Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
Janine performed poetry in the 1980s as The Big J. This section contains poems, articles and other bits n bobs from this historic era.
I was delighted to have a chat with some old muckers for the Jamming! podcast, and the episode is now available for your listening pleasure. It also features my poem ‘Lighting, Rigged’ about being sexually assaulted as a teenager at … Read more
In April 2015, the awesome Lunar Poetry Podcast interviewed Janine. Listen to the podcast here (and listen to Lunar’s many other most excellent poetry interviews and discussions) Here’s the transcript: Host: David Turner – DT; Guest: Janine Booth … Read more
Janine interviewed in 2015 by Stand Up and Spit about her 1980s incarnation as The Big J, ranting poet, and her 2010s poetic reincarnation.
One from my 1980s days as The Big J. Windscale nuclear power station had been renamed Sellafield in 1981, as the government sought to rebrand it after a series of safety concerns … Forget the Costa Brava, don’t go to … Read more
Photos, clips and fanzine bits from the decade where punk without music was known as ranting poetry. Janine took to the stage as The Big J and produced fanzine Blaze!
A poem written in 1985, back in my days as The Big J. I might choose different wording these days, but the point remains – depressingly – relevant. The illustration is from Wake Up! fanzine when it published this poem … Read more
It’s Tim Wells, it’s Emily Harrison, it’s me – and it’s free! At the Poetry Library, Southbank Centre, London SE1 More here. ===== Ranting verse sprang from punk and reggae in the early 1980s. This grassroots poetry was angry, political, … Read more
An oldie from the 1980s, a decade of Thatcher, Reagan, crap haircuts and appallingly sexist washing powder adverts. They are not exactly bastions of feminism now, but in the 1980s we were subjected to images of women descending into hysterical … Read more