Monday, April 14, 2008

Joolz Denby - poet, artist, legend



Her Myspace profile describes her as a cultural revolutionary.

It's a pretty accurate description. I guess one of Ed 17 Seconds' alltime heroes doesn't really fit the bill, but it's true.

She emerged in the eighties, described as a 'punk poetess' though there was more to her than that. She hails from Bradford, a city she's obviously fiercely proud of and is a cultural ambassador for the city. She's an artist, who worked and continues to work closely with New Model Army, designing many of their sleeves. She wrote thought-provoking poetry and prose, sometimes sad, quite often angry, yet frequently funny and always utterly brilliant (anyone who has a copy of her book Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know should get in touch). In the last decade she has also published four novels that have to be read: Stone Baby, Corazon, Billie Morgan and Borrowed Light, all of which have to be read and re-read.

I finally met her in early 2000 at a New Model Army gig (she's the long-term partner of singer Justin Sullivan, aka Slade The Leveller) and nervously trotted up to say. I needn't have worried; she was very approachable, and I later met on three separate occaions, Glastonbury, the Edinburgh Book Festival and at a solo Justin Sullivan gig in Edinburgh. In 2000 when I was writing my Masters dissertation, I corresponded with her, and she gave me some thought-provoking correspondence via email.

She also made some excellent records, mostly in the eighties, and this is one I'd love 17 seconds readers to hear:

Joolz -'Mad, Bad and dangerous To Know.' mp3

If you like it, please buy it!

Joolz Denby's official website

The online shop. You must, you really must!

2 comments:

writer for hire said...

Hey Ed,

that link for her website has the 'k' missing of .co.uk

just so you know

Ed said...

Thank you, have updated and changed it!

Ed