Sunday, December 17, 2006

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Please note, there will be no more postings on POETS ON FIRE until after the Christmas & New Year break.

I expect there are some live poetry events on in the UK over the next fortnight, for those with no presents to buy, turkeys to incinerate, or duvets to hide under if not celebrating, but I intend taking this festive time off for some rest and writing of my own, so I would like to wish all my readers and browsers a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and best wishes for the New Year.

Please do come back from the first few days of January onwards to find out what's going on in live UK poetry in 2007.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Broadcast Special at the PoCaff: TONIGHT!

BROADCAST END OF YEAR SPECIAL READING


Thursday 14th December 2006 at 7.30pm
The Poetry Studio, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden £5/4

Simon Barraclough
Matthew Caley
Melanie Challenger
Tim Cumming
Abi Curtis
Inua Ellams
Lara Frankena
Daisy Hirst
John Stammers
Mark Waldron
Sinead Wilson


hosted by Roddy Lumsden

Some of BroadCast / FourCast's favourite readers over the past two years return.
All poets will read a few of their poems and a guest poem by another poet. PLEASE NOTE: The Poetry Cafe will close for the festive season on Friday 22nd December.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Open Mic in Birmingham this Sunday 17th December

Latest Midlands open mic news just in ...
"This coming Sunday, there's an open mic/live music gig at the Victoria pub, behind the Alexandra theatre in Birmingham. Starts 2pm - till late, all welcome. Here's a quick summary of what's on. And it's all FREE!

Open mic from 2 til 6 then more in the evening. Special guests
throughout the day including burlesque from Birmingham's Those Pesky
Scallywags! and The Glitter Kittens from Manchester. Live poetry from
the likes of Brendan Higgings, Louis Campbell and Richard Clay plus many of the Midlands' upcoming new faces. Showcase acoustic slots from Mike Bethel, Stourbridge's Tim Parkes, Dik Guru and more, plus some very big surprises and a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Get there early to avoid disappointment and a damn good seat. Free
food and roast potatoes included!"

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Not Just a Game: Sporting Poems Anthology Launch in Leicester: TONIGHT!

Five Leaves Publications and the PGCE English course,
University of Leicester have pleasure in inviting you
to the Leicester launch of

Not Just a Game:
an anthology of sporting poetry (including a snooker poem by the editor of this site, Jane Holland!) edited by Andy Croft and Sue Dymoke

6.00 – 7.30pm, Tuesday 12th December

Library Hall, School of Education,
21, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RF

Readings by local contributors including
Adrian Buckner, Sue Dymoke, Rosie Garner and John Lucas
and performances given by student volunteers

POETRY IDOL at Shortfuse: Thursday 14th December

POETRY IDOL RIVAL IDOLS 3

Thursday 14th December

Join us for our SHORTFUSE xmas party - POETRY IDOL RIVAL IDOLS 3 - in
which YOU the audience get to vote which performer will win a feature
length set in the new year.

Featuring Ahren Warner, Musa Okwonga, Joshua Ehi Edihen, Scroobius Pip, and Tim Clare. PLUS the usual SHORTFUSE seasonal mayhem...a special festive guest.

PLUS the outstanding jazz-folk vocalist GWYNETH HERBERT... "A voice that's a knowing mix of honey, steel and gravel... Her voice vibrating over the lyrics in a way that makes your toes curl" - The Observer

With Resident Host: NATHAN PENLINGTON - 'A natural performer, witty, inventive, stylish and original' - Rob Newman

'...has little in common with Eminem...' - Metro

SHORTFUSE is on every Thursday @ The Camden Head, Camden Walk, Islington, London, N1

Tube: Angel.
Doors: 8.30pm. Admission: £5 waged / £3 concessions.

SOME SHOWS DO SELL OUT - so, if there is a show you really don't want to
miss our advice is to reserve tickets with us in advance. Just email your
full name, the number of tickets you require, and a contact telephone
number to: tickets@shortfuse.co.uk. We will hold them for you on the date
of the show, they will be available for collection upon payment at the
door between 8pm and 8.30pm.

THERE WILL ALSO BE A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS AVAILABLE ON THE DOOR

Are you part of the myspace.com revolution? If so, come and make friends:
www.myspace.com/shortfuselondon

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Project Adorno et al performances: Wednesday 13th December

Steve Lake performs spoken word in support of Project Adorno at the Art House Cafe, 10 Western Road, Hove, BN3 1AE

on Wednesday 13th December at 7.30pm

£4/£3 (conc) - Click here for map

Also performing will be Project Adorno, Pog, We Am Janet and John Citizen.
Info: Praveen 07944 627 876
www.projectadorno.net

Magic Urbanism: Tues 12th - Sun 17th December

MAGIC URBANISM (Tues 12-Sun 17 Dec 2006): poetry, mince pies & 'turrón'

http://sarezale.com/magic_urbanism
Sina Shamsavari (graphic art)
http://www.boycrazyboy.com
Ernesto Sarezale (texts and live installation)
http://www.sarezale.com/portrait.html

OPENING NIGHT: Wednesday 13th December from 8pm
live event including performances by:
Tonny Ajoup, Adrian Fisher, Mabel Encinas, Luna
Montenegro, Sarah Reilly, Ernesto Sarezale, Kelly
Sommers...


@ THE FOUNDRY (double vaulted room downstairs)
86 Great Eastern Street London EC2A 3JL
Old Street tube (exit3)

http://www.foundry.tv

http://www.sarezale.com
http://www.myspace.com/sarezale

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Raworth & O'Sullivan reading: Friday 15th December

Tom Raworth and Maggie O'Sullivan will be reading at Kingston University on Friday 15 December from 7pm, followed by a question and answer session.

The reading will take place in TH4 (Town House) at the Penrhyn Road site, Kingston. Please see the link below for a map of the site showing where Town House is located.
MAP

For those coming from London, go by rail from Waterloo to Surbiton station and then take any bus going in the direction of Kingston. All buses stop outside the Penrhyn Rd campus.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Christopher Reid at the Poets' Cafe in Reading: Friday 15th December

Poets' Café with Christopher Reid

Reading’s longest-running poetry event, renowned for the quality of its open mic readers, its enthusiastic audiences and fine guest poets, takes place at South Street Arts Centre at 21 South Street in Reading, RG1 4QU, on the third Friday of every month. The open mic space is available for both the experienced and the new to the scene to share some of their own work, as well as a longer reading by a specially invited guest poet.

On Friday 15th December Poets’ Café special guest is Christopher Reid, well-known British poet and former poetry editor at Faber.

Entry is £6/£4(concessions and readers) on the door, or in advance from 0118 9606060. Doors open at 8pm for 8.30pm start to the poetry. Arrive early to sign up to read.

Matt Nunn Launch in Coventry: Wednesday 13th December

The launch of HAPPY COS I'M BLUE, the first collection of poetry by MATT NUNN, will be on the evening of WEDNESDAY 13TH December, starting at 7:30pm at the Liquid Bar in Coventry City Arcade.

This is the first in Heaventree's series of Arts Council funded paperbacks, and given the elements of dialect and public art which characterise Matt Nunn's poetry, the launch promises to mark a significant moment for literature in Coventry and the wider West Midlands. Please do come along and support the flowering local poetry scene in Coventry. Entry is free, and signed copies of the book will be available at a promotional rate of £6.

You can also hear Matt Nunn recite some poetry on BBC CWR's football programme 'Hawaii Five-Nil' this Saturday. Tune in at 1:00pm to 94.8, 104 & 103.7 FM, he's not to be missed!

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Poet's Letter at the PoCaff: Monday 11th December

Poet's Letter Magazine Poetry Performance and Live Music for December is on Monday, 11th December, 7 pm at Poetry Cafe, Covent Garden.

This Month will Feature most, if not all, of the five Poets in Residence at 2nd London Poetry Festival 2006: Alan Buckley, Dr Girija Shettar, Luke Wright, Malgorzata Kitowski and Philip Ruthen in addition to Munayem Mayenin and Open Mic session too. This performance would bring their residencies to a close and another five poets would be offered the residencies for next festival. There is music from legendary Johnny Vallon and a few other new musical act.

Tickets: £5/£3 Cons

Hoping to make it a Early Christmas Party! Come along with friends. For more info please contact 07809 682 065 or editor@poetsletter.com

The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street
Covent Garden
London WC1
Nearest tube: Covent Garden or Holborn

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Ann Drysdale launch: Newport on Sunday 10th December

Launch of Real Newport by Ann Drysdale.

The venue for this poetry event is Newport Library, John Frost Square, Newport, where it will take place from 1pm to 2.45pm on Sunday December 10th. Ann Drysdale will be interviewed by Peter Finch. For further information please contact Seren Books on 01656 663018.

Breaking' Out at the Masque Bar, London: Wednesday 6th December

Breakin' Out!

Masque Bar Barbican, 1-5 Long Lane Road, London EC1A, featuring Heather Brooks, Lucy Brooks, Honest, Niall Spooner Harvey
Wednesday 6 December 2006
8pm

Entrance charge: £3

DJ, late bar, some free wine!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

New Writing from Coventry: a LAUNCH on Tuesday December 5th

Just a reminder of this event later today ...

SHERB: new urban writing from Coventry

edited by Jonathan Morley and Anthony Owen, and including poems by Jane Commane, Colin Dick, Jane Holland, Barry Patterson, George Ttoouli, Claire King and Michael McKimm, with photographs of the River Sherbourne by Jane Commane and cover artwork by Paul Blakemore

The featured poets belong to a group which meets informally in the Tin Angel bar in Coventry city centre on the first Tuesday of every month. Since its inception by Heaventree in 2003 the event - 'Nightblue Fruit' - has become recognised in the West Midlands as a spawning ground for new ideas and poetic collaborations: anarchic, outspoken and rooted in a makeshift local literary tradition that can reconcile John Hewitt with the football stadium, Philip Larkin with the Gypsy song and the ghazal. Loosely plotted around Coventry's river, the Sherbourne or 'Bright Stream', now a polluted trickle flowing in culverts beneath the city, the collection illustrates how regional literatures find voice in response to a specific time and locale.

LAUNCH NIGHT: Tuesday 5th December, The Tin Angel bar, Spon Street, Coventry, 8:30pm

40pp chapbook. ISBN 978-1-906038-14-4. Price £3.99.

FARRAGO UK SLAM! LONDON: Friday 15th December

The Farrago UK SLAM! Championships Finals 2006

Friday, 15th December at 7:30pm, at the George Bernard Shaw Theatre @ RADA, Malet St, WC1. Goodge St Tube

Qualification round – open to ANY poet, followed by the Finals of Europe’s longest running National Slam! Sign up @ 7pm.

+ Features guests including: Denise Atherley, Fran Landesman & other special guests to be confirmed. Emcee: John Paul O’Neill.

