HOO-HAH!

School of Dark: an interactive poetry installation

SCHOOL OF DARK

An interactive poetry installation combining workshop, sound and live performance for audiences aged 8-11.

Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Town Hall Approach Rd, North London, N15 4RX
31 January 2008
8pm
£6 adults / £3.50 children

Welcome to the School of Dark. Take a seat. This is no ordinary classroom and Charlie is no ordinary teacher. Energetic poet, DJ and master of lyrics, Charlie Dark will guide you through his alternative poetry curriculum. Crack the code and discover the secret ingredients to write a fantastic poem, and what can happen when you turn off your brain and speak from the heart.

A sense-tingling, verbally charged adventure!

Buzzwords, plus Poetry Quartet World Premiere dates

BUZZWORDS

Sunday, 3rd February
upstairs at The Exmouth Arms, Bath Road, Cheltenham

Guest Poet - Marcus Moore
7pm Workshop led by Marcus Moore
8pm - open mic and guest poet reading
Entrance £3

*************

Also:

Saturday 2 Feb 7.30pm
Chloë of the Midnight Storytellers joins the line-up of mildly experimental performers for an evening of

V I S I O N S

…between the known and the unknown…
Story Cabaret
Short Films
Acoustic Beauty indie music
and the Poetry Quartet world première

All for just £3 at: Meantime Arts Space
Oxford Passage (off St Margarets Rd ), Cheltenham GL50 4EF
Event info from 07980 633276
www.myspace.com/visions2008

Chloë
Tel 01451 861185
www.midnightstorytellers.co.uk

La Langoustine est morte!

La Langoustine est morte

Saturday 2nd February 2008
Poetry Café
22 Betterton St.
Covent Garden
London WC2H 9BX

adm. £5/4

www.myspace.com/langoustine

The now renowned La langoustine est morte reading series launches its 2008 season with a landmark event featuring 5 innovative writers/poets & spoken word artists.
Joining us are poets Jo Colley and Vincent De Souza both recently published by Salt, the pioneering poet and text artist Frances Presley, facilitator of the legendary Islington Poetry Workshop, poet and performance artist Zoe Skoulding joining us from Wales and the critically acclaimed novelist Monique Roffey.

The event is hosted by Anthony Joseph and Sascha Akhtar.
Get there early to reserve a seat.

Shearsman Launch, London: Wednesday 30th January

Shearsman Launch

Andrew Brewerton & John Hall launch their new titles at this reading: 'Raag Leaves for Paresh Chakraborty' and 'Couldn't You?' Further details of the two titles here:Brewerton and Hall.

Wednesday 30th January
7pm
The Calder Bookshop,
51 The Cut,
London SE1 8LF.
Tel: 020 7620 2900.

Best approach is via Waterloo station, then down The Cut, past The Old Vic, and then about 50 yards on the right.

Our regular Swedenborg Hall events continue on 6 February with Kelvin Corcoran and Peter Hughes.

Rhythm & Muse, Teddington: Thursday 31st January

Rhythm & Muse

Thursday 31 January
The Lion, 27 Wick Road, Teddington, TW11
8.30-10.30 ~ £5.00-£4.00

Guest poets Siriol Troup and Ruth O'Callaghan
Music from singer guitarist Sue Wheeler
Plus open mic (book in advance)

Tel: Alison Hill 020 8977 4610 or email alison-hill@blueyonder.co.uk
for more info or to book a spot.

Poetry & Performance in Glasgow: Last Monday at Rio

Last Monday at Rio

The Rio Cafe, Hyndland Street, Glasgow
Monday Jan 28, 8pm start.
Admission free.

3 days to the first payday of 2008. Do we want money you do not have?
No, we do not. We want your attendance, people, at the Rio Cafe for the first spoken word cabaret of the year.

Headline act is Brian Whittinghame, author of "Drink the Green Fairy".

Things that can't be said - from Apples & Snakes, this February

Things That Can't Be Said: Performance poetry meets theatre

Shabina Aslam, a leading director of spoken word, theatre and radio drama, has worked with five eclectic spoken word artists from the West Midlands to create an exciting high-octane production about things that can't be said.

