Saturday and Sunday, June 14th-15th, 2008
Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre
The Droveway
Northey Road
Peterborough
PE6 7QJ
Tel: 01733 313414
A two-day festival celebrating creativity in both the written and the spoken word. It will include Young Poets of the Year and Battle of the Bands competitions, as well as a wealth of stallholders, art work, ancient crafts, children’s activities, performances, storytellers, poetry and music. Weekend tickets available.
Advance weekend tickets: £10 adult, £9 concession, £7.50 child, £27.50 family ticket
www.flagfen.com
Saturday, May 31, 2008
WARWICK: Apples & Snakes - Valerie Bloom
Sunday, 1st June, 2008, 3pm
Warwick Arts Centre,
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
Gather round children, listen up. Valerie Bloom has a story to tell you. She is an award winning poet and author for children and a fantastic performer of her work. She will delight you with her stories and you will find yourself singing along to her poems in this brand new performance that showcases her writing, set to a specially commissioned soundscape with theatrical lighting. This is an uplifting and unique performance from one of the best contemporary writer's for children.
Friday, May 30, 2008
CROYDON: Apples & Snakes present Ignite: Poetry and Music
Croydon Clocktower
Saturday, 31st May, 2008, 8pm
Join energetic, entertaining and inspiring rapper BREIS as he hosts ignite, an evening of stunning poetry and music to thrill your senses. With jaw dropping performances from:
the queen of performance poetry Francesca Beard
breath-taking poet & beatboxer John Berkavitch
soulful chanteuse Kim Sutherland
soul-touching poet Kayo Chingonyi
effervescent rapper Lyric L
Plus previously unheard work written and performed by young people following a series of workshops, led by BREIS and Francesca Beard.
A night of great entertainment and excellent company.
Tickets: £5 / £3 (under 21s)
Booking: 020 8253 1030
Croydon Clocktower, Katharine St, Croydon CR9 1ET
PROGRAM ORGANIZED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CLOCKTOWER ARTS AMBASSADORS
LONDON: Poetry London Summer 2008 launch reading
Wednesday, 18th June 2008, 6.30pm, free entrance, free wine.
Foyles,
The Gallery,
2nd Floor,
113-119 Charing Cross Road,
London WC2
Tube: Tottenham Court Road
Readings by Bill Manhire, Pauline Stainer, Fred D’Aguiar and Greta Stoddart.
Fred D'Aguiar’s poetry, novels and drama have received much, and growing, acclaim. His poetry includes Bill of Rights (1998), a long narrative poem about the Jonestown massacre in Guyana in 1979, which is told in Guyanese versions of English, fusing patois, Creole and nation-language with the standard vernacular; it was shortlisted for the 1998 T.S.Eliot Prize. An English Sampler: New and Selected Poems was published by Chatto in 2001.
Bill Manhire is an award-winning New Zealand poet and short story writer. His work has won the New Zealand Book Awards poetry prize five times, in 1978, 1985, 1992,1996. His most recent collection Lifted was published by Carcanet in 2007.
Pauline Stainer’s poetry explores sacred myth, legend, history-in-landscape, and human feeling -- and their connections to the 'inner landscapes' of the imaginative mind. The Lady and the Hare: New and Selected Poems was published by Bloodaxe in 2003 and was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.Her seventh collection from Bloodaxe, Crossing the Snowline is due in October this year.
Greta Stoddart was born in Henley-on-Thames in 1966, and grew up in Belgium and Oxford. Her poetry has been published widely in magazines and anthologies, and her first collection, At Home in the Dark, was published in 2001. It won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize (Best First Collection). Her second collection, Salvation Jane, is due from Anvil in September this year.
Foyles,
The Gallery,
2nd Floor,
113-119 Charing Cross Road,
London WC2
Tube: Tottenham Court Road
Readings by Bill Manhire, Pauline Stainer, Fred D’Aguiar and Greta Stoddart.
Fred D'Aguiar’s poetry, novels and drama have received much, and growing, acclaim. His poetry includes Bill of Rights (1998), a long narrative poem about the Jonestown massacre in Guyana in 1979, which is told in Guyanese versions of English, fusing patois, Creole and nation-language with the standard vernacular; it was shortlisted for the 1998 T.S.Eliot Prize. An English Sampler: New and Selected Poems was published by Chatto in 2001.
Bill Manhire is an award-winning New Zealand poet and short story writer. His work has won the New Zealand Book Awards poetry prize five times, in 1978, 1985, 1992,1996. His most recent collection Lifted was published by Carcanet in 2007.
Pauline Stainer’s poetry explores sacred myth, legend, history-in-landscape, and human feeling -- and their connections to the 'inner landscapes' of the imaginative mind. The Lady and the Hare: New and Selected Poems was published by Bloodaxe in 2003 and was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.Her seventh collection from Bloodaxe, Crossing the Snowline is due in October this year.
Greta Stoddart was born in Henley-on-Thames in 1966, and grew up in Belgium and Oxford. Her poetry has been published widely in magazines and anthologies, and her first collection, At Home in the Dark, was published in 2001. It won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize (Best First Collection). Her second collection, Salvation Jane, is due from Anvil in September this year.
LONDON: The Creative Word - Visions of the City I
June 5th, 2008, 7pm
£7, £5 concessions, advance booking required.
This series, curated by Bishopsgate Institute's Poet in Residence Tom Chivers, will introduce some of London's most exciting poets – writers whose work explores the complex, fluid and multivocal character of the City. Alongside their readings Tom will also premiere his own new work produced during the Residency.
£7, £5 concessions, advance booking required.
This series, curated by Bishopsgate Institute's Poet in Residence Tom Chivers, will introduce some of London's most exciting poets – writers whose work explores the complex, fluid and multivocal character of the City. Alongside their readings Tom will also premiere his own new work produced during the Residency.
Oblique, bleak bloke Tim Wells has supported The Libertines with his riotous 'Cockney Hell' poetry show and his collection Boys Night Out In The Afternoon (Donut) was nominated for the prestigious Forward Prize.
Simon Barraclough's debut collection of poetry Los Alamos Mon Amour (Salt) has not yet been launched but is already creating a stir. According to The Guardian, Los Alamos 'wheels through forms, moods and locations around a sensual core of love poems'.
Jay Bernard is fast establishing a reputation as one of the UK's most talented young writers with her poetry collection Your Sign is Cuckoo, Girl and has performed at venues across the country including the London Respect Slam.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
NEWCASTLE: Ruth Padel reading
Friday, May 30th, 2008, 7:00pm
Culture Lab
Grand Assembly Rooms
King's Walk
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
At this final event of the Bloodaxe Poetry Lecture series, Ruth Padel will read from her work which has been described as "approachable, contemporary, cool poems, magnificently varied, daring and imaginative, never short of glittering humour, and fabulously rich". Her recent collections of poetry include Voodoo Shop and The Soho Leopard. For more information, see www.ruthpadel.com.
Admission free, but tickets must be booked in advance. To book tickets, call: 0191 222 7619 or melanie.birch@ncl.ac.uk.
Culture Lab is fully accessible to disabled visitors. Please call 0191 222 1332 if you require any specific information in relation to your visit to an event.
Organised by Northern Writers' Centre/Bloodaxe Books. For further information, go to: www.northernwriterscentre.com
Culture Lab
Grand Assembly Rooms
King's Walk
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
At this final event of the Bloodaxe Poetry Lecture series, Ruth Padel will read from her work which has been described as "approachable, contemporary, cool poems, magnificently varied, daring and imaginative, never short of glittering humour, and fabulously rich". Her recent collections of poetry include Voodoo Shop and The Soho Leopard. For more information, see www.ruthpadel.com.
Admission free, but tickets must be booked in advance. To book tickets, call: 0191 222 7619 or melanie.birch@ncl.ac.uk.
Culture Lab is fully accessible to disabled visitors. Please call 0191 222 1332 if you require any specific information in relation to your visit to an event.
Organised by Northern Writers' Centre/Bloodaxe Books. For further information, go to: www.northernwriterscentre.com
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
NOTTINGHAM: Leap
Friday, June 6th, 2008, 7.00 pm.
Waterstone's,
Bridlesmith Gate,
Nottingham
Launch of Leap, the new anthology of creative writing from Nottingham Trent University. Includes work by established authors David Almond, Dave Belbin, Graham Joyce, and poets Mahendra Solanki, John Lucas and Martin Stannard, alongside new work from 20 MA writing students. Free, but please book at Waterstone's, or by emailing alysonstoneman@hotmail.com
Waterstone's,
Bridlesmith Gate,
Nottingham
Launch of Leap, the new anthology of creative writing from Nottingham Trent University. Includes work by established authors David Almond, Dave Belbin, Graham Joyce, and poets Mahendra Solanki, John Lucas and Martin Stannard, alongside new work from 20 MA writing students. Free, but please book at Waterstone's, or by emailing alysonstoneman@hotmail.com
DERBYSHIRE LITERATURE FESTIVAL: Journeys In Words
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008, 7.30 pm.
Chesterfield Library,
Derbyshire.
A medley of thought-provoking poetry by eight voices, brought to you by Moorside Writers' Group.
Tel: 08456 058058
Email: call.centre@derbyshire.gov.uk
Website: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/festival
Chesterfield Library,
Derbyshire.
A medley of thought-provoking poetry by eight voices, brought to you by Moorside Writers' Group.
Tel: 08456 058058
Email: call.centre@derbyshire.gov.uk
Website: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/festival
DERBYSHIRE LITERATURE FESTIVAL: Poetry with Punch
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008, 7.30 pm
Codnor Methodist Church,
Mill Lane,
Codnor,
Derbyshire.
Local writer, poet and musician Mike Wilson will read from his new collection, Desperanto, and from some of his favourite poets.
Tel: 08456 058058
Email: call.centre@derbyshire.gov.uk
Website: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/festival
Codnor Methodist Church,
Mill Lane,
Codnor,
Derbyshire.
Local writer, poet and musician Mike Wilson will read from his new collection, Desperanto, and from some of his favourite poets.
Tel: 08456 058058
Email: call.centre@derbyshire.gov.uk
Website: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/festival
MAIDENHEAD: Valerie Bloom
Apples & Snakes: Valerie Bloom - Come, me pickney!
Thursday 29th May, 3pm
Nordern Farm Centre for the Arts,
www.nordenfarm.org
Gather round children, listen up. Valerie Bloom has a story to tell you. She is an award-winning poet and author for children and a fantastic performer of her work. She will delight you with her stories and you will find yourself singing along to her poems in this brand new performance that showcases her writing, set to a specially commissioned soundscape with theatrical lighting. This is an uplifting and unique performance from one of the best contemporary writer's for children.
Thursday 29th May, 3pm
Nordern Farm Centre for the Arts,
www.nordenfarm.org
Gather round children, listen up. Valerie Bloom has a story to tell you. She is an award-winning poet and author for children and a fantastic performer of her work. She will delight you with her stories and you will find yourself singing along to her poems in this brand new performance that showcases her writing, set to a specially commissioned soundscape with theatrical lighting. This is an uplifting and unique performance from one of the best contemporary writer's for children.
EXETER: Uncut Poets
Thursday, 29th May 2008, 7.30 pm, £5/£3 concessions
Black Box, Media Centre,
Exeter Phoenix,
Gandy Street,
Exeter
Box Office: 01392 667080
Uncut Poets' guest poet will be Peter Robinson. Plus Open Mic. Anyone wishing to book an open mic slot, call James Bell on 07879 888319.
Fully accessible venue.
Black Box, Media Centre,
Exeter Phoenix,
Gandy Street,
Exeter
Box Office: 01392 667080
Uncut Poets' guest poet will be Peter Robinson. Plus Open Mic. Anyone wishing to book an open mic slot, call James Bell on 07879 888319.
Fully accessible venue.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
CORK: Upcoming Readings at Ó Bhéal
Ó Bhéal in association with Foras na Gaeilge presents:
Monday, June 2nd, 2008 - Colette Nic Aodha
Born in Co. Mayo in 1967, her poetry collections are Baill Seirce / Love Bites (Baile Átha Cliath, Coiscéim, 1998); Faoi Chrann Cnó Capaill / Under The Horse Chestnut (Coiscéim, 2000); and Gallúnach-Ar-Rópa / Soap-on-a-Rope (Coiscéim, 2003). Sundial, published by Arlen House in 2005 is her first collection of poetry in English. She edited an anthology of her students’ poetry, Pailéad an tSaoil / Palette of Life in 2006. Her collection Between Curses / Bainne Géar, a duel language collection was published by Arlen House October 2006.