Tickets: £6/£5 (In advance). RADA Box Office: 0207 908 4800. (10am - 6pm). Information: 07905078376. farragopoetry@yahoo.co.uk. www.myspace.com/farragopoetry

Event supported by Forward Press.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Poetry @ The Room (London): Wednesday 6th December

Poetry@TheRoom

The Room, 33 Holscombe Road, Tottenham Hale, London N17 9AS
at 7.30pm on Wednesday 6th December
Featuring Ifor Thomas, Jackie Wills, Musa Okwonga & Rhian Edwards, with Father Christmases Richard Tyrone Jones and Anthony Howell

www.the-room.org.uk

FREE MULLED WINE ALL NIGHT! & mince pies.

The Room, 33 Holcombe Road,
Tottenham Hale N17 9AS.

Nearest tube Tottenham Hale/Seven Sisters.
Buses: 41, 123, 192, 230, W4, 123, 243, 259, 279, 318, 349, 476, W4.
24 hour: 149, 341, night: N76, N243, N279.
£5/3 concs
Tel: 0208 808 9318
Email: info-theroom@fsmail.net.

Beware! 'The Room' does look like a normal house (from the outside)
THE ROOM THANKS ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND FOR ITS SUPPORT AND WILL BE BACK IN APRIL 2007! New poets & writers please bring along or send a CD or other material to The Room."

Gregson & Caldwell at the Swedenborg Institute: Tuesday 5th December

New Writing Readings 2006, featuring Ian Gregson and Lucy Caldwell

Swedenborg Institute, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A, at 2pm on Tuesday 5th December.

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided. Please note time: this is an AFTERNOON reading.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Seconds Out SLAM! in Manchester: Tuesday 5th December

Seconds Out! Slam

Contact Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester M15 6JA
7.30pm, Tuesday 5th December
Apples & Snakes presents Seconds Out! Slams

Special guests:
Earthy Funk Queen - EBELE
Hiphop Metaphysics from MARTIN DAWS

180 secs to rock or shock the mic!
Winners picked by audience response
Featuring All Star Special Guests

Slammers must book in advance!
£4/£2.50 concs. Box office: 0161 274 0600

NOT WORD! at Leicester: Wednesday 6th December

NOT WORD!
Wednesday 6th December, 8pm onwards
Bambu Bar, Welford Road
FREE EVENT

"The Word is dead! Long live the Word!
Well - not dead exactly, more like on holiday. With Leicester's premier open mic. night on hiatus until the new year the audience have taken over the stage to give you - Not Word! With no MC and no guest act ANYTHING might happen. Why not come along and find out what does happen. Bring some words (either on paper or in your head) to share with the audience or just turn-up, sit back and watch the chaos unfold."

Friday, December 01, 2006

Not Just a Game: Sporting Poems Anthology Launch: Monday 4th December in Middlesborough

Launch of Not Just a Game: Sporting Poems, edited by Andy Croft and Sue Dymoke

Not Just a Game is a unique archive of modern British sporting life - angling, boxing, canoeing, cricket, darts, golf, motorcycling, netball, polo, rugby, rowing, running, skating, snooker, swimming and tennis - as recorded by contemporary poets like WH Auden, Wendy Cope, James Berry, John Betjeman, Jean Binta Breeze, PG Wodehouse, Carol Ann Duffy, Ted Hughes, Helen Dunmore, Douglas Dunn, Selima Hill, Sean O'Brien, Roger McGough and Jane Holland.



The book celebrates individual achievement and collective effort, personal satisfaction and public pride, superhuman endurance and skill exchanged for the rewards of immortality. From the first length to the final frame, the egg and spoon race to the Cup Final, from Jack Hobbs to Brian Clough, Centre Court to the Great North Run, Not Just a Game captures the tension and the laughter, the pain and the pleasure, and the blood, sweat and tears.

Venue: Sam's Place, Middlesbrough
Start time: 19:30 Mon 4 December 2006
Website: www.fiveleaves.co.uk/poetry.html#game

Admission free.

Sam's Place
144 Linthorpe Road
Middlesbrough
TS1 3QW

*

N.B. Includes a humble effort of my own in the form of Baize Queens, a blunt poem on the trials of women snooker players!

Jane (Ed.)

Joolz in Gateshead: TONIGHT!

An Evening with Joolz Denby

Caedmon Hall, Gateshead
Friday 1 December 2006
Joolz Denby has been a professional writer, spoken-word performer and
illustrative artist for over 25 years. Her latest novel, Billie Morgan,
was shortlisted for The Orange Prize for literature 2005.

For more details, including times and how to book tickets, see www.literaturenortheast.co.uk.

Literature Lounge at the London PoCaff: TONIGHT!

Friday 1st December at 7pm sees the Literature Lounge event taking place at the Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden, London. It's apparently "an eclectic night of spoken word and acoustic music with regular contributions from Shepherds Bush, Uxbridge and Harrow writers collectives."

Host for the evening is Anjan Saha. Entry fee is £5 or £3 concessions. Covent Garden tube.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

SHERB - New Writing from Coventry: a LAUNCH EVENT on Tuesday December 5th

SHERB: new urban writing from Coventry

edited by Jonathan Morley and Anthony Owen, and including poems by Jane Commane, Colin Dick, Jane Holland, Barry Patterson, George Ttoouli, Claire King and Michael McKimm, with photographs of the River Sherbourne by Jane Commane and cover artwork by Paul Blakemore

The featured poets belong to a group which meets informally in the Tin Angel bar in Coventry city centre on the first Tuesday of every month. Since its inception by Heaventree in 2003 the event - 'Nightblue Fruit' - has become recognised in the West Midlands as a spawning ground for new ideas and poetic collaborations: anarchic, outspoken and rooted in a makeshift local literary tradition that can reconcile John Hewitt with the football stadium, Philip Larkin with the Gypsy song and the ghazal. Loosely plotted around Coventry's river, the Sherbourne or 'Bright Stream', now a polluted trickle flowing in culverts beneath the city, the collection illustrates how regional literatures find voice in response to a specific time and locale.

LAUNCH NIGHT: Tuesday 5th December, The Tin Angel bar, Spon Street, Coventry, 8:30pm

40pp chapbook. ISBN 978-1-906038-14-4. Price £3.99.

Four Continents Slam in Newcastle: Thursday 30th November

The Four Continents SLAM! reaches Newcastle on Thursday 30th November - you can find them at The Cluny, 36 Lime St - 0191 2331113.

Scroll down a few posts for the full details of this SLAM! tour.

Buzzwords in Cheltenham: THIS Sunday 4th December

This Sunday 3rd December: Upstairs at the Beehive, Montpellier, Cheltenham

BUZZWORDS - open mic poetry with Guest Poet Steve Rooney

7pm - Writing time: Workshop led by guest poet
8pm – Guest poet reading and open mic
Come at 7pm if you want to write, 8pm if you don’t.
There will be open mic spots available; first come, first served.

For December's open mic, it has been suggested that some may like to read their favourite poems by others.

*

"If you've never been before, the Buzzwords workshop & poetry reading experience in Cheltenham comes highly recommended: warm supportive atmosphere, appreciative audience, always a guest poet worth listening to, plus some interesting and talented regulars at the poetry open mic."

Jane Holland

Over the Edge in Galway: Thursday December 14th

Over The Edge in association with Poetry Ireland presents a reading by Medbh McGuckian

The final Over The Edge: Open Reading of 2006 takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, December 14th, 6.30-8pm. The Featured Readers are Cate Huguelet, Hugh Doyle & Medbh McGuckian.

As usual there will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details contact 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland and The Arts Council

http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Penned in the Margins @ EleFest: TOMORROW!

PENNED IN THE MARGINS @ ELEFEST

Friday 1 December, 8pm – midnight, £2 entry, at Steedman Street SE17 3AF (Elephant & Castle tube)

Featuring Tim Wells, Nathan Penlington, Aoife Mannix, Ventriloquist, Heather Taylor, Le Couteau Jaune, Tamsin Kendrick, Baden Prince Jr, Tom Chivers & more!

"You’ve heard stanzas in Shoreditch, rhymes under the arches in Herne Hill and haikus in Hampstead. Now PENNED IN THE MARGINS returns south of the river for a night of staggeringly good poetry in Elephant & Castle. We’ve brought together some of the finest poets on the London scene as part of Elefest 2006. And if you thought we’d gone all high-class in North London, you’ll be relieved to hear that our venue is a large empty retail unit. There’s no cloakroom, no staff, no bar. So bring your own booze … and a rug for the floor!

Steedman Street is off the Walworth Road, opposite Heygate Street. Spitting distance from Elephant & Castle tube (Northern Line). Follow the signs to the poetry! Check out the Multimap here!

More information from www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk and www.elefest.org.uk"

Tom Chivers

Carlton Poets in Weston: Thursday November 30th

Thursday November 30th.
Time: 7.30
Price: £ 1.00
Carlton Poets Poetry Night

at The Carlton Centre
Carlton Street
Weston-super-Mare.

Last Thursday of each month.
All poets and acoustic performers welcome.

To check that this regular South-West event is running as usual, email junebastable@tiscali.co.uk or tel. 07748 974 942

Annie Freud at St. Andrews: Wednesday November 29th

Annie Freud Poetry Reading

Part of the University of St Andrews English Seminar Programme. The event is free and wine will be served. All welcome. For more information please call the School of English on 01334 462666.

Wednesday November 29th at 5.15pm

Free

at Room 30, Castle House, University of St Andrews.

Open Mic Poetry in Croydon: Friday 1st December

Poets Anonymous

Poetry at the Dog and Bull, Surrey Street, Croydon, Surrey
From 8pm
Floor spots - bring your own poems and sign up to read

1st December

£2 waged, £1 unwaged.

Contact Peter for further details: peter@poetsanon.org.uk
020 8645 9956

Bristol Folk House Poetry: Saturday 16th December

Have a Singing Ringing Time @
A FOLK HOUSE BENEFIT NIGHT in Bristol
on Saturday 16th December
Doors 7.30pm

Bristol Folk House, 40a Park St. Bristol BS1
Poets - Nathan Filer, Lucy English, Mo The People's Nun
& music by More Silage and Cute Loony

Show 8.00
Tickets £5/ £3 @ Folk House or on door
ffi Rosemary 0777 154 6919

www.big-mouth-poetry.co.uk
www.rosemarydun.co.uk

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Raworth & O'Sullivan at Kingston University: Friday 15th November

Advance Warning!

Two giants of modern poetry, Tom Raworth and Maggie O'Sullivan, will be reading at Kingston University on Friday 15 December from 7pm, followed by a question and answer session.

The reading will take place in TH4 (Town House) at the Penrhyn Road site, Kingston. Please see the link below for a map of the site showing where Town House is located.

Download Map (PDF)

For those coming from London, go by rail from Waterloo to Surbiton station and then take any bus going in the direction of Kingston. All buses stop outside the Penrhyn Rd campus.

