Marking the 60th anniversary of the 1965 Motown Revue arriving in the UK -
An international poetry competition with a first prize of £1,000.
The motorcitysixty poetry competition opens on 14 December 2024 and closes on 20 March 2025.
Tell us your own 'motorcity' stories in poetry!
Scroll down for further details and rules for entry...
What do Kiki Dee, Bruce Willis, the Pretty Things and Langston Hughes have in common? They all signed to Motown, the company that was the soundtrack to the sixties, promoting artists in every decade of the last fifty years, with a lasting impact on the lives of millions of people around the world, and that probably means you too!
The Motown Revue tour of the UK in 1965 featured The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and Martha Reeves & The Vandellas.
motorcitysixty poetry competition and Clevedon LitFest are delighted to have recruited Grammy-nominated Adam White as our guest judge for this competition.
A frequent contributor to Music Week, NME, Melody Maker, Rolling Stone and Mojo, Adam has been in the music business for more than 50 years. Previously, Adam was editor-in-chief of Billboard magazine, and was historical consultant for the 2023 BBC-TV documentary, When Motown Came To Britain.
Adam is probably best known for Motown: The Sound of Young America (Thames & Hudson, 2016) his most recent book, written with Berry Gordy's right-hand man, Barney Ales. Ten years in the making, Motown: The Sound of Young America is the definitive, beautifully produced visual history of Motown, the most successful independent record company in the world.
The book is a spectacular labour of love, befitting the incredible story of a label which, like no other, defined popular music in the second half of the 20th century. The stars of Motown are described as suave, sassy and sophisticated, the label shaping the careers of so many of the greatest musicians of all time.
Motown produced more US number-one hits than the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys combined, achieving, over two decades, 53 number one hits from a total of 179 top ten classics. Its songs have been covered by artists too numerous to mention, including everyone from Frank Sinatra to the Flying Lizards, via Frankie Valli, the Beatles and the Stones.