Colette currently resides in Galway where she works in the university. A forthcoming collection from Coiscéim entitled Ainteafan received a 6,000 euro commission from Bord na Leabhar Gaeilge.
Monday, June 9th, 2008 - Harry Zevenbergen
Harry Zevenbergen is the city poet of Den Haag. In his work, political satire, sharp observation, a heartfelt tear and hilaric absurdism are alternated. In the past ten years Harry has delivered about 800 performances, including over 100 performances in Belgium, England, Ireland and Scotland. His work has been published in several anthologies, magazines, newspapers and in 2004 his first major collection Punk in Rhenen was published. In September 2007 the Nepalese/Indian magazine Pratik published an anthology of contemporary Dutch poetry, edited by Harry, with the support of the Dutch Translation fund.
As a poet Harry works both solo, as a duo with fellow poet Diann van Faassen and also in the poetry pop-group D.O.M., a group that combines multi-vocal poetry performance with pop, folk and electromusic. In 2003 D.O.M. produced the Wintergarden (Nijmegen) City. City is the story of a big city, with a series of poems forming one story. On stage the performance is supported by a film. City was to be seen on several major festivals in the Netherlands. In April 2007 Harry was officially announced as the first official City poet of Den Haag.
Harry will be giving a workshop in The Hayloft at 6pm before his reading, and spaces are limited to ten.
For further information contact Paul Casey, Ó Bhéal MC, on 085 712 6299, or visit: www.obheal.ie
Ó Bhéal is held in the Hayloft, upstairs at The Long Valley, Winthrop Street, Cork.
Monday, June 2nd, 2008 - Colette Nic Aodha
Born in Co. Mayo in 1967, her poetry collections are Baill Seirce / Love Bites (Baile Átha Cliath, Coiscéim, 1998); Faoi Chrann Cnó Capaill / Under The Horse Chestnut (Coiscéim, 2000); and Gallúnach-Ar-Rópa / Soap-on-a-Rope (Coiscéim, 2003). Sundial, published by Arlen House in 2005 is her first collection of poetry in English. She edited an anthology of her students’ poetry, Pailéad an tSaoil / Palette of Life in 2006. Her collection Between Curses / Bainne Géar, a duel language collection was published by Arlen House October 2006.
Colette currently resides in Galway where she works in the university. A forthcoming collection from Coiscéim entitled Ainteafan received a 6,000 euro commission from Bord na Leabhar Gaeilge.
Monday, June 9th, 2008 - Harry Zevenbergen
Harry Zevenbergen is the city poet of Den Haag. In his work, political satire, sharp observation, a heartfelt tear and hilaric absurdism are alternated. In the past ten years Harry has delivered about 800 performances, including over 100 performances in Belgium, England, Ireland and Scotland. His work has been published in several anthologies, magazines, newspapers and in 2004 his first major collection Punk in Rhenen was published. In September 2007 the Nepalese/Indian magazine Pratik published an anthology of contemporary Dutch poetry, edited by Harry, with the support of the Dutch Translation fund.
As a poet Harry works both solo, as a duo with fellow poet Diann van Faassen and also in the poetry pop-group D.O.M., a group that combines multi-vocal poetry performance with pop, folk and electromusic. In 2003 D.O.M. produced the Wintergarden (Nijmegen) City. City is the story of a big city, with a series of poems forming one story. On stage the performance is supported by a film. City was to be seen on several major festivals in the Netherlands. In April 2007 Harry was officially announced as the first official City poet of Den Haag.
Harry will be giving a workshop in The Hayloft at 6pm before his reading, and spaces are limited to ten.
For further information contact Paul Casey, Ó Bhéal MC, on 085 712 6299, or visit: www.obheal.ie
Ó Bhéal is held in the Hayloft, upstairs at The Long Valley, Winthrop Street, Cork.
EDINBURGH: Poetry At The Great Grog
LONDON: Apples & Snakes in Soho
Poetry and spoken word for the 21st Century
Wednesday, 28th May, 8pm, £8, £6 concessions.
Soho Theatre,
21 Dean Street,
London
W1D 3NE
A decade is a long time in performance poetry. Come and see one performer who's going from strength to strength after ten years in the business, another who's spent the last ten years carving a substantial niche for himself, and one talented newcomer with a promising poetic future in front of him. Add an international artist who's busy redefining the whole concept of spoken word, and we've got a crash course in the nation's favourite underground artform.
Featuring:
Patience Agbabi – tattooed poetry ambassador who has strutted her stuff everywhere from Eton College to Namibia; now promoting her new collection Bloodshot Monochrome.
Luke Wright - Edinburgh Fringe institution, star of the hit theatre show Poet & Man, and the creative force behind Latitude Festival's stand-up poetry arena.
Keith Jarrett - not the famous jazz muso, but a hotly-tipped and charismatic new face on London's poetry stages.
Rosie Dennis - well-respected Sydney voice-artist, known for blurring the lines between text and movement; tonight airing her Love Song Dedication piece.
Book: 0870 429 6883 / www.sohotheatre.com
Info: www.applesandsnakes.org / www.myspace.com/applesandsnakespoetry
Wednesday, 28th May, 8pm, £8, £6 concessions.
Soho Theatre,
21 Dean Street,
London
W1D 3NE
A decade is a long time in performance poetry. Come and see one performer who's going from strength to strength after ten years in the business, another who's spent the last ten years carving a substantial niche for himself, and one talented newcomer with a promising poetic future in front of him. Add an international artist who's busy redefining the whole concept of spoken word, and we've got a crash course in the nation's favourite underground artform.
Featuring:
Patience Agbabi – tattooed poetry ambassador who has strutted her stuff everywhere from Eton College to Namibia; now promoting her new collection Bloodshot Monochrome.
Luke Wright - Edinburgh Fringe institution, star of the hit theatre show Poet & Man, and the creative force behind Latitude Festival's stand-up poetry arena.
Keith Jarrett - not the famous jazz muso, but a hotly-tipped and charismatic new face on London's poetry stages.
Rosie Dennis - well-respected Sydney voice-artist, known for blurring the lines between text and movement; tonight airing her Love Song Dedication piece.
Book: 0870 429 6883 / www.sohotheatre.com
Info: www.applesandsnakes.org / www.myspace.com/applesandsnakespoetry
LONDON: Utter Northerners!
Utter Northerners! - Tim Turnbull, Joe Hakim, Paul Lyalls, Jacquie Gabbitas and many more!
Wednesday, May 28th, 7.30pm, £2 before 7.30pm, £5 thereafter, including free sweets and a prize draw to win an Utter! bag of books and free tickets.
The Salisbury Hotel,
1, Grand Parade,
Green Lanes,
London,
N4 1JX
Tube: Turnpike Lane / Manor House; Bus: 141, 29, 41, 67; Overland: Harringey Green Lanes.
This month, Utter! is invaded by a horde of hardy literary barbarians from the frozen wastes of the no-nonsense North, ready to duff us soft Southern pansies up into a poetical pulp. So please prepare to doff your cloth caps to:
Tim Turnbull, winner of the £10,000 'Contenders' poetry prize and Forward prize nominee, life-affirmingly, dour Larkin-esque material from a poet so Northern he moved even further North, to Scotland.
Jacqueline Gabbitas, co-editor of Brittle Star magazine, technically from the Midlands but she writes great stuff about coal and shit spiders, so we'll let her off.
Joe Hakim, winner of Shortfuse's 'Poetry Idol' and graduate of Apples and Snakes 'Incubate' programme. Sex and drugs and rock & roll from the seventh circle of Hull.
Julia Bird, who’s not northern, but the winner of last month's ajar mic contest. Poems with humour and vision from her upcoming book.
Ritchie Scurvey, the Scouse agitprop poet who will be unleashing his first new material since the '80s with the help of his puppet assistant Socky.
Ajar Mic Contest - you vote on who gets a full paid slot next month. Will it be James Campbell, Mark E, David Goo or Georgie Banfield?
Special guest MC Paul Lyalls, ebullient host of Express Excess and Poetry and Poppadums, as seen on BBC2's 'Big Slam Poetry House.'
For further information contact 07912 539 098 or richardtyronejones@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 28th, 7.30pm, £2 before 7.30pm, £5 thereafter, including free sweets and a prize draw to win an Utter! bag of books and free tickets.
The Salisbury Hotel,
1, Grand Parade,
Green Lanes,
London,
N4 1JX
Tube: Turnpike Lane / Manor House; Bus: 141, 29, 41, 67; Overland: Harringey Green Lanes.
This month, Utter! is invaded by a horde of hardy literary barbarians from the frozen wastes of the no-nonsense North, ready to duff us soft Southern pansies up into a poetical pulp. So please prepare to doff your cloth caps to:
Tim Turnbull, winner of the £10,000 'Contenders' poetry prize and Forward prize nominee, life-affirmingly, dour Larkin-esque material from a poet so Northern he moved even further North, to Scotland.
Jacqueline Gabbitas, co-editor of Brittle Star magazine, technically from the Midlands but she writes great stuff about coal and shit spiders, so we'll let her off.
Joe Hakim, winner of Shortfuse's 'Poetry Idol' and graduate of Apples and Snakes 'Incubate' programme. Sex and drugs and rock & roll from the seventh circle of Hull.
Julia Bird, who’s not northern, but the winner of last month's ajar mic contest. Poems with humour and vision from her upcoming book.
Ritchie Scurvey, the Scouse agitprop poet who will be unleashing his first new material since the '80s with the help of his puppet assistant Socky.
Ajar Mic Contest - you vote on who gets a full paid slot next month. Will it be James Campbell, Mark E, David Goo or Georgie Banfield?
Special guest MC Paul Lyalls, ebullient host of Express Excess and Poetry and Poppadums, as seen on BBC2's 'Big Slam Poetry House.'
For further information contact 07912 539 098 or richardtyronejones@gmail.com
Monday, May 26, 2008
LONDON, POETRY CAFE: Flipped Eye free readings
June 4th 2008
Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street
London, United Kingdom
12.00-12.40: NEW FICTION
Aoife Mannix reads from her forthcoming novel, Heritage of Secrets, and fiction editor, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, reads from Ainsley Burrows' forthcoming novel, Land of our Birth.
13.00-13.40: REDIRECTION
Roger Robinson, Nick Makoha and Inua Ellams read from their forthcoming work and talk about the differences in the processes of drafting, compiling, editing as compared to their phenomenally successful first collections.
14.00-14.40: WRITING OBSESSIONS
Roger Robinson, Inua Ellams, Aoife Mannix and Malika Booker talk about what their current writing obsessions are embracing a gamut of objects, other books, poetic forms, prose arcs, new approaches to metaphor, and weird sleeping habits - all sorts of things that somehow relate to their writing.
15.00-15.40: QUESTION THE EDITORS
Niall O'Sullivan and Nii Ayikwei Parkes will talk about the experience of editing and in-house editing experiences, mainly by taking questions from the audience.
16.00 - BOOK SIGNING: Authors in attendance will include Roger Robinson, Inua Ellams, Malika Booker and Niall O'Sullivan
17.30-18.25: FORTHCOMING POETRY
Jacob Sam-La Rose, Charlotte Ansell and Nick Makoha read exclusively from their forthcoming poetry books
19.00-19.50: NEW POETRY
Niall O'Sullivan, Malika Booker and Denise Saul read from their recently released collections - Ventriloquism for Monkeys, Breadfruit and White Narcissi respectively
20.00 - BOOK SIGNING: Authors in attendance will include Jacob Sam-La Rose, Charlotte Ansell, Nick Makoha, Denise Saul and Niki Aguirre
20.30-21.10: GENERATIONS
Our writers include characters with millions of airmiles and freedom passes in their pockets as well as fledglings with pocket change and airy dreams of flying: This session puts Agnes Meadows side-by-side with Inua Ellams to showcase the poetry of generations that span post-WW2 to post-II (Iraq Invasion) 2.
21.20-22.50: FICTION UNLEASHED
Aoife Mannix, Niki Aguirre, Roger Robinson and W. E. Essilfie - two published and two with forthcoming publications - read from their work. Roger's Adventures in 3D is widely hailed as a classic, Niki's 29 Ways to Drown has just been longlisted for the Frank O'Connor Short Story Prize - come and hear the classics and see what's new and upcoming...
WHILE THE EVENT IS FREE, WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO DONATE TOWARDS THE DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS IN BURMA THROUGH DEC (http://www.dec.org.uk/) OR CHINA THROUGH THE RED CROSS (http://www.redcross.org.uk/donatesection.asp?id=77029)
EDINBURGH: Voxbox
Voxbox First Thursday of the month at the Meadow Bar, Buccleuch Street, Edinburgh.