Monday, November 27, 2006

UTTER! 11 in London: Wednesday 29th November

Utter Poetry! 11

Salisbury Hotel, 1 Grand Parade, Green Lanes, London N4 1JX
8pm start on Wednesday 29 November 2006

Featuring Vic Lambrusco, Anthony Howell, Viv Fogel, Wizard of Skill, plus open mic competition

For more details, contact richardtyronejones@hotmail.com

Utter! is presented by Word for Word Wood Green writing group and thanks Arts Council England for their support.

Tube: Turnpike Lane / Manor House.
Bus: 141, 29, 41, 67.

Website: www.myspace.com/utterpoetry
Cost: FREE!!

Back Room Poets Open Mic: TONIGHT in Oxford

Oxford's BACK ROOM POETS have their last open mic of 2006 TONIGHT (4th Monday of every month at Far from the Madding Crowd, a pub on Friars Entry in the city centre) so if you're in the vicinity, get down there for about 8pm and wow them with your material. And your poems.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Four Continents Slam: Tour Dates 2006

ON TONIGHT IN LEICESTER! (Sunday 26th November) and elsewhere across the country for the next month

Poetry promoters Write Out Loud, and Oxford’s Hammer and Tongue - one of the most important international slam promoters - bring some of the world’s best spoken word artists – from Africa, North America, Europe and Australasia - for “The Four Continents Poetry Slam Tour” - high-octane, highly entertaining performance poetry competitions where audiences judge with an Olympic-style scoring system.

Performance poetry has launched the careers of artists such as Ani De Franco, Saul Williams, Phil Jupitus and Craig Charles. Since the first, in Chicago in 1984, they have spread worldwide. Every major US city has them, and thousands flock to the annual National Poetry Slam. They are growing in Australia, New Zealand and Africa, and some of the biggest are in central Europe and the UK, whose Elvis McGonagall took the current World Slam Champion title at the World Slampionships in Rotterdam this spring. Each country represented: USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, South Africa, Botswana, Australia and New Zealand, will bring a different culture; each performer a distinctive style.

Write Out Loud’s Julian Jordon explains: “This will be a night to remember, with a fascinating variety of styles from Canada’s John Akpata’s political hip hop with fast-paced intelligent lyrical sophistication, through Botswana’s Andreattah Chuma’s softer, more soulful vibe, to Elvis McGonagall’s hilarious, hard-hitting political satire and impressions.

TOUR DATES FOR 2006:
Leicester - Sunday 26th Nov - Firebug, 1 Millstone Lane - no phone contact available
Leeds - Monday 27th Nov - The Brudenell Social Club, 33 Queens Rd - 0113 2752411
Bolton - Tuesday 28th Nov - The Phoenix, Montgomery House, Bark Street - 01204 535861
Nottingham - Wed 29th Nov - Canal House, 48-52 Canal St - 0115 9555060
Newcastle - Thursday 30th Nov - The Cluny, 36 Lime St - 0191 2331113
Glasgow - Saturday 2nd Dec - The Hlat Bar, 160 Woodlands Rd - 0141 3529996
Edinburgh - Sunday 3rd Dec - Bongo Club, 37 Holyrood Rd - 0131 5587604
Brighton - Monday 4th Dec - Komedia, 44 Gardner St - 01273 647100
Oxford - Tuesday 5th Dec - Zodiac, 190 Cowley Rd - 01865 420042
Reading - Wednesday 6th Dec - South St Arts Centre, 21 South St - 0118 9015234
Bristol - Thursday 7th Dec - The Polish Club, 50 St Pauls Rd, Clifton - 07771 900583

Where possible, talented regulars at each venue will also perform.

Checkout http://www.writeoutloud.net//public/index.php

The Artists:
Europe:
Elvis McGonagall (Scotland) - The current world slam champion
Henry Bowers (Sweden) - World slampionships runner-up 2005
Africa:
Kojo Baffoe (South Africa) - Monstafunk productions supreme
Andreattah Chuma (Botswana) - Star of Exodus Live Poetry
North America:
John Akpata (Canada) - Capital Slam Champion 2005
Sonya Renee - 2004 US National Slam Champion
Australasia
Penny Ashton (New Zealand) - Critically acclaimed comedy poet
Thom the World Poet (Aus) – Legendary traveling street poet

Hosted by:
Julian Jordon - co-founder, Write Out Loud
Steve Larkin - Spoken Word Olympic International Champion

Poetry for Oxfam in London: Tuesday November 28th

Oxfam Winter Reading

at Oxfam Books & Music, 91 Marylebone High Street, W1

Ros Barber (new collection from Anvil due out 2007)
Katy Evans-Bush (widely-published poet featured in The Like Of It, Baring & Rogerson)
Ruth Fainlight (winner of the Hawthornden and Cholmondeley Awards; author of Moon Wheels, Bloodaxe, 2006)
Tobias Hill (novelist and poet, pictured below, author of The Cryptographer and Nocturne In Chrome & Sunset Yellow)



Michael Rosen (broadcaster and lecturer; Selected Poems is forthcoming from Penguin, February 2007)
Eva Salzman (author of Double Crossing: New & Selected Poems, Bloodaxe).

Hosted by Todd Swift, Oxfam Poet in Residence (and famous poetry blogger!)

Admission free, suggested donation £6
Please contact Martin Penny to reserve seats
Telephone: 020 7487 3570; email: oxfammarylebone@hotmail.com"

Drew Milne and Allen Fisher London reading: Tuesday 28th November

Parasol Unit Reading

Parasol Unit is located at 14 Wharf Road, London N1, near the Old Street and Angel tube stations. This event takes place on Tuesday, 28 November, at 6:30 pm, and features poets Allen Fisher & Drew Milne.

"Allen Fisher, poet, painter, publisher, editor and art historian, has produced over one hundred and thirty chapbooks and books of poetry, graphics, and art documentation. He is Professor of Poetry & Art and Head of Contemporary Arts at the Manchester Metropolitan University Cheshire, Alsager. His last three books were Place (Reality Street); Entanglement (The Gig), and Gravity (Salt Publications).

Drew Milne's books of poetry include Sheet Mettle (Alfred David Editions), Bench Marks (Alfred David Editions), The Damage: new and selected poems (Salt), Mars Disarmed (The Figures), and most recently Go Figure (Salt). His work is featured in numerous collections and anthologies, notably Conductors of Chaos, edited by Iain Sinclair (Picador) and Anthology of Twentieth-Century British and Irish Poetry, ed. Keith Tuma (Oxford University Press). He edits the occasional journal Parataxis: modernism and modern writing and the poetry imprint Parataxis Editions."

Saturday, November 25, 2006

DON'T FEED THE POETS!: Sunday December 3rd, Leamington Spa

"After a great night last month with Julie Boden and Natasha Godfrey, PureandGoodandRight rolls on into a new month with another unmissable night of poetic entertainment, and this time it's the boys' turn!

DON'T FEED THE POETS are three lads from Brighton who will shake the cobwebs from the darkest recesses of your mind and tickle you in places you've never been tickled... simultaneously! There'll be open mic too - last week we had at least 5 Laureates, 3 slam finalists and a couple of virgins, something for everyone!"

Date: Sunday, December 3rd

Venue: "the fox", Clarendon Avenue Leamington Spa CV32 4ZR

Time: Open Mic bookings from 7.30pm (limited spaces, first come first served), performance starts 8pm prompt

Guests: Don't Feed the Poets: Jonny Fluffypunk, Justin Rhyme & Paul Stone

HOST: Sean Kelly, MC

Admission: £3 (Student & OAP £2)

John Hegley & Friends do Saturday Morning Elevenses at the PoCaff: TODAY!

John Hegley and friends are celebrating Elevenses this morning at 11am at the Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton St., Covent Garden, London.

Shades of Saturday morning at the pictures ... Hegley is offering Saturday morning poetry instead and the cafe will be serving breakfast - it's a great way to start the weekend!

Friday, November 24, 2006

Performing Arts Showcase planned for Birmingham 2007

deciBel: Performing Arts Showcase Birmingham 2007

The showcase will present some of the most dynamic and cutting edge performance artists of African, Asian and Caribbean descent, based in England.

Organisers are keen to hear from professional musicians, dancers, live arts or theatre practitioners, street artists, carnivalists or spoken word artists who wish to showcase professional quality tour-ready or work-in-process pieces.

There will also be opportunities to pitch conceptual ideas to showcase delegates.
The audiences for the showcase are influential national and international producers, programmers, promoters, venue managers, artistic directors and agents.

For further information and showcase queries visit www.decibelpas07.co.uk or contact Fierce Earth – tel. 0121 244 8083 or e-mail; decibel@fierceearth.com. For all other enquiries contact Arts Council England, 0845 300 6200 or e-mail decibel@artscouncil.org.uk.

Closing date for submission of all applications: 4th December
The showcase will take place 3-7 September 2007

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Bring Yr Own Plonk & Poetry: Friday 1st December in London

Bring your own booze poetry larks in the Elephant on Friday 1st December @ Steedman Street, London, SE17:

"Forward Prize nominee and all-round poetry geezer Tim Wells is joined by the very funny Ventriloquist and the wondrous Aoife Mannix at this special spoken word event as part of this year's Elefest.

Also on the bill: Nathan Penlington, Heather Taylor, Le Couteau Jaune, Baden Prince Jr, Tamsin Kendrick and Tom Chivers.

The venue is an empty retail unit in Steedman Street, five minutes walk from Elephant & Castle tube. Map here. There's no bar so bring your own booze. Doors are at 8pm and we go on til late. Two pounds entry.

On another note, we're back at The Spitz on Wednesday 6 December with Catherine Anne Davies, Nigel Burch & The Fleapit Orchestra, Inua Ellams & Jamie Woon, Generation Txt. Tickets fiver here."

Urdu-Welsh Poetry Night: Friday 24th November

Friday 24/11/06

Bazm-e-Adab: Urdu-Welsh Poetry Night

With guest reader T. James Jones, this two tongue poetry event takes place at 8.00 pm on Friday 24th November, at the Unity Centre, 50-52 Loudon Square, Cardiff Bay.

Full event details from Mr Majeed, 029 2059 4857. Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Generation Txt Tour: Coming in 2007

GENERATION TXT, touring the UK in May/June 2007

Featuring: Joe Dunthorne, Inua Ellams, Laura Forman, Emma McGordon, Abigail Oborne, James Wilkes.

In a world of Blogs, iPods and txtspk, six of the UK’s most talented young writers speak out. Poems and lyrics about life, love and jellyfish in watercoolers, tea smuggling, urban regeneration and skinny-fit jeans. Internationally acclaimed poet Roddy Lumsden says ‘Generation Txt looks at all points of poetry’s star … which makes this selection of young writers more vital and a truer cross-section of the poetry that will progress and flourish’.

