September Artist of the Month – Karl Nova
Delighted to be able to relaunch our ‘Artist of the Month’ interview after a break for covid closures and lockdown. Since Karl was out first ever artist of the month it seemed fitting to relaunch it with a new interview with him. We caught up with poet Karl Nova about what has changed since his initial interview - with even more school visits, awards and a new book under his belt, we had a lot to catch up on.
About Karl Nova
Karl Nova is one of the UK's leading poets and hip hop artists delivering his work in his own unique, witty and energetic style. His debut won the 2018 CLiPPA poetry prize and Karl was the first ever poet to win the Ruth Rendell Award.
In Karl’s own words, “I am Karl Nova. I am a Hip Hop artist, performance poet, author and workshop facilitator. Somehow I am here doing what I love and loving what I do. It always amazes me that I am because years ago I really couldn’t see how I could do this for real.”
What a visit from Karl entails
Karl typically delivers four sessions of around an hour each (plus a quick welcome assembly and any book signings if required) when working in schools. These sessions can be any mixture of performances/presentations or workshops.
Assemblies
While addressing the whole school in an assembly Karl will perform a lot of the pieces from his book “Rhythm And Poetry” in a rhythmical rap style to engage students. For example when Karl performs “true colours” he asks pupils to count how many colours are mentioned in the piece. Karl will tell them the story behind each piece and get them to analyse and dissect the themes and structure of each piece he performs.
Karl will compare and contrast classic poems of the past with present verses from different writers with the students. Karl will include rap verses in this because he has knowledge about different artists so he might end up drawing out similar themes and poetic devices used by a Shakespeare and, for example, Dizzee Rascal.
Karl performs a freestyle poem session where he asks students to choose random words and challenge Karl to create a verse on the spot.
Karl will also get them to stand up and participate in a mirror poem story performance where they repeat lines Karl throws out at them and get them to act it out.
Karl also has a series of different word games he plays with to test their intelligence and demonstrate the power of words
Workshops
During workshops where Karl has smaller numbers and more time Karl talks to students about figures of speech, which he calls ingredients of writing, and gets pupils to create their own pieces in different styles, sometimes in rap format, other times in prose. During these sessions Karl provides writing tips and feedback on every students piece.
Karl considers his role is to use his written work, personality and energy to inspire them to appreciate literature and writing from an angle that is “cool” to them which most times is unexpected.
Feedback from Karl’s previous visits
“I wanted to say a huge thank you for your part in enabling Karl to visit the Prep School today. He was absolutely sensational and held the boys captivated throughout. He has won himself a legion of new admirers.”
The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys School
“He was absolutely fantastic! Worth every penny. His workshops were engaging and fun, his presentation was inspiring and hilarious and the time he spent over lunch with the student librarians was brilliant. He’s such a natural, friendly guy.”
Nunthorpe Academy
“He was absolutely fantastic! He had exceptional energy and could relate to the students whilst clearly having a message to give to them and also being very knowledgeable in his field. I particularly liked the workshops that he ran.”
Heathfield Community College
“What an amazing day we had! Karl was absolutely superb, he has the children (and staff!) captivated when the start of his assembly to the moment he left. Not just a fantastic poet but a great storyteller and artist who also had the children laughing throughout. I’ve already been asked by many if he can come back again and have received a number of positive messages from parents too. Here is one:
I just wanted to say thank you for arranging the visit from Karl Nova yesterday. She was talking about it all evening and sharing his poems with us, she especially likes 'True Colours'. I took her brother to school this morning and she had her head in the book for the whole journey and was even reading it walking into school! It is great to see her take such an interest in poetry (and reading).
Thank you again!”
Bladon Church of England Primary School
Read about Karl and his author visits on his author page here
Interview with Karl Nova
It's been a very bizarre year – how have you found it? What did you do to occupy your time during lockdown?
It truly has been the strangest and most peculiar time I have ever seen. At first I just couldn’t wrap my head around it all. The first thing I did was write about it and I remember on the day I did my last school visit before lockdown began in March, 2020, I released a song called “Corona (crown)” and those were my thoughts and feelings at the time.