June 5th TEAM SLAM competition.
plus guest Dutch punk poet Harry Zevenberger.
Hosted by Kevin Cadwallender and Anita Govan. £3.00
Hosted by Kevin Cadwallender and Anita Govan. £3.00
Friday, May 23, 2008
MANCHESTER: Speakeasy presents ELEMENTZ
Speakeasy presents ELEMENTZ + 9th Birthday Celebration
Directed by Akiel Chinelo, Amanda Milligan and Yusra Warsama
Drawing inspiration from the elements, the Speakeasy collective presents an evening of poetry and sound alive with the spice of fire, the salt of the earth, an air of mystery and water for dry eyes. Join us to experience the whole world, delivered by a select line-up of Speakeasy poets and the Speakeasy band in one special night.
SPECIAL GUEST POET: Moxy Casimir
SAT 7TH JUNE
9pm-2am
Entry: £6/£5 concs
Open mic performers free
Directed by Akiel Chinelo, Amanda Milligan and Yusra Warsama
Drawing inspiration from the elements, the Speakeasy collective presents an evening of poetry and sound alive with the spice of fire, the salt of the earth, an air of mystery and water for dry eyes. Join us to experience the whole world, delivered by a select line-up of Speakeasy poets and the Speakeasy band in one special night.
SPECIAL GUEST POET: Moxy Casimir
SAT 7TH JUNE
9pm-2am
Entry: £6/£5 concs
Open mic performers free
greenroom
54-56 Whitworth St West
Manchester
M1 5WW
Open mikers, contact Marrianne:
07957 116 288
info@speakeasymcr.com
54-56 Whitworth St West
Manchester
M1 5WW
Open mikers, contact Marrianne:
07957 116 288
info@speakeasymcr.com
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Bristol: Easton Can Openers
Thu 5 Jun 2008
7pm till 8.30pm, FREE
Starbooks
45 West St
Old Market
Bristol BS2 OBZ
0117 933 0900
www.poetrycan.co.uk
Description: Open mike and forum for poetry hosted by Baljinder Bhopal. Guest poet Jenny Davis. Please come along to share your views as well as your poetry in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.Expect lively discussions and scintilating performances.
Bristol Black Writers is supporting this event to encourage Black and Asian Writing - ALL WELCOME.
7pm till 8.30pm, FREE
Starbooks
45 West St
Old Market
Bristol BS2 OBZ
0117 933 0900
www.poetrycan.co.uk
Description: Open mike and forum for poetry hosted by Baljinder Bhopal. Guest poet Jenny Davis. Please come along to share your views as well as your poetry in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.Expect lively discussions and scintilating performances.
Bristol Black Writers is supporting this event to encourage Black and Asian Writing - ALL WELCOME.
CROYDON: Apples and Snakes presents Ignite: Poetry and Music
Apples & Snakes presents
ignite: POETRY & MUSIC
Croydon Clocktower
Saturday 31 May 8pm
Join energetic, entertaining and inspiring rapper BREIS as he hosts ignite, an evening of stunning poetry and music to thrill your senses. With jaw dropping performances from:
the queen of performance poetry Francesca Beard
breath-taking poet & beatboxer John Berkavitch
soulful chanteuse Kim Sutherland
soul-touching poet Kayo Chingonyi
effervescent rapper Lyric L
Plus previously unheard work written and performed by young people following a series of workshops, led by BREIS and Francesca Beard.
A night of great entertainment and excellent company.
Tickets: £5 / £3 (under 21s)
Booking: 020 8253 1030
Croydon Clocktower, Katharine St, Croydon CR9 1ET
PROGRAM ORGANIZED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CLOCKTOWER ARTS AMBASSADORS
ignite: POETRY & MUSIC
Croydon Clocktower
Saturday 31 May 8pm
Join energetic, entertaining and inspiring rapper BREIS as he hosts ignite, an evening of stunning poetry and music to thrill your senses. With jaw dropping performances from:
the queen of performance poetry Francesca Beard
breath-taking poet & beatboxer John Berkavitch
soulful chanteuse Kim Sutherland
soul-touching poet Kayo Chingonyi
effervescent rapper Lyric L
Plus previously unheard work written and performed by young people following a series of workshops, led by BREIS and Francesca Beard.
A night of great entertainment and excellent company.
Tickets: £5 / £3 (under 21s)
Booking: 020 8253 1030
Croydon Clocktower, Katharine St, Croydon CR9 1ET
PROGRAM ORGANIZED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CLOCKTOWER ARTS AMBASSADORS
GLASGOW: Last Monday at Rio
The Rio Cafe, Hyndland Street, Glasgow G11
Monday May 26, 8pm - 10pm-ish
Admission Free
Spoken word cabaret night at Partick`s own wee retro formica museum.
Headline act is "The Chemical Poets"
A fiery trio of hip-strophe speed-ranters operating out of Embra.
Bram is fast, Tickle is furious and Harlequinade is ... well .. fizzy!
Experienced slam-burglars they will be confining their act this night to the subjects of love, sex, drugs, life and music.
The first hour of the evening is open mic. Let's be having youse! Robin Cairns is your compere.
Anyone minded to bring their guff and strut their stuff should contact robin.cairns at btconnect dot com
BIRMINGHAM: Sunday Xpress
Wrote Under Publishing are pleased to announce that The Sunday Xpress Open Mic is still growing strong and now relocated to the Adam and Eve pub in Digbeth. This new location boasts more seats, excellent sound and a cleaner yet still homely and friendly atmosphere. Now on every third Sunday of the month (dates below) the show usually starts around half 3 or 4pm and continues til late, where it changes into an open jam organised by Tony from Loop Promotions.
The Sunday Xpress is still compered by Big Brendan Higgins, and still has the regular faces offering their wares, from poetry from Jimmy Fantastik, Louis Campbell, Paul Rafferty Sam Hunt and Marcus Zodiac to impressive monologues from Frankie Lassut, Louise Stokes and Bom and his Magic Drumstick, and now impressive storytelling from Mat Joiner and Pollie Gilbert. The Sunday Xpress prides itself on its ability to change and move with the times (!) as well as a dazzling array of singer/songwriters we now have impressive fusions of poetry and tapes from Lizzy Piffany and regular staccato bursts of electronic dance racket from DJ Space.
Yet with all this, The Sunday Xpress is primarily an open mic event, and its new performers and interested public that keep it going and keeps the word spread around. So if you want to spend your third Sunday of the month in a relaxed atmosphere and share your work with us, then please do!
Entry is free, there is the occasional raffle, and you also have the chance to eat the free roast potatoes that have been lovingly cooked for you.
Dates for this year are:
15th June
20th July
17th August
21st September
19th October
16th November
for more information go to www.myspace.com/wroteunder
or contact cowcud2001 at yahoo dot co dot uk
Opportunity for Performers
Thought this may be of interest to poetry performers out there!
Each commission is worth £1000. In addition all our commissioned artists will receive a weekend pass for themselves and a guest plus camping space in the artist field and travel expenses to and from the festival. You'll also receive a stand-alone video of your commissioned festival performance for you to use in your own promotional activity after the festival and the chance to workshop their material at a creative sharing day, facilitated by Stuart Silver, one half of Perrier Award winners, Noble and Silver. The artists we commission will be asked to create at least 15 minutes of new material, and be given the opportunity to perform it at least once at the festival.
We hope that these commissions will be provide a real professional development opportunity for the artists we select. One of Phrased & Confused’s primary aims is to develop audiences for spoken word, and we anticipate that around 2000 people – most of them new to spoken word - will visit the tent during the Festival. As such, the commissions will open up a whole new audience to our commissioned artists.
We’re hoping to get the word out about these commissions to as many interested people as possible – both artists themselves and other individuals who can maybe pass this information on to artists in their networks. Hopefully, you’re one such person, and can either make use of this information yourself, or forward it to artists you know.
The deadline for applications is the 11th June 2008 and you can find out more by either visiting our website
Bath: Valerie Bloom
Wed 4 Jun 2008
1.30pm and 5.00pm, £5 / £7
The Egg
Theatre Royal Bath
Sawclose Bath
BA1 1ET
www.theatreroyal.org.uk
Box office: 01225 448844 / 01225 823409
Come, Me Pickney!
A new performance by Valerie Bloom for children aged 7+.
Acclaimed children’s author, Valerie Bloom, will be performing a brand new short story, interspersed with poems and Jamaican folk songs, set to a specially commissioned soundscape and theatrical lighting at the egg, Theatre Royal Bath. Enter 10-year-old Joe’s world of football and looking cool in front of his friends. When his gran comes to visit from Jamaica he is expecting a sweet old lady and not the feisty woman who insists on walking him to school and kissing him in public! But Joe’s gran has a wealth of stories, songs and poems to share. From helping with impossible maths homework to transforming the most mundane household chores into lots of fun, Joe’s gran is a rapping, singing, modern Mary Poppins in jeans and a T-shirt. Forget a spoon full of sugar and think ripe bananas and fresh callaloo, jerk chicken and rice an’ peas. This show bursts with fun and flavour. Valerie Bloom is one of the best contemporary authors for children. A superb writer on the page and a brilliant performer on stage, you will find yourself joining in her poems and songs. She brings literature to life. Valerie will sign copies of her books after the event.
Valerie Bloom is a fine, fine poet and a wonderful storyteller - Michael Morpurgo.
A Valerie Bloom reading is an uplifting experience - Poetry Archive
Valerie Bloom grew up in Jamaica and came to England in 1979. She was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list for her services to poetry. Her nine collections include Whoop n’ Shout, Hot Like Fire, and Let Me Touch the Sky. Her most recent novel published in 2007 is The Tribe.
1.30pm and 5.00pm, £5 / £7
The Egg
Theatre Royal Bath
Sawclose Bath
BA1 1ET
www.theatreroyal.org.uk
Box office: 01225 448844 / 01225 823409
Come, Me Pickney!
A new performance by Valerie Bloom for children aged 7+.
Acclaimed children’s author, Valerie Bloom, will be performing a brand new short story, interspersed with poems and Jamaican folk songs, set to a specially commissioned soundscape and theatrical lighting at the egg, Theatre Royal Bath. Enter 10-year-old Joe’s world of football and looking cool in front of his friends. When his gran comes to visit from Jamaica he is expecting a sweet old lady and not the feisty woman who insists on walking him to school and kissing him in public! But Joe’s gran has a wealth of stories, songs and poems to share. From helping with impossible maths homework to transforming the most mundane household chores into lots of fun, Joe’s gran is a rapping, singing, modern Mary Poppins in jeans and a T-shirt. Forget a spoon full of sugar and think ripe bananas and fresh callaloo, jerk chicken and rice an’ peas. This show bursts with fun and flavour. Valerie Bloom is one of the best contemporary authors for children. A superb writer on the page and a brilliant performer on stage, you will find yourself joining in her poems and songs. She brings literature to life. Valerie will sign copies of her books after the event.
Valerie Bloom is a fine, fine poet and a wonderful storyteller - Michael Morpurgo.
A Valerie Bloom reading is an uplifting experience - Poetry Archive
Valerie Bloom grew up in Jamaica and came to England in 1979. She was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list for her services to poetry. Her nine collections include Whoop n’ Shout, Hot Like Fire, and Let Me Touch the Sky. Her most recent novel published in 2007 is The Tribe.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
GLASGOW: Seeds Of Thought
Seeds Of Thought Urban Poetry Group
Sunday 25th May, 1-4pmCelebrating Africa Day, with song, spoken word and music.
Moyo Chirandu brothers Tawona and Ernest contribute with an interactive session of spoken word and mbira music.
Also featuring Ayawara, Bassa Beat and Bright Star.
Websites: http://www.geocities.com/seeds_ofthought/events1.html
www.geocities.com/seeds_ofthought
Free entry for the whole family
Edinburgh: Shore Poets
Sunday 25th May, 7.45pm
Alan Gillis, Ken Cockburn, Stephanie Green
Mai Thai cafe bar, The Tun, 111 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AE
(down the lane from the Scottish Poetry Library)
(down the lane from the Scottish Poetry Library)
Website: www.shorepoets.org.uk
£3/£2
Monday, May 19, 2008
Frome Poetry Cafe
Mon 2 Jun 2008
Start time: 7pm for 7.30pm, £1.50
Address: Garden Cafe
Stony Street, Frome
Somerset, BA11 1BU
Email: crysse@cryssemorrison.co.uk
"Love in a Warm Climate"
Bristol bard David Johnson is our featured guest, reading from his new poetry collection Bombazine. Bring your words of longings, lusts, and sustainable futures.