To accompany the brilliant new anthology Generation Txt, all six writers will be visiting the four corners of the UK in a specially produced live literature show that will appeal particularly to young people, budding scribblers and literary fanatics.

Contact Tom Chivers on info@pennedinthemargins.co.uk for bookings and further information.

POEJAZZI in London: Tuesday December 5th

POEJAZZI

Tuesday December 5th, 8pm doors for a 9pm start
Volupte Bar, No 9 Norwich street, off Furnival Street, EC4A 1EJ
(Close to Chancery lane Station, after MacDonalds)
£8 Reservations, £10 at the door.
Email: Lordgokal@hotmail.com
Myspace: www.myspace.com/poejazzi

"Once again, we're making the Cabaret Saloon Area (downstairs in the Volupte Bar) our base. A perfect blend of Jazz, Poetry and Acoustics will be on play throughout the night. Here is the line-up: Polar Bear, Scroobius PIP, Ayana Witter-Johnson, (Acoustics), Paul Sebastian (Jazz), plus Darth Ugandan (AKA MUSA) MC, and Ghetto Santa (AKA Josh) MC.

Seats will be available downstairs, with food, drink and cocktails. There will also be a drinks bar and smoking area upstairs. So come on down, alone or with friends. Relax yourself, and enjoy. Price: eight pounds entry fee if you reserve via telephone 0207-8311677 or 02078311622 And ten pounds on the door.

Very limited spaces available so book early!"

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Catweazle Club: live poetry every Thursday in Oxford!

The Catweazle Club: EVERY THURSDAY, 8pm, at the East Oxford Community Centre, corner of Cowley Road & Princes' Street, Oxford.

Oxford's legendary performing arts club

An intimate and magical space for musicians, singers, poets, storytellers and performance artists of every imaginable hue, who grace the stage every Thursday night. A chance to sit, to listen, to connect, to inspire and to be inspired …

Website: Catweazle Club

Ruth Padel reads Hopkins at the LRB: Thursday 23rd November

Ruth Padel: "Under the influence of Gerard Manley Hopkins"

Thursday 23rd November at 7pm

At the London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, London WC1A 2JL

Tickets: £10 (£5 LRB subscribers, Poetry Society members and concs).
Bookings: 020 7420 9895

Four Continents Slam in Bolton: Tuesday 28th November

Worldwide poetry slam – in Bolton!

Event: The Four Continents Slam - UK Tour
Date: Tuesday 28th November, 2006
Venue: Phoenix Youth Theatre, Bark Street, Bolton

Poetry promoters Write Out Loud, and Oxford’s Hammer and Tongue - one of the most important international slam promoters - bring some of the world’s best spoken word artists – from Africa, North America, Europe and Australasia - for “The Four Continents Poetry Slam Tour” - high-octane, highly entertaining performance poetry competitions where audiences judge with an Olympic-style scoring system.

Performance poetry has launched the careers of artists such as Ani De Franco, Saul Williams, Phil Jupitus and Craig Charles. Since the first, in Chicago in 1984, they have spread worldwide. Every major US city has them, and thousands flock to the annual National Poetry Slam. They are growing in Australia, New Zealand and Africa, and some of the biggest are in central Europe and the UK, whose Elvis McGonagall took the current World Slam Champion title at the World Slampionships in Rotterdam this spring. Each country represented: USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, South Africa, Botswana, Australia and New Zealand, will bring a different culture; each performer a distinctive style.

Write Out Loud’s Julian Jordon explains: “This will be a night to remember, with a fascinating variety of styles from Canada’s John Akpata’s political hip hop with fast-paced intelligent lyrical sophistication, through Botswana’s Andreattah Chuma’s softer, more soulful vibe, to Elvis McGonagall’s hilarious, hard-hitting political satire and impressions.

Also performing will be talented regulars at Write Out Loud’s Bolton poetry events.

Checkout http://www.writeoutloud.net//public/index.php

The Artists:
Europe:
Elvis McGonagall (Scotland) - The current world slam champion
Henry Bowers (Sweden) - World slampionships runner-up 2005
Africa:
Kojo Baffoe (South Africa) - Monstafunk productions supreme
Andreattah Chuma (Botswana) - Star of Exodus Live Poetry
North America:
John Akpata (Canada) - Capital Slam Champion 2005
Sonya Renee - 2004 US National Slam Champion
Australasia
Penny Ashton (New Zealand) - Critically acclaimed comedy poet
Thom the World Poet (Aus) – Legendary traveling street poet

Hosted by:
Julian Jordon - co-founder, Write Out Loud
Steve Larkin - Spoken Word Olympic International Champion

Monday, November 20, 2006

Francois & Harrold have a Verbal Showdown in Uxbridge: Friday November 24th

Verbal Showdown: A Night of Performance Poetry

This takes place at Uxbridge Central Library, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1HD, on Friday 24th November, starring renowned poets Kat Francois and AF Harrold. Open Mic also available! So bring your latest poems.

Tickets: £3/£2. Book: 020 7924 3410. Info: www.applesandsnakes.org

"Performance poetry comes in many guises. And tonight two of its prime practitioners - Kat Francois and AF Harrold - ride into town and unleash a volley of words for your delectation and delight. There'll also be music from Boston songwriter Adam Paulleach and cellist Sian Hender, plus an open mic section for any poets who fancy bringing their own raps, rhythms and rhymes. So be our guest - take that mic. This show comes to you courtesy of Apples & Snakes in partnership with Literature Lounge and Hillingdon Libraries."

Comperes: Anjan Saha & Russell Thompson.

Poetry in Galway: Thursday November 23rd

NORTH BEACH POETRY NIGHTS is pleased to present Chloe Poems as SPECIAL GUEST POET on Thursday November 23rd, at 9pm at BK's Winebar, Spanish Parade, Galway.

Chloe Poems is one of the most radical forces on the British performance poetry scene and one of the most prodigiously gifted and accessible poets alive today. Chloe Poems has been described as ‘an extraordinary mixture of Shirley Temple and pornography.’

‘A compelling advocate, slamming out a verbal rhythm with the pugnacity of a bare-knuckle fighter’ The Independent

‘A massive rising star of enormous talent has emerged’ Gay Times

The Poetry Slam follows the usual format and welcomes newcomers. Please bring along two 3 minute pieces.

Admission 4 Euro. Info: John Walsh 091-5932390

NBN gratefully acknowledges the support of Galway City Council.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Morden Tower Poetry: Wednesday 22nd November

ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER at The Morden Tower, Newcastle Upon Tyne, on Wednesday 22nd November.

Taking inspiration from the D.I.Y ethos of punk rock, Attila the Stockbroker has performed over 2500 times since 1980. Featured by John Peel, a cover star of Melody Maker and one of the most sought after acts on the poetry and festival circuit, Attila is an impassioned and energetic performer often accompanying his poetic outbursts with mandola, violin and bass guitar. Having released 17 LPs and CDs and four volumes of poetry, he is a seasoned, spectacular and highly political rebel not afraid to say it how it is. Attila appears for a very special night at Morden Tower in conjunction with Newcastle's Northern Lights Film Festival as part of their punk retrospective.

Price £7/£6 advance only from NLFF Box Office (Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle.)

"The Morden Tower is located in an alley at the back of Stowell Street, Chinatown, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Which is why you can't find it on your SatNav. The alley entrance is next to Rosie's bar, opposite the Chinese Arch. Beware of the cobbles."

Find the above gem, a map and plenty more information about performances in the famous Morden Tower poetry venue at the Morden Tower website. Splendid!

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Matthew Hollis reading in Glasgow: Thursday 23rd November

On Thursday November 23rd at 7pm, St Mungo's Mirrorball present Matthew Hollis. Matthew Hollis is an editor at Faber and Faber and will read poems including poems from his first full-length collection Ground Water which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize for Poetry, and the Forward prize for best first collection Free

This event takes place in Glasgow, at The Poetry Club, The Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street.

Friday, November 17, 2006

The Exmen with Karine Betou: Music & Spoken Word in Glasgow, Wednesday November 22nd


The Ex-men (spoken word/electronica) avec special guest Karine Betou @ The Underworld (95 Union St, Glasgow)


Wednesday November 22nd at 8:30pm
www.myspace.com/theexmen

"The inspiration of Europe’s top two shopping capitals, The Ex-men are what happens when ten years of pop talent welcomes the occupant of a Montmartre attic back from self-imposed exile and takes him on a stroll down Sauchiehall Street. Matt Green and Jack Sims met in a previous incarnation in Stoke-on-Trent but are now a Glasgow outfit. Matt supplies the elecro ambience, bleepy drum and bass, funky guitar riffs and chemicals house, and Jack the cross-the channel, best-of-worlds/worst-of-worlds lyrics.

Playing both music and poetry venues over the last few months, The Ex-men have performed in Paris (giving an airing to some of their French language numbers such as C’est pas grave (see the myspace site), London (Shortfuse), Birmingham (ArtsFest), Edinburgh (busking @ the festival) and Glasgow (Localism, Pivo Pivo, Tchai Ovna…).
Next week they are in Glasgow @ The Underworld and the week after in Edinburgh @ The Beat Café Drop night (Nov 29, 8pm, The Queen Charlotte Rooms, 56a Queen Charlotte St, Leith)."

Touch Me, I'm Sick: Tuesday November 21st

Touch Me, I'm Sick!

"The next Touch Me I'm Sick is being held on Tuesday November 21st upstairs at The Old Crown on the corner of New Oxford Street and Museum Street WC1 (020 7836 9121). The Old Crown is 5 minutes walk from Holborn and 10 minutes walk from Covent Garden and Tottenham Court Road (you can get dinner there too).

This November 'Touch me I'm sick' will feature Former Glastonbury Slam winner and Edinburgh Festival regular Rachel Pantechnicon and Stalwart of British Rock and Roll Gerry Champion.

Five minute floor spots will be available on the night first come first served. Come and have a moan if you think your pain means enough.

The evening kicks off at 20.00ish and will cost you nothing—the bar is open till late."

Kevin Reinhardt
Mobile: 07749 637 022

P.S. Just in case you don't know who's who....

"Rachel Pantechnicon has been reading her poems in
public places for a long time, but prior to 1999 it
was chiefly in the London Borough of Merton, which
doesn't really count. She now specialises in
motivational poems for people and for cats. She has
recently returned from presenting her one-woman show
"Rachel Lets Her Emotions Run Away With Her" at the
Edinburgh Fringe, which saw her finally stepping out
from the shadow of ukulele-player Liz Bentley and just
being herself."

"Technicolour sunurban entertainment" - John Hegley

"I was weeing myself" - Sue Perkins

***** - Three Weeks, Edinburgh

Gerry Champion is a poet based in Essex, who has in his past worked for the legendary Joe Meek and been a member of the Monster Raving Looney Party.

