Get the latest gossip

One to watch: Antony Szmierek


The Manchester wordsmith’s joyous blend of the surreal and the sentimental is winning admirers across the board

Antony Szmierek’s luminous spoken word finds relief in vulnerability of all kinds: the ephemerality of home; surrendering to the moment; love, loss and the mysteries in between. All the while, his “ pop poetry ” – a blend of Self Esteem’s towering choruses and Georgia’s dancefloor bombast – was drawing an audience, first on the gig circuit and later on social media. What these listeners share is a profound emotional response to his writing, which contrasts surreal depictions of his northern locale (including graffiti on the M60 and the long-vacant Stockport Pyramid building) with nods to a complex, single-parent upbringing.

Get the Android app

Or read this on The Guardian

Read more on:

Photo of Antony Szmierek

Antony Szmierek