In Friday night's Warwick Words Festival Slam, organised and compered by the retiring Poet Laureate for Birmingham, Dreadlockalien (aka Richard Grant), equally stunning performances from poets Danni Carberry and Emma Purshouse meant they shared first prize of £50 each.
The magnificently talented Emma Purshouse, in full flow
Roz Goddard on Dismantling Hotel Rooms
For those in the Warwick area still hungry for poems, Roz Goddard will be reading from her latest collection How to Dismantle a Hotel Room tomorrow (Sunday 8th October) at 4pm, Bridge House Theatre. Tickets £5.
See www.warwickwords.co.uk for information on other events still available for booking this weekend.
Poetrailing in Warwick
Eager to spout a few poems yourself? Then try this free poetry event on Sunday 8th October: a Poetry Pub Trail (not Crawl, I notice, this must be the politically correct version where poets stick to mango juice all evening) which takes place around Warwick town centre. This will be one of the last events of this year's literary Festival, so don't miss it. I couldn't make it to this cracking event last year because of other commitments, but will probably work myself into the mix somewhere during the night ...
Martin Green, Midlands poet, doing his thang at the mic
Join Sean Kelly of Pureandgoodandright for this night of declaiming, versifying and rhyming in Warwick’s pubs – 'an evening of pure imbibition'.
Bring your own poems or someone else’s to share. Maybe see you there?
7.45-8.30 Warwick Arms Hotel
8.45-9.30 The Zetland
9.45-10.30 The Roebuck
Electric Poetry?
-- Come to the end of the Birmingham Laureateship Party 2006
For real devotees of the spoken word, next Friday October 13th - hopefully not unlucky for poets - you can hear and see some of the finest performers in the Midlands at the Electric Cinema in Birmingham as one of the closing events of the Birmingham Book Festival.
Also celebrating the end of Richard Grant's busy and productive stint as Birmingham Poet Laureate for 2006, this is definitely an event for night owls, beginning at around 11pm and going on into the wee small hours, so go prepared for a late night but also to be entertained in Birmingham-style with talented poets versifying all over the place and the best six going through for a finale towards the end of the event. All performance slots have already been filled, alas, but audience members are definitely required.
Farewell, Richard! And thanks for a fantastic job pushing live and performance poetry in the region ... and far beyond!
Those details again: 11pm onwards, Electric Cinema, Birmingham, Friday 13th October. Tickets £5 approx.
New Birmingham Poet Laureate for 2006 - 07
Finally, the new Poet Laureate for Birmingham has been named as endearing local poet Giovanni 'Spoz' Esposito, with his long track record of poetry workshopping and hands-on involvement in the Midlands performance scene. Spoz will be known to most poet/performers in the area, and will be a popular choice for Laureate, I'm sure.
The new Birmingham Poet Laureate, Spoz, on stage at the Birmingham Library Theatre earlier this year
I'm also told Spoz has a new play on at the Artrix, Bromsgrove, towards the end of October. His play is called Make Poetry History and features the infamous World Slam Poetry Champion Elvis Mcgonagal, who is coincidentally performing "Yaks 'n Kilts 'n Rock 'n Roll" at the Reading Comedy Festival tonight, with AF Harrold, pictured here in pensive mode at the Oxford Live Literature Arena this April when I crept up on him with a camera. No doubt he was working out his moves for the act.
If you missed this bizarre double act - yaks in kilts?! - don't despair, for you can catch it again this coming Thursday, 12th October, at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.)
Workshop with the New Poet Laureate
If you'd like to learn more from Spoz about the art of performing your poetry, you could try this workshop, also at the Artrix, Bromsgrove:
SLAM THE ARTRIX A DAY POETRY WORKSHOP WITH GIOVANNI 'SPOZ' ESPOSITO
29 October 2005, 10.30 am - 5 pm - evening performance 7 pm
£25 (£20)
Spend the day with performance poet and slam artist Spoz who will give you the opportunity to have a look at a different side of poetry. His guidance and workshop programme will help you perform with gusto and attitude, write a piece of work you never thought you had in you and perform it to a live audience in the evening.
For more details, visit the Artrix, Bromsgrove.
* Any other live poetry news, email the details to jane @ poetrycornwall.demon.co.uk
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