TALK OF THE TOWN

Having performed at Electric Picnic, Body & Soul and on The Late Late Show, Natalya O’Flaherty is making her mark on the spoken word scene. SEOIRSE MULGREW catches up with the young Irish poet.

Meet Irish poet and spoken word star Natalya O’Flaherty

IWAS TWELVE WHEN I FIRST STARTED WRITING POETRY. I was doing a writing workshop in school with Colm Keegan as the facilitator. His style and use of simple language really appealed to me; there was no digging down deep to find a meaning – everyone immediately got what he was saying. I was also influenced by American Beat poets. I FIND WRITING TO BE VERY CATHARTIC. There’s a realisation once you get your thoughts out onto the page about how you’re actually feeling, which you’re only aware of after the fact. I journal every day; I always try to write something down even if it’s only a paragraph.

EVERYONE TELLS ME THAT I SOUND LIKE I’M RAPPING WHEN I PERFORM.

That is not intentional. I follow the rhyme rather than following the verse or stanza. This, I think, reflects Irish hip hop at the moment; I’ve worked with Tebi Rex [hip hop duo Max Zanga and Matt O] over the last two years within the Word Up Collective – spoken word and that hip hop style just naturally blend together and complement one another.

I WAS LUCKY THAT COLM [KEEGAN] CAME INTO MY LIFE AT AN EARLY STAGE.

I never felt that I should look for a role model. I just pursued what I enjoyed; but the more I wrote, the more I realised that there were very few people to emulate, especially female poets from a working class background.

PEOPLE STARTED REFERRING TO ME AS A FEMINIST OR ACTIVIST POET.

I’m uncomfortable with that title because I don’t want to push an agenda on anyone. I write to share my ideas with people; I genuinely just want people to get a different perspective, one which they had never considered. I prefer to write about what I want, without the pressure of a politically charged topic hanging over me.

OCCASIONALLY, I’LL WRITE A POEM IN ONE GO. It usually starts with a single thought strung together in a few words, and then comes together while I’m writing it. The quickest I’ve ever written a poem, in perfect conditions, was half an hour. Then there are some which I’ve laboured over for two years. I write everything in raw snippets to fit the flow.

PEOPLE JUST CAN’T MAKE UP THEIR MINDS ABOUT ME.

I understand that a lot of people haven’t heard anything like this before, but it’s not too different from traditional Irish storytelling. Perhaps it’s the content that makes people feel uncomfortble because they wouldn’t usually hear that in the mainstream media.

IF SOMEONE SAYS SOMETHING THAT I THINK IS HILARIOUS, I’LL WRITE IT DOWN.

I don’t transcribe entire conversations; everything I write comes back to the human experience – that might sound flowery, but I’m more interested in the individual. People’s private conversations, when they think no one is listening, is where you find the real gems. That’s when the honesty pours out – it takes you outside of yourself.

IF I’M ANGRY ABOUT SOMETHING OR IT MAKES ME EMOTIONAL, I’LL WRITE A POEM ABOUT IT.

I also write poems about intensely happy moments I want to capture and never forget.

I DON’T ALWAYS REMAIN COMPOSED WHEN PERFORMING “CHERRY BLOSSOM”.

I feel if I ever tried to restrict myself from feeling the emotions that are coming through in the poem, it would make for a poor performance. I can be sad about it in that moment and then open my eyes again and refocus. It’s a way of remembering my cousin Christopher as he was; it makes me happy to do it.

Find out more about Natalya and her upcoming gigs at wordupcollective.com.

“I write to share my ideas; I want people to get a different perspective, one which they had never considered.”