Start time: 7pm for 7.30pm, £1.50
Address: Garden Cafe
Stony Street, Frome
Somerset, BA11 1BU
Email: crysse@cryssemorrison.co.uk
"Love in a Warm Climate"
Bristol bard David Johnson is our featured guest, reading from his new poetry collection Bombazine. Bring your words of longings, lusts, and sustainable futures.
Apples and Snakes in Soho
Poetry and spoken word for the 21st century
Soho Theatre
Wednesday 28 May
8pm
A decade is a long time in performance poetry. Tonight we present one performer who's going from strength to strength after ten years in the business, another who's spent the last ten years carving a substantial niche for himself, and one talented newcomer with a promising poetic future in front of him. Add an international artist who's busy redefining the whole concept of spoken word, and we've got a crash course in the nation's favourite underground artform.
Featuring
Patience Agbabi tattooed poetry ambassador who has strutted her stuff everywhere from Eton College to Namibia; now promoting her new collection Bloodshot Monochrome.
Luke Wright Edinburgh Fringe institution, star of the hit theatre show Poet & Man, and the creative force behind Latitude Festival's stand-up poetry arena.
Keith Jarrett not the famous jazz muso, but a hotly-tipped and charismatic new face on London's poetry stages.
plus special guest
Rosie Dennis well-respected Sydney voice-artist, known for blurring the lines between text and movement; tonight airing her Love Song Dedication piece.
Come along and explore the world of performance poetry: the scene where every syllable takes you closer to perfection.
Where: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Tickets: £8 / £6 concs
Book: 0870 429 6883 / www.sohotheatre.com
Info: www.applesandsnakes.org / www.myspace.com/applesandsnakespoetry
IRELAND: Over The Edge Open Reading
Dennis O’Driscoll reads at final Over The Edge: Open Reading before summer break.
The May Over The Edge: Open Reading takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, May 29th, 6.30-8pm. The Featured Readers are Michael S. Begnal, Deirdre Kearney & Dennis O’Driscoll.
Michael S. Begnal is a dual Irish/American citizen, born in the United States in 1966. He spent many years living in Ireland, and was editor of the Galway-based literary magazine, The Burning Bush. He returned to live in the US in 2004. His first collection of poems, The Lakes of Coma (Six Gallery Press), was published in 2003. His work has appeared in numerous journals and in the anthology Breaking the Skin: New Irish Poetry (Black Mountain Press). His Irish-language writing has been published in Comhar, Lá, and the Go nuige seo anthologies (Coiscéim). His second collection of poems, Ancestor Worship, was published by Salmon Poetry last year.
Deirdre Kearney is originally from Omagh, County Tyrone, but has lived in Galway since 1983. She is a participant in the Advanced Poetry Workshop at Galway Arts Centre. Her poems have been published in West 47, Cúirt New Writing 2007, The Ulster Herald, Crannóg, Words on the Web, Tinteán, Australian-Irish Magazine- Treóir, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann magazine, the Over the Edge website & Galway Exposed. She has previously read her work at the Over the Edge Open-Mic, Westside Library, The Galway Arts Centre Nuns’ Island Studio, the Poets for Oxfam launch in Galway in 2006 and North Beach Poetry Nights.
Dennis O’Driscoll was born in Thurles in 1954. His eight poetry collections include Weather Permitting (Anvil Press, 1999), which was a Poetry Books Society Recommendation and was shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Prize, Exemplary Damages (2002) and New and Selected Poems (2004). His most recent collection, Reality Check (2007) was also shortlisted for the Irish Times/Poetry Now Prize. A selection of his essays and reviews, Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams was published by Gallery Press in 2001. He is editor of the Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations (2006). His next book, Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney will be published by Faber and Faber in November. He is a member of Aosdána. He has worked as a civil servant since the age of sixteen.
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 always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-63431748.
The May Over The Edge: Open Reading takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, May 29th, 6.30-8pm. The Featured Readers are Michael S. Begnal, Deirdre Kearney & Dennis O’Driscoll.
Michael S. Begnal is a dual Irish/American citizen, born in the United States in 1966. He spent many years living in Ireland, and was editor of the Galway-based literary magazine, The Burning Bush. He returned to live in the US in 2004. His first collection of poems, The Lakes of Coma (Six Gallery Press), was published in 2003. His work has appeared in numerous journals and in the anthology Breaking the Skin: New Irish Poetry (Black Mountain Press). His Irish-language writing has been published in Comhar, Lá, and the Go nuige seo anthologies (Coiscéim). His second collection of poems, Ancestor Worship, was published by Salmon Poetry last year.
Deirdre Kearney is originally from Omagh, County Tyrone, but has lived in Galway since 1983. She is a participant in the Advanced Poetry Workshop at Galway Arts Centre. Her poems have been published in West 47, Cúirt New Writing 2007, The Ulster Herald, Crannóg, Words on the Web, Tinteán, Australian-Irish Magazine- Treóir, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann magazine, the Over the Edge website & Galway Exposed. She has previously read her work at the Over the Edge Open-Mic, Westside Library, The Galway Arts Centre Nuns’ Island Studio, the Poets for Oxfam launch in Galway in 2006 and North Beach Poetry Nights.
Dennis O’Driscoll was born in Thurles in 1954. His eight poetry collections include Weather Permitting (Anvil Press, 1999), which was a Poetry Books Society Recommendation and was shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Prize, Exemplary Damages (2002) and New and Selected Poems (2004). His most recent collection, Reality Check (2007) was also shortlisted for the Irish Times/Poetry Now Prize. A selection of his essays and reviews, Troubled Thoughts, Majestic Dreams was published by Gallery Press in 2001. He is editor of the Bloodaxe Book of Poetry Quotations (2006). His next book, Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney will be published by Faber and Faber in November. He is a member of Aosdána. He has worked as a civil servant since the age of sixteen.
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 always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-63431748.
LONDON: Katabasis Poets
Friday 23rd May 2008 at 7.00
Katabasis Presents:
Dinah Livingstone (Editor of Katabasis)
and Katabasis Poets Adele David, Cicely Herbert, Kathleen McPhilemy, and Dilys Wood
Poets from the floor very welcome
(please bring two copies of the poem if you wish to be considered for the bluechrome anthology. There are at least 10 major poets who will also be contributing to the anthology inc. UA Fanthorpe, Fiona Sampson, Marilyn Hacker , Penelope Shuttle, Peter Porter to name but a few.)
Trinity United Reform Church
1 Buck St, Camden Town
(2 minutes Camden Town tube.)
Entry £4/£3
Wine
Proceeds to COLD WEATHER SHELTER
Katabasis Presents:
Dinah Livingstone (Editor of Katabasis)
and Katabasis Poets Adele David, Cicely Herbert, Kathleen McPhilemy, and Dilys Wood
Poets from the floor very welcome
(please bring two copies of the poem if you wish to be considered for the bluechrome anthology. There are at least 10 major poets who will also be contributing to the anthology inc. UA Fanthorpe, Fiona Sampson, Marilyn Hacker , Penelope Shuttle, Peter Porter to name but a few.)
Trinity United Reform Church
1 Buck St, Camden Town
(2 minutes Camden Town tube.)
Entry £4/£3
Wine
Proceeds to COLD WEATHER SHELTER
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Apples & Snakes: Valerie Bloom
Come, me pickney!
Thursday 29 May@ 3pm
Nordern Farm Centre for the Arts,
www.nordenfarm.org
Sunday 1 June @ 3pm
Warwick Arts Centre,
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
Gather round children, listen up. Valerie Bloom has a story to tell you. Valerie Bloom is an award winning poet and author for children and a fantastic performer of her work. She will delight you with her stories and you will find yourself singing along to her poems in this brand new performance that showcases her writing, set to a specially commissioned soundscape with theatrical lighting. This is an uplifting and unique performance from one of the best contemporary writer's for children.
Thursday 29 May@ 3pm
Nordern Farm Centre for the Arts,
www.nordenfarm.org
Sunday 1 June @ 3pm
Warwick Arts Centre,
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
Gather round children, listen up. Valerie Bloom has a story to tell you. Valerie Bloom is an award winning poet and author for children and a fantastic performer of her work. She will delight you with her stories and you will find yourself singing along to her poems in this brand new performance that showcases her writing, set to a specially commissioned soundscape with theatrical lighting. This is an uplifting and unique performance from one of the best contemporary writer's for children.
WARWICK: Apples & Snakes - Zena Edwards
19th May 2008, 7.45pm
Warwick Arts Centre
Book: 020 7223 2223 / www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
SECURITY
Written and performed by Zena Edwards
Set within the beating heart of London, the chaotic stories of five characters in crisis are exposed through the eye of a camera. What happens when one generation collides with another and cultural expectations clash? Does the flash of a blade in broad daylight mean the end or the beginning of security? Find out when age and youth battle as Palestine meets Peckham. This comical and moving tale of unexpected friendship confronts the issues of security and identity through a fusion of performance poetry, theatre, movement and song.
Security is a newly commissioned piece pioneering the crossover of performance poetry into theatre in the UK. As performer and writer, Zena Edwards, takes storytelling into the twenty-first century.
Zena Edwards is a mesmerizing performer of deeply lyrical, musical, streetwise poetry. The Verb - BBC Radio 3
Warwick Arts Centre
Book: 020 7223 2223 / www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
SECURITY
Written and performed by Zena Edwards
Set within the beating heart of London, the chaotic stories of five characters in crisis are exposed through the eye of a camera. What happens when one generation collides with another and cultural expectations clash? Does the flash of a blade in broad daylight mean the end or the beginning of security? Find out when age and youth battle as Palestine meets Peckham. This comical and moving tale of unexpected friendship confronts the issues of security and identity through a fusion of performance poetry, theatre, movement and song.
Security is a newly commissioned piece pioneering the crossover of performance poetry into theatre in the UK. As performer and writer, Zena Edwards, takes storytelling into the twenty-first century.
Zena Edwards is a mesmerizing performer of deeply lyrical, musical, streetwise poetry. The Verb - BBC Radio 3
BRISTOL: Rosie Dennis Performance Workshop
Monday 19th May, 2008, 6.00pm
Price: £8.00/£6.00 concs.
Arnolfini
Narrow Quay
Bristol
A workshop for professional and semi-professional live art practitioners focusing on improvisational structures and techniques to generate material and shape movement-based work and/or spoken word performances.
For further information: Tim Harrison on tim.harrison@arnolfini.org.uk.
Box office and general enquiries: 0117 917 2300
Price: £8.00/£6.00 concs.
Arnolfini
Narrow Quay
Bristol
A workshop for professional and semi-professional live art practitioners focusing on improvisational structures and techniques to generate material and shape movement-based work and/or spoken word performances.
For further information: Tim Harrison on tim.harrison@arnolfini.org.uk.
Box office and general enquiries: 0117 917 2300
NORWICH: The Monday Night Alternative
NORWICH: The Monday Night Alternative, featuring Dockers MC & MC Angel & compere Tim Clare
Monday, 19th May, 2008, 8:00pm to 11:00pm
Live poetry, stand-up poetry, performance poetry, spoken word. Call it what you like but it’s taking off across the UK, and Norwich is a hot-bed for live literature. The Monday Night Alternative is a new spoken word club hosted by Channel 4’s Tim Clare. As part of The Poetry Link, a regional touring network, The Monday Night Alternative brings you the very best poets and performers on the UK scene. Our May line-up features verbal architect and Kate Nash support act Dockers MC, with the fresh lyrical stylings and wicked sense of humour of MC Angel.
Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG; tel: 01603 660 352
£4 advance, £5 door, seated.
Monday, 19th May, 2008, 8:00pm to 11:00pm
Live poetry, stand-up poetry, performance poetry, spoken word. Call it what you like but it’s taking off across the UK, and Norwich is a hot-bed for live literature. The Monday Night Alternative is a new spoken word club hosted by Channel 4’s Tim Clare. As part of The Poetry Link, a regional touring network, The Monday Night Alternative brings you the very best poets and performers on the UK scene. Our May line-up features verbal architect and Kate Nash support act Dockers MC, with the fresh lyrical stylings and wicked sense of humour of MC Angel.
Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG; tel: 01603 660 352
£4 advance, £5 door, seated.
