JENNY MITCHELL, poetry co-editor for the Morning Star, introduces her priorities, and her first selection
Fighting her corner
MAYER WAKEFIELD sees grime poet Debris Stevenson score heavily in her battle against prejudice
Poet in the Corner
HENRY BELL is sceptical of the notion that ‘progress’ is an ideology that the ruling class uses exclusively to camouflage appropriation
In search of political understanding, MATTHEW HAWKINS welcomes a critique of anti-semitism as codified by the Israeli state
BEN CHACKO welcomes a masterful analysis that puts class struggle back at the heart of our understanding of China’s revolution
JOHN GREEN is intrigued by the ethereal, ghostly quality of images of a London unobscured by the bustle of humanity
JENNY FARRELL relishes an outstanding Palestinian novel that immerses readers in the sensory reality of Gaza, then and now
AI-induced murder, last rites for the mob-dog, a gullible common herd, and an exemplary Christmas chiller
Poet in da Corner
Royal Court Theatre, London
GRIME poet, pansexual ex-Mormon and bashment-dancing social activist Debris Stevenson is not just speaking for herself when she states at this show's opening that Dizzee Rascal’s seminal Boy in the Corner gave her “permission to exist.”
From Alex Turner to Danny Brown, the ageless grime album has inspired artists across the board, but Stevenson takes things to another level by dedicating 75 minutes of full-throttle energy to a semi-autobiographical musical in homage to the 2003 masterpiece and its parent genre.
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WILL STONE enjoys a set by an artist too eclectic to be pigeonholed
Fiery words from the Bard in Blackpool and Edinburgh, and Evidence Based Punk Rock from The Protest Family
GEORGE FOGARTY is mesmerised by the messages made when jazz is played by people who grew up steeped in jungle and hip-hop
MARY CONWAY applauds the dramatic reconstruction of one woman’s experience in one precise location in Gaza in the present era