Slounge # 3
May the 8th - The Vaults, Radcliffe Square, Oxford, 8-11pm £12 with dinner £4 without
Music / Art / Organic Food
Music from Inchtime weaving shades of jazz, folk and world music into electronica which is "as subtle and beautiful as it is difficult to resist" (DJ Magazine)
Music and Poetry from award winning poet Steve Larkin "revolutionary, elocutionary genius ***** " See Magazine
7pm - Dinner/DJ
8pm onwards - Performances
OCM in collaboratin with Clare Salter / Victoria Bosher / OVADA / Hammer & Tongue
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The fifth in Shearsman's 2008 Reading Series
takes place on Tuesday, 6 May at 7:30 pm
featuring Hazel Frew & John Welch
Hazel Frew's first collection Seahorses is now available from Shearsman at
www.shearsman.com. Biographical details may also be found here.
Shearsman has just published two new books by John Welch: Collected Poems and the memoir Dreaming Arrival, the latter being a series of very personal reflections on the writing life set in the context of the author's experience of psychoanalysis.
Details of these two new books are at www.shearsman.com, as are biographical details.
The venue is:
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
There is a further reading, on Tuesday 20 May, featuring Mercedes Roffé, which will take place at 7:00pm at the Calder Bookshop. A second poet will be added to the programme shortly.
featuring Hazel Frew & John Welch
Hazel Frew's first collection Seahorses is now available from Shearsman at
www.shearsman.com. Biographical details may also be found here.
Shearsman has just published two new books by John Welch: Collected Poems and the memoir Dreaming Arrival, the latter being a series of very personal reflections on the writing life set in the context of the author's experience of psychoanalysis.
Details of these two new books are at www.shearsman.com, as are biographical details.
The venue is:
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
There is a further reading, on Tuesday 20 May, featuring Mercedes Roffé, which will take place at 7:00pm at the Calder Bookshop. A second poet will be added to the programme shortly.
The Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Final
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
8pm -11pm £5/£4
(Venue not given. Contact: Hammer and Tongue, 16B Cherwell Street, Oxford, OX4 1BG
01865 200550 web: www.hammerandtongue.co.uk mail to: events@hammerandtongue.co.uk)
After a season of great events that has seen the first ever transatlantic live internet linked poetry slam and some of the worlds best performance poets at venues large and small throughout the city, we reach the climax of our poetry slam season: The Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Final.
By virtue of qualifying through open slams six budding stars have been invited to compete. They are Bohdan Piesecki, Pete the Temp, Jennie B, George Roberts, Julia Kiel and Tina Sederholm.
Vote for a wild card poet
In addition to this we are inviting you to nominate two wild card entrants. If there has been someone competing in a slam that you thought deserved to win who you want to see again email back with a name or any detail of their appearance/performance should your drunken memory have failed you once again (you muppet) and we will collate the results and give two more people the opportunity to take the big prize.
Special Guest
The guest artists for the final is Jem Rolls.
Jem is one of the most accomplished performance poets in the world today. He has received more than 25 Five-star reviews and been heralded as a "Genius" (Montreal Gazette) in Canada where he now resides and plies his trade. He was the founder of Big Word in London and in Edinburgh and is responsible for taking performance poetry to The Edinburgh Fringe where he is known as "the godfather of Scottish performance poetry" (Scotland on Sunday).
Your DJ will be DJ Mystic your hosts the beautiful Sophia Blackwell and the even beautifuller Steve Larkin!
See you there.
8pm -11pm £5/£4
(Venue not given. Contact: Hammer and Tongue, 16B Cherwell Street, Oxford, OX4 1BG
01865 200550 web: www.hammerandtongue.co.uk mail to: events@hammerandtongue.co.uk)
After a season of great events that has seen the first ever transatlantic live internet linked poetry slam and some of the worlds best performance poets at venues large and small throughout the city, we reach the climax of our poetry slam season: The Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Final.
By virtue of qualifying through open slams six budding stars have been invited to compete. They are Bohdan Piesecki, Pete the Temp, Jennie B, George Roberts, Julia Kiel and Tina Sederholm.
Vote for a wild card poet
In addition to this we are inviting you to nominate two wild card entrants. If there has been someone competing in a slam that you thought deserved to win who you want to see again email back with a name or any detail of their appearance/performance should your drunken memory have failed you once again (you muppet) and we will collate the results and give two more people the opportunity to take the big prize.
Special Guest
The guest artists for the final is Jem Rolls.
Jem is one of the most accomplished performance poets in the world today. He has received more than 25 Five-star reviews and been heralded as a "Genius" (Montreal Gazette) in Canada where he now resides and plies his trade. He was the founder of Big Word in London and in Edinburgh and is responsible for taking performance poetry to The Edinburgh Fringe where he is known as "the godfather of Scottish performance poetry" (Scotland on Sunday).
Your DJ will be DJ Mystic your hosts the beautiful Sophia Blackwell and the even beautifuller Steve Larkin!
See you there.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
New Editorial Team at POF
A new era is about to begin at Poets on Fire!
From this Thursday, May 1st, Poets on Fire will be adminstered by an editorial team consisting of myself, Jane Holland, and these three new POF bloggers, who will no doubt make themselves known to you over the course of the next few weeks:
Nina Davies
Matt Merritt
Charlotte Runcie
At some point, a new 'joint' email address will be generated to handle new events being sent to POF for listing, plus other material.
Ideas for a new way forward including freshening the look of the blog and creating a spin-off blog which will feature reviews, interviews and other articles on live poetry in the UK.
A very warm welcome to the new team!
Jane Holland
(POF Admin & Founder)
From this Thursday, May 1st, Poets on Fire will be adminstered by an editorial team consisting of myself, Jane Holland, and these three new POF bloggers, who will no doubt make themselves known to you over the course of the next few weeks:
Nina Davies
Matt Merritt
Charlotte Runcie
At some point, a new 'joint' email address will be generated to handle new events being sent to POF for listing, plus other material.
Ideas for a new way forward including freshening the look of the blog and creating a spin-off blog which will feature reviews, interviews and other articles on live poetry in the UK.
A very warm welcome to the new team!