BRISTOL: Acoustic Night
Monday, 19th May 2008, 8.00pm
Halo Cafe/Bar
141 Gloucester Rd
Bishopston, Bristol
Accessibility: a few steps
Website: http://www.myspace.com/acousticnightbristol
Tel: Andi 07900 432533
Fortnightly open mic night for poets and musicians with guest Georgina Banfield - surreal, discriptive yet searingly human poet from London. Sign up to perform from 7.45 pm.
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
Halo Cafe/Bar
141 Gloucester Rd
Bishopston, Bristol
Accessibility: a few steps
Website: http://www.myspace.com/acousticnightbristol
Tel: Andi 07900 432533
Fortnightly open mic night for poets and musicians with guest Georgina Banfield - surreal, discriptive yet searingly human poet from London. Sign up to perform from 7.45 pm.
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
LONDON: Hearing Eye Readings
Sunday, 18th May 2008, 7.30pm, £5/£4/£3/£2 (according to pocket).
Racker Donnelly, Peter Pagnell with the ‘bight scarf of Richmond’
Torriano Meeting House
99 Torriano Avenue,
London
NW5 2RX
Nearest tube: Kentish Town
Tel: 020 7267 2751
Poets from the floor welcome. Wheelchair access.
Racker Donnelly, Peter Pagnell with the ‘bight scarf of Richmond’
Torriano Meeting House
99 Torriano Avenue,
London
NW5 2RX
Nearest tube: Kentish Town
Tel: 020 7267 2751
Poets from the floor welcome. Wheelchair access.
SOUTHEND: The Poetry Link
Sunday, 18th May, 2008, 6:30pm to 10:30pm
Sundown @ The Royal Hotel Ballroom, Southend
The Sundown team present Southend’s May edition of The Poetry Link. Featuring MC Angel and Dockers MC and local support (tbc).
£3
Visit Sundown
Sundown @ The Royal Hotel Ballroom, Southend
The Sundown team present Southend’s May edition of The Poetry Link. Featuring MC Angel and Dockers MC and local support (tbc).
£3
Visit Sundown
Exeter: Uncut Poets
Thu 29 May 2008
7.30 pm, £5/£3 concessions
Black Box, Media Centre,
Exeter Phoenix,
Gandy Street,
Exeter
Box Office: 01392 667080
Uncut Poets' guest poet will be Peter Robinson. Plus Open Mike. Anyone wishing to book an open-mike slot, call James Bell on 07879 888319.
Fully accessible venue.
7.30 pm, £5/£3 concessions
Black Box, Media Centre,
Exeter Phoenix,
Gandy Street,
Exeter
Box Office: 01392 667080
Uncut Poets' guest poet will be Peter Robinson. Plus Open Mike. Anyone wishing to book an open-mike slot, call James Bell on 07879 888319.
Fully accessible venue.
Friday, May 16, 2008
NEWCASTLE: Ruth Padel reading
Friday, May 30th, 2008, 7:00pm
Culture Lab
Grand Assembly Rooms
King's Walk
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
At this final event of the Bloodaxe Poetry Lecture series, Ruth Padel will read from her work which has been described as "approachable, contemporary, cool poems, magnificently varied, daring and imaginative, never short of glittering humour, and fabulously rich". Her recent collections of poetry include Voodoo Shop and The Soho Leopard. For more information, see www.ruthpadel.com.
Admission free, but tickets must be booked in advance. To book tickets, call: 0191 222 7619 or melanie.birch@ncl.ac.uk.
Culture Lab is fully accessible to disabled visitors. Please call 0191 222 1332 if you require any specific information in relation to your visit to an event.
Organised by Northern Writers' Centre/Bloodaxe Books. For further information, go to: www.northernwriterscentre.com
Culture Lab
Grand Assembly Rooms
King's Walk
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
At this final event of the Bloodaxe Poetry Lecture series, Ruth Padel will read from her work which has been described as "approachable, contemporary, cool poems, magnificently varied, daring and imaginative, never short of glittering humour, and fabulously rich". Her recent collections of poetry include Voodoo Shop and The Soho Leopard. For more information, see www.ruthpadel.com.
Admission free, but tickets must be booked in advance. To book tickets, call: 0191 222 7619 or melanie.birch@ncl.ac.uk.
Culture Lab is fully accessible to disabled visitors. Please call 0191 222 1332 if you require any specific information in relation to your visit to an event.
Organised by Northern Writers' Centre/Bloodaxe Books. For further information, go to: www.northernwriterscentre.com
HUNTINGDON: TS Eliot Festival (featuring Sean O'Brien)
Saturday, May 17th, 2008, 2pm
A day of poetic events, including the annual Little Gidding lecture, delivered by Peter Stanford, the authorised biographer of C Day-Lewis, and an evening reading by poet Sean O'Brien, winner of the 2007 TS Eliot Prize and the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize. Audience readings, music, tea and buffet supper.
Ferrar House, Little Gidding, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5RJ
For bookings, call 01832 293383, or e-mail info@ferrarhouse.co.uk
A day of poetic events, including the annual Little Gidding lecture, delivered by Peter Stanford, the authorised biographer of C Day-Lewis, and an evening reading by poet Sean O'Brien, winner of the 2007 TS Eliot Prize and the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize. Audience readings, music, tea and buffet supper.
Ferrar House, Little Gidding, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5RJ
For bookings, call 01832 293383, or e-mail info@ferrarhouse.co.uk
LONDON: The Poetry Cafe
***DATE CHANGED***
African Writers Evening, hosted by Nii Parkes.
The Poetry Cafe,
22 Betterton Street,
London
WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
Thursday, May 15, 2008
New Blood @ The Poetry Cafe, 21st May
Ladies' Night at the Poetry Cafe with Charlotte Runcie, Excentral Tempest and Aoife Mannix. Kickoff 7.30, floorspots available on the night, £5 entry (£3 concessions).
Should be a great night with a really wide range of styles, and it features a POF staff member, so why not go along? See you there :)
ULLAPOOL: Literary Festival
Friday, 16th May to Sunday, 18th May, 2008, at various venues around Ullapool, Scotland.
Literary festival featuring fiction, non-fiction, poetry, writing workshops and lectures with some of the best of contemporary writers in English and Gaelic.
Featuring, among others, Anne Frater, Rody Gorman, (reading in English and Gaelic) George Gunn, Sam Meekings, and Richard Price. There will also be an open mic and a Poems Aloud event on the Saturday, for which you can bring a favourite poem to share.
For all information about events, venues, and tickets, go to:
http://www.ullapoolbookfestival.co.uk/.
Literary festival featuring fiction, non-fiction, poetry, writing workshops and lectures with some of the best of contemporary writers in English and Gaelic.
Featuring, among others, Anne Frater, Rody Gorman, (reading in English and Gaelic) George Gunn, Sam Meekings, and Richard Price. There will also be an open mic and a Poems Aloud event on the Saturday, for which you can bring a favourite poem to share.
For all information about events, venues, and tickets, go to:
http://www.ullapoolbookfestival.co.uk/.
CHORLTON: Manky Poets with Janet Fisher
Friday, 16th May, 2008, 7.30pm, £2/£1
Chorlton Library,
Manchester Road,
Tel: 0161 881 3179
Janet Fisher has been co-director of The Poetry Business in Huddersfield for almost 20 years. She is a remarkable poet, who has had two full collections published: Listening to Dancing, and Women Who Dye Their Hair. The evening will also include intros and music from copland smith and an opportunity for floor poets to read their work.
‘Her poems illuminate small moments between people, passing threads of conversation, and make of them something resonant and universal.’ – Maura Dooley www.myspace.com/coanco
Chorlton Library,
Manchester Road,
Tel: 0161 881 3179
Janet Fisher has been co-director of The Poetry Business in Huddersfield for almost 20 years. She is a remarkable poet, who has had two full collections published: Listening to Dancing, and Women Who Dye Their Hair. The evening will also include intros and music from copland smith and an opportunity for floor poets to read their work.
‘Her poems illuminate small moments between people, passing threads of conversation, and make of them something resonant and universal.’ – Maura Dooley www.myspace.com/coanco
SWINDON: Poems & Pints & Music!
Poems & Pints & Music! – a night of verbal and musical high jinks,with Elvis, Ashley, Sara-J, Maggie, and the Minnesota Twins!
Friday, 16th May, 2008, 7.30pm, £4.50 (£3.50)
Arts Centre,
Devizes Road,
Swindon
Tel: 01793 614837
Performance poetry from four fabulous versifiers, and the music of youth, as part of Swindon Festival of Literature. Here is a quartet of experienced stand-up poets and young musicians who bring linguistic thrills, musical spills, and excitement, plus not a little food for thought, to the Festival’s antepenultimate night at the Arts Centre.
Radio 4 wit, 2006 World Slam Champion, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonnagall is the sole resident of The Graceland Caravan Park, where he writes verse while drinking malt whisky.
Reading bard with a comical beard, and assorted poetry collections to his name, including Postcards from the Hedgehog, Ashley Harrold is a multiple Slam winner and a tasty dish for word and poetry lovers, whatever their diet.
Sweet-talking Sara-Jane Arbury makes words mean more than they lay claim to in even the best dictionaries. She excels at short, sharp, gentle shock treatment.
Former winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Maggie Harris is a prolific writer of prose and poems. Her work takes her, and her readers, across land and sea to you and me.
Talented, home-grown, young, and beautiful, the Minnesota Twins, aka Casey, Jaz, Kit, Ben, Mike, and Jacob make music that reaches parts you really want reached. They also make you want to write home, or at least to your lover.
This promises to be an evening that will make you like people you already like a little bit more!
Friday, 16th May, 2008, 7.30pm, £4.50 (£3.50)
Arts Centre,
Devizes Road,
Swindon
Tel: 01793 614837
Performance poetry from four fabulous versifiers, and the music of youth, as part of Swindon Festival of Literature. Here is a quartet of experienced stand-up poets and young musicians who bring linguistic thrills, musical spills, and excitement, plus not a little food for thought, to the Festival’s antepenultimate night at the Arts Centre.
Radio 4 wit, 2006 World Slam Champion, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonnagall is the sole resident of The Graceland Caravan Park, where he writes verse while drinking malt whisky.
Reading bard with a comical beard, and assorted poetry collections to his name, including Postcards from the Hedgehog, Ashley Harrold is a multiple Slam winner and a tasty dish for word and poetry lovers, whatever their diet.
Sweet-talking Sara-Jane Arbury makes words mean more than they lay claim to in even the best dictionaries. She excels at short, sharp, gentle shock treatment.
Former winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Maggie Harris is a prolific writer of prose and poems. Her work takes her, and her readers, across land and sea to you and me.
Talented, home-grown, young, and beautiful, the Minnesota Twins, aka Casey, Jaz, Kit, Ben, Mike, and Jacob make music that reaches parts you really want reached. They also make you want to write home, or at least to your lover.
This promises to be an evening that will make you like people you already like a little bit more!
LONDON: Utter Northerners!
Utter Northerners! - Tim Turnbull, Joe Hakim, Paul Lyalls, Jacquie Gabbitas and many more!
Wednesday, May 28th, 7.30pm, £2 before 7.30pm, £5 thereafter, including free sweets and a prize draw to win an Utter! bag of books and free tickets.
The Salisbury Hotel,
1, Grand Parade,
Green Lanes,
London,
N4 1JX
Tube: Turnpike Lane / Manor House; Bus: 141, 29, 41, 67; Overland: Harringey Green Lanes.
This month, Utter! is invaded by a horde of hardy literary barbarians from the frozen wastes of the no-nonsense North, ready to duff us soft Southern pansies up into a poetical pulp. So please prepare to doff your cloth caps to:
Tim Turnbull, winner of the £10,000 'Contenders' poetry prize and Forward prize nominee, life-affirmingly, dour Larkin-esque material from a poet so Northern he moved even further North, to Scotland.
Jacqueline Gabbitas, co-editor of Brittle Star magazine, technically from the Midlands but she writes great stuff about coal and shit spiders, so we'll let her off.
Joe Hakim, winner of Shortfuse's 'Poetry Idol' and graduate of Apples and Snakes 'Incubate' programme. Sex and drugs and rock & roll from the seventh circle of Hull.
Julia Bird, who’s not northern, but the winner of last month's ajar mic contest. Poems with humour and vision from her upcoming book.
Ritchie Scurvey, the Scouse agitprop poet who will be unleashing his first new material since the '80s with the help of his puppet assistant Socky.
Ajar Mic Contest - you vote on who gets a full paid slot next month. Will it be James Campbell, Mark E, David Goo or Georgie Banfield?
Special guest MC Paul Lyalls, ebullient host of Express Excess and Poetry and Poppadums, as seen on BBC2's 'Big Slam Poetry House.'
