SHORTFUSE - home to the POETRY IDOLS contest

SHORTFUSE, according to their publicity, is 'an electrifying weekly fusion of stand-up poetry and spokenword.' It takes place every Thursday evening at The Camden Head, Camden Walk, Islington, London N1. Doors open at 8.30pm and tickets are priced at £5/£3 concessions. You can turn up and pay on the door or book tickets by emailing tickets@shortfuse.co.uk

'Spokenword' is a term increasingly applied to club-level work which is performance-based but doesn't fall under any easy to define heading. It can be a vibrant and eclectic mix of words, music, poetry, stand-up comedy, both dark and slap-stick. Not to everyone's taste, but it may constitute a possible future for performance poetry that has grown beyond page-based readings.

SHORTFUSE also hosts regular POETRY IDOLS contests, where 6 selected competitors battle it out in front of a live audience and a panel of judges. The organisers say, with some heat, 'POETRY IDOL is not a poetry slam!'

If it feels like something you might want to get involved in, they are now accepting submissions for the next POETRY IDOL contest. Deadline for submissions of work (they need tape, CD, DVD etc recordings of you performing a typical set of 10 - 15 mins) is Thursday 23rd February. The contest itself will be held on March 9th. And if you're not sure about the idea, why not go along and see the contest in action? Click here for full details and listings of artists due to appear at SHORTFUSE.

On Thursday January 26th, well-known Scottish poet and raconteur par excellence Roddy Lumsden will be doing a full length set at SHORTFUSE, alongside previous Poetry Idol winners Wayne Smith and Gareth Jones. Sounds like it could be worth a visit.