The story of turning lemons into lemonade, how Rebecca Kenney, founder of the independent publisher Bent Key, went from a car crash to creating her own publishing press.
The post lockdown world led many people to turn their gaze inward, leaving us to reflect upon ourselves as two years of abnormal living sailed by. It was a period of cyclical living, and when I look back upon that time all I can envision is a miasmic haze formed of Houseparty games, back to back Zoom calls and innumerable Deliveroo orders. It was a time that seemed to swallow up a chunk of our lives, leaving me at least, feeling slightly cheated. It is as if two whole years of my life evaporated without a trace. For me, the assessment and untangling of the complex feelings that pertained to this time in my life involved a lot of reflection. I had to reevaluate my life, work and resolve my bad habits. The subsequent emergence from the lockdowns found me doing something I had never considered nor even lent prior credence to. I was writing poetry.
Having recently moved back to Manchester I wished to pursue this hobby (turned emotional outlet) a little further and found myself stumbling across a vibrant poetry scene with a publisher acting as the spearhead for this movement of highlighting fresh, and previously unheard voices. Rebecca Kenny, the mastermind behind the independent publisher, Bent Key, which acts as the vessel for which these poets were able to be published. Whose journey as a publisher initially began as a burgeoning poet, ‘I started writing poetry in 2021, at the start of the year and a friend of mine, a colleague at the time, was writing poetry. I had written a lot in my younger years and decided to have another go at it’. Kenny informed me, through the medium of Instagram voicenotes. We chatted over a period of days in which she relayed her tale of how Pursuing her hobby, turned creative outlet, Led to creating the press. Kenny had gained confidence in herself and thus ventured out to face the world with her poetry, ‘I went to a couple more nights and did a couple more performances then I was in the crash’.
At the conclusion of 2021, Kenny was involved in a life changing car accident which left her hospitalised and mentally dazed. ‘I don’t understand anything about my car crash. I don’t understand how I didn’t end up paralysed. I don’t understand why my phone didn’t get destroyed, which was a godsend because I used it a lot in the hospital to talk to people. I don’t understand why I didn’t die’, Kenny’s tone was one of solemn introspection, as if dwelling, momentarily in that horrific memory. Though in our talks through DM’s, she was never one to dwell upon this pain she had felt, emphasising instead, how she had taken control of this trauma and made it her fuel to continue forth with her passion. During the period of post-maelstrom she had begun to reflect upon this near death experience, confronting head on, the trauma it left her with. ‘when you sit and just dwell on those things. Or any kind of trauma y’know, it can be abuse or mental health, any kind of trauma. If you sit and dwell on it for too long it can be really difficult to overcome’. And so, after wading onward through the tenebrous period which consumed her life she found solace in the form of poetry.
‘When I’ve been in a really dark place I’ve really struggled to write. It’s often when I’m coming out of the dark place that the words will come and it kinda helps me unscramble the mess that’s in my mind’, is how she described this period and how the poetry stemmed from it. As she arose from the slumber which ensued, and after months spent in the hospital she had time to look upon her life. Call it an ensuing epiphany, call it pursuing a dream, either or, Kenney was hit with the thought of creating Bent Key. The ethos of which was formed during her working life and upbringing prior to the crash. ‘I was a teacher for 17 years and I worked with people who lived in areas where there were high levels of poverty and low levels of aspiration, I wanted to carry that into my work with Bent Key’. What followed was the creation of Bent Key which has seen itself spearheading the movement of bringing overlooked voices into the publishing spotlight. ‘My approach was originally to just publish poetry. Then as time went on and I met more people, I realised that the most interesting submissions I was getting, and the most interesting stories that I was hearing, were from these people who were being ostracised from publishing’.
The following pursuit had led to Kenny becoming a prominent figurehead who ran her publishing press fuelled by her knowledge of how it felt to be overlooked. She remains diligently true to her roots, I can hear the impassioned tonal shift in her voice as she tells me of her upbringing. ‘I grew up in poverty and understand the lack of opportunity that exists in these areas where aspirations are low, and I wanted to show that there are people out there that believe in you and have faith in you and want to hear what you’ve got to say’. An echo of a statement which acts as a form of cemented mantra I had repeated within my mind growing and which I’m sure is an unfortunately ubiquitous sentiment shared with many creatives who grew up working class. A press like Kenny’s provides exactly what I felt was lacking in my hometown growing up, as she went on to add ‘I also have this desire as the founder of Bent Key to offer a community as I didn’t have one when I was finding who I was and it’s really important to me to provide that’.
The memories of this time for many who grew up under this iron sky of stifling their expression and voice comes with a great deal of associated trauma. When recalling those memories of being young, ignored and suffocated by feeling alienated to those around you. To me, at least, the best, or rather the only way to process these thoughts and aches of the mind is to turn one’s mind inward, towards their creativity. I raised this to Kenny, who gave a comparative response, ‘I think a great many poets untangle their own traumas through poetry and a lot more than prose. I think that’s because poetry is more like a puzzle y’know? You build it piece by piece don’t you you have to figure out rhythm and cadence and rhyme’. An echo of thoughts I’ve had myself. And testament to those both established, and upcoming, who turn to the release of poetry to vent, untangle or assess those inner thoughts, fears and doubts we all hold within us.
As I now find myself pursuing poetry further, continually jotting down rhymes and finishing stanzas, I wanted to ask her one thing before I let her continue on with a presumably busy schedule of balancing being a mother and running the press. I posited the question of, to those like me, nervous types, those who feel scared of judgement, what would you say? ‘Everybody is so supportive in poetry, so if you are shaking or making it really obvious that you’re super nervous, people will be incredibly supportive of you and help you to embrace that’. Poetry is a medium of unified support as Kenny’s beautiful statement illustrates, her work continues to inspire people like me who feel afraid or overlooked, setting a precedent of overcoming their trauma and granting them a firm slipper when the black dog dares to snoop around. I want to leave you with something Rebecca said when asked what poetry means to her, ‘be vulnerable, that’s what poetry is about’. A succinct illustration of her impassioned and candid answers, Kenny turned the lemons life gave her into lemonade, detailing to the rest of us, filled with our clouded vision of doubts and self criticism, that there is no better time to simply pursue that which you love. Would Kenney have seen herself in 2020 founding an independent press? I highly doubt it, though it was this pursuit of her passion which led to the formation of Bent Key and the unparalleled upheaval they have undertaken for Manchester’s poetry scene, that is passion, truly.
Further links:
- Interviewee – Rebecca Kenny – @RebeccaKennyWrites on instagram.
- The Bent Key website – https://www.bentkeypublishing.co.uk/