For further information contact 07912 539 098 or richardtyronejones@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 28th, 7.30pm, £2 before 7.30pm, £5 thereafter, including free sweets and a prize draw to win an Utter! bag of books and free tickets.
The Salisbury Hotel,
1, Grand Parade,
Green Lanes,
London,
N4 1JX
Tube: Turnpike Lane / Manor House; Bus: 141, 29, 41, 67; Overland: Harringey Green Lanes.
This month, Utter! is invaded by a horde of hardy literary barbarians from the frozen wastes of the no-nonsense North, ready to duff us soft Southern pansies up into a poetical pulp. So please prepare to doff your cloth caps to:
Tim Turnbull, winner of the £10,000 'Contenders' poetry prize and Forward prize nominee, life-affirmingly, dour Larkin-esque material from a poet so Northern he moved even further North, to Scotland.
Jacqueline Gabbitas, co-editor of Brittle Star magazine, technically from the Midlands but she writes great stuff about coal and shit spiders, so we'll let her off.
Joe Hakim, winner of Shortfuse's 'Poetry Idol' and graduate of Apples and Snakes 'Incubate' programme. Sex and drugs and rock & roll from the seventh circle of Hull.
Julia Bird, who’s not northern, but the winner of last month's ajar mic contest. Poems with humour and vision from her upcoming book.
Ritchie Scurvey, the Scouse agitprop poet who will be unleashing his first new material since the '80s with the help of his puppet assistant Socky.
Ajar Mic Contest - you vote on who gets a full paid slot next month. Will it be James Campbell, Mark E, David Goo or Georgie Banfield?
Special guest MC Paul Lyalls, ebullient host of Express Excess and Poetry and Poppadums, as seen on BBC2's 'Big Slam Poetry House.'
For further information contact 07912 539 098 or richardtyronejones@gmail.com
GLASGOW: Tchai Ovna Reading
Friday, May 16th, 2008, 8pm
Tchai Ovna,
169 Deanston Drive,
Shawlands,
Glasgow
Readers include J. David Simon, Karrieanne McCafferty, Alexander Hutchison, Pamela Nicolson, Yvonne Stone, Jas Sherry, Rob A. Mackenzie, David Manderson, Lynsey Calderwood, Thomas Rae, Chris Beattie, Graham Fulton and P.J. McCafferty, plus guests, and live music by Wing and a Prayer.
Tchai Ovna,
169 Deanston Drive,
Shawlands,
Glasgow
Readers include J. David Simon, Karrieanne McCafferty, Alexander Hutchison, Pamela Nicolson, Yvonne Stone, Jas Sherry, Rob A. Mackenzie, David Manderson, Lynsey Calderwood, Thomas Rae, Chris Beattie, Graham Fulton and P.J. McCafferty, plus guests, and live music by Wing and a Prayer.
LONDON: The Poetry Cafe
London Literature Lounge - hosted by Anjan Saha.
Friday, 16th May, 8:00pm-11:00pm £5/£4
With the usual line-up of eclectic poets and open mics.
The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
Friday, 16th May, 8:00pm-11:00pm £5/£4
With the usual line-up of eclectic poets and open mics.
The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
Bath Fringe 2008 presents An Evening of Awen
Sat 24 May 2008
7.00 pm, £8/£6
The Secret Theatre
United Reform Church
Bath.
Website:http://www.bathfringe.co.uk
Bath Fringe 2008 presents An Evening of Awen. Inspiring poetry, storytelling and music from Awen authors Anthony Nanson, Richard Selby and Mary Palmer, plus special guests poet Jay Ramsay (reading from his new collection Out of Time from PS Avalon) and acoustic musician David Metcalfe (Fire Springs). Hosted by Kevan Manwaring.
7.00 pm, £8/£6
The Secret Theatre
United Reform Church
Bath.
Website:http://www.bathfringe.co.uk
Bath Fringe 2008 presents An Evening of Awen. Inspiring poetry, storytelling and music from Awen authors Anthony Nanson, Richard Selby and Mary Palmer, plus special guests poet Jay Ramsay (reading from his new collection Out of Time from PS Avalon) and acoustic musician David Metcalfe (Fire Springs). Hosted by Kevan Manwaring.
Bath: The Magnolia launch event
Fri 23 May 2008
6.30 pm, £3
Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights
14/15 John Street (behind Jolly's)
Bath BA1 2JL
Website: http://www.therialto.co.uk/
Richard Lambert launches his first publication, The Magnolia, published by The Rialto. He will be giving a reading with Carrie Etter and Emily Dening. Limited spaces, so you may need to book - telephone 01225 331155 for Mr B's.
6.30 pm, £3
Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights
14/15 John Street (behind Jolly's)
Bath BA1 2JL
Website: http://www.therialto.co.uk/
Richard Lambert launches his first publication, The Magnolia, published by The Rialto. He will be giving a reading with Carrie Etter and Emily Dening. Limited spaces, so you may need to book - telephone 01225 331155 for Mr B's.
Totnes: Wondermentalist Cabaret
Fri 23 May 2008
7.30 pm for 8.00 pm, £7/£5
Royal Seven Stars
The Plains
Totnes TQ9 5DD
Email: matt.harvey@copperstrings.com
Website:http://www.wondermentalist.com
Wondermentalist Cabaret is hosted by Matt Harvey and features Jude Simpson, John Elliot, and the latest episode of Empath Man. Tickets £7 on the door, £5 in advance from Harlequin Bookshop, the Royal Seven Stars, Tel. 01803 862125 or by e-mailing Matt at matt.harvey@copperstrings.com.
Als includes The Dead Poets’ Slam - where living people read poems they love to a contemporary audience. This audience listens raptly and votes for a winner. In a sense everyone’s a winner - even so, there’s only one prize. If wishing to feature in the quirky Wondermentalist Cabaret, why not go to one to get a feel of the sort of thing they do, check out their website at; www.wondermentalist.com or listen to podcast recordings from the shows on Traydio at; http://www.canstream.co.uk/copperbeech/?cat=WondermentalistCamembert and you can also send samples of your work – mp3s are best.
7.30 pm for 8.00 pm, £7/£5
Royal Seven Stars
The Plains
Totnes TQ9 5DD
Email: matt.harvey@copperstrings.com
Website:http://www.wondermentalist.com
Wondermentalist Cabaret is hosted by Matt Harvey and features Jude Simpson, John Elliot, and the latest episode of Empath Man. Tickets £7 on the door, £5 in advance from Harlequin Bookshop, the Royal Seven Stars, Tel. 01803 862125 or by e-mailing Matt at matt.harvey@copperstrings.com.
Als includes The Dead Poets’ Slam - where living people read poems they love to a contemporary audience. This audience listens raptly and votes for a winner. In a sense everyone’s a winner - even so, there’s only one prize. If wishing to feature in the quirky Wondermentalist Cabaret, why not go to one to get a feel of the sort of thing they do, check out their website at; www.wondermentalist.com or listen to podcast recordings from the shows on Traydio at; http://www.canstream.co.uk/copperbeech/?cat=WondermentalistCamembert and you can also send samples of your work – mp3s are best.
Bristol: Acoustic Night
Mon 19 May 2008, 8.00pm
Halo Cafe/Bar
141 Gloucester Rd
Bishopston, Bristol
Accessibility: a few steps
Website: http://www.myspace.com/acousticnightbristol
Telephone Number: Andi 07900 432533
Fortnightly open mic night for poets and musicians with guest: Georgina Banfield - surreal, discriptive yet searingly human poet from London. Sign up to perform from 7.45 pm.
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
Halo Cafe/Bar
141 Gloucester Rd
Bishopston, Bristol
Accessibility: a few steps
Website: http://www.myspace.com/acousticnightbristol
Telephone Number: Andi 07900 432533
Fortnightly open mic night for poets and musicians with guest: Georgina Banfield - surreal, discriptive yet searingly human poet from London. Sign up to perform from 7.45 pm.
Admission: Free (donations welcome)
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
MANCHESTER: Jane Routh & Mike Barlow
Jane Routh & Mike Barlow at Manchester Central Library
Thursday, May 15th, 2008, 1:00pm, free
Jane Routh is a poet and photographer who manages woodlands and a flock of geese in the Forest of Bowland, North Lancashire, where she has lived for the last 30 years. Her first collection, Circumnavigation, won the Poetry Business Competition and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for best first collection. Her second book, Teach Yourself Mapmaking (Smith/Doorstop) is a Poetry Book Society recommendation.
Mike Barlow won first prize in the Amnesty International Competition 2002 and first prize in the Ledbury Competition 2005. His first collection, Living on the Difference, was short-listed for the Jerwood Aldeburgh Prize. He has read at the Troubadour, London, Lancaster Literature Festival and Aldeburgh Festival. Mike was the 2006 winner of the National Poetry Competition. His second collection, Another Place, has recently been published by Salt.
For more information, please contact Darren Rawcliffe on 0161 234 1981.
Thursday, May 15th, 2008, 1:00pm, free
Jane Routh is a poet and photographer who manages woodlands and a flock of geese in the Forest of Bowland, North Lancashire, where she has lived for the last 30 years. Her first collection, Circumnavigation, won the Poetry Business Competition and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for best first collection. Her second book, Teach Yourself Mapmaking (Smith/Doorstop) is a Poetry Book Society recommendation.
Mike Barlow won first prize in the Amnesty International Competition 2002 and first prize in the Ledbury Competition 2005. His first collection, Living on the Difference, was short-listed for the Jerwood Aldeburgh Prize. He has read at the Troubadour, London, Lancaster Literature Festival and Aldeburgh Festival. Mike was the 2006 winner of the National Poetry Competition. His second collection, Another Place, has recently been published by Salt.
For more information, please contact Darren Rawcliffe on 0161 234 1981.
NEWCASTLE: Launch of Joan Hewitt's debut poetry collection
Thursday, 15th May, 7:00pm for 7:30pm
The Old George Inn
10 Cloth Market
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1EE.
Free event with bar.
Joan Hewitt’s debut poetry collection, Missing the Eclipse, from Cinnamon Press, will be launched at this reading. "The poems in Missing the Eclipse unfold like short stories told by moonlight. Their subjects are the enduring puzzle of family, love and identity, set against seaside and city, Europe, near and far. The recurring motif of the camera serves as reflexive eye, filter and captor, framing these ongoing moments that are evoked in language that is both sturdy and spare, unflinching." - Linda France.
To RSVP and for further details contact Jan Fortune-Wood: jan@cinnamonpress.com / Tŷ Meirion, Glan yr afon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, LL41 3SU.
BIRMINGHAM: Poetry Bites at the Kitchen Garden Café, with Zoe Brigley
Tuesday 20th May 2008, 7.30pm
£5 (£4) To reserve a place, email jacquirowe@hotmail.co.uk or pay at the door.
Kitchen Garden Café
17 York Road
Kings Heath
Birmingham
B14 7SA
Zoe Brigley grew up in Caerphilly in the Rhymney Valley. She was amongst the first contingent to study on Warwick University’s BA in English and Creative Writing and later she took a MA in Gender and Literature with Germaine Greer. After university, she worked as a journalist for New Design magazine and travelled in Mexico thanks to funds from an Eric Gregory Award. She now lectures at Northampton University. Her collection The Secret is published by Bloodaxe.
Poetry Bites also includes floor spots where you can share your own poetry with an appreciative audience. Please arrive early to book a spot.
The next Making Poetry workshop – Treasures of the City – is on 14th June. There are still places available on all the remaining Making Poetry workshops, but they are booking up fast - the first was oversubscribed.
Go to http://www.jacquirowe.com/page6.htp for details
£5 (£4) To reserve a place, email jacquirowe@hotmail.co.uk or pay at the door.
Kitchen Garden Café
17 York Road
Kings Heath
Birmingham
B14 7SA
Zoe Brigley grew up in Caerphilly in the Rhymney Valley. She was amongst the first contingent to study on Warwick University’s BA in English and Creative Writing and later she took a MA in Gender and Literature with Germaine Greer. After university, she worked as a journalist for New Design magazine and travelled in Mexico thanks to funds from an Eric Gregory Award. She now lectures at Northampton University. Her collection The Secret is published by Bloodaxe.
Poetry Bites also includes floor spots where you can share your own poetry with an appreciative audience. Please arrive early to book a spot.
The next Making Poetry workshop – Treasures of the City – is on 14th June. There are still places available on all the remaining Making Poetry workshops, but they are booking up fast - the first was oversubscribed.