Artists: Michèle Barzey, Marcia Calame, Cherri Gillings, Vincent Gould and Shaun Welch perform a collection of stories using music, movement and sound, creating a visual tapestry of love, life and relationships. Introduced by a different guest poet at each venue.

Things That Can't Be Said is co-produced by r:evolve and Apples & Snakes.

venue: mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, B12 9QH
guest poet: Kim Trusty
date(s): 1 February
times: 8pm
website: www.macarts.co.uk
bookings: 0121 440 3838

venue: Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Altwood Road, Maidenhead
guest poet: AF Harrold
date(s): 2 February
times: 7.45pm
bookings: 01628 788 997 / www.nordenfarm.org

venue: Arena Theatre, Wulfruna Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SE
guest poet: Emma Purshouse
date(s): 6 February
times: 7.30pm
website: www2.wlv.ac.uk/arena
bookings: 01902 321 321

venue: Glasshouse Studio Theatre, Stourbridge, Dudley
guest poet: Spoz
date(s): 7 February
times: 7.30pm
bookings: 01384 399 430

Over the Edge Anniversary Event, this Thursday 24th January

Over The Edge celebrates fifth birthday with reading by Pat Boran.

The first ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ of 2008 takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, January 24th, 6.30-8.00pm . The Featured Readers are Peter Guy, Jenny McCudden & Pat Boran. The reading is sponsored by Poetry Ireland . This is a very special occasion as it is now exactly five years since Over The Edge was born in Galway City Library in January 2003.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always particularly welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Poetry Launch in Middlesborough, Thursday 24th January

Yoik

The launch of a new collection of poems from Bob Beagrie, published by Cinnamon Press, at The Python Gallery, Middlesborough.

Thursday, January 24, 2008
7:00pm - 10:30pm
The Python Gallery,
2 Gosford St, Middlesbrough

Email:
jan@cinnamonpress.com

Poems in performance, some with and some without musical accompaniment by Shaun Lennox, Milo Thelwall and Kevin Howard, with Andy Willoughby providing backing vocals and sound effects. Includes a book stall and signings. The event coincides with an exhibition of artworks by Abi Barker. Hope you can make it. If not you can get a copy of Yoik from the cinnamon Press website

www.cinnamonpress.com

Open Mic at CB1: this Tuesday

Open Mic @ CB1

Brand new poetry in Cambridge this Tuesday

CB1 Poetry
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
7:45pm - 10:00pm
CB1 cafe
32 Mill Road
Cambridge, United Kingdom

After some excellent performances from old and new faces last year, CB1 Poetry invites you to the first open mic of 2008: a chance to read your work in a relaxed atmosphere, or just come and listen with a cup of coffee. Most voted for poem on the night wins a prize!

Subject to confirmation, there'll be a guest reading from CB1 regular and designer of our new website, Ian Cartland. Ian's poems are both playful and thought-provoking, drawing much of their inspiration from the work of Peter Redgrove. His eye for detail and the ambiguities of language make the poems sharp, witty and engaging; you can hear them from 8pm on Tuesday.

Come at 7.45pm to sign up for open mic slots.

£3 / £2 concessions

www.cb1poetry.org.uk

Two Birmingham Laureates in Oxford, this Tuesday

Julie Boden and Roz Goddard: Oxford University Poetry Society presents two Birmingham Laureates in a single night!
Oxford University Poetry Society
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
8:00pm - 9:00pm
Wadham College
Parks Road
Oxford, United Kingdom

Email:
chloe.stopa-hunt@new.ox.ac.uk

OUPS will open this term's programme on Tuesday night, with JULIE BODEN and ROZ GODDARD, both former laureates of Birmingham. Come along for some exciting poetry, plenty of wine and a chance to ask the poets some questions!

Entry is £3, and there will also be society membership forms available for those who want to join officially!

This is a great opportunity to come along and meet us if you've never got round to it before - this term's committee will be milling around to answer questions and there will be copies of the society's magazine on sale!

PUREandGOODandRIGHT with Marcus Moore this Sunday, 20th January

PUREandGOODandRight

presents Poetry and Pints with Marcus Moore, with an evening of diverse poetry including excerpts from his hit show, Death and Taxes.