Steve Tasane in 'Klepto': TONIGHT at the Barbican Library

Klepto: One Man's Journey Through Retail Hell

Barbican Library, Barbican Centre, London. Poet & performer Steve Tasane in a cabaret-style show fuses confessional comedy and performance poetry, on 17th November 2006 at 8pm.

www.barbican.org.uk
Tel: 0845 120 7500 - Tickets £10/£8

"An upbeat and deeply funny show on shop-lifting. Mixing stand-up, poetry and large trolleyfuls of fiction with true confessions of a former shop-lifter, acclaimed performer Steve Tasane shares a therapy trip he seldom had to pay for.

"a metaphoric masterpiece of hope, helplessness, ambition and desire." Cheltenham Festival Daily Review

In the guise of a reformed kleptomaniac, Tasane explores the phenomenon of shop-lifting, combining real life experience with close-ups at celebrity shop-lifters and notorious cheats including Richard Madeley and Major Charles Ingram. The show takes us to the heart of Steve's childhood, reared by a single mum on a Yorkshire council estate, to present-day obsessions with retail therapy and bling.

Steve Tasane is a writer and performer who has appeared all over the country, from Glastonbury Festival to The Barbican, and has been featured on Channel 4, BBC1, Radio 4 and Radio 1. His previous one-man show, 'The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner', has been acclaimed by the Edinburgh Fringe and Time Out. He is a former founder of Atomic Lip, 'poetry's first pop group' (The Independent) as featured on Channel 4's LitPop. He is author of the collection Bleeding Heart and his poetry is featured in Oral with Jarvis Cocker and Benjamin Zephaniah.

Klepto was originally developed as a work-in-progress for Survivors Poetry, Cheltenham Literature Festival and Soho Theatre, after which Tasane received funding from Arts Council England to develop it into a one-person show, with artistic direction by Melanie Abrahams and production by renaissance one.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Landfill Poets Launch: Friday 17th November

Landfill Press Launch Readings in Cambridge

Lloyd Room, Christ's College, Cambridge. Free admission. This reading takes place at 7.30 pm on Friday 17th November and features R.F. Langley, Richard Price, Peter Riley and Graeme Richardson. In association with Shearsman.

Landfill Press is pleased to announce the publication of
RICHARD PRICE: Earliest Spring Yet
ANDREW ZURCHER: coming home
GRAEME RICHARDSON: Hang Time


All books cost £3 each, or you can buy all 3 for £8 (+ p&p)
Check out the books here: www.landfillpress.co.uk

Open Mic with Julie Boden and Natasha Godfrey: TONIGHT!

Just as a reminder, the next "PUREandGOODandRIGHT" Open Mic poetry evening in the Leamington Spa area is coming up TONIGHT, with details as follows:

Date: Thursday, November 16th

Venue: The Fox, Clarendon Avenue, Leamington Spa, CV32 4ZR

Time: Open Mic bookings from 7.30pm (first come first served), performance starts 8pm prompt (food is served from 6-9pm and the menu's great!)

Guests: Julie Boden and Natasha Godfrey

Host: Sean Kelly

Admission: NO CHARGE! (We do pass round a hat so that you can show appreciation of our guest poets.) Please feel free to bring friends or extend this invitation to anyone who might be interested.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Speakeasy in Nottingham: TONIGHT!

Complex Trout Productions and The Alley Cafe present

'Speakeasy 55, performance poetry and spoken word'

@ The Alley Cafe, 1a Cannon Court, Nottingham (opposite Angel Row Library)
Wednesday 15th November, 2006
8pm onwards
FREE
Floor spots available

with special guest the inimitable John Berkavitch, and host Steve Carroll. The four continents slam is at Firebug in Leicester on Sunday 26th November. More details of that to follow.

Avocado Magazine launch with readings by McGuckian & Morley: Saturday 18th November

AVOCADO MAGAZINE – THE RELAUNCH

Saturday 18th November 2006, 5pm.

Lecture Theatre H051, Humanities Building, Library Road, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL

with MEDBH McGUCKIAN & DAVID MORLEY.

Refreshments provided.

This reading is free, though guests are encouraged to buy a copy of Avocado magazine, which also features work by the noted poets Robin Robertson, Robert Minhinnick, Michael Gardiner and others. The event has been programmed as the conclusion to a Humanities Research Centre doctoral conference on the intersections between Scottish, Welsh and Irish literatures and Postcolonial Theory, organised at the University of Warwick by award-winning PhD researchers Zoe Brigley and Jonathan Morley. See www2.warwick.ac.uk for more information on the conference and how to book.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Folkestone Literary Festival: ALL THIS WEEK

FOLKESTONE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2006

All this week there will be literary events - including poetry - happening at the Folkestone Literary Festival 2006. I would have liked to get there myself, having folks living in the vicinity, but alas, it was not to be. However, I can thoroughly recommend a glance at their programme which looks extremely varied and entertaining!

www.folkestonelitfest.co.uk.

WEDNESDAY POETRY EVENT with Open Mic

On Wednesday November 15th, at 8pm, you can enjoy 'The Living Room: Fringe Poetry Evening' at The Chambers, Folkestone. See website for more details of location. Entrance to this event is absolutely free!

"Anarchic, poignant, subversive and witty, the contributors to The Living Room continue Folkestone’s long tradition of vibrant live performance. New performers welcome. Strong language very possible!"

THURSDAY POETRY & PERFORMANCE EVENT

Showcasing some of the most exciting talent from the spoken word & performance poetry scene, this event features some poets who have appeared frequently on this blog, Aoife Mannix, Jacob Sam-La Rose, Niall O'Sullivan & Nii Ayikwei Parkes. It takes place on Thursday, November 16th at 8pm, at the Leas Club, The Leas, Folkestone CT20 2DP.

This event costs £4/3(conc.)

FARRAGO SLAM, LONDON: Thursday 16th November

Farrago Festival of Spoken Word 2006

The Farrago London SLAM! Championship Finals are on Thursday, 16th November at 7:30pm. Where? At the RADA Foyer Bar, Malet St, WC1. Nearest tube: Goodge St.

How to find it!

Europe’s longest running poetry SLAM!

Open to ANY London based poet qualifying round followed by the finals! Sign up at 7pm. More info for poets interested in the slam: HERE. Features including: Fran Landesman, jazz and spoken word diva, Helen Gregory, Bristol doctor of SLAM!, Rachel Pentechnicon, Motivational poetry for people and for cats. Queen of misplaced invective. Understands sprung rhythm like nobody since Gerard Manley Hopkin, Poppy Seed & Niall Spooner-Harvey, former London & UK SLAM! Champion.

Events emcee: John Paul O’Neill. Tickets: £6/£5.

Events supported by Forward Press. www.forwardpress.co.uk - Info: farragopoetry@yahoo.co.uk. Telephone: 07905078376. http://London.e-poets.net or find Farrago on
MySpace.

'Heartbeat's Poetry' in Liverpool: Thursday November 16th

Heartbeats Poetry

View Two Gallery on Matthew Street, Liverpool, at 8pm on Thursday November 16th, a poetry & music event featuring Sophie Hannah, Jo Colley, Angel Readman and Kate Fox.

Free entry

PLUS playing live: Jewel Thief (scratch'n'roll-blues-punk-dandies from Liverpool!)

www.myspace.com/heartbeatspoetry

Monday, November 13, 2006

Poetry in Leamington Spa: Thursday 16th November

PUREandGOODandRIGHT


Event: Open Mic Poetry Night with Special Guest Poets

Date: Thursday, November 16th

Venue: "The Fox", Clarendon Avenue, Leamington Spa CV32 4ZR

Time: Open Mic bookings from 7.30pm (first come first served), performance starts 8pm prompt (food is served from 6-9pm and the menu's great!)

Guests: Former Birmingham Poet Laureate Julie Boden and the new Apples & Snakes Co-ordinator for the West Midlands, Natasha Godfrey

Admission: NO CHARGE! (We do pass round a hat so that you can show appreciation of our guest poets)

Aisle16 in Whitechapel: Thursday 16th November

Stand Up Poetry - Aisle16 Scratch Night

Whitechapel, 80-82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX; 7pm on Thursday 16th November 2006. Tube: Aldgate East

www.whitechapel.org

Tel 020 7522 7888

The publicity material for this event says: "The boys present new work, derived from their seven-day tour of the UK's Motorway service stations. Free."

Worth a look, especially if you've never experienced Aisle16 before!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Poetry Shack with Roger Robinson: Tuesday 14th November

Poetry Shack in London with Open Mic: Roger Robinson



The Old Crown, 33 New Oxford Street, London; 7.30pm for 8pm on Tuesday 14th November 2006.

www.thepoetryshack.com.

brettvt@btinternet.com - Info: 020 8882 7891 / 020 7254 8220


£5 admission


Contact the organisers in advance for a floor spot!

Beckett & Gallagher reading in London: Tuesday 14th November

Chris Beckett and Katherine Gallagher

Crockatt & Powell bookshop, Lower Marsh, London SE1
7pm
Chris Beckett and Katherine Gallagher
14 November 2006

www.crockattpowell.com.

Penned in the Margins: Thursday 16th November

PENNED IN THE MARGINS presents MICHAEL HOROVITZ & MOAZZAM BEGG

Thursday 16 November, at the Everyman Cinema Club, 5 Holly Bush Vale, Hampstead NW3 6TX.

Tickets £11 (£9 concs) Box office 0870 066 4777

Readings and Q&A 8.30 – 11pm. www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk

MICHAEL HOROVITZ
The legendary beat poet, musician, artist and visionary returns to the place of his upbringing. An early champion of oral and jazz poetry whom Ginsberg called ‘a Cockney, Albionic, New Jerusalem, Jazz Generation, Sensitive Bard’, Michael Horovitz has battled for almost half a century to promote poetry, music and literature. Author of over thirty collections of poetry, Horovitz will read from his latest offering A New Waste Land: Timeship Earth at Nillennium, a verse and prose deconstruction of contemporary political, moral and ecological degeneration.

‘a dreamer, a maverick … transmedial crusader’ Martin Amis

MOAZZAM BEGG
From February 2002 to January 2005 Birmingham-born Moazzam Begg was imprisoned without charge or trial by the US government at Guantanemo Bay detainment camp, Cuba. In this exclusive appearance, Begg will read his own poems and extracts from Enemy Combatant, his shocking account of three years spent in captivity.

‘The guards on both sides held me up for a few steps, and I noticed the ground under my feet was very different from anything I'd seen in Afghanistan. There were small light-brown sun-baked rocks, it seemed a lot drier, hotter...and I could smell the sea. It was distinctly different to the smell of the sea in Britain. But I could definitely smell the sea.’ Enemy Combatant

Contact Tom Chivers on 020 7375 0258 or info@pennedinthemargins.co.uk for more information

Friday, November 10, 2006

Three Poets for the Price of One: Saturday 18th November


Performing at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster, as part of LitFest 06, 15 - 19th November, are Jacob Polley, Sean O'Brien & Don Paterson.

