Being a Literature student and an all around geek when it comes to anything book related, I’ve listened to my fair share of poetry readings; ranging from the well known classics to the new and upcoming talents of today.

The Internet has become my own little bookshop/library, and I often browse pages like fictionpress for creative finds and sometimes even upload my own writing. I love discovering new artists because they give me inspiration to progress with my own creative work.

When it comes to poetry reading and artistic inspiration, Myspace is slowly becoming my new haven. It was only a matter of time before poets joined the ranks of bands everywhere and began recording and uploading their own profiles. I first came across these new artists while browsing Kate Nash’s Myspace music profile (a woman who’s pretty damn cool on her own), and instantly fell in love.

The first one I listened to was Poeticat. I fell in love with her work, her words so accessible and entertaining that I instantly added her as a friend. Listening to an artist recite their own writing brings much more depth into the work itself. Listening to the rhythm, the rhyme and the words reverberating simultaneously out of the speakers is an indescribable experience. The emotions and feelings the poet attempts to deliver through their words becomes easier to understand. Life is breathed into the sentences and they became more than just ink stained writings on paper.

Dockers MC, who I also found on Kate Nash’s profile, has an outstanding grasp of words and rhythm. The way she delivers her poems mimics the fast paced style of MC/rapping, plus, it’s high in drama and humor. Both Poeticat and Dockers MC’s London accent brings a demotic and down-to-earth approach to their art, emphasising a sense of identity between the poet and their work.

Another artist I am obsessing over is George Pringle. I was first introduced to her whilst reading the Independent. She is an Oxford based poet, which shocked me at first because Oxford is my hometown and I had not heard of her before. Her poems are recited over electro-beats, which compliments the whole new-rave indie movement. Unlike Poeticat and Dockers MC, George has a much posher accent, (she is after all an SW10/Oxford lady), but it doesn’t make her any less accessible and instead emphasises a sense of variety.

These are just three artists worth taking a look at — there are loads of others out there just waiting to be found. Just keep your ears open, you’ll never know what you could hear!

Listen to recited poetry? Have any recommendations?

1) To look hot and to get guys to buy them.

2) To send a political message and generate controversy.

3) To show off their pregnant selves.

4) To not look hot, generate controversy, and show off their bigger body – not because of pregnancy, but because it’s simply how a woman is built sometimes. Crazy, huh?!?

Whatever the case may be, naked magazine covers sell, and Beth Ditto of the band The Gossip definitely sells on the cover of NME, a British music and gossip magazine.

It’s been getting tons of attention, from Americans especially, (because for most Americans, this is blasphemy!) and it’s being passed around the blogosphere for obvious reasons. Beth Ditto does not have the stereotypical body you’d necessarily want to see unclothed before your eyes, and she knows this. The cool thing is, and the cool thing about her is, she doesn’t give a flying f*ck!

In the article, she talks about the Skinny Celebrity Syndrome, saying, “The Beckhams are part of the machine; Paris Hilton is part of the machine. There’s that thing Paris Hilton said about Lindsay Lohan – ‘You’re poor, ugly and fat’. It’s always women who are victims of that machine and the messages the machine gives out.”

Her NME cover certainly says a big “screw you” to that machine. And what really separates her from the thinner celebs who are just famous for being richer and thinner than the rest of us, is the fact she actually has talent and she rocks out on stage. That’s what matters most.

She even writes her own (and really good) advice column for The Guardian and talks openly about growing up as a gay, overweight feminist in a small town and how she got to be as confident and comfortable with herself as she is today.

The real question is, would an American magazine ever use Beth’s naked image for a cover?

I think not.

“I’m a little bit drunk because it’s 11 o’clock and I’ve been drinking most of the day,” Allen said while giggling, before launching into a tirade against NME. “F**k off you c**ts,” she said of the British music tabloid, before adding that the editor had the smallest penis in the world.

I knew this girl had a pair of lungs on her, but how about that mouth?