I threw myself into binge watching a lot of shows and also into a routine of jogging daily which is something I normally do in spring anyway. It really helped me focus my mind and let off steam. I lost my desire to write at first because I was totally disoriented but then some months in, I found a rhythm and was able to finish writing my new book “The Curious Case of Karl Nova” I also learnt how to record myself at home and made music!
How did you find the virtual school visits we had to switch to during the pandemic?
At first I thought it was going to be really difficult. Up until that point I started doing them, I had only done an online skype session the year before with some lovely students in an American international school in Zambia and it went amazingly well. Even though I had that great experience, it was a one off and I never thought it would almost become the norm.
I got to do virtual sessions with students all over the UK as well as China, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Switzerland, Finland, Singapore, Thailand and Romania and being able to connect has been amazing in spite of it being a challenge! I got to really know how students are feeling in such far off places going through this unique time and do some great creative work too! I mean I would definitely prefer to physically be there but it is a great tool all the same!
I even got to carry on doing work that I have been doing with the Premier League virtually as well!
A lot has changed since you were our first ever Artist of the month almost 2 years ago. To add to your CliPPA award you now have a Ruth Rendell Award. You are the first poet ever to win it – congratulations! How did you feel when you found out schools had put you forward for this recognition?
I was totally shocked! I never knew I was up for such a prestigious award! It felt good to know that I was even nominated. I found out I was recommended by teachers and librarians and that was very heart-warming. I never thought I would win any award when I started doing this, I never even knew there were any! I know it might sound cheesy but I learnt to find reward in just being able to do what I love and hopefully make a positive impact.
Your second book – ‘The Curious Case of Karl Nova’ has been released. Can you tell us about the book, how it came about and what people can expect from it?
When I wrote my first book “Rhythm And Poetry” there were certain things I wanted to write about but didn’t feel bold enough to include in that collection. I actually think I made a good choice to kind of make my first book an “introduction to how I found poetry” kind of book. In this new book of mine I tell more of my personal story. I am trying to show young people that their own personal stories matter and poetry is a way you can document your own unfolding story.
From my new book you can find out more about my story. When I have told people about it in conversations, they always say “that would make a great book” and I would reply, “Nah, I don’t think so, maybe one day I will write about it” So I finally decided to do it. I honestly feel you have to read it to even understand what I mean! What you can expect from it is that you will be taken on a ride and hopefully you will see, hear and feel where I am coming from. It will make “Rhythm And Poetry” make even more sense!
You can order a signed copy from me at http://www.karlnovaworld.com or order it online from any outlet like Waterstones, Amazon etc etc
Your ambassadorship at The Story Museum has recently ended, how did you feel being part of that and the chance to interact with more young people?
It was truly an honour to work with them. I totally enjoyed it. They are very good people over there and being able to go into Oxford mostly to work with young people was great. I learnt so much that I never knew before and if they ever needed me, I would do it all again!
How have your school visits evolved from when you first started visiting schools with us?
I think I have definitely grown in my ability to communicate with young people. Prior to working with Authors Abroad, I definitely had a lot of experience doing this. My first booking was in 2015 and it totally came by chance. I got called at the last minute and asked to fill in a spot for someone and I went and had an amazing time. I started doing school visits in 2009.
With Authors Abroad, I became a published author and not just that I am a 2 time award winner and an international one. Prior to working with Authors Abroad, I had never travelled out of the country to do this kind of work. Now with you I have gone to China, Mongolia, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Turkey, Sweden and all over the UK. All these travels stretched and made me grow in ways I cannot even begin to express! It makes you have to adapt and evolve like you could never have imagined.
What do you enjoy most about visiting schools?
I love making poetry come alive to young people in a way they might not have experienced before. I am a Hip Hop artist and my approach is with that energy and style that they seem to take to. I love the connection I get when visiting and the feeling I am giving them positive inspiration and excitement when it comes to engaging with literature. It never gets old!
You recently wrote a poem starter for the Authors Abroad creative writing competition and we were blown away by the standard of entries we received – especially in poetry which was of such a high calibre. Do you think young people are beginning to engage with poetry more and believe it can represent them?