7.45pm
Saturday 18th November

Box Office Number: 0845 344 0642

Poets' Letter Night at the PoCaff: Monday 13th November

This is a message from
Munayem Mayenin
Editor
Poet's Letter Magazine
London
www.poetsletter.com

"Just to say that Poet's Letter Poetry Performance and Live Music at the Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden is taking place on Monday, 13th of Nov, at 7 pm.

The tickets are normally £6/£4 Cons but we are making this one a FREE Entry event for all who either subscribe to the Magazine (£33 for a year for 12 issues of at leat 52 pages and for Students its HALF PRICE £16.50 a year but they will have to subscribe for a year) or buy the October Issue of the Magazine. Magazine sells at £2.75 for 52 Pages, full colour and gloss.

People who subscribe to become One of 2000 subscribers of Poet's Letter Magazine (this is the campaign we are now running) would always pay HALF Price at all Poet's Letter Events.

As most of our Team Members would know that we are making this as an event where all our Team members (who can come along) join in, meet other colleauges and get to know them. So if you are in Poet's Letter Team or would like to be in it do come along. This invite is open to everyone who applied to join our Team and for some reasons or other we never managed to have effective communication (as in we called you were not available, you called we were unable to talk etc). Do join us on Monday evening.

There is Open Mic as usual and our Legendary Johnny Vallon's music.

We have now seen the DVD of second London Poetry Festival 2006. Absolutely brilliant recording! Thanks to Karl Troica the Cameraman and Recording Artist. Karl is now engaged in editing and putting this DVD together which would be on sale soon. People who would like to buy a copy of the DVD can do so on Monday. It would be £10.99 with FREE Postage and Packaging.

Poet's Reading: Munayem Mayenin, Philip Ruthen, Maggie Sullivan, Rebecca Atherton, Sharon Harriott, Francesca Preece and more. A lot of new voices.

Please note that the Editor's mobile has gone through a "massive technological shift" and ended up now as: 07809 682 065. Anyone wanting to talk to the Editor this is the number from where he cannot escape!"

FROM: Munayem Mayenin

Verbal Showdown from Apples & Snakes: Friday 24th November

24 November’s Verbal Showdown – we really take it to the limit: the limit of London. Uxbridge!

We’re rolling into town with poets Kat Francois and A F Harrold and putting on a joint show with a whole host of local talent. Go west!

Verbal Showdown
Uxbridge Central Library, High Street, UB8 1HD
Friday 24 November @ 7pn
Tickets: £3 / £2
Book: 020 7924 3410

Christmas Special Poetry: Thursday 21st November

Touch Me I'm Sick — Christmas Special

now at the special price of free! Ten floor spots up for grabs.

21 November 2006 at 20.00 (sign up for floor spots at 19.30)

Upstairs at the Old Crown Pub 33 New Oxford Street (On the corner of New Oxford Street and Museum Street) London WC1A 1BH. TEL: 020 7836 9121. Nearest tube stations Tottenham Court Road or Holborn

Two features, two halves, two Emcees, twelve poets. Get it off your chest and share the misery. The wonderful Rachel Pantechnicon will be as unsettling as only she can, and Kevin and James will be as childish as only they must. Relax in the plush interior of the Old Crown and abuse the late licence and easy access to late tubes and night buses. As it's Christmas we will be having a bit of a different format for the floor spots.

5 mins per slot, but this time you need to bring 2 poems.

One poem you get to read, the other poem you put in a lucky dip. The poem you put in the lucky dip is anonymous so should not have your name on it. So when you go up to do your bit for Christmas and Country, you'll be reading one of your poems and one from the lucky dip (Don't worry, we will be doing the draw from the dip ahead before we start the evening so you have some time to read it first).

Contact Telephone Number:

James Ó Nuanáin 07763 632 369

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Galway, Over the Edge: Thursday 23rd November

Over The Edge: Open Reading for November

takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, November 23th, 6.30-8pm. The Featured Readers are Adrian White, Joan McBreen & Fiona Claire.

As usual there will be an open mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details contact 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council. See overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

'Chroma' Magazine Events in London: 19th & 23rd November

Prizegiving and Launch of Issue 5, 19 November
"The judges have decided and the winners have been announced, so please join us for the prizegiving on Sunday, 19th November. The awards ceremony is also the launch of our fifth Issue, which includes all the winning stories and poems alongside some great new writing and artwork.

The event will take place at The Pool, 104 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, London EC2, from 5pm. There'll be free pool (it is the Competition Issue, after all), some free subscriptions to give away, and 5 pairs of tickets to the Hockney exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery."


In the absence of 'pool playing' art, here's an old one of me playing snooker instead to accompany this Chroma event at The Pool. [Ed.]

Chroma Reading at Waterstone's, 23 November
"If you can't make it to the launch, or you're just hungry to hear more Chroma writers read, and you want to chill out with a glass of wine and a mince pie before the shopping really gets frantic, Chroma contributors will be reading from their work on Thurs, 23 November at Waterstone's, 311 Oxford Street, London W1. 7pm start."

Guest Poets & Open Mic in Whitechapel: Thursday 16th November

Into Words, Stand Up Poetry in Whitechapel

On Thursday 16th November, from 7pm, at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, you can enjoy 'Into Words: Stand Up Poetry'.

Tim Clare performs filthy satirical verse about middle class girls, kebab alley bunk-ups and style consultants to the wicked. Nathan Filer makes waves in spoken word. Plus open mic.

Organised by Luke Wright. Absolutely Free, no booking necessary!

Poetry Launch at Salisbury House: Saturday 11th November

Poetry at Salisbury House: Launch of Perdika Press

Salisbury House, Bury Street West, Enfield, Middlesex N9 9LA
7.30pm
Saturday 11th November

Mario Petrucci, Peter Brennan, Christine North, Nicholas Potamitis, Adam Simmonds

Telephone: 020 8887 9500. Entrance: £3.50 / £2.50

Poetry in the Crypt: Thursday 8th November

Poetry in the Crypt: Nancy Mattson and Rhona McAdam

St Mary's Church, Upper Street, Islington, London N1

7.30pm
Thursday 9th November

Two Canadian poets, Nancy Mattson and Rhona McAdam, will be reading at this event, which costs £3 (£2 conc), with proceeds going to St Mary's homelessness project.

Info 020 7354 0433

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Poetry Launch in Galway: Thursday 16th November

Tornadoes for the Weathergirl is a chapbook of poems by Celeste Augé, published by The INVINCIBLE Poetry Pamphlet Press. It will be launched by poet Mary O'Malley at Sheridans on the Docks, Galway, on Thursday 16th November, 6.30pm.

All welcome!

Supported by Galway County Council. See overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com for more details.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Apples & Snakes present FRESH at the Albany, Deptford: Friday 19th November

Friday 10th November sees Apples & Snakes at the Albany in Deptford, presenting Fresh – a fast-moving hip-hop night in which beats and lyrics will collide before your eyes. The Slambassadors, Chanje Kunda, John Berkavitch and Robyn Johnson do the honours. And there’ll even be some open mic slots.

Fresh
The Albany, Deptford, SE8 5AG
Friday 10 November @ 8pm
Tickets: £7 / £5
Book: 020 8692 4446

Susan Utting at the Poets' Cafe in Reading: Friday November 17th

Poets’ Café in Reading

"This occurs on the third Friday of every month at South Street Arts Centre on South Street in Reading. It costs £6/£4 to get in and the doors open at 8pm for an 8.30pm start to the poetry. Every month there is open mic space available for both the experienced and the new to the scene (we’re nice, so no one need fear) to share some of their own work as well as a longer reading by a specially invited guest poet. This format rarely changes."

Friday November 17th at the Poets' Cafe will feature guest poet Susan Utting.



Click here to see some of Susan Utting's work
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Poetry for Charity in London: Wednesday 8th November

Poets Hugo Williams, Ali Smith, Owen Sheers and more

will be reading at the North London Tavern, 375 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7QB, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 8th November. Poets reading that evening will include Hugo Williams, Ali Smith, Owen Sheers, Clare Pollard, Adam O'Riordan, Tobias Hill and Annie Freud, with music by Steven Hinds and Amy Botfield.


Tobias Hill. PHOTOGRAPH: Foley, John/Opale.

Limited tickets available (£5). Please book on 020 7221 9347 or publicity@saqibooks.com. All proceeds will go to children's charities in Lebanon.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

'World-class Originals' at the Aldeburgh Festival: TODAY!



VICKI FEAVER
DURS GRÜNBEIN
and PETER LEVINE'S poems will be read by SHARON OLDS


2.30 - 4.15pm • Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival • PF33 • £12


DURS GRÜNBEIN

World-class originals. Writing at the height of her powers, Vicki Feaver achieves a fierceness and a fearlessness that gladden the heart. Durs Grünbein – the most highly acclaimed German poet of his generation – uses his formidable intelligence and acute moral discrimination to dissect and connect. He reads with his translator Michael Hofmann. A giant of American poetry, Philip Levine honours the extraordinary lives of ‘ordinary’ people with exemplary passion and love.


Sharon Olds

FIND THE ALDEBUGH POETRY FESTIVAL ONLINE AT: www.thepoetrytrust.org

Joy of Six: Aldeburgh Poetry Festival TODAY!

Joy of Six

1.00 - 1.30pm • James Cable Room • PF32 • £5
Part of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

The poetry world’s version of a jazz combo, this ensemble brings a seamlessly dynamic play of voices and styles, with poems and jokes passed between performers like melodies, riffs and improvisations.

Joy of Six is a group of five prizewinning poets – Anne Berkeley, Martin Figura, Peter Howard, André Mangeot and Andrea Porter – who have been performing together since 2000. Their unusual integrated sets blend their very different voices and styles into a seamless unpredictable whole. Their poems are widely published in the best magazines and anthologies and they have seven collections between them.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Jane Holland at Cheltenham: Sunday November 5th

BUZZWORDS

Upstairs at the Beehive, Montpellier, Cheltenham

with Guest Poet - Jane Holland!

7pm - Writing time: Workshop led by Jane Holland
8pm – Poetry reading and open mic
Come at 7pm if you want to write, 8pm if you don’t.

There will be open mic spots available. First come, first served.

Jane Holland's latest collection of poetry, Boudicca & Co., is out now from Salt Publishing.



Entrance: £3
Enquiries: 07855 308122
E-mail: cheltpoetry@yahoo.co.uk

POEJAZZI in London: Tuesday November 7th

POEJAZZI

Tuesday November 7th, 8pm doors for a 9pm start
Volupte Bar, No 9 Norwich street, off Furnival Street, EC4A 1EJ
(Close to Chancery Lane Station, after Mcdonalds)
£8 Reservations, £10 at the door.