Go to http://www.jacquirowe.com/page6.htp for details
GLASGOW: Hazel Frew
Thursday, 15th. May, 2008, 7:00pm
The Poetry Club, The Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow
Hazel Frew will be launching her new collection, Seahorses, from Shearsman Books. Her pamphlet, Clockwork Scorpion, was published by Rack Press in January 2007. Seahorses is her first full length collection.
Also reading will be Jim C Wilson, whose previous poetry collections are The Loutra Hotel, Cellos in Hell and Paper Run.
The Poetry Club, The Glasgow School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow
Hazel Frew will be launching her new collection, Seahorses, from Shearsman Books. Her pamphlet, Clockwork Scorpion, was published by Rack Press in January 2007. Seahorses is her first full length collection.
Also reading will be Jim C Wilson, whose previous poetry collections are The Loutra Hotel, Cellos in Hell and Paper Run.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
CORNWALL: St Ives Literature Festival: Fal Poets
St Ives Literature Festival - A Pride of Publishers
DM Thomas, Victoria Field and Jane Tozer
Wednesday, 14th May 2008, 8pm
St Ives Arts Club,
Westcott's Quay,
St.Ives,
Cornwall TR26 2DY
Three of the fal poets will be reading from their various collections. DM Thomas' Dear Shadows celebrates a lost era of village life in Cornwall and won the Holyer an Gof Award for outstanding literary merit. His revised, The Devil and the Floral Dance, set at the Helston Flora combines poetry and prose. Victoria Field's first collection Olga's Dreams received warm reviews ('delicious' Poetry London) and her second Many Waters is based on a writing residency at Truro Cathedral. Jane Tozer's Knights of Love is a new translation of the 'lais' of Marie de France, the earliest named woman poet in the French language. Her lais are rollicking song stories in the tradition of the Canterbury Tales. The Times described them as 'faithful to the world of Marie, representing her tone of wistful admiration and earthy humour... intense, obsessive, sad, fey and movingly sexy.'.
For more information and booking, telephone Bob Devereux on 01736 795003
DM Thomas, Victoria Field and Jane Tozer
Wednesday, 14th May 2008, 8pm
St Ives Arts Club,
Westcott's Quay,
St.Ives,
Cornwall TR26 2DY
Three of the fal poets will be reading from their various collections. DM Thomas' Dear Shadows celebrates a lost era of village life in Cornwall and won the Holyer an Gof Award for outstanding literary merit. His revised, The Devil and the Floral Dance, set at the Helston Flora combines poetry and prose. Victoria Field's first collection Olga's Dreams received warm reviews ('delicious' Poetry London) and her second Many Waters is based on a writing residency at Truro Cathedral. Jane Tozer's Knights of Love is a new translation of the 'lais' of Marie de France, the earliest named woman poet in the French language. Her lais are rollicking song stories in the tradition of the Canterbury Tales. The Times described them as 'faithful to the world of Marie, representing her tone of wistful admiration and earthy humour... intense, obsessive, sad, fey and movingly sexy.'.
For more information and booking, telephone Bob Devereux on 01736 795003
LONDON SW8: The Moon Has Written You a Poem
Wednesday, May 14th 2008, 7pm, at:
South Lambeth Library
180 South Lambeth Road
London
SW8 1QP
Maurice Riordan and Jose Jorge Letria will be reading from their collaborative project - The Moon Has Written You a Poem - in Portuguese and English.
Tickets are free - phone 020 7926 0752 to book or you can email readersandwriters@lambeth.gov.uk
This event is part of the Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival.
South Lambeth Library
180 South Lambeth Road
London
SW8 1QP
Maurice Riordan and Jose Jorge Letria will be reading from their collaborative project - The Moon Has Written You a Poem - in Portuguese and English.
Tickets are free - phone 020 7926 0752 to book or you can email readersandwriters@lambeth.gov.uk
This event is part of the Lambeth Readers and Writers Festival.
LONDON: Openned Reading
Openned Reading – The Foundry, London.
Wednesday, 14th May, 7.15pm.
Confirmed readers: Charles Bernstein, Justin Katko, Edward Nesbit and Maggie O'Sullivan. More information can be found at www.openned.com/nights/london.php.
Wednesday, 14th May, 7.15pm.
Confirmed readers: Charles Bernstein, Justin Katko, Edward Nesbit and Maggie O'Sullivan. More information can be found at www.openned.com/nights/london.php.
MERTHYR TYDFIL: Welsh Poems and Pints / Open Mic Poetry
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008, 7:30pm at the Imperial Hotel, Merthyr Tydfil.
Merthyr Tydfil CBC: Welsh Poems and Pints / Open Mic Poetry with Dewi Prysor (Welsh Language - learners welcome). Free entry. For further information please contact arts@merthyr.gov.uk / gus.payne@merthyr.gov.uk / 01685 725382.
Merthyr Tydfil CBC: Welsh Poems and Pints / Open Mic Poetry with Dewi Prysor (Welsh Language - learners welcome). Free entry. For further information please contact arts@merthyr.gov.uk / gus.payne@merthyr.gov.uk / 01685 725382.
LONDON: The Poetry Cafe
Loose Muse – hosted by Agnes Meadow
May 14th, 2008, 8:00pm-11:00pm
£5/3
The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
May 14th, 2008, 8:00pm-11:00pm
£5/3
The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
LONDON: Ken Edwards & Mercedes Roffé
Ken Edwards & Mercedes Roffé will read on May 20th, 2008, at 7:00pm, at:
The Calder Bookshop,
51, The Cut,
London
SE1 8LF.
Tel: 020 7620 2900.
The reading will launch Mercedes’ first English-language collection, Like the Rains Come – Selected Poems 1987-2006. She is an Argentinian poet, and has published a number of poetry collections throughout the Hispanic world. Mercedes will read her work in Spanish, and Tony Frazer will read Janet Greenberg's English translations.
Ken Edwards's No Public Language, a selected poems covering his work from the 80s and 90s, is available from Shearsman Books.
The Calder Bookshop,
51, The Cut,
London
SE1 8LF.
Tel: 020 7620 2900.
The reading will launch Mercedes’ first English-language collection, Like the Rains Come – Selected Poems 1987-2006. She is an Argentinian poet, and has published a number of poetry collections throughout the Hispanic world. Mercedes will read her work in Spanish, and Tony Frazer will read Janet Greenberg's English translations.
Ken Edwards's No Public Language, a selected poems covering his work from the 80s and 90s, is available from Shearsman Books.
PETERBOROUGH: The Poetry Link
PETERBOROUGH: The Poetry Link
Tuesday, 20th May, 2008, 8:00pm to 10:00pm
Speakeasy @ The Glass Onion
The Poetry Link visits Peterborough, hosted by Speakeasy. May’s lineup features MC Angel and Dockers MC, with local support.
£3
Tuesday, 20th May, 2008, 8:00pm to 10:00pm
Speakeasy @ The Glass Onion
The Poetry Link visits Peterborough, hosted by Speakeasy. May’s lineup features MC Angel and Dockers MC, with local support.
£3
NORWICH: The Monday Night Alternative
NORWICH: The Monday Night Alternative, featuring Dockers MC & MC Angel & compere Tim Clare
Monday, 19th May, 2008, 8:00pm to 11:00pm
Live poetry, stand-up poetry, performance poetry, spoken word. Call it what you like but it’s taking off across the UK, and Norwich is a hot-bed for live literature. The Monday Night Alternative is a new spoken word club hosted by Channel 4’s Tim Clare. As part of The Poetry Link, a regional touring network, The Monday Night Alternative brings you the very best poets and performers on the UK scene. Our May line-up features verbal architect and Kate Nash support act Dockers MC, with the fresh lyrical stylings and wicked sense of humour of MC Angel.
Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG; tel: 01603 660 352
£4 advance, £5 door, seated.
Monday, 19th May, 2008, 8:00pm to 11:00pm
Live poetry, stand-up poetry, performance poetry, spoken word. Call it what you like but it’s taking off across the UK, and Norwich is a hot-bed for live literature. The Monday Night Alternative is a new spoken word club hosted by Channel 4’s Tim Clare. As part of The Poetry Link, a regional touring network, The Monday Night Alternative brings you the very best poets and performers on the UK scene. Our May line-up features verbal architect and Kate Nash support act Dockers MC, with the fresh lyrical stylings and wicked sense of humour of MC Angel.
Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG; tel: 01603 660 352
£4 advance, £5 door, seated.
SOUTHEND: The Poetry Link
SOUTHEND: The Poetry Link
Sunday, 18th May, 2008, 6:30pm to 10:30pm
Sundown @ The Royal Hotel Ballroom, Southend
The Sundown team present Southend’s May edition of The Poetry Link. Featuring MC Angel and Dockers MC and local support (tbc).
£3
Visit Sundown
Sunday, 18th May, 2008, 6:30pm to 10:30pm
Sundown @ The Royal Hotel Ballroom, Southend
The Sundown team present Southend’s May edition of The Poetry Link. Featuring MC Angel and Dockers MC and local support (tbc).
£3
Visit Sundown
Monday, May 12, 2008
HUNTINGDON: TS Eliot Festival
HUNTINGDON: T S Eliot Festival
Saturday, May 17th, 2008, 2pm
A day of poetic events, including the annual Little Gidding lecture, delivered by Peter Stanford, the authorised biographer of C Day-Lewis, and an evening reading by poet Sean O'Brien, winner of the 2007 TS Eliot Prize and the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize. Audience readings, music, tea and buffet supper.
Ferrar House, Little Gidding, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5RJ
For bookings, call 01832 293383, or e-mail info@ferrarhouse.co.uk
Saturday, May 17th, 2008, 2pm
A day of poetic events, including the annual Little Gidding lecture, delivered by Peter Stanford, the authorised biographer of C Day-Lewis, and an evening reading by poet Sean O'Brien, winner of the 2007 TS Eliot Prize and the 2007 Forward Poetry Prize. Audience readings, music, tea and buffet supper.
Ferrar House, Little Gidding, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 5RJ
For bookings, call 01832 293383, or e-mail info@ferrarhouse.co.uk
BRISTOL: Poetry Out Loud workshop
Saturday, May 24th, 2008 - Poetry Out Loud
Bristol Folk House, 10am-4pm
One-day Workshop on poetry and performance led by Big Mouth's host and slam poet Rosemary Dun.
£21/ £19/ £12.50, Bristol Folk House, 40A Park Street, Bristol BS1 5JG; tel: 0117 926 2987; website: www.bristolfolkhouse.co.uk
Organic home-cooked food at The Folk House Café.
Bristol Folk House, 10am-4pm
One-day Workshop on poetry and performance led by Big Mouth's host and slam poet Rosemary Dun.
£21/ £19/ £12.50, Bristol Folk House, 40A Park Street, Bristol BS1 5JG; tel: 0117 926 2987; website: www.bristolfolkhouse.co.uk
Organic home-cooked food at The Folk House Café.
HAVERFORDWEST: Carol Rumens reading
Tuesday 13th May 08
6:30pm - 8:00pm at Haverfordwest Library
Poet Carol Rumens will read her work. Free and open to all. For further details contact Christine Willison: christine.willison@pembrokeshire.gov.uk / 01437 776079. Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).
6:30pm - 8:00pm at Haverfordwest Library
Poet Carol Rumens will read her work. Free and open to all. For further details contact Christine Willison: christine.willison@pembrokeshire.gov.uk / 01437 776079. Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).
LONDON: Tonight & Tomorrow at The Poetry Cafe
Monday, 12th May: Exiled Writer Ink
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Monthly gathering of writers exiled from their homeland with featured performances.
Tuesday, 13th May: Poetry Unplugged
7:30pm - 11:00pm £4/3
Open mic night hosted by Niall O'Sullivan. Sign on to read between 6-7pm.
The Poetry Cafe,
22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Monthly gathering of writers exiled from their homeland with featured performances.
Tuesday, 13th May: Poetry Unplugged
7:30pm - 11:00pm £4/3
Open mic night hosted by Niall O'Sullivan. Sign on to read between 6-7pm.
The Poetry Cafe,
22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
CAMBRIDGE: CB1 Poetry
13 May 2008
8pm £5 / £3 conc.
Michaelhouse
Trinity Street
Cambridge CB2 1SU
Readings from Susan Utting (Peterloo Poetry Prize Winner 2007, Poetry Business prize, Forward Best Single Poem commendation) and Will Stone. Plus short floor spots, books for sale and licensed bar.
CB1 readings take place on the second Tuesday of each month at Michaelhouse.
www.cb1poetry.org.uk
8pm £5 / £3 conc.
