Wordliners Inc to host inaugural poetry event to feature works of Bob Dylan and Linton Kwesi Johnson

Published: Tuesday | July 25 2017 | Rowen A. Johnson

Wordliners Inc, a newly formed poetry collective comprised of local talent will be hosting a commentary on Bob Dylan and Linton Kwesi Johnson on Wednesday July 26, 2017. The event will be held at Comfitanya Lounge and will begin at 7pm.

The group, comprised of Mojiba, a poet and musician and Clifton Neil, a local marketing expert, want to organize events geared at providing poets with a platform to gain exposure and experience. A part of this process, also involves studying the work of poets who have excelled in the art, thus their reason for exploring the writings of two exemplars, Bob Dylan and Linton Kwesi Johnson.

Bob Dylan pictured performing above

Bob Dylan is one of the most influential singer songwriters of the 20^th century. Dylan began his career in the early 1960s, mainly singing songs about social and political issues. In 1963 he released The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan which included two of his most memorable folk songs, Blowing in the Wind and A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. This album firmly established Dylan as one of the most original and poetic voices in the history of American popular music. Dylan would later release the album The Times They Are A-Changin’ which further pronounced him as the definitive voice of the 60’s protest movement. For his work, Bob Dylan has received Grammy, Academy and Golden Globe Awards. He has also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States as well as the Nobel Prize for Literature, “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

Linton Kwesi Johnson pictured above

The other featured poet Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in Chapelton, Clarendon in 1952, and later relocated to London with his mother. Johnson was a member of the Black Panther Movement, and released several pieces detailing the struggles of Black Immigrants. He is widely renowned as the father of ‘dub poetry’ a term he coined in order to describe the way Reggae DJs blended music and verse. He has released works such as the Forces of Victory (1979), Bass Culture (1980), LKJ In dub (1980) and Making History (1984) on the Island label. Johnson later founded his own label LKJ records, and has sold over two million records worldwide.

The event will also include live performances from featured acts, as well as an open mic segment where poets, seasoned and aspiring alike are invited to take the stage to share their work. Admission is free and it promises to be an evening of great entertainment and edification that all would appreciate.