Miguel Cullen is a British poet and journalist who lives in London.
Miguel Cullen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, journalist |
| Relatives | Michael Berry, Baron Hartwell (grandfather) William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose (great-grandfather) F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead (great-grandfather) Francisco Hermógenes Ramos Mejía (great-great-great-great grandfather) Francisco Bernabé Madero (great-great-great grandfather) |
Background
editCullen was born into a mixed Argentinean-British household in World’s End, Chelsea in London in 1982. After boarding school, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. At Bristol University, he performed as to Jungle emcee on student radio,[1] and become friends with Reprazent emcee MC Tali, as well as future Sunday Assembly leader Sanderson Jones. Other friends include Argentine painter Lobo Velar and writer Camilla Grudova.
Poetry
editCullen's poetry has been described as 'stoner poetry', in an in-depth interview in Writers Mosaic [2] “unlike any poetry I’ve ever encountered. It ranges across various cultures, especially popular culture and dwells somewhere between the expressionistic and surreal, subversive, and possessed of unparalleled energy” [3] by August Kleinzahler. Ian Thomson (writer) described it having “allusions from Greek mythology (colliding) with sound system culture (and) pavement pounding street demotic", while Vice (magazine)[4] described it as “full of the lawless energy of late nights and early mornings, hop-scotching London’s jungle raves”. His debut collection, Wave Caps [5][6][7][8] was a The Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year in 2014.[9] AN Wilson blurbed his second, Paranoid Narcissism! which was an Evening Standard Book of the Year 2017,[10] about which SJ Fowler wrote: “Lyrical, voluminously expressive, beautiful in their knotted, winding intensity – Miguel Cullen's poems are intricate, funny for everyone but you, unpleasantly bright and brilliant.” [11]
Cullen worked with videographers Ivar Wigan, Agustina Comedi, (a protege of Nan Goldin) and Fede Velar to place his collaborative video-poetry work in NOWNESS,[12] Purple Magazine[13] and Flaunt.[14]
Journalism
editCullen was arts editor for The Catholic Herald.[15] for seven years. He has also published music and art journalism in Vice (magazine),[16] Wonderland magazine, The Independent,[17] The Daily Telegraph,[18][19] and The Quietus,;[20] including long features on Dub music, the Bristol underground scene, and the history of Black cinema in the UK for Clash (magazine),[21][22][23][24] Recently he has written for Writers Mosaic, about the Jafaican dialect,[25] and published a longread with them entitled ‘When mi was a youth I used to run up and down playing cowboy: A story of cannabis-induced psychosis’.[26]
Cullen has also written one of few accounts of a meeting with the poet Frederick Seidel[27][28][29][30]
References
edit- ^ Sound System, Tape from. "MC Lito at Black Cat Sound System". YouTube.com. YouTube. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ Gabriel, Gbadamosi (January 4, 2024). "Miguel Cullen in conversation with Gabriel Gbadamosi" (PDF). Writers Mosaic.
- ^ "About — Miguel Cullen". miguelcullen.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ "London's Junglist Bard Proves Poetry's for the People". Vice.com. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Wave Caps by Miguel Cullen". Literateur.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Wave Caps: Former hack turns poet". Eastendreview.co.uk. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Making Waves » Erotic Review". Eroticreviewmagazine.com. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Wave Caps". Caughtbytheriver.net. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ "The best books of 2017". Evening Standard. 2018-09-19. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ "Press — Miguel Cullen". miguelcullen.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ "Miguel Cullen: Maradona". www.nowness.com. November 2022. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ "Purple TV Presents: "Maradona & the Pope," a visual poem by Miguel Cullen and Ivar Wigan - purple Television". Purple (in French). Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ "David". www.flaunt.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ "Author: Miguel Cullen - CatholicHerald.co.uk". CatholicHerald.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "The Wu-Tang Clan Talk Obama, Gay Rap and ODB". Vice.com. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Miguel Cullen | Independent Blogs". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
- ^ Cullen, Miguel (26 August 2010). "Don Letts interview". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Cullen, Miguel (23 April 2010). "Matthew Herbert interview". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Cullen, Miguel. "Interview with Jamaica-photographer Ivar Wigan". www.thequietus.com. The Quietus. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ "Miguel Cullent on the Birth of Black Cinema in the UK UK – Clash Magazine". Miguelcullen4.wordpress.com. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Dread Beat And Blood - The DNA of Dub". Clashmusic.com. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Features". Clashmusic.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ "Hackney Soldiers" (PDF). Miguelcullen4.wordpress.com. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ Grant, Colin (2022-04-06). "White Man in the Hammersmith Palais: an Aural History of Jafaican". Writers Mosaic. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ Cullen, Miguel (12 October 2023). "When Mi Was A Youth I Used To Run Up And Down Playing Cowboy: A Story Of Cannabis-Induced Psychosis" (PDF). Writers Mosaic.
- ^ Editora, Mardulce. "Interview with Frederick Seidel". www.mardulceeditora.com.ar. Mardulce Editora. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
- ^ "Lunch with Frederick Seidel at Cafe Lux". Wild Court. 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ "Frederick Seidel - Magma — Miguel Cullen". miguelcullen.com. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
- ^ Cullen, Miguel (April 2023). "Miguel Cullen My Favourite Book" (PDF). Writers Mosaic. Retrieved 11 February 2024.