Jane Holland
(POF Admin & Founder)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Escarmouches: poets read & debate at London's Troubadour Coffee-House
escarmouches-the coffee-house colloquies
8pmMonday 28th April, 2008
At the Troubadour, Old Brompton Road, London
"escarmouches - the coffee-house colloquies with Fiona Sampson, David Morley, Naomi Jaffa & Alan Brownjohn"
A mild skirmish in a very civil war as Coffee-House Poetry re-invokes the coffee-house traditions of radical dissent, intellectual disquistion & scurrilous writerly gossip to ask a group of poets, editors, activists to read from their own & others' contemporary poems & sit around a table to debate age-old questions from, How's the poetry going? to Where's the poetry gone?
Our poetry panel: Fiona Sampson (Common Prayer, Carcanet) founded Orient Express & edits Poetry Society's flagship journal, Poetry Review; David Morley (The Invisible Kings, Carcanet) is Professor of Creative Writing at Warwick and-among 17 books-co-edited seminal 1990s anthology, The New Poetry; Naomi Jaffa (Last Hour of Sleep, Five Leaves) is Director of The Poetry Trust which runs (among other things) the prestigious Aldeburgh Poetry Festival; and former New Statesman poetry editor & Poetry Society Chair (1982-1988), Alan Brownjohn (Collected Poems, Enitharmon).
14 Hour: poets on show, May 17th 2008, London
14 Hour: Teachers en Regalia
featuring Roddy Lumsden, Tim Wells, Niall O'Sullivan and Stephanie Baker.
Because Niall, Tim and Roddy are often mistaken for brothers and have been dubbed The Three Bears, they will be trying out the occasional taster of each other's work at this event - see if you can tell the difference.
Roddy Lumsden: Roddy Lumsden is former Vice Chairman of the Poetry Society of Great Britain and has carried out several residency projects, including being poet-in-residence to the music industry and in a five-star hotel and golf resort. He works as a puzzle and quiz writer for BBC MindGames magazine. He was recently commissioned to write for a fashion shoot involving Kate Moss, who reads the poem here: http://www.showstudio.com/projects/flowers4kate/movie/
Tim Wells: The editor of Rising magazine (described by John Cooper Clarke as "the reader's wives of poetry mags") who in his time has performed at the likes of Latitude and Cargo.
Niall O'Sullivan: Niall is the host of long running poetry event Poetry Unplugged. His books You're Not Singing Any More and Ventriloquism for Monkeys are available from Flipped Eye Publishing.
Stephanie Baker: Stephanie has previously performed at Touch Me I'm Sick, Bingo Masters Breakout and Causing a Scene, and will be reading a clutch of new poems designed to invoke demons.
Providing an unsettling psych soundtrack throughout will be guest DJ Rhys "Spider" Webb, of The Horrors.
Guest compere is Southend bohemian and host of now sadly defunct poetry night Vocal Schism: Theo Rowswell.
Saturday 17th May
Upstairs at The Griffin
93 Leonard Street, EC2A
Tubes Old Street/Liverpool Street
7pm-11.30pm
FREE ENTRY
Join the 14 Hour Facebook group to keep up to date with events: http://groups.to/14hour
Jody Porter
zafusy@gmail.com
07956553028
featuring Roddy Lumsden, Tim Wells, Niall O'Sullivan and Stephanie Baker.
Because Niall, Tim and Roddy are often mistaken for brothers and have been dubbed The Three Bears, they will be trying out the occasional taster of each other's work at this event - see if you can tell the difference.
Roddy Lumsden: Roddy Lumsden is former Vice Chairman of the Poetry Society of Great Britain and has carried out several residency projects, including being poet-in-residence to the music industry and in a five-star hotel and golf resort. He works as a puzzle and quiz writer for BBC MindGames magazine. He was recently commissioned to write for a fashion shoot involving Kate Moss, who reads the poem here: http://www.showstudio.com/projects/flowers4kate/movie/
Tim Wells: The editor of Rising magazine (described by John Cooper Clarke as "the reader's wives of poetry mags") who in his time has performed at the likes of Latitude and Cargo.
Niall O'Sullivan: Niall is the host of long running poetry event Poetry Unplugged. His books You're Not Singing Any More and Ventriloquism for Monkeys are available from Flipped Eye Publishing.
Stephanie Baker: Stephanie has previously performed at Touch Me I'm Sick, Bingo Masters Breakout and Causing a Scene, and will be reading a clutch of new poems designed to invoke demons.
Providing an unsettling psych soundtrack throughout will be guest DJ Rhys "Spider" Webb, of The Horrors.
Guest compere is Southend bohemian and host of now sadly defunct poetry night Vocal Schism: Theo Rowswell.
Saturday 17th May
Upstairs at The Griffin
93 Leonard Street, EC2A
Tubes Old Street/Liverpool Street
7pm-11.30pm
FREE ENTRY
Join the 14 Hour Facebook group to keep up to date with events: http://groups.to/14hour
Jody Porter
zafusy@gmail.com
07956553028
Oxford Slam in assoc. with Hammer & Tongue, and other groovy stuff: this May 2008
The Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Final
May the 6th8 -11pm
£5/£4
[Venue not given: The Vaults, Radcliffe Square, Oxford? Ed.]
After a season of great events that has seen the first ever transatlantic live internet linked poetry slam and some of the worlds best performance poets at venues large and small throughout the city, we reach the climax of our poetry slam season: The Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Final.
By virtue of qualifying through open slams six budding stars have been invited to compete. They are Bohdan Piesecki, Pete the Temp, Jennie B, George Roberts, Julia Kiel and Tina Sederholm.
Vote for a wild card poet
In addition to this we are inviting you to nominate two wild card entrants. If there has been someone competing in a slam that you thought deserved to win who you want to see again email back with a name or any detail of their appearance/performance should your drunken memory have failed you once again (you muppet) and we will collate the results and give two more people the opportunity to take the big prize.
Special Guest
The guest artists for the final is Jem Rolls.
Jem is one of the most accomplished performance poets in the world today. He has received more than 25 Five-star reviews and been heralded as a "Genius" (Montreal Gazette) in Canada where he now resides and plies his trade. He was the founder of Big Word in London and in Edinburgh and is responsible for taking performance poetry to The Edinburgh Fringe where he is known as "the godfather of Scottish performance poetry" (Scotland on Sunday).
Your DJ will be DJ Mystic your hosts the beautiful Sophia Blackwell and the even beautifuller Steve Larkin!
See you there.