PoeJazzi:
"The newest and most most exquisite poetry and Jazz event in London returns for another tuesday night, bringing the best young talent around the capital into one cozy cabaret joint for your entertainment. Last month's premiere was sold out two weeks in advance, so we must be doing something right!

For November the 7th, PoeJazzi features some of the best female talent touring the United Kingdom and beyond: Suzanne Andrade: Cabaret Poet Act, Brilliant Performer. Surreal as they can get; we're talking Twilight Zone: Live and in Colour. Anne Brechin: Deep, dark and sensual, delving into the muck of modern day life and relationship with fresh eyes and a barbed tonque. Warning: Could be racy... Teresa Gabriel: Imagine Alanis Morisette minus the ego, bad subsequent albums, exhibitionist tendencies and times ten talent. Honest and amazing voice and lyrics; you'll be humming her lyrics on mainstream radio next year, Justice in the world willing... Joshua Idehen: MC. Nigerian. Not Female. In Drag. Lost a bet. Expects Audience to Understand. Kat Francois: MC. Female. BBC3 Slam Champion and all round supersexy host of the Word4Word and WordUp Slam in Stratford theatre. Will Definitely not be dressed in drag. Musa Okwonga: MC. Ugandan. Dressed as a Pimp. Won A Bet. Expects Audience to kiss his ring.

And Jazz from the ever reliable Shabaka Trio.

Seats will be available downstairs, with food, drink and cocktails served.
There will also be a drinks bar and smoking area upstairs. So come on down, alone or with friends. Relax yourself, and enjoy. Price: eight pounds entry fee if you reserve via tel 0207-8311677, or 02078311622, and ten pounds on the door. Very limited spaces available so book early!"

Mark Gwynne Jones & Psychicbread: Brighton & Oxford tour dates this week

Mark Gwynne Jones and the Psychicbread will be performing musical poems from their excellent new album of voice, rhythm, music and vivid poetry entitled In the Light of This at

Brighton, The Komedia - Monday 6th November (01865 200550)
Oxford, The Zodiac - Tuesday 7th November (01865 200550)

These are both Hammer & Tongue-related poetry events: www.hammerandtongue.org

To read more about Mark Gwynne Jones & the Psychicbread, there's an interview with him right here on POETS ON FIRE.

Constantine & Lumsden at the Bolton Octagon: Monday 6th November

Poets David Constantine & Roddy Lumsden

will be reading at the Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft South, Bolton BL1 1SB, at 7.30pm, on Monday 6th November 2006.

Ticket prices: £4 (£2 concessions). Ticket office: 01204 520 661

Website: www.octagonbolton.co.uk

Friday, November 03, 2006

Bristol Open Mic Fireworks & Halloween Special: Sunday 5th November

REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER!

Folk House Open Mic Night

Bristol Folk House, 40a Park Street, Bristol BS1

Sunday 5th November
Doors 7pm

"Special pyrotechnic scintillating poetics syncopating performers. Yes, it's the Folk House Open Mike Night Fireworks and Halloween Special. Poets and Musicians free. Ghouls, ghosties, girlies and guys £3. Prize for best fancy dress!"

Your special (g)host for the evening will be Bristol's flammable floozy of fripperies and fantasmagoria, ROSEMARY DUN
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Poetry Launch in Edinburgh: Saturday November 4th

Saturday November 4th
3 for 3.30pm

Happenstance Launch: Patricia Ace, Tom Duddy and James Wood

New chapbooks by Patricia Ace, Tom Duddy and James Wood. Share a glass of wine, meet the poets, get your copies signed. More information about the poets at www.happenstancepress.com.

RSVP nell@happenstancepress.com 01592 772279

Free EVENT at:
Scottish Poetry Library,
5 Crichton's Close,
Canongate
Edinburgh
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Poets Anonymous in Croydon: Friday 3rd November

Poets Anonymous
Poetry at The Dog and Bull, Surrey Street, Croydon, Surrey
From 8pm, Friday 3rd November

Special Guest, Les Merton 'a unique voice from Cornwall' -- the man behind Poetry Cornwall comes to Croydon!

£2 waged, £1 unwaged.
Contact Peter for further details; peter@poetsanon.org.uk, 020 8645 9956

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Launch of 'Mr Cassini' by Lloyd Jones: Wednesday 15th November

Mr Cassini
Lloyd Jones


Wednesday 15th November 2006

Please Note: This event was wrongly posted before for Sunday 5th November, but actually takes place on Wednesday 15th.


Seren invites you to the launch reading of Mr Cassini by Lloyd Jones, at 7.00pm, The Beach Pavilion Café, The Promenade, Llanfairfechan, Conwy, LL33 0BU.

For further details contact Seren Books on 01656 663018 or email events@seren-books.com or visit the website:
www.seren-books.com.

Open Mic Poetry in Whitechapel: TONIGHT

Stand Up Poetry:

Whitechapel, 80-82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7Q
Tim Clare and Nathan Filer

2nd November 2006
No time given

Tube: Aldgate East. Find more details on www.whitechapel.org. Tel 020 7522 7888

"Tim Clare performs filthy satirical verse Nathan Filer makes waves in spoken word. Plus open mic. Free."

Can't say fairer than that ...

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Word at Bambu, Leicester: TONIGHT!

Jane Holland reading at Buzzwords, Cheltenham: Sunday 5th November

BUZZWORDS

Upstairs at the Beehive, Montpellier, Cheltenham

Guest Poet - Jane Holland!
(yep, that's me)

7pm - Writing time: Workshop led by Jane Holland
8pm – Poetry reading and open mic
Come at 7pm if you want to write, 8pm if you don’t.

There will be open mic spots available; first come, first served.


My latest collection of poetry, Boudicca & Co., is out now from Salt Publishing.



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Entrance: £3
Enquiries: 07855 308122
E-mail: cheltpoetry@yahoo.co.uk
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Poetry Idol in Islington: Thursday November 2nd

SHORTFUSE POETRY IDOL 9

This Thursday 2nd November at London's ONLY weekly fusion of stand-up poetry, performance comedy and spokenword we present the lastest of our world renowned Poetry Idol contests...

POETRY IDOL 9...

The featured poets and performers are:

Niall Spooner-Harvey

Tim Clare

Jack Sims

Paolo Ferrari

Inua Ellam

Scroobius Pip



How does it work?

Six performers new to SHORTFUSE will perform for 10 minutes each, and then
YOU the audience will vote for their favourite acts. The winning two acts
will both be given a full length paid set later in the year. Previous
winners have gone on to secure regular full length sets at various other
spokenword events accross the country including Express Excess, Apples &
Snakes, 5 star Edinburgh Fringe shows, and BBC radio appearances. See
www.20six.co.uk/poetryidol for more information.

The quality is once again of another high standard, and this promises to
be yet another fantastic Poetry Idol night. So, as always, it is best to
book your tickets now...

PLEASE NOTE: Due to high demand for tickets we recommend booking in
advance. Please email required number of tickets, name and contact number
to tickets@shortfuse.co.uk We will hold them for you on the date of the
show, they will be available for collection upon payment at the door
between 8pm and 8.30pm.

With Resident Host: NATHAN PENLINGTON- 'A natural performer, witty, inventive, stylish and original' - Rob Newman

Every Thursday @ The Camden Head, Camden Walk, Islington, London, N1. Tube: Angel.
Doors: 8.30pm. Admission: £5 waged / £3 concessions.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Roy Fisher reading in Manchester: Thursday November 2nd

Thursday November 2nd

Roy Fisher will be reading at Manchester Metropolitan University (in the Geoffrey Manton Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, opposite the Aquatics Centre).

£5/£3 concessions

6.30pm start

Jenny Joseph and more at Aldeburgh Poetry Festival: Friday 3rd November

JENNY JOSEPH
NICK LAIRD
JOHN POWELL WARD


8.00 - 9.45pm • Jubilee Hall • PF12 • £12


"Promise and achievement. From precise and lyrical to expansively philosophical, Jenny Joseph mixes mystery and plain statement in her researches into the human heart. Prize-winning Nick Laird displays a range of subject matter and tone, wit and seriousness, formal adroitness and colloquial panache. With stylistic aplomb, John Powell Ward’s continually inventive poems explore and extend our wider concerns."

The winner of the 2006 Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize for £3,000 will be announced at the start of this reading.

Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Box Office
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
Snape
Saxmundham
IP17 1SP
Tel. 01728 687110

UnCut Poetry in the West Country: November Dates

Thursday 2nd November at 7:30 p.m.

Uncut Poets. Rescheduled from October, their guest poet is Elisabeth Bletsoe. Also on Thursday 30th November, guest poets on a double bill will be Jennie Osborne & Karen Eberhardt Shelton.

Black Box, Media Centre, Exeter Phoenix, Gandy Street, Exeter

Box Office: 01392 667080. Fully accessible.

Entry: £5/£3 concessions and open-mikers with confirmed bookings. Anyone wishing to book an open-mike slot, may call James Bell on 07879 888319.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Australian and Welsh Poetry: Dylan Thomas Festival, Tuesday 31st October

Dylan Thomas Festival: From Wagga Wagga to Roath.


Australian poet David Gilbey and Cardiff poet Lloyd Robson (pictured left) will be reading their work at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea, 7.30 pm, Tuesday 31st October.

Tickets £6.00 / £4.20 concessions / £2.40 Swansea Passport to Leisure.

For further details contact the Dylan Thomas Centre box office on 01792 463980. The Dylan Thomas Centre works in partnership with Academi.

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Sunday, October 29, 2006

Duhig & Rollinson in Bolton: Monday 30th October

Ian Duhig & Neil Rollinson

at The Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft South, Bolton BL1 1SB
7.30pm
30 October 2006

Ticket prices: £4 (£2 concessions, Ticket office: 01204 520 661, Website: www.octagonbolton.co.uk

Ian Duhig has written four books of poetry, the most recent of which, The Lammas Hireling (2003), was a Poetry Book Society Choice and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Best Collection Prize. Earlier collections include The Bradford Count (1991), The Mersey Goldfish (1995) and Nominies (1998). He has previously won an Arts Council Writers and Cholmondeley Award, the Forward Best Poem Prize in 2001 and the British Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition twice. Following 15 years' work with homeless people, he has held fellowships at Lancaster, Leeds, Durham and Newcastle Universities, was the Northern Arts Literary Fellow in 2000 and the 2003 International Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.

Neil Rollinson was born in Yorkshire and studied Fine Art at Newcastle before dropping out and moving to London. After travelling around India and the Far East, he returned to England to concentrate on writing, and made his debut with A Spillage Of Mercury in 1996. Winner of the National Poetry Competition in 1997, he published his second collection, Spanish Fly, in 2001; both are Poetry Book Society recommendations. He is currently working with 57 Productions developing a series of virtual online creative writing workshops, including Poetry Jukebox, which can be found at www.poetryjukebox.com. He is also editor of the internet literature magazine Boomerang.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Simon Armitage at the Royal Festival Hall: TOMORROW

Simon Armitage at Poetry International, Royal Festival Hall, South Bank: Sunday 29th October




"Simon Armitage is one of the greatest poets of his generation. His new collection, Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid, engages with the matter of England, here and now, as never before."


