Season 4 – Apples and Snakes

S4 E10 | sophia thakur

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 08:33:48 +0000

Internationally acclaimed award-winning artist, best-selling author and performance poet – Sophia Thakur shines in this live recorded episode of the Apples and Snakes Podcast. Sophia has performed shows all over the world and tickets are always in high demand, usually selling-out within hours of going on sale. Her debut poetry book ‘Somebody Give This Heart a Pen’ became a #1 Bestseller and is included in many school curriculums. Recorded at Mason and Fifth, Yomi sits with Sophia to talk what it means to live as a poet — on and off the stage. Sophia reflects on her earliest entry points into spoken word (from Def Poetry Jam to her first performances), why certain rooms and circuits build muscle, and how her performance style evolved to an intimate, soft-power delivery. She shares her poem ‘Affirmation’, unpacking how self-affirmation, faith, and emotional honesty shape her writing process and why some pieces arrive as a “plea to myself.” The episode closes with a powerful performance video choice of Daniel Beaty’s ‘Knock Knock’, plus an honest look at poetry’s commercial possibilities and creative integrity.

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S4 E9 | Suli Breaks

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:52:10 +0000

Suli Breaks exudes confidence and knows how to captivate an audience. His TEDxHousesofParliament speech, viewed over 300,000 times, showcases his ability to captivate audiences with his words. His reputation as a powerful speaker has led to invitations to prestigious events such as the United Nations National Commonwealth Day. In this episode, Suli shares his journey from university open mic to the international stage. His chosen poem touches on fatherhood and fulfilment, and the fine balance of art with business. With Yomi, they watch RADI’s ‘I’ve Loved Man’ – an electrifying and honest piece on love and betrayal.

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S4 E8 | el Crisis

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 10:52:48 +0000

Word. Power. Sound. These are the connotations synonymous with El Crisis. Known for his fusion of rap, chant, gospel, song and storytelling, El Crisis has been described as a “modern day Griot and Bard” and has a substantial catalogue of works that spans over 67 pieces. In this episode, the conversation takes an analytical look at how community and music build the voice. He shares his poem ‘Free man’ and together they discuss performance as a form of ancestral connection, staying present in the moment, and the tension between giving to the scene and receiving recognition in return.

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S4 E7 | Reece Williams

Secoura — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 10:26:17 +0000

Reece Williams is a Mancunian poet of Jamaican and Trinidadian heritage whose debut collection ‘This Kind of Black’ was released this year. He has performed internationally and is celebrated for his works that speak as much in performance as they do on page. He often wrestles with being British, ideas surrounding identity and intergenerational trauma, and the burden placed on young, Black men. With Yomi, they watch Keisha Thompson’s performance of ‘Algebra’ – a title whose metaphor is for “the reunion of broken things” – a way to piece together what has been distorted, neglected, or made invisible.

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S4 E6 | Keith Jarrett

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 09:27:42 +0000

In a previous Apples and Snakes’s blogs, Keith Jarrett wrote “I got into performance poetry by accident – and it’s probably the best accident I’ve had”. Since then, he produced his collection ‘Selah’ and poetry pamphlet’ I Speak Home’. His writing regularly explores race, faith, sexuality and belonging. With sharp wit and intelligence, Jarrett is a magnetic performer, and equal parts preacher and poet. Jarrett performs ‘El Pueblo’ and chooses Kareem Parkins-Brown’s ‘Did you Pack Your own bags’ for discussion. This piece draws from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, asking the audience to consider how much of us is truly private when our data, memories, and “selves” are stored, mined, and easily manipulated

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S4 e5 | Zakariye Abdillahi

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 09:18:27 +0000

Young artist, member of Roundhouse Poetry Collective and Hippodrome Origins, Zakariye Abdillahi talks with Yomi about being present and patient within poetry. His works often touch on the overlaps between masculinity, faith, and building a career in poetry at your own pace. His gentleness is evident in his soft voice on stage, used with intention. Within this episode, Zakayrie shares his poem ‘Chat to a Man’ and together they watch Polarbear’s (Stephen Camden) ‘Jessica’ – a popular poem that shows the vulnerable side of a young man falling in love and facing adult responsibilities.

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S4 e4 | Travis Alabanza

Janet Alderman — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 10:45:12 +0000

Poet. Performer. Cultural changemaker. In just a few years Travis Alabanza has become one of the most exciting young performance artists in the queer arts scene. In this episode, Travis joins Yomi to unpack how poetry has sparked their wider creativity from fashion and theatre to fearless performance. They dive into their groundbreaking sell-out show ‘Burgerz’ and explore how lived experience can be transformed into electrifying art. Plus, Travis and Yomi react to a performance by poet Joelle Taylor, a radical presence in the LGBTQ+ genre, which ignites something powerful in the room. A raw, unfiltered conversation on being authentic, brave and re-making the rules.

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s4 e3 | Salena godden

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 08:40:38 +0000

Her poems are gritty and fierce, and she is a bold and fearless author, memoirist, broadcaster and poet of Jamaican-Irish heritage. Salena Godden and Yomi get to grips in an intimate conversation around the duality of the artist – from writing monster to gigging monster, and the solitude of creation against the performance on stage. She performs her poem ‘Our Anarchy’ – a poem that asks us feel deeply, resist, and reassemble what’s been broken. This episode explores the emotional cost of creativity and the challenge of writing from a place of grief and rage. Together, they watch Maya Angelou’s ‘We Wear the Mask’, a piece about how something simple, like a smile, can hide so much pain and fear in the face of oppression.

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https://youtu.be/Od1pnFP_bJM

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Our Anarchy – Salena Godden

I’m daydreaming, how I might slow down and mellow
with age and write easy poetry about the happy little
dog on my knee and the pale lavender sky and the
soft snow. How maybe, one day, I will stop writing
so much protest poetry, stories soaked in trauma and
rooted in our grief, our anarchy, our hopes for
humanity, but then I remember I live and write in
the 2020s and the world is frightening and I am me
and here we are. Still, I often wonder what poems
we’d write in a more peaceful time, in another reality,
another era; work made from a place of freedom
and creativity and not in response or defence, nor
in anger or fear. Oh my loves, what dreams we dare
to dream, what beautiful books we write. Imagine
what art could look like, our theatre and music, what
lyrics we’d sing that were about anything but this
brutal and divided world. Oh, to create in a safe and
gentle space, a kind and listening world. Oh, to write
poems about how I love the happy little black dog,
so warm, sleeping on my lap, our breath rising and
falling together, the sky outside my window, lilac
and dove-blue, soft snow falling, and feel that love
and peace within me, how wonderful it would be to
live just like this, and write without a shadow.

s04 e02 | Dean Atta

Fiona Simpson — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 08:16:35 +0000

Filmmaker, poet and writer for all ages, award-winning Dean Atta is also a member of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen and a patron of LGBT+ History Month. He encourages writers to lean all the way into topics they love, no matter how small or niche. His works are celebrated for tackling themes of racism and self-acceptance. He’s the author of the poetry collection ‘There Is (Still) Love Here’ and the YA verse novels ‘The Black Flamingo’ (which won the Stonewall Book Award) and ‘Only on the Weekends’. Dean performs ‘An Ode to My Black Queer Body’ and together they watch John Agard’s famous and defiant performance of ‘Half Caste’ where he challenges prejudice, celebrates the richness of mixed heritage and reclaims it as a badge of honour.

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s04 e01 | Kareem Parkins Brown

D237 — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:17:59 +0000

Kareem Parkins Brown joins Yomi and together they share how humour, grief and real life have influenced his writing. Kareem’s work often touches on nostalgia and friendship, with surrealism playing a major role in his existential poetry talk show. He performs his poem ‘What I’ve Learned (after Aja Monet), a poem that looks at memory and social commentary. They watch Joshua Bennett’s ‘16 Bars for Kendrick Lamar’, a homage piece to one of contemporary hip-hop’s most celebrated voices. A piece that mirrors the standard length for a verse in rap, aligning poetry precision with the culture of rap.