*
ALSO OCM event
Slounge # 3
May the 8th
The Vaults, Radcliffe Square, Oxford
8-11pm
£12 with dinner £4 without
Music / Art / Organic Food
Music from Inchtime weaving shades of jazz, folk and world music into electronica which is "as subtle and beautiful as it is difficult to resist" (DJ Magazine)
Music and Poetry from award winning poet Steve Larkin "revolutionary, elocutionary genius ***** " See Magazine
7pm - Dinner/DJ
8pm onwards - Performances
OCM in collaboratin with Clare Salter / Victoria Bosher / OVADA / Hammer & Tongue
Boomshanka
The Hammer & Tongue Team
16B Cherwell Street, Oxford, OX4 1BG 01865 200550
Buzzwords in Cheltenham with Claire Crowther: Sunday, 4th May
Buzzwords with Open Mic - in Cheltenham
Next Sunday, 4th MayUpstairs at The Exmouth Arms, Bath Road , Cheltenham
Guest Poet: Claire Crowther
7pm Workshop, led by Claire Crowther
8pm - open mic and guest poet reading
Entrance £3
Sunday, April 27, 2008
London performance from Lewis & Hawkshaw: this Tuesday, 29th April
Performances by Sharon Lewis and Kirsty Hawkshaw
Tuesday 29th April
The 12 Bar Club
Denmark Street
London
Tuesday 29th April
The 12 Bar Club
Denmark Street
London
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The Shuffle at the Poetry Cafe, London: Saturday 26th April
The Shuffle
Poetry Cafe22 Betterton Street
Covent Garden
Saturday 26th April 2008
7.30 - 9.30
Entry: £5/3
Jacqueline Saphra says: "We've got a great line-up this week - Stella Mandella, Ash Dickinson, Patrick Brandon, Linda Black, Heather Phillipson, Cath Drake, and Roddy Lumsden."
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Online Editors Required
Dear Readers of POF
Having taken on a number of time-consuming new projects this year, I have decided that I cannot continue running this Poets on Fire events listing blog. However, it's been such a phenomenal success, right from its inception, that I don't want to simply close the site.
So I'm looking for several good-natured people to run the site instead. The position is unpaid, I'm afraid, but is a good public service and also means you will be in contact with all sorts of British performers and event organisers, both big and small.
You will need some experience with Blogger or a similar site, in particular a basic working knowledge of HTML. (No longer strictly necessary, I know, but it's always good to know what the code means for those times when things don't go according to plan.)
How would it work? Well, in the beginning I would forward any emails received to your address and let you post them up; later, you might want to reroute all emails straight through to your own email address. You will be named in the sidebar and below each post as one of the POF editors, and made an official 'team member' for this blog so that you can post up events as they come through to you, or change the site design if you wish. You will also be able to post up your own details and a photograph in the sidebar for permanent display.
I will remain a named team member myself, as the site's founder.
So, minimal interference, maximum networking opportunities. What do you say? If you would like to apply for this position, please email me - j.holland442@btinternet.com - giving the following details:
1. Your real name.
2. Your age.
3. Your location.
4. Your internet experience (particularly as a blogger).
5. Your background in poetry and/or performance.
6. Why you want to take this challenging project on.
7. Any ideas you may have about changing/improving the site.
8. Lastly, your absolute commitment to updating this blog at least once a week for a minimum period of six months.
Looking forward to hearing from you - deadline for applications will be Sunday April 27th.
Jane
Having taken on a number of time-consuming new projects this year, I have decided that I cannot continue running this Poets on Fire events listing blog. However, it's been such a phenomenal success, right from its inception, that I don't want to simply close the site.
So I'm looking for several good-natured people to run the site instead. The position is unpaid, I'm afraid, but is a good public service and also means you will be in contact with all sorts of British performers and event organisers, both big and small.
You will need some experience with Blogger or a similar site, in particular a basic working knowledge of HTML. (No longer strictly necessary, I know, but it's always good to know what the code means for those times when things don't go according to plan.)
How would it work? Well, in the beginning I would forward any emails received to your address and let you post them up; later, you might want to reroute all emails straight through to your own email address. You will be named in the sidebar and below each post as one of the POF editors, and made an official 'team member' for this blog so that you can post up events as they come through to you, or change the site design if you wish. You will also be able to post up your own details and a photograph in the sidebar for permanent display.
I will remain a named team member myself, as the site's founder.
So, minimal interference, maximum networking opportunities. What do you say? If you would like to apply for this position, please email me - j.holland442@btinternet.com - giving the following details:
1. Your real name.
2. Your age.
3. Your location.
4. Your internet experience (particularly as a blogger).
5. Your background in poetry and/or performance.
6. Why you want to take this challenging project on.
7. Any ideas you may have about changing/improving the site.
8. Lastly, your absolute commitment to updating this blog at least once a week for a minimum period of six months.
Looking forward to hearing from you - deadline for applications will be Sunday April 27th.
Jane
Utter! in London, Friday April 25th
Utter! Brixton#2: Liz Bentley, James Campbell, Jasmine Cooray, David Floyd, Richard Tyrone Jones
Tagline: We're back in Brixton, and ready for roti!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Time: 7:30pm - 10:30pm
Location: coffee@max-o's, BRIXTON'S WORLD CAFÉ - . www.maxoevents.com
Street: 11 Rushcroft Road, Brixton, London SW2 1JH
Tube: Brixton
Cost: £10 including ROTI MEAL!
Tagline: We're back in Brixton, and ready for roti!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Time: 7:30pm - 10:30pm
Location: coffee@max-o's, BRIXTON'S WORLD CAFÉ - . www.maxoevents.com
Street: 11 Rushcroft Road, Brixton, London SW2 1JH
Tube: Brixton
Cost: £10 including ROTI MEAL!
Performances at the Warwick University Lit-Fest
All at The Capital Centre, Warwick Uni, and all free
PENCILFest 2008 Events
Saturday 10th May
* ‘The Sound Crew’ An Arvon Poetry Showcase
3-4.30pm
Writers’ Room
Once upon a time at The Arvon Foundation, a group of poets came together and stayed together. They have gone on to enormous success as individuals and as a collective. ‘Sound Crew’ is a group of extraordinary and diverse poets who work together to celebrate individual writing, a shared ambition and growing recognition. They are: Gill Andrews, Judy Brown, Robbie, Burton, Josh Ekroy, Valerie Fry, Victoria Heath, Allison McVety, David Foster Morgan, Philip Ruthen, Norman Staines, and Maggie Sullivan.