Sunday 29th October

4:30 pm Purcell Room, Royal Festival Hall, London

£6 : Buy Tickets at www.rfh.org.uk.


Simon Armitage

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NB: Apologies are due for the previous posting of this event as taking place on the 9th of October. The person responsible has been executed.

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POETRY & CLIMATE CHANGE: Sunday 29th October

Poetry and Climate Change: a poetry reading & debate

Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London
Poetry International Festival
with John Burnside & George Monbiot

2.30pm
Sunday 29th October 2006

John Burnside

"The natural world and environment issues are at the heart of John Burnside's poetry and George Monbiot's writing. John Burnside's tender, lyrical imagination uses the Scottish rural landscape as a backdrop for metaphysical exploration. Following readings of their work, Fiona Sampson, Editor of Poetry Review, chairs a discussion on the subject of poetry and climate change."

Tickets: £6.00
Booking Fee: £1.50 Members: 75p
Concessions: 50% off (limited availability)
Series: 08701 900 222 (not available online)

Website: www.rfh.org.uk/poetryinternational
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For an interesting online debate on this topic of Poetry & Politics, see The Poem Forum; if the link doesn't work, try googling it.
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Seren Launch Reading in Conwy: Wednesday 15th November

Mr Cassini
Lloyd Jones


Wednesday 15th November 2006

Please Note: This date was wrongly posted as Sunday 5th November, but actually takes place on the 15th.



Seren invites you to the launch reading of Mr Cassini by Lloyd Jones, at 7.00pm, The Beach Pavilion Café, The Promenade, Llanfairfechan, Conwy, LL33 0BU.

For further details contact Seren Books on 01656 663018 or email events@seren-books.com or visit the website:
www.seren-books.com.

John La Rose tribute: TODAY in Glasgow

John La Rose Tribute Night in Glasgow

Featuring Horace Ove, James Kelman, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Alasdair Gray, Tom Leonard, Raman Mundair, Roxy Harris and others.

Pressure
3pm: Slide talk by Horace Ove on his photography work which captures the emergence of Black politics and charting the rise of carnival in Britain over three decades from the 1960s onwards. Admission is free.

The Dream To Change The World
6pm: Film screening introduced by Horace Ove. The film draws on the visual archive of past events in the history of Trinidad's diaspora to tell the story of John La Rose's life, and includes excerpts from interviews with Gus John and Linton Kwesi Johnson.

Poetry + Readings
8pm: Featuring James Kelman, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Alasdair Gray, Tom Leonard and Raman Mundair.

Ticketed events. Please call or email gallery for ticket details, 0141 552 2151, or see www.streetlevelphotoworks.org for more information.

VENUE: Street Level Photoworks, 48 King Street, Glasgow.

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Coffee and Couplets in Birmingham: Wednesday 1st November

Rendezvous of Poetry

Wednesday 1st November, 7.00 – 9.00
Starbucks, Martineau Place, Birmingham

"Building upon the popularity and profile of performance poetry in Birmingham, Starbucks poet-in-residence Roy McFarlane would like you to join him for a night of poetry, spoken word, rhythm and rhyme in a cosy front room setting at Starbucks, with plenty of coffee!

Guesting on the night will be globe-trotting poets Chester Morrison and Kim Trusty, Birmingham Laureate Spoz and local poet Jah Biggz and transferring the written word to the stage Writers Without Borders. But that’s not all folks, the stage will be alive with poetry flowing, challenging other poets to reel off as much poems as they can in three minutes."

1 Host
2 Hours of Poetry
3 minutes to go
4 Guest Poets
5 minutes and more of Open Mic Poetry
& lots more

At the Rendezvous of Poetry,
Starbucks the place to be for live poetry


For further information contact Roy McFarlane 07980 672733

Rap Poetry at London's RFH: THIS AFTERNOON

Arapiat, Zena Edwards + Kat Francois

Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London
Poetry International Festival
4pm, 28 October 2006

Arapiat are poetic pioneers: an Arabic rap duo whose lyrics have wowed audiences across Europe with their incendiary blend of social issues and attitudes on what it means to be Arab and female in the 21st century. Zena Edwards is the queen of the performance scene in London, mixing a capella, marimba and opulent lyricism and her complex, sensuous voice is music itself. Kat Francois won the BBC3 Poetry Slam and is an internationally acclaimed slam champion.

Ticket price includes free entry to the Festival Debate at 2pm


Kat Francois, performing at a Hammer & Tongue gig earlier this year at the QI Club, Oxford

Tickets: £8.50

Booking Fee: £1.50 Members: 75p

Website: www.rfh.org.uk/poetryinternational

Friday, October 27, 2006

Poetry in North London: Wednesday November 1st

POETRY @ THE ROOM

Wednesday November 1st 2006, 7:30pm

Free wine AND poetry
Poetry@TheRoom, organised by Anthony Howell and Richard Tyrone Jones.

The Room, 33 Holcombe Road, Tottenham Hale, N17 9AS
Nearest tube: Tottenham Hale. BR: Bruce Grove.
£5/3 concs with free wine!!!

This month features:

Mark Ford
One of our foremost abstract poets with collections in Faber, Chatto and a biography of Raymond Roussel to his name; regular contributor to the TLS and London review of Books and senior lecturer at UCL. An addictive fusion of delirium and memory

Nathan Penlington
Glam host of long-running poetry/comedy/stuff night Shortfuse leaves the childhood photos and card tricks at home for an avant-garde set inspired by Joyce, BS Johnson, Oulipo and concrete, including stuff from his Eric Gregory award-nominated Roadkill on the Digital Highway

Anthony Howell -
Some compare him to Catulus, some to the Earl of Rochester. Others call him an abstract pervert; all are correct. Feature length set from his five Anvil collections and new work from the brains behind the Room operation!

The Room’s ‘New View’:

Tamsin Kendrick
Life and crimes of a free-verse, globe-trotting upper class lush plus some New New Apocalypstick, fresh back from her NYC mini-tour.

Plus Your host: Richard Tyrone Jones, host of 'Utter!', Clerkenwell Literary Festival Co-organiser and purveyor of cynical West Midlands gothic poetry. "uncompromisingly intelligent" - Observer.

Once again that's Poetry@TheRoom, Wednesday Nov 1st, 7.30pm, The Room, 33 Holcombe Road, Tottenham N17 9AS (Nearest tube: Tottenham Hale), 020 8808 9318, www.the-room.org.uk with FREE WINE ALL NIGHT (plus non-alcoholic alternatives, and biscuits!) Cost is £5/3 concessions.

Poetry@TheRoom is funded by the Arts Council England.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Poetry Readings, Matlock Bath: Thursday 26th October

Inaugural Templar Poetry Pamphlet & Anthology Awards

Masson Mill, Matlock Bath, Derbyshire
26 October 2006
7pm
Readings by winning and anthology poets


"The Inaugural Templar Poetry Pamphlet & Anthology Awards are being presented by Jean Sprackland at Masson Mill, Matlock Bath, Derbyshire on Thursday 26th October, 7.00 - 9.00 pm. Three new pamphlets and the competition anthology will be launched. There will be readings by several of the winning and anthology poets from their work as well as wine."

Further details from www.awards@templarpoetry.co.uk

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Simon Armitage at the Royal Festival Hall: Sunday 29th October

Poetry International, Royal Festival Hall, South Bank: Sunday 29th October


"Simon Armitage is one of the greatest poets of his generation.

His new collection, Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid, engages with the matter of England, here and now, as never before."

Sunday 29th October
4:30 pm Purcell Room
Simon Armitage

£6 : Buy Tickets at www.rfh.org.uk.


NB: Apologies for the previous dating of this event as 9th October. The appropriate person has been executed.

Farrago Festival of Spoken Word 2006: starting Friday 3rd November

"Farrago’s annual Festival of Spoken Word was launched back in 1994 and features both the UK SLAM! Championships, started the same year, and the London SLAM! Championship Finals, the longest running poetry slam in Europe.

The 2006 festival launches on Friday, 3rd November with the Farrago Central London SLAM! Challenge and a great line up of feature performers. More information follows but for now here are some details about the first three events, all taking place at RADA Foyer Bar."

The Farrago Festival of Spoken Word 2006

THREE RADA FOYER BAR EVENTS in the RADA FOYER BAR, Malet St, London, WC1. Goodge St tube. Starting with Friday, 3rd November, 7:30pm -

The FARRAGO FESTIVAL OF SPOKEN WORD LAUNCH & FARRAGO CENTRAL LONDON SLAM! CHALLENGE.

OPEN TO ANY POET SLAM! Any subject or style. read or perform. EVERY POET WINS A PRIZE! Features: Peter Donnelly, The UK SLAM! Champion, Zawe Ashton, Annie Byfield, Saran Green, Pete Kallon, James O’Nuanian & Scroobius Pip. Others tbc.

Broadcast at the Poetry Cafe: Thursday 26th October

Thursday 26th October 8pm
Poetry Cafe, 22 Betterton Street, London (Covent Garden tube)

Andy Brown whose Selected Poems, 'Fall of the Rebel Angels', is new from Salt.
'Andy Brown is one of our most interesting and exciting younger poets.' John Burnside

Helen Macdonald, author of Shaler's Fish (Etruscan Books)
'The poems are particular, discrete responses to particular events & objects, often places. They play with the tension between a high lyric voice...orienting the reader in a field populated by different versions of the self & its relation to the natural world.'

plus readings from two fine teenage poets:

Richard Osmond
Ahren Warner
(Winner of Shortfuse Poetry Idol 7)

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Poetry 'Doubles' in York: Wednesday 25th October

Gillian Clarke and Imtiaz Dharker

Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, off Clifford Street, York
7.30pm
25 October 2006

Box office: 01904 613000
Admission £7.50, concessions £5.00
all major cards accepted

The publicity material for this event says:

Poetry Doubles is a series of readings featuring an established poet and his or her own choice of a second poet - an exciting, emerging talent - to present some of our most influential and our most promising new writers side by side.

The series, launched in May 2003 by Poet Laureate Andrew Motion with Colette Bryce, has since featured Douglas Dunn with Henry Shukman, Wendy Cope with Joanne Limburg, Fleur Adcock with Julian Stannard, Bernard O'Donoghue with Helen Farish, Anne Stevenson with Angela Leighton and Alice Oswald with Sean Borodale.

"I'm a strong supporter of the idea that writers who have been around for a long time and who are in a position to 'help' other writers, if that's the right word, should do so. The premise of Poetry Doubles is a very good one."
Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate