival does feel at a peak right now.
What has been your most outstanding gig?
SLD: a) A-ha - Morten's voice and the unplugged videos on YouTube are brilliant.
b) Carter and EMF at Brum Academy in 2008
c) The Wonder Stuff with Jim Bob supporting Leeds Academy Nov 2019. My first gig solo and such a great crowd and made so many friends there. Brilliant live bands. Not looked back since my first solo gig. :)
What was the first band you saw? SLD: My first paying gig was Manchester Academy 1993, with Carter USM and Sultans of Ping as support. That is, if you don't count us hijacking a first year assembly as fourth year's. We had sneaked out on lunch to watch INXS videos at Shelli's house and on the way back into school Joanne had spotted Take That in a mini bus and we ran down to the hall. Not sure why we were allowed in... We saw them all outside before they went in. (*Just to clarify - Take That played to school audiences when they were starting out!)
Do you have a favourite poem to share with us?
SLD: Yes, it seems to be an early crowd and readers' favourite, 'My body as an ageing indie moshpit.'
My body as an aging indie mosh-pit (for Miles Hunt)
It bounces nostalgia and lifts me.
It hangs around the edges
pushing others upright
at the times when full immersion
feels too much.
It headbangs enthusiasm.
Dances like it is seventeen,
when it first heard these songs.
It wonders if they were always this loud.
It wears the t-shirts
some judge it should have moved on from.
It is happy in a tight squash of elation
and it carries more pounds
than is healthy.
It sweats tidemarks
onto new merch
and decades old, treasured tees.
It doesn’t try to drink pints.
It isn’t here for that.
Before.
After.
But not in this moment.
It doesn’t wear headbands or hats….
It wears sensible shoes.
No steel-toe caps.
No stage-diving.
It knows it is too old for this
but adrenaline says it’s not.
It knows it will ache tomorrow
but it wants to live in the now.
Tomorrow is for bruised ribs
and trampled toes
and it will carry itself
into the week
with a scuffed invincibility.
You can hear Sarah read her poems at Medway River Lit in November.
Sarah will also be joining us on our podcast The River Is Lit soon!
Photo of Sarah by Ben Murray. Book cover by Mark Reynolds.
Full schedule to be published in September.
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