* Slam Workshop: Writing For Performance
3-5pm
Rehearsal Room
How can you improve your performance poetry? What are the most important things to remember when writing poetry specifically for vocal performance? This workshop, run by internationally renowned slam poets, will give you invaluable hints and tips on how to write poems that will enrapture audiences.
* ‘Shakespeare’s Bones’
4-5pm
Studio 1
Acclaimed poet Michael Hulse leads a fascinating insight into one of the University of Warwick’s most intriguing and controversial creative experiments.
* ‘Philosophy at Elevenses With Cookies and Milk
4.30-5pm
Studio 2
Ex-Warwick student Joe Watson and his Tadley cronies, blab la, bring you an exclusive live performance of their latest instalment of eclectic comedy. With everything from Zen to William Blake, questionable gardening tips and a host of hilarious characters, supplemented by an ingenius electro soundtrack, these three musketeers of new comedy are not to be missed!
* Student Scriptwriting A Showcase
5-7.30pm
Studio 2
Students from a number of universities across the UK present readings of scripts-in-progress that they’ve written for the stage. Each performance will be followed by a Q&A session between writers, performers and the audience, discussing the process of writing for stage right from conceiving an idea, to the moment an actor is lit up on stage.
* ‘Polluto’ A Showcase
5-6pm
Rehearsal Room
Polutto: The Anti-Pop Culture Journal is ‘a magazine that thinks it’s a book’ which, just three weeks after the publication of its first issue, was awarded the Spectrum Silver Editorial Award. Founded and edited by students at Leeds University and containing a razor-sharp blend of disturbing art and surreal science-fiction, with contributors ranging from a sleaze-punk singer to a former heroin addict, it represents the cutting edge of contemporary student publication.
* ‘Comedy For Writers’
Stand-up comedy from A.L. Kennedy
6-7.30pm
Studio 1
Everybody knows how good an author A.L. Kennedy is: you don’t get given the Costa Book of the Year prize for nothing after all. What a lot of people don’t realise, however, is that she is also a cracking stand-up comedian, who has performed to universal acclaim for several years. Kennedy brings us a hilarious expose on the relationship between comedy and the practice of writing – this is one not to be missed!
* PENCILfest INTERNATIONAL Poetry Slam
9pm til late
Graduate Club, Student’s Union
Slam poetry is a fast-growing and exciting form of competition. PENCILfest brings you a dynamic, emotionally explosive, piercing spoken word performance where 16 student poets from across the country will be competing, and audience members are the judges! The fates of our competitors are in your hands… who will you choose? Headlining this event are 4 internationally renowned slam poets – Wojtek Cichon (Poland), Sebastian Rabsahl (Germany), Daan Doesborgh (The Netherlands) and Sergio Garau (Italy), not to mention that the event is MCed by Bohdan Piaseki, another of Europe’s finest slam poets. With the best of European slam, poetry to inspire your political and emotional passions, and an adrenaline-infused night out, this is an event sure to blow your mind!
Sunday
* ‘Into The Woods’ An ecopoetry workshop with David Morley
11am-2pm
Rehearsal room (starting point) & into the great outdoors!
In this innovative ecopoetry workshop, the poet, teacher and Director of the Warwick Writing Programme, will take his fellow writers on a poetic field trip. As David comments, "In this 'walking workshop' we shall find poems, plant poems, and make poems". Please bring pen, paper, survival food, suitable clothes and shoes.
* Slam Workshop: Performing your Text
12-2pm
Studio 2
Slam poetry has revolutionised the way that poems are performed on stage. Come along to this workshop to learn from internationally renowned slam poets the secrets of a great spoken word performance. Techniques covered will include: stage behaviour, using a microphone, interpreting a text and using one's voice effectively. This workshop will help you to master the delivery of that spine-chilling line and leave audiences spellbound.
Remember to bring a piece of writing with you! You can take advantage of the PENCILfest Open Mic to put into practice the skills you have learnt.
* ‘The New Poets’
A showcase of new poetry talent with Luke Kennard
1-2.30pm
Writers’ Room
Luke Kennard, the youngest ever Forward Prize nominee and a poet who makes his more venerable rivals look, well, venerable, headlines a showcase of spectacular new poetry by a new generation of literary superstars-in-waiting.
* Trespass Magazine A Showcase
2-3.30pm
Studio 1
Trespass Magazine, sister to the prestigious London Magazine, is fast becoming one of London’s hottest new magazines, with work from the likes of George Szirtes (T.S. Eliot prize-winner) gracing it’s pages in recent months. Here, Trespass present a spectrum of their authors and poets, with readings from Tim Wells, Martyn Crucefix, Geroge Szirtes, Anthony Howcroft, Agnes Meadows, Annie Freud, A.F. Harold, and David Gaffney.
* ‘Fluxus’ Performance with the students of Royal Holloway
2-4pm
Rehearsal Room
MA Poetic Practice students from Royal Holloway invite you to enter into a world of poetry you never knew existed. Drop in and have a look at what could well be the most mind-expanding performance of PencilFest 2008.
* ‘Public Poetry’ A Showcase and Competition Prize-Giving
3.30-4.30pm
Studio 1
Public Poetry is, at best, a guerrilla act installing poetry displays in the most unlikely, exposed and challenging of public spaces. Students have competed to win the title of Geurilla Poetry Champion, so join the PENCILfest team and Trespass Magazine to congratulate the winners, see images of their poetry and hear the stories behind how they managed to create public works of literary art, often against all odds.
* Peter Blegvad Performs
4.30-5.30pm
Studio 1
Peter Blegvad has been, at one time or another, a highly successful musician, singer-songwriter, spoken word performer and writer, and has two of the greatest claims to fame imaginable: 1, he is Matt Groening’s favourite cartoonist; 2, he can claim credit for one of the world's longest grammatically-correct palindromes (‘Peel's foe not a set animal laminates a tone of sleep’ in case you’re interested). And though his performances are notoriously unpredictable, expect a combination of music, verse, humour, word-games and surrealism that could prove to be the highlight of the festival.
* The Open-Mic Finale
4-7pm
Foyer
A three hour long opportunity for anybody inspired by what they’ve seen at PencilFest 2008 to get up on a stage and show the world what they can do. The more original, spectacular or bizarre the performance, the better. Old material is, of course, welcome, but why not perform something you’ve written over the festival? There’ll never be a better chance to win yourself over some pretty impressive fans…
Continuous
* All Day Audio Room with Chai Tea
Saturday 12-4pm
Studio 2
For one day only, a theatre studio is transformed into a space to drink tea and listen. Just listen. Featuring readings and drama from students, BBC Radio and Audio, and Peter Blegvad’s Ear-toons (cartoons for the ear) as broadcast on Radio 3’s The Verb.