Text Box: Being very naive, Marcus finds poetry more exciting than policy documents, more inspiring than strategic initiatives. He will continue to smile at strangers, even when it becomes illegal to do so. Death and Taxes is his new performance piece, now being taken for a walk round lively venues with friendly faces. Warning. Death and Taxes contains choice language, some cigarettes(!), no risk assessment or feedback forms, a few poems, one mild reference to the pudenda… oh, and a straightforward rhyme for banker. Only two things are certain. Marcus will explore the rules governing death and how to off-set disallowable capital expenditure against VAT. Not suitable for those who'd rather spend the evening ticking boxes or shopping online.

With open mic support from … YOU!

Come, share your poems! Seasoned poets and first time poetry performers most welcome!

The Fox, 32 Clarendon Avenue, LEAMINGTON SPA CV32 4RZ.
Sunday, 20th January
8.00pm
Admission £3 (OAP & NUS £2)

For details: www.kellywit.com

Mannix's Street Preachers: Friday January 25th

Mannix's Street Preachers

Friday, January 25th
8pm
The Albany
Douglas Way
Deptford SE8 4AG
£7/5 (concs)

Mannix's Street Preachers-Performance poetry from the four corners of London.

Aoife Mannix is one of the busiest poets in the UK. Tonight she takes a break from touring her solo show Growing Up An Alien to host an eclectic line-up featuring her top three performance-poets plus a guest musician who's creating a big buzz on the London club-scene.

Featuring: Polarbear - the king of rhythm 'n' storytelling, born with a hip-hop beat in his heart. Dzifa Benson - weaver of well-crafted poems and captivating contemporary myths. Joe Duggan - script-writer and slam-winner, bringing beat-poetry into the 21st century. Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee - jaw-dropping musical cyclone of beatbox and flute. Mannix's Street Preachers: not a dodgy tribute-band, just a great night out.

www.applesandsnakes.org

Clark, Horovitz in London with floor spots: Wednesday January 16th

Joanna Clark, Michael Horovitz read

Wednesday January 16th
7:30pm
Navasartian Centre
223 Northfields Avenue
West Ealing W13 9QU

Tube: Northfields Picadilly Line
(Turn right out of tube - it's about 150 m)

£4/£3 concessions, with wine

Joanna Clark 'has put her poetry on the moon'. Michael Horovitz reads from 'A New Waste Land'. Plus there will be a guest reader and poets from the floor are VERY welcome. Ruth O'Callaghan will be your compere for the evening.

Andy Brown book launch: Exeter, this Tuesday 15th January

Andy Brown Book launches 'The Storm Berm'

15th JANUARY 2008 7p.m.
LT1 Queen's Building, University of Exeter
Free Entrance

You are invited to the launch of THE STORM BERM - a new poetry chapbook by Andy Brown. A short poetry reading followed by a glass of wine and book signing in the Queen's Café

Poetry Bites at the MAC, Birmingham: Thursday January 17th

Poetry Bites

Thursday January 17th 2008
7.30pm

Featuring guest poet Eleanor Rees and open mic. Arrive early to sign up for a floor spot for a chance to share your work with an appreciative audience.

Poetry Bites, MAC, Birmingham, 17th January at 7.30pm

www.macarts.co.uk

O'Sullivan, Wells & an Open Mic in Islington: Thursday January 10th

Niall O'Sullivan and Tim Wells stylin' and profilin'
plus Will Hames, open mic' (it's not my fault!) and after show beers.

