SHTUM

Written with wit, technical skill and a personalised knowledge of the subject matter, SHTUM explores the vagaries of stammering not just as a communication blockage but also other aspects such as stigma, bullying, isolation and avoidance. David Bateman's unusual poetry collection also follows the therapeutic experience - both successful and otherwise, combining a lightness of touch with a deep intensity. The poems come from several surprising angles - not the least of which is the proposal of marketing the stammer as a luxury item. DAVID BATEMAN is a Liverpool poet and well-known poetic activist on the Merseyside cultural scene. His previous hilarious and absurdist collection of verse, The Curse of the Killer Hedge was published by IRON Press and went to a second print. David has been a lifelong stutterer. Extract from: Shtum I've got this stutter. Tend to squawk when I mutter. My words cut like a blade of grass through frozen butter. I stick and I splutter on every sentence I utter. The spoken word's an open world beyond a locked-up shutter. Extract from: It's Hard to be Suave with a Stutter For it's hard to be suave with a stutter: It's hard to be a dashing sort of dude. All the spitting and the snorting At the dEbutante you're courting Can tend to dampen something of the mood. I dream of being slick and glib with stardust on my tongue: The grandest MC yet to grace the room, With streams of words that scintillate like fireflies in the dusk, A subtle bouquet bursting into bloom. But it's hard to be suave with a stutter: It's hard to be a jaunty sort of gent. When your very best oration Has no words, just punctuation, It can slightly sap the zest from the event.