PENCILFest 2008 Events
Saturday 10th May
* ‘The Sound Crew’ An Arvon Poetry Showcase
3-4.30pm
Writers’ Room
Once upon a time at The Arvon Foundation, a group of poets came together and stayed together. They have gone on to enormous success as individuals and as a collective. ‘Sound Crew’ is a group of extraordinary and diverse poets who work together to celebrate individual writing, a shared ambition and growing recognition. They are: Gill Andrews, Judy Brown, Robbie, Burton, Josh Ekroy, Valerie Fry, Victoria Heath, Allison McVety, David Foster Morgan, Philip Ruthen, Norman Staines, and Maggie Sullivan.
* Slam Workshop: Writing For Performance
3-5pm
Rehearsal Room
How can you improve your performance poetry? What are the most important things to remember when writing poetry specifically for vocal performance? This workshop, run by internationally renowned slam poets, will give you invaluable hints and tips on how to write poems that will enrapture audiences.
* ‘Shakespeare’s Bones’
4-5pm
Studio 1
Acclaimed poet Michael Hulse leads a fascinating insight into one of the University of Warwick’s most intriguing and controversial creative experiments.
* ‘Philosophy at Elevenses With Cookies and Milk
4.30-5pm
Studio 2
Ex-Warwick student Joe Watson and his Tadley cronies, blab la, bring you an exclusive live performance of their latest instalment of eclectic comedy. With everything from Zen to William Blake, questionable gardening tips and a host of hilarious characters, supplemented by an ingenius electro soundtrack, these three musketeers of new comedy are not to be missed!
* Student Scriptwriting A Showcase
5-7.30pm
Studio 2
Students from a number of universities across the UK present readings of scripts-in-progress that they’ve written for the stage. Each performance will be followed by a Q&A session between writers, performers and the audience, discussing the process of writing for stage right from conceiving an idea, to the moment an actor is lit up on stage.
* ‘Polluto’ A Showcase
5-6pm
Rehearsal Room
Polutto: The Anti-Pop Culture Journal is ‘a magazine that thinks it’s a book’ which, just three weeks after the publication of its first issue, was awarded the Spectrum Silver Editorial Award. Founded and edited by students at Leeds University and containing a razor-sharp blend of disturbing art and surreal science-fiction, with contributors ranging from a sleaze-punk singer to a former heroin addict, it represents the cutting edge of contemporary student publication.
* ‘Comedy For Writers’
Stand-up comedy from A.L. Kennedy
6-7.30pm
Studio 1
Everybody knows how good an author A.L. Kennedy is: you don’t get given the Costa Book of the Year prize for nothing after all. What a lot of people don’t realise, however, is that she is also a cracking stand-up comedian, who has performed to universal acclaim for several years. Kennedy brings us a hilarious expose on the relationship between comedy and the practice of writing – this is one not to be missed!
* PENCILfest INTERNATIONAL Poetry Slam
9pm til late
Graduate Club, Student’s Union
Slam poetry is a fast-growing and exciting form of competition. PENCILfest brings you a dynamic, emotionally explosive, piercing spoken word performance where 16 student poets from across the country will be competing, and audience members are the judges! The fates of our competitors are in your hands… who will you choose? Headlining this event are 4 internationally renowned slam poets – Wojtek Cichon (Poland), Sebastian Rabsahl (Germany), Daan Doesborgh (The Netherlands) and Sergio Garau (Italy), not to mention that the event is MCed by Bohdan Piaseki, another of Europe’s finest slam poets. With the best of European slam, poetry to inspire your political and emotional passions, and an adrenaline-infused night out, this is an event sure to blow your mind!
Sunday
* ‘Into The Woods’ An ecopoetry workshop with David Morley
11am-2pm
Rehearsal room (starting point) & into the great outdoors!
In this innovative ecopoetry workshop, the poet, teacher and Director of the Warwick Writing Programme, will take his fellow writers on a poetic field trip. As David comments, "In this 'walking workshop' we shall find poems, plant poems, and make poems". Please bring pen, paper, survival food, suitable clothes and shoes.
* Slam Workshop: Performing your Text
12-2pm
Studio 2
Slam poetry has revolutionised the way that poems are performed on stage. Come along to this workshop to learn from internationally renowned slam poets the secrets of a great spoken word performance. Techniques covered will include: stage behaviour, using a microphone, interpreting a text and using one's voice effectively. This workshop will help you to master the delivery of that spine-chilling line and leave audiences spellbound.
Remember to bring a piece of writing with you! You can take advantage of the PENCILfest Open Mic to put into practice the skills you have learnt.
* ‘The New Poets’
A showcase of new poetry talent with Luke Kennard
1-2.30pm
Writers’ Room
Luke Kennard, the youngest ever Forward Prize nominee and a poet who makes his more venerable rivals look, well, venerable, headlines a showcase of spectacular new poetry by a new generation of literary superstars-in-waiting.
* Trespass Magazine A Showcase
2-3.30pm
Studio 1
Trespass Magazine, sister to the prestigious London Magazine, is fast becoming one of London’s hottest new magazines, with work from the likes of George Szirtes (T.S. Eliot prize-winner) gracing it’s pages in recent months. Here, Trespass present a spectrum of their authors and poets, with readings from Tim Wells, Martyn Crucefix, Geroge Szirtes, Anthony Howcroft, Agnes Meadows, Annie Freud, A.F. Harold, and David Gaffney.
* ‘Fluxus’ Performance with the students of Royal Holloway
2-4pm
Rehearsal Room
MA Poetic Practice students from Royal Holloway invite you to enter into a world of poetry you never knew existed. Drop in and have a look at what could well be the most mind-expanding performance of PencilFest 2008.
* ‘Public Poetry’ A Showcase and Competition Prize-Giving
3.30-4.30pm
Studio 1
Public Poetry is, at best, a guerrilla act installing poetry displays in the most unlikely, exposed and challenging of public spaces. Students have competed to win the title of Geurilla Poetry Champion, so join the PENCILfest team and Trespass Magazine to congratulate the winners, see images of their poetry and hear the stories behind how they managed to create public works of literary art, often against all odds.
* Peter Blegvad Performs
4.30-5.30pm
Studio 1
Peter Blegvad has been, at one time or another, a highly successful musician, singer-songwriter, spoken word performer and writer, and has two of the greatest claims to fame imaginable: 1, he is Matt Groening’s favourite cartoonist; 2, he can claim credit for one of the world's longest grammatically-correct palindromes (‘Peel's foe not a set animal laminates a tone of sleep’ in case you’re interested). And though his performances are notoriously unpredictable, expect a combination of music, verse, humour, word-games and surrealism that could prove to be the highlight of the festival.
* The Open-Mic Finale
4-7pm
Foyer
A three hour long opportunity for anybody inspired by what they’ve seen at PencilFest 2008 to get up on a stage and show the world what they can do. The more original, spectacular or bizarre the performance, the better. Old material is, of course, welcome, but why not perform something you’ve written over the festival? There’ll never be a better chance to win yourself over some pretty impressive fans…
Continuous
* All Day Audio Room with Chai Tea
Saturday 12-4pm
Studio 2
For one day only, a theatre studio is transformed into a space to drink tea and listen. Just listen. Featuring readings and drama from students, BBC Radio and Audio, and Peter Blegvad’s Ear-toons (cartoons for the ear) as broadcast on Radio 3’s The Verb.
Art of Poetry Exhibition: Glasgow, on NOW!
Seeds of Thought: ART OF POETRY Exhibition
6 April - 5 May 2008
Weekdays 2pm-5pm :: All day weekends
St Mungo Museum
Castle Street Glasgow
....poet becomes an artist and artist a poet...
for more info visit http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/exhibitions.cfm?venueid=13
6 April - 5 May 2008
Weekdays 2pm-5pm :: All day weekends
St Mungo Museum
Castle Street Glasgow
....poet becomes an artist and artist a poet...
for more info visit http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/exhibitions.cfm?venueid=13
SOUNDBLAST: news flash!
SOUNDBLAST: Pioneering partnership unites the UK poetry scene as well-respected poetry book club society adds performance poetry cds to its online collection
www.poetrybookshoponline.com/soundblast
Goes live: 6 May
The UK poetry scene has, for years, been characterised by a divide between the more traditional world of ‘page poetry’ and the performance poetry scene. A pioneering partnership, between a major poetry society and the UK’s leading performance poetry organisation, will help to bridge the divide.
This dynamic collaboration has been lead by The Poetry Bookshop Society (PBS), the biggest dedicated poetry bookseller in the UK and Apples & Snakes, the UK’s leading organisation for performance poetry. The cds have been sourced by Apples & Snakes and will be sold on a new page of The Poetry Bookshop Online from 6 May 2008.
The PBS want to extend their audiences for the online bookshop by reaching beyond traditional poetry readers to audiences who are used to hearing poetry performed live.
The new website will provide users with the chance to buy the work of over forty established and emerging artists: including Benjamin Zephaniah, Lemn Sissay, Billy Childish, Beyonder and Agnes Meadows. The site will offer sample audio extracts from the cds, together with photographs and biographies of the poets and cd reviews. Poet recordings have also been provided by 57 Productions.
A successful preview night was held at Whitechapel Gallery on 20 March with performances from six of the featured poets. One of the audience members said, It was mind blowing! The artists were all so talented in their own individual way, I have never heard spoken word poetry before but I think I'm hooked and I even want to start writing some myself!
For further information please contact:
Poetry Book Society
Pinda Bryars or Chris Holifield
Tel 020 7833 9247 or 07872 075056
Email pinda@poetrybooks.co.uk or chris@poetrybooks.co.uk
Apples & Snakes
Charlotte Dove or George Palmer
Tel 0845 521 3460
Email charlotte@applesandsnakes.org or george@applesandsnakes.org
Editor’s Notes
Founded by T S Eliot in 1953, the Poetry Book Society is an organisation devoted to developing and maintaining a readership for poetry in the U.K. The PBS offers the best new contemporary poetry to its members. Apples & Snakes was established as a platform for popular, high quality and cross-cultural poetry. Since 1982, they have reached over four million audience members in theatres, galleries, schools and prisons. They aim to stretch the boundaries of poetry in performance and education
Featured poets include:
Benjamin Zephaniah is a published poet, novelist and playwright. He has been writer in residence at the Africa Arts Collective in Liverpool and creative artist-in-residence at Cambridge University.
Lemn Sissay is Southbank Centre artist-in-residence. Using the lyrical and the polemical, up-beat humour and deadly seriousness, Lemn’s performances are notorious for their powerful energy & dynamism.
Ventriloquist (Chris Redmond) As a trained musician, and with a love of live performance, Chris is part of a growing scene of performance poets who are as comfortable at music nights as they are poetry readings.
Mark Gywnne Jones and the Psychicbread Their debut album - In the light of this (Route 2007) – is a rich offering of voice, rhythm, roots music, vivid poetry and a surreal sense of humor. Based in Derbyshire the band is fronted by poet, musician and performer Mark Gwynne Jones.
Lucy Lepchani is primarily a performance poet and performs at open-mike, cabaret, festivals, readings, and other events. Her work comprises both traditional and contemporary forms, and embraces a wide range of subject matter.
www.poetrybookshoponline.com/soundblast
Goes live: 6 May
The UK poetry scene has, for years, been characterised by a divide between the more traditional world of ‘page poetry’ and the performance poetry scene. A pioneering partnership, between a major poetry society and the UK’s leading performance poetry organisation, will help to bridge the divide.
This dynamic collaboration has been lead by The Poetry Bookshop Society (PBS), the biggest dedicated poetry bookseller in the UK and Apples & Snakes, the UK’s leading organisation for performance poetry. The cds have been sourced by Apples & Snakes and will be sold on a new page of The Poetry Bookshop Online from 6 May 2008.
The PBS want to extend their audiences for the online bookshop by reaching beyond traditional poetry readers to audiences who are used to hearing poetry performed live.
The new website will provide users with the chance to buy the work of over forty established and emerging artists: including Benjamin Zephaniah, Lemn Sissay, Billy Childish, Beyonder and Agnes Meadows. The site will offer sample audio extracts from the cds, together with photographs and biographies of the poets and cd reviews. Poet recordings have also been provided by 57 Productions.
A successful preview night was held at Whitechapel Gallery on 20 March with performances from six of the featured poets. One of the audience members said, It was mind blowing! The artists were all so talented in their own individual way, I have never heard spoken word poetry before but I think I'm hooked and I even want to start writing some myself!