I was really impressed with the writing of the winner of the competition. I love where the winner took the poem I started. I really do think young people are engaging more with poetry. In all my years doing this type of work, I have seen that once you show young people that they can have a voice and poetry is truly for them to express their feelings and thoughts, they take to it! Even the most reluctant of students are willing to give it a go!
I think because I approach it with a Hip Hop, rap, spoken word poetry style that it is more cool to them (I mean rap is pop music right now) it makes it more accessible to them and something they want to engage in. I try to keep that academic connection in play as well so that they can make connection between what we do in the sessions I conduct and what they are learning in school.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to write poetry but is struggling to get started?
I have found out that one of the greatest obstacles that people face when starting to write is that they feel they are not good enough. They beat themselves down before they even begin. What I always say is that writing is about expression and not perfection. Give yourself a chance and put down your thoughts and feelings. It is a journey that starts one word at a time and you build line upon line. Practical things I would say is use your notes app on your phone and jot down ideas as they come to you. The last thing I will say is READ! Someone said reading and writing is like breathing. When you read you breathe in and when you write you breathe out. So feed your imagination! Thankfully there are a lot of books like “Rhythm And Poetry” and “The Curious Case of Karl Nova” out there and so many resources you can find on YouTube to help you. I didn’t have any of that when I started. All I had was a pen and a pad and music videos of rappers I liked”
Do you think poetry can address big issues as well as being fun?
Yes indeed I believe that 100% In fact poetry can address big issues in a fun way as well as serious way! Poets are doing this all time!
Who would you say has inspired you and made an impact on your career?
I always talk about my older cousin who was a major influence on me as a child when it comes to knowing what hip hop is, falling in love with writing and developing my mind to be a critical thinker. He definitely helped set me on the path that I am on now. There are numerous hip hop artists and spoken word poets I could mention too. It is really weird to me to call what I do my “career” I have never looked at it as that hahaha!
Is it nice to be invited back to some schools’ year after year – do you feel like a regular at any of them? Does it change how you run your sessions?
It is definitely nice to be invited back. I am always grateful. I think I am growing and developing all the time so when I get to go back, I am a different artist/author. I push myself to learn new things and even memorise new poems, verses and try different approaches in sessions. The students themselves change so it is different every time. I never feel like a regular because every day is different, you can’t just go on autopilot when doing this, I think that is what makes it interesting and exciting!
Have you ever been tempted to write a novel – either in prose or verse?
I definitely have that kind of things in mind. I am not in a rush but I can see myself writing and developing them in my head. I definitely feel a novel in me and in due time it will come out.
Whose work do you enjoy reading/listening to?
I really like what Hip Hop artist Akala is doing. His book “Natives” is fantastic and something I recommend everyone reads! I love how knowledgeable he is about history and social issues. I have just read “What Is Poetry?” by Michael Rosen and “How To Write It” by Anthony Anaxagorou. Those 2 books really deal with poetry in a practical way and I love their work. I have always adored the work of Michaela Coel, an amazing artist I toured with before and I am looking forward to her new book “Misfits: A personal manifesto” One of my favourite hip hop artists is a guy called Oddisee. I love his music, it is very inspirational and uplifting to me. His album “The Good Fight” is such a classic!
What are you looking forward to doing once all restrictions are lifted and life can return to normal?
Before the lockdown happened, I was about to travel to Romania, Ethiopia, Sudan and Tanzania. All that got cancelled and I was gutted because I have never been to those places before. I am looking forward to travelling the world again! When I travel I get inspired to write and I can’t wait to get that inspiration again!
Quick Fire
Adventure or relaxing holiday?
Adventure!
Would you rather be able to speak to animals or teleport?
Teleport (LOL!)
Batman or Superman?
Superman (are ya kidding me?! ha!)
Favourite musician?
Oddisee
What’s more terrifying – a tiger the size of a guinea pig or a gerbil the size of a rhino?
Tigers EAT PEOPLE!
If you were Prime Minister for the day, what law would you introduce?
A three day work week (LOL!)
Arrange for Karl Nova to visit your school
To make an enquiry about Karl, or any of the other authors, poets & illustrators listed on this website, please phone Trevor Wilson on +44 (0) 1535 656015, or email him at trevor@caboodlebooks.co.uk