Thursday, January 10, 2008
7:00pm - 10:00pm
Borders Bookshop
N1 Centre (shopping precinct), Parkfield Street, Islington, N1

Tall Lighthouse at the Poetry Cafe: Wednesday, 30th January

tall lighthouse

Wednesday 30th January
8pm

last-wednesday’s at the poetry café - tall-lighthouse presents the best
contemporary poetry in performance

catherine smith: voted by the PBS & Arts Council as one of the Next Generation poets in 2004, Catherine is a writer of sparkling wit. Her latest collection Lip has just been published by Smith/Doorstop.

gareth jones: his debut weekend millionaires was published in 2007 by tall-lighthouse under the Pilot banner. His poetry has received prizes in the 2005 Academi Cardiff Poetry International and 2006 National Poetry Competitions.

heather taylor: a Canadian poet & playwright and a regular on the London poetry scene where she displays her natural ability to reach out to an audience. Her first collection horizon & back was published by tall-lighthouse in 2005.

lee wilson: his debut collection You've got an eyelash has now sold over 50 copies, making him a veritable Dan Brown of poetry. He lives in Gravesend with three silverfish and 4 million dust-mites.

plus OPEN MIC!

The Poetry Café
22 Betterton Street
Covent Garden
£4/£3

Tall Lighthouse 020 8297 8279

Shearsman Reading, London: Wednesday 16th January

The first in Shearsman's 2008 Reading Series takes place on Wednesday, 16 January at 7:30 pm, featuring Elisabeth Bletsoe & Peter Robinson.

Swedenborg Hall
Swedenborg House
20/21 Bloomsbury Way
London WC1A 2TH

Admission free.

The entrance is around the corner on Barter Street. Closest Tube Stations: Holborn (Central & Piccadilly Lines : 4 minutes' walk), Tottenham Court Road (Central & Northern Lines: 6 minutes), Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line: 10 minutes). Several buses stop a few yards from the Hall. There is an underground carpark close by, underneath Bloomsbury Square.

Disabled access is available, but please let us know in advance if it is required. Further details here of the venue:www.shearsman.com/pages/editorial/readings.html

Matthew Hollis at the Michaelhouse Cafe, Cambridge

CB1 Poetry at the Michaelhouse Cafe

Tonight, Tuesday January 8th
7.30 - 10.30pm
Michaelhouse Cafe, Trinity Street, Cambridge

Matthew Hollis was born in Norwich in 1971. Ground Water (Bloodaxe 2004), his first full-length collection, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize for Poetry, the Guardian First Book Award and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. He published a pamphlet, The Boy on the Edge of Happiness, with Smith/Doorstop in 1996 and won an Eric Gregory Award in 1999.

He is co-editor of 101 Poems Against War (Faber, 2003) and Strong Words: Modern Poets on Modern Poetry (Bloodaxe, 2000), and works as an editor at Faber and Faber. He is Writer-in-Residence at the Wordsworth Trust. Visit his website at www.matthewhollis.com

Emily Dening was born in London and lives in Cambridge. Her poems have been published in a number of poetry journals, and her poem Curtains was runner up in the 2005 Mslexia poetry competition. Dening's first pamphlet, A Stash of Gin (Mainsail Press) is published in January 2008.

The event also features short poem floor spots, books for sale and a licensed bar. Doors open at 7:30pm.

www.cb1poetry.org.uk

BUZZWORDS TOMORROW in Cheltenham: Workshop, Open Mic & Reading

This Sunday, 6th January upstairs at The Exmouth Arms, Bath Road (opposite the co-op)
Guest poet: Andy Fletcher
*please note that we will be starting at our old, earlier time*
7pm Workshop led by Sally Clark
8pm - open mic and Andy Fletcher

Poetry Bites at the MAC, Birmingham: Thursday 17th January

Poetry Bites at the MAC

January’s Poetry Bites guest, Eleanor Rees was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside in 1978. Her pamphlet collection Feeding Fire (Spout,Huddersfield,2001) received an Eric Gregory Award in 2002. Her first full-length collection, Andraste’s Hair (Salt Publishing,2007) was shortlisted for the Forward Prize, 2007. Eleanor works as a poet in the community for the Windows Project and is a member of The Word Hoard, Huddersfield. Eleanor also teaches creative writing at Edge Hill University and Liverpool Centre for Continuing Education. She lives in Liverpool.

Visit Eleanor's website.

Poetry Bites, hosted by Jacqui Rowe, also includes floor spots where you can share your own poetry with an appreciative audience.

Please arrive early to book a spot.

Thursday 17th January
7.30pm
MAC, Birmingham
www.macarts.co.uk