For further information please contact:
Poetry Book Society
Pinda Bryars or Chris Holifield
Tel 020 7833 9247 or 07872 075056
Email pinda@poetrybooks.co.uk or chris@poetrybooks.co.uk
Apples & Snakes
Charlotte Dove or George Palmer
Tel 0845 521 3460
Email charlotte@applesandsnakes.org
Editor’s Notes
Founded by T S Eliot in 1953, the Poetry Book Society is an organisation devoted to developing and maintaining a readership for poetry in the U.K. The PBS offers the best new contemporary poetry to its members. Apples & Snakes was established as a platform for popular, high quality and cross-cultural poetry. Since 1982, they have reached over four million audience members in theatres, galleries, schools and prisons. They aim to stretch the boundaries of poetry in performance and education
Featured poets include:
Benjamin Zephaniah is a published poet, novelist and playwright. He has been writer in residence at the Africa Arts Collective in Liverpool and creative artist-in-residence at Cambridge University.
Lemn Sissay is Southbank Centre artist-in-residence. Using the lyrical and the polemical, up-beat humour and deadly seriousness, Lemn’s performances are notorious for their powerful energy & dynamism.
Ventriloquist (Chris Redmond) As a trained musician, and with a love of live performance, Chris is part of a growing scene of performance poets who are as comfortable at music nights as they are poetry readings.
Mark Gywnne Jones and the Psychicbread Their debut album - In the light of this (Route 2007) – is a rich offering of voice, rhythm, roots music, vivid poetry and a surreal sense of humor. Based in Derbyshire the band is fronted by poet, musician and performer Mark Gwynne Jones.
Lucy Lepchani is primarily a performance poet and performs at open-mike, cabaret, festivals, readings, and other events. Her work comprises both traditional and contemporary forms, and embraces a wide range of subject matter.
Frank Dullaghan launching his new collection 'On the Back of the Wind' this summer
Dublin: Tuesday, June 3rd @ 6.30 p.m.
Poetry Ireland in association with Cinnamon Press presents the launch of Beneath the Deluge by Catherine Brennan & On the Back of the Wind by Frank Dullaghan
Unitarian Church, 112 St Stephen's Green West, Dublin 2
Limerick: Wednesday June 4th @ 9pm
Whitehousepoets White House Poetry Revival readings at the White House Pub, city centre, with Frank Dullaghan.
The White House pub is located in the centre of Limerick City at 52 O'Connell Street. Its exact location is on the corner of Glentworth Street and O'Connell Street, opposite the Ulster Bank and the Bank of Ireland. It is approximately 5 minutes walk from the train and bus station - exit the station and go down Davis Street, pass Taits Clock continue on down Glentworth Street and the White House is on the right hand corner at end of street.
Map http://www.limerick.com/streets/map.html
Poetry Ireland in association with Cinnamon Press presents the launch of Beneath the Deluge by Catherine Brennan & On the Back of the Wind by Frank Dullaghan
Unitarian Church, 112 St Stephen's Green West, Dublin 2
Limerick: Wednesday June 4th @ 9pm
Whitehousepoets White House Poetry Revival readings at the White House Pub, city centre, with Frank Dullaghan.
The White House pub is located in the centre of Limerick City at 52 O'Connell Street. Its exact location is on the corner of Glentworth Street and O'Connell Street, opposite the Ulster Bank and the Bank of Ireland. It is approximately 5 minutes walk from the train and bus station - exit the station and go down Davis Street, pass Taits Clock continue on down Glentworth Street and the White House is on the right hand corner at end of street.
Map http://www.limerick.com/streets/map.html
Poejazzi Is Back!
The Return of PoeJazzi
from 7pm
Thursday April 24th, 2008
SIN,
144 Charing Cross Road
close to tottenham Court Road
£6 on the door, £5 if you book online at: www.wegottickets.com/event/27788.
Featuring the magnificent Excentral Tempest(Live PA),
the soulful Ventriloquist (plus band) and our live band, Benin City.
from 7pm
Thursday April 24th, 2008
SIN,
144 Charing Cross Road
close to tottenham Court Road
£6 on the door, £5 if you book online at: www.wegottickets.com/event/27788.
Featuring the magnificent Excentral Tempest(Live PA),
the soulful Ventriloquist (plus band) and our live band, Benin City.
Poetry Wales Launch Reading: London, Tuesday 22nd April
Poetry Wales Spring Launch
8pm, 22nd April 2008
Upstairs @ The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1DG.
Nearest tube = Tottenham Court Road.
Free entrance
Featuring Oliver Reynolds, Patrick McGuinness, James Byrne, Jerzy Jarniewicz and other readers.
MC for the night Robert Minhinnick.
8pm, 22nd April 2008
Upstairs @ The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1DG.
Nearest tube = Tottenham Court Road.
Free entrance
Featuring Oliver Reynolds, Patrick McGuinness, James Byrne, Jerzy Jarniewicz and other readers.
MC for the night Robert Minhinnick.
Sunday Express at the Adam and Eve, Birmingham: TODAY!
Note from Liz on The Sunday Xpress:
We're still going! Please come to the Adam & Eve in central Birmingham tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) between 3pm and 7pm, for open mic everything and free roast potatoes. Free entry!
We're still going! Please come to the Adam & Eve in central Birmingham tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) between 3pm and 7pm, for open mic everything and free roast potatoes. Free entry!
Last Monday at Rio: Glasgow Open Mic with guests
Last Monday At Rio - Sparky spoken word cabaret
Monday April 28, 8pm-10pm-ish.
The Rio Cafe, Hyndland Street, Partick, Glasgow. (Kelvinhall tube).
Admission free.
First birthday edition of Last Monday at Rio with headline act CLAUDIA DAVENTRY.
Claudia is just as comfy snagging trophies in prestigious written competitions as she is in the rammy of live poetry slams. Placing high in the Bridport Prize and at Ledbury she tugs page poetry towards the stage and brings a mind like a steel trap to her slam pieces. Recently touched down in St Andrews after some years in Amsterdam Claudia is fully clued to the whole western-Europe scene. It shows in her work. Oh, and I think she can sing in Catalan too!
First hour of the evening will be open mic. Five minute spots are available. Cairns is your compere. Contact robin.cairns@btconnect.com to book a place.
The Rio Cafe.
Admission and speech are free. Chips are cheap. The acts are priceless. Venison`s deer.
Monday April 28, 8pm-10pm-ish.
