Imogen Stirling is a Glasgow-based playwright, performance poet and musician whose practice fuses these genres to create exciting multi-artform performances. She was shortlisted for the Out-Spoken Prize for Poetry 2022, named ‘Artist of the Year’ supported by the National Theatre of Scotland (SETA 2021) and features as a writer/performer on BAFTA-winning Sky Arts poetry and hip hop documentary, Life & Rhymes.

From Secret Garden Party to Latitude, Imogen's poetry is frequently showcased on music festival stages and she was a recent participant of the BBC Words First talent development scheme (BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Asian Network and BBC Contains Strong Language). Rapper Darren 'Loki' McGarvey called Imogen's work, 'a tonic for the tribal times we live in.' Imogen's five star gig poetry show #Hypocrisy sold out at the Edinburgh and Prague Fringe Festivals before transferring to London. Meanwhile, Love The Sinner was published as a poetry collection by Verve Poetry Press and completed a 26-date book tour around the UK and mainland Europe, visiting music festivals, literary festivals and arts venues from Finland to the Isle of Mull. Benjamin Zephaniah called it ‘the work of a lyrical genius’.

We caught up with Imogen this week on her debut release. You can read the full Q&A below and listen here.

Your debut album ‘Love The Sinner' came out on 5th May. It follows the seven deadly sins as they seek solace. Can you tell us more about this and where the idea came from ?

The seven sins is a creative framework I've always been interested in - there's something so mythical, dark and magical about it, there's a reason why so many diverse artists have been drawn to offering their interpretation. For me, I liked the challenge of finding beauty in something supposedly ugly. I wanted people not only to sympathise with the sins but to see something of themselves in them. I set the sins as seven characters in contemporary Scotland, struggling with anxieties and overthinking in a society obsessed with judgement and self-betterment. But it was always important to me that these weren't characters to be 'fixed' - their sinfulness is what unites them, what unites all people, and is to be celebrated.

What is the album about?

“‘Love The Sinner’ is a mirror and a rallying cry, reflecting on all the messy and beautiful intricacies of what it means to be human today. The majority of the lyrics were written during lockdown which I think has inspired the creation of characters finding themselves trapped in isolation while yearning for community. While the album picks apart flaws and anxieties, I hope that what triumphs is a sensation of resounding hope.”
“As a spoken word artist, I've always been intrigued by the parameters of the genre - where it can be pushed and what stories it can tell. Pairing my words with Sarah's music has felt so visceral, tearing the world of ‘Love The Sinner’ off the page and throwing it, vibrant and electric, into the world. The multi-artform nature of the album has allowed me to draw on the elements that excite me in so many artists I admire - the lyricism of Kae Tempest, the introspection of James Blake, the ethereality of FKA Twigs and the badass vibes of Self Esteem. I hope that everyone finds a story they need within ‘Love The Sinner’.”

'WRATH' has some really clear lyrics and depictions. This track really resonates with me & the daily pressures we face in life. Can you give any advice to anyone dealing with these kind of pressures ?

I don't know if I really have any advice - I suppose it was a lack of knowing what to do under the weight of the pressures that drove me to write the track in the first place. Personally, I take comfort in knowing I'm not alone in a situation, so I hope that other women will listen to the track and find solidarity. The patriarchy we live under can be so insidious that sometimes you forget how ridiculous these rules imposed on women are, because they're presented to us as normal. The track is trying to highlight how completely unsustainable it all is and highlight the power in the collective rage women hold.

What is your creative process like?

It really depends on the project - whether I'm working on music, poetry or theatre. Either way, there's a lot of solitary writing time to begin with - a lot of drafting, redrafting and redrafting again. I'm trying to get better at not holding onto work until it feels 'ready' but instead working with trusted collaborators at an earlier stage - keeping my writing more malleable and responsive to whatever other art form I'm working with. I'm always working the balance between style and connection - I love presenting work that is stylistically exciting and that showcases poetry in visceral, unusual ways, but connection with an audience has to be the thing that leads. If my words aren't landing, aren't moving or speaking to a listener as I want them to, then it's not working.

You have live performances starting this week, can you tell us more about them?

Love The Sinner exists as a book and now an album, and has been adapted for stage by Vanishing Point Theatre Company. We open this week at the Tron Theatre and next week at the Traverse Theatre. The stage show is absolutely beautiful - a big, multi-layered pulsating fusion of performance poetry, electronic music, visual theatre, video and sound design. It's somewhere between a gig and a theatre show and I really can't wait to present it to audiences.

Tell us more about how your artist career started, and where you see it going?

I started mainly in music - I was in a music duo and we toured a lot around the UK and Europe. I discovered performance poetry really by chance when I came back to Glasgow and bit by bit experimented with adding music or theatrical narrative to it, to start creating work that felt genre-pushing and exciting. I'm very keen to write a new set that tours as a music set but is clearly theatrical in its presentation - think Self Esteem meets Kae Tempest. Lots of lights and movement and brilliant sound. I'm also working on a couple of new plays that are specifically for theatre. So we'll see!

‘Love The Sinner’ sees Imogen Stirling take command of the spoken-word genre, and drive it into electrifyingly fresh and free new territory. Listen to ‘Love the Sinner’ here.