Foram Shah, co-founder Spill Poetry, shares anecdotes from her journey as the platform turns 4

Foram Shah, co-founder, Spill Poetry

As Spill Poetry, one of India's biggest and most popular spoken word poetry platform turns 4 today, we at Mid-day had the opportunity to interview the young and talented Foram Shah, co-founder of Spill. Read on as she Spills (pun always intended) her thoughts about artists in India and shares anecdotes from her journey to becoming a poet and eventually creating Spill.

1. How did you start out as a poet? How did you go about your journey of becoming a spoken word poet?

I'd been writing prose throughout my school life but 9th grade was when I started writing poetry more predominantly. Everyone has their own reasons to start writing and mine was simply to express because, at that time, it was the most honest way I could find to express myself. At first, I was only writing poetry, performing it in front of a thousand strangers wasn't even an option, let alone a gut-wrenching one.

I went to my first spoken word event when I was in the 11th grade, and it changed my life. Even though I wasn't performing, I was sitting and watching these beautiful, brilliant, confident poets put their hearts out for everyone to see. I wanted to do that, so after a couple of months of gathering courage, I asked my best friend, Prapti, to do a duet with me for my first performance. We did, and it was exhilarating, it might not have been the most perfect performance but it was insanely rewarding and the feeling of satisfaction I got was something I wanted to hold on to forever.

The biggest brownie points were all the brilliant artists I got to meet and be friends with! As a matter of fact, that open mic was where I met Daaniyal, my co-founder, for the first time as well.

Ever since then, I started performing every week at open mics and discovered places like The Habitat, which used to be called Tuning Fork back in 2016. And week after week it would be new and old poets just listening and performing every Monday night. Eventually, there were more venues, crowds got bigger, stakes got higher but the joy of performing for others was never-ending.

2. Was starting Spill Poetry a concrete plan or was it a passion project? Tell us about how it started.

Starting Spill Poetry was definitely not a concrete plan! It was very out of the blue and definitely a passion project for the both of us. It happened pretty surprisingly, I was in the 12th grade, it was three months before my board exams, and I got a call from Daaniyal one night and he started telling me about this idea he had to start an open mic organisation.

Back then, open mics used to charge performers upto Rs.500/- for a single 5 minute slot in an event, which was absurd considering it wasn't right to assume every performer had the means to pay those Rs. 500/- every time they wanted to perform. But it wasn't till Daaniyal told me about his personal experiences with the same issue that this reality hit me like a truck.

Daaniyal's idea was to host an open mic where no performer would be charged, it would be completely free of cost for the artist. He had asked a couple of other friends but they didn't seem interested. For me, it wasn't even something to think about, I agreed instantly because who wouldn't want the opportunity to create a safe and equal space for artists to come and be themselves? That's how we started, a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old who just wanted to contribute to the community that had become such an important part of their lives. We named it Spill exactly four years ago, 23rd December 2016!

3. What makes Spill Poetry special?

I feel like one of the most novel things about Spill is that it is for the artists, by the artists. Since the first open mic that we did, Spill has always felt like home to everyone who has been a part of it, and we never want to lose that no matter what we do.

We've always strived to be inclusive and equal for all kinds of artists, we try out best to make sure to give everyone a chance and help everyone grow together. From making sure that performers don't have to pay to perform, to creating a safe space for artists to experiment and better their art, and helping quality poetry reach across the country, we've created a space that caters to both artists and art consumers.

4. In today's fast-paced algorithm-based virtual world, how do you make sure your content gets noticed?

I have to agree social media platforms can get a little insane to handle and keep up with. One thing we make sure of is that we produce good quality videos, both content and production-wise. Apart from that, we've initially been lucky to have discovered the kind of content that works on certain platforms. We also try and keep up with trends, topics and anything else that might increase engagement on a certain day. Then there's the effort of figuring out what time to upload and which tags to put but it's constantly trial and error before we hit the right spot!

5. What has been your highest and lowest point with Spill Poetry?

Being in the space of art and events, there are always things that go well and things that don't go that well, we have to live with both. It can get overwhelming at times, there are so many people, so much to do, so many things to still discover, it's easy to feel like you're missing out on something, but then the things that you are doing in the present always pull you back to the good.

Some of our highest points include touring all across the country with some of the most evocative artists, meeting thousands of people and students and basically just having the opportunity to do what we want at such a large scale. Some of the lowest would definitely be the not-so-good gigs, financial issues and the lack of respect we've seen for artists in general. But no matter what, we have had an insane amount of support from our community and our audiences which always helps us get through it.

6. Your poems have really hit a chord with the audience. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Thank you so much! My writing style is very existential in the sense that I usually prefer to write only about the things that are currently occupying space in my brain. Most of my inspiration comes from observing the people around me, or the conversations I have with them. I'm a sucker for conversations with strangers because that's where the best perceptions grow from.

Apart from that, I draw a lot of inspiration from what I read. There are some poems and stories that will consume you entirely, but I believe as an artist you have to let yourself be consumed to gain the articulation to draw inspiration from it.

7.What does the future look like for Spill Poetry?

We've been working on some really exciting stuff since the pandemic has shifted the entire community online. We've started looking at online gigs, competitions, learning opportunities, maybe even socially distanced shows once everything calms down, but that's for the near future! Daaniyal and I want to build the country's largest artist community. We want to create a space where artists can come and collaborate, discuss and not be sidelined in the times of "sell what is already popular".

8. Any words of motivation for aspiring poets?
It's very easy to get lost writing about things you think your audiences will like, but that will never help you be the poet you can be. Instead, focus on writing things that define you and about topics you really want to write about. That way, you'll discover who you truly are and it will be the best poetry you will write.

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