The Rio Cafe, Hyndland Street, Partick, Glasgow. (Kelvinhall tube).
Admission free.
First birthday edition of Last Monday at Rio with headline act CLAUDIA DAVENTRY.
Claudia is just as comfy snagging trophies in prestigious written competitions as she is in the rammy of live poetry slams. Placing high in the Bridport Prize and at Ledbury she tugs page poetry towards the stage and brings a mind like a steel trap to her slam pieces. Recently touched down in St Andrews after some years in Amsterdam Claudia is fully clued to the whole western-Europe scene. It shows in her work. Oh, and I think she can sing in Catalan too!
First hour of the evening will be open mic. Five minute spots are available. Cairns is your compere. Contact robin.cairns@btconnect.com to book a place.
The Rio Cafe.
Admission and speech are free. Chips are cheap. The acts are priceless. Venison`s deer.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
New Blood at the Poetry Cafe: this Tuesday, 15th April
Please click to enlarge. (I wonder if that works with people, too?)
Friday, April 11, 2008
Online Editor (or Editors) Required
Dear Readers of POF
Having taken on a number of time-consuming new projects this year, I have decided that I cannot continue running this Poets on Fire events listing blog.
However, it's been such a phenomenal success, right from its inception, that I don't want to simply close the site.
So I'm looking for someone, or possibly several someones, to run the site instead. The position is unpaid, I'm afraid, but is a good public service and also means you will be in contact with all sorts of British performers and event organisers, both big and small.
You will need some experience with Blogger or a similar site, in particular a basic working knowledge of HTML. (No longer strictly necessary, I know, but it's always good to know what the code means for those times when things don't go according to plan.)
How would it work? Well, in the beginning I would forward any emails received to your address and let you post them up; later, you might want to reroute all emails straight through to your own email address. You will be named in the sidebar and below each post as one of the POF editors, and made an official 'team member' for this blog so that you can post up events as they come through to you, or change the site design if you wish. You will also be able to post up your own details and a photograph in the sidebar for permanent display.
I will remain a named team member myself, as the site's founder.
So, minimal interference, maximum networking opportunities. What do you say? If you would like to apply for this position, please email me - j.holland442@btinternet.com - giving the following details:
1. Your real name.
2. Your age.
3. Your location.
4. Your internet experience (particularly as a blogger).
5. Your background in poetry and/or performance.
6. Why you want to take this challenging project on.
7. Any ideas you may have about changing/improving the site.
8. Lastly, your absolute commitment to updating this blog at least once a week for a minimum period of six months.
Looking forward to hearing from you - deadline for applications will be Sunday April 27th.
Jane
Having taken on a number of time-consuming new projects this year, I have decided that I cannot continue running this Poets on Fire events listing blog.
However, it's been such a phenomenal success, right from its inception, that I don't want to simply close the site.
So I'm looking for someone, or possibly several someones, to run the site instead. The position is unpaid, I'm afraid, but is a good public service and also means you will be in contact with all sorts of British performers and event organisers, both big and small.
You will need some experience with Blogger or a similar site, in particular a basic working knowledge of HTML. (No longer strictly necessary, I know, but it's always good to know what the code means for those times when things don't go according to plan.)
How would it work? Well, in the beginning I would forward any emails received to your address and let you post them up; later, you might want to reroute all emails straight through to your own email address. You will be named in the sidebar and below each post as one of the POF editors, and made an official 'team member' for this blog so that you can post up events as they come through to you, or change the site design if you wish. You will also be able to post up your own details and a photograph in the sidebar for permanent display.
I will remain a named team member myself, as the site's founder.
So, minimal interference, maximum networking opportunities. What do you say? If you would like to apply for this position, please email me - j.holland442@btinternet.com - giving the following details:
1. Your real name.
2. Your age.
3. Your location.
4. Your internet experience (particularly as a blogger).
5. Your background in poetry and/or performance.
6. Why you want to take this challenging project on.
7. Any ideas you may have about changing/improving the site.
8. Lastly, your absolute commitment to updating this blog at least once a week for a minimum period of six months.
Looking forward to hearing from you - deadline for applications will be Sunday April 27th.
Jane
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Mario Petrucci in Coventry TONIGHT, with Open Mic: 8pm
London poet Mario Petrucci will read in Coventry on Thursday night, as guest poet at the monthly open mic night run by The Heaventree Press.
Petrucci’s first collection, Shrapnel and Sheets (1996), dealing with war themes, family relationships, bereavement and scientific issues, won a Poetry Book Society recommendation. This was followed by two further collections: Lepidoptera (1999) and Bosco (1999). In 2002, he won the Daily Telegraph Arvon International Poetry Competition, with a book-length poem on Chernobyl . This led to the publication of Heavy Water: a poem for Chernobyl (2004), launched on the 18th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, along with its sister volume, Half Life: Poems for Chernobyl (2004). His most recent volumes are Flowers of Sulphur (winner of the 2007 New London Writers Award) and Catullus, a set of translations from the Latin.
“Twin engines drive Mario Petrucci’s poetry: one engine is a personal and cultural knowledge of the sweep of European history; the other is a scientific understanding few poets have. Between them, these engines take Mario's poetry to dazzling heights.” – Ian McMillan
Mario Petrucci will read at Liquid Cafe Wine Bar in the City Arcade. 8pm start. Free entry. Reduced price drinks for performers.
Hope to see you there!
Petrucci’s first collection, Shrapnel and Sheets (1996), dealing with war themes, family relationships, bereavement and scientific issues, won a Poetry Book Society recommendation. This was followed by two further collections: Lepidoptera (1999) and Bosco (1999). In 2002, he won the Daily Telegraph Arvon International Poetry Competition, with a book-length poem on Chernobyl . This led to the publication of Heavy Water: a poem for Chernobyl (2004), launched on the 18th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, along with its sister volume, Half Life: Poems for Chernobyl (2004). His most recent volumes are Flowers of Sulphur (winner of the 2007 New London Writers Award) and Catullus, a set of translations from the Latin.
“Twin engines drive Mario Petrucci’s poetry: one engine is a personal and cultural knowledge of the sweep of European history; the other is a scientific understanding few poets have. Between them, these engines take Mario's poetry to dazzling heights.” – Ian McMillan
Mario Petrucci will read at Liquid Cafe Wine Bar in the City Arcade. 8pm start. Free entry. Reduced price drinks for performers.
Hope to see you there!
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