Michaelhouse
Trinity Street
Cambridge CB2 1SU
Readings from Susan Utting (Peterloo Poetry Prize Winner 2007, Poetry Business prize, Forward Best Single Poem commendation) and Will Stone. Plus short floor spots, books for sale and licensed bar.
CB1 readings take place on the second Tuesday of each month at Michaelhouse.
www.cb1poetry.org.uk
LUTON: Allison McVety reading
13th May 2008
8:00pm
Toddington Poetry Society
Hightown Community Centre
Concorde Street, Luton
A reading by Allison McVety, The Night Trotsky Came to Stay
http://www.toddingtonpoetrysociety.co.uk/
8:00pm
Toddington Poetry Society
Hightown Community Centre
Concorde Street, Luton
A reading by Allison McVety, The Night Trotsky Came to Stay
http://www.toddingtonpoetrysociety.co.uk/
Sunday, May 11, 2008
UTTER! Dalston #1
Sunday 25th May - Cla(i)re Pollard Double-Bill Special!
Arcola Theatre, 5pm, £5.
The Utter! Plc Multinational Poetry juggernaut steams into Dalston for an early-evening Bank Holiday Sunday spectacular featuring not ONE, but TWO fantastically talented poets named Cla(i)re Pollard. And some who aren't.
Date and time: 5pm start BANG ON, Sunday April 25th '08.
Cost: £5
Address: Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola St, London, E8 2DJ.
Transport: Dalston Kingsland overland. Buses: 67, 76, 149, 243, 30 & 38
Contact: richardtyronejones@gmail.com, 07912 539 098.
Your host: Richard Tyrone Jones. Comic, storyteller, 'Wonderfulcompere and poet' – Daljit Nagra
CLARE POLLARD: Her first collection was published by Bloodaxe aged just 18. Two more books, an Eric Gregory Award, a Royal Court play and several documentaries later, this "seasoned observer and a mastertechnician"– Daily Mail brings the confessional rukkus to her doorstep.
ABE GIBSON: Hugely affecting poems on acutely observed relationships forged in London's grime from the former London Transport Museum poet in residence.
CLAIRE POLLARD: Funny and bittersweet poetry from East London's second most famous poet called Claire Pollard – London Ladyfest programmer with an 'i' for a good rhyme (arf!)
SPINMASTER PLANTPOT: Legendary antifolk shouter-songwriter who must be seen to be believed!
plus LEE NELSON: A rootin' tootin' Luton poet , he's performedeverywhere from Express Excess to Glastonbury.
And 2 floorspots – but arrive early! See you there!
Arcola Theatre, 5pm, £5.
The Utter! Plc Multinational Poetry juggernaut steams into Dalston for an early-evening Bank Holiday Sunday spectacular featuring not ONE, but TWO fantastically talented poets named Cla(i)re Pollard. And some who aren't.
Date and time: 5pm start BANG ON, Sunday April 25th '08.
Cost: £5
Address: Arcola Theatre, 27 Arcola St, London, E8 2DJ.
Transport: Dalston Kingsland overland. Buses: 67, 76, 149, 243, 30 & 38
Contact: richardtyronejones@gmail.com, 07912 539 098.
Your host: Richard Tyrone Jones. Comic, storyteller, 'Wonderfulcompere and poet' – Daljit Nagra
CLARE POLLARD: Her first collection was published by Bloodaxe aged just 18. Two more books, an Eric Gregory Award, a Royal Court play and several documentaries later, this "seasoned observer and a mastertechnician"– Daily Mail brings the confessional rukkus to her doorstep.
ABE GIBSON: Hugely affecting poems on acutely observed relationships forged in London's grime from the former London Transport Museum poet in residence.
CLAIRE POLLARD: Funny and bittersweet poetry from East London's second most famous poet called Claire Pollard – London Ladyfest programmer with an 'i' for a good rhyme (arf!)
SPINMASTER PLANTPOT: Legendary antifolk shouter-songwriter who must be seen to be believed!
plus LEE NELSON: A rootin' tootin' Luton poet , he's performedeverywhere from Express Excess to Glastonbury.
And 2 floorspots – but arrive early! See you there!
Swindon Festival of Literature
You have probably noticed a new look to Poets On Fire! Apart from the fantastic new colours, Charlotte has provided a sidebar with magic links to festival websites (scroll down). Swindon is just a click away but, just to be extra helpful, here is a taster of the poetry events on offer:
12 May - Bloodaxe Poets
6.30pm, £5 (£4)
Arts Centre, Devizes Road
Tel 01793 614837
BLOODAXE POETS – a reading and celebration with MONIZA ALVI & IMTIAZ DHARKER
For 30 years, Bloodaxe Books have been publishing the best in contemporary poetry, moving with the times, however confusing, happy, or troubling they may be.
Moniza Alvi, whose latest collection is Europa, and Imtiaz Dharker, The Terrorist at My Table, are two poets who are part of these times. Moniza’s work relates to both ancient and modern traumas, including enforced exile and alienation. In her challengingly-titled collection, Imtiaz asks crucial questions about how we live now and what any of us knows about our neighbours.
16 May - Poems & Pints
7.30pm, £4.50 (£3.50)
Arts Centre, Devizes Road
Tel 01793 614837
POEMS & PINTS & MUSIC! – a night of verbal and musical high jinks,with Elvis, Ashley, Sara-J, Maggie, and the Minnesota Twins!
Performance poetry from four fabulous versifiers, and the music of youth.
Here is a quartet of experienced stand-up poets and young musicians who bring linguistic thrills, musical spills, and excitement, plus not a little food for thought to the Festival’s antepenultimate night at the Arts Centre.
Radio 4 wit, 2006 World Slam Champion, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonnagall is the sole resident of The Graceland Caravan Park, where he writes verse while drinking malt whisky.
Reading bard with a comical beard, and assorted poetry collections to his name, including Postcards from the Hedgehog, Ashley Harrold is a multiple Slam winner and a tasty dish for word and poetry lovers, whatever their diet.
Sweet-talking Sara-Jane Arbury makes words mean more than they lay claim to in even the best dictionaries. She excels at short, sharp, gentle shock treatment. Former winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Maggie Harris is a prolific writer of prose and poems. Her work takes her, and her readers, across land and sea to you and me.
Talented, home-grown, young, and beautiful, the Minnesota Twins, aka Casey, Jaz, Kit, Ben, Mike, and Jacob make music that reaches parts you really want reached. They also make you want to write home, or at least to your lover.
This promises to be an evening that will make you like people you already like a little bit more!
12 May - Bloodaxe Poets
6.30pm, £5 (£4)
Arts Centre, Devizes Road
Tel 01793 614837
BLOODAXE POETS – a reading and celebration with MONIZA ALVI & IMTIAZ DHARKER
For 30 years, Bloodaxe Books have been publishing the best in contemporary poetry, moving with the times, however confusing, happy, or troubling they may be.
Moniza Alvi, whose latest collection is Europa, and Imtiaz Dharker, The Terrorist at My Table, are two poets who are part of these times. Moniza’s work relates to both ancient and modern traumas, including enforced exile and alienation. In her challengingly-titled collection, Imtiaz asks crucial questions about how we live now and what any of us knows about our neighbours.
16 May - Poems & Pints
7.30pm, £4.50 (£3.50)
Arts Centre, Devizes Road
Tel 01793 614837
POEMS & PINTS & MUSIC! – a night of verbal and musical high jinks,with Elvis, Ashley, Sara-J, Maggie, and the Minnesota Twins!
Performance poetry from four fabulous versifiers, and the music of youth.
Here is a quartet of experienced stand-up poets and young musicians who bring linguistic thrills, musical spills, and excitement, plus not a little food for thought to the Festival’s antepenultimate night at the Arts Centre.
Radio 4 wit, 2006 World Slam Champion, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonnagall is the sole resident of The Graceland Caravan Park, where he writes verse while drinking malt whisky.
Reading bard with a comical beard, and assorted poetry collections to his name, including Postcards from the Hedgehog, Ashley Harrold is a multiple Slam winner and a tasty dish for word and poetry lovers, whatever their diet.
Sweet-talking Sara-Jane Arbury makes words mean more than they lay claim to in even the best dictionaries. She excels at short, sharp, gentle shock treatment. Former winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Maggie Harris is a prolific writer of prose and poems. Her work takes her, and her readers, across land and sea to you and me.
Talented, home-grown, young, and beautiful, the Minnesota Twins, aka Casey, Jaz, Kit, Ben, Mike, and Jacob make music that reaches parts you really want reached. They also make you want to write home, or at least to your lover.
This promises to be an evening that will make you like people you already like a little bit more!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Islington: PoeJazzi Music and Spoken Word
Sunday, 25 May
The Edinburgh Cellars.
125 Newington Green Road
Islington, London, N14RA
bus routes 21 - 73 - 141 - 236 - 341 - 476 - N73
Closest overground: Canonburry (five mins), Closest Underground: Angel.
Go to www.theedinburghcellars to download map.
Time: Doors @ 7pm, Show @ 8pm
Price: £3 before 7, £5 After.
WHAT: PoeJazzi continues it's excellent balance of music and spoken word at a snuggly little spot in Islington.
Tonight features an all star line up by any standards; heartmelting vocals and seriously breathtaking lyrical dexterity await. Plus drinks you can afford. Yay!
Heidi Vogel: (www.myspace.com/heidilevo) what can you say about Heidi? Steals shows? Standing Ovation at poejazzi? worked with Cinematic Orchestra? Expecting big things from this lady. Guaranteed to love, you are.
Jono Mccleery: (www.myspace.com/jonomccleery) marking his third appearance at the land of Poe, Jono (still one of my fav artists ever,) is man of unmeasurable talent: Jeff Buckley via Acoustic London Soul. If you haven't heard him, you should. You must!
Excentral Tempest: (www.myspace.com/excentraltempest) Tempest by name, tempest by performance, probably the best MCs in london, full stop.
Rhian Burgess: Rhian had a debut at the december poejazzi, where her honest rhetoric of love via the eyes of a everyday city girl won hearts throughout the audience. Poejazzi supports good artists. Come see her expanded set.
It won't be same without you, really. This is going to be killer. In a really really good way.
Yay.
www.myspace.com/apoeminbetweenpeople
www.myspace.com/poejazzi
www.josdiditmix.mypodcast.com
www.theedinburghcellars.co.uk
The Edinburgh Cellars.
125 Newington Green Road
Islington, London, N14RA
bus routes 21 - 73 - 141 - 236 - 341 - 476 - N73
Closest overground: Canonburry (five mins), Closest Underground: Angel.
Go to www.theedinburghcellars to download map.
Time: Doors @ 7pm, Show @ 8pm
Price: £3 before 7, £5 After.
WHAT: PoeJazzi continues it's excellent balance of music and spoken word at a snuggly little spot in Islington.
Tonight features an all star line up by any standards; heartmelting vocals and seriously breathtaking lyrical dexterity await. Plus drinks you can afford. Yay!
Heidi Vogel: (www.myspace.com/heidilevo) what can you say about Heidi? Steals shows? Standing Ovation at poejazzi? worked with Cinematic Orchestra? Expecting big things from this lady. Guaranteed to love, you are.
Jono Mccleery: (www.myspace.com/jonomccleery) marking his third appearance at the land of Poe, Jono (still one of my fav artists ever,) is man of unmeasurable talent: Jeff Buckley via Acoustic London Soul. If you haven't heard him, you should. You must!
Excentral Tempest: (www.myspace.com/excentraltempest) Tempest by name, tempest by performance, probably the best MCs in london, full stop.
Rhian Burgess: Rhian had a debut at the december poejazzi, where her honest rhetoric of love via the eyes of a everyday city girl won hearts throughout the audience. Poejazzi supports good artists. Come see her expanded set.
It won't be same without you, really. This is going to be killer. In a really really good way.
Yay.
www.myspace.com/apoeminbetweenpeople
www.myspace.com/poejazzi
www.josdiditmix.mypodcast.com
www.theedinburghcellars.co.uk
Hearing Eye Readings
May Events at Torriano Meeting House
99 Torriano Avenue, London NW5 2RX
nearest tube Kentish Town
Telephone 020 7267 2751
Unless stated, all readings start at 7.30pm
Admission £5/£4/£3/£2 (according to pocket). Poets from the floor welcome. Wheelchair access.
4th May: Dinah Livingstone
11th May: Lourdinha and Dennis Evans(Brazilian Portugese to English)
18th May: Racker Donnelly, Peter Pagnell with the ‘bight scarf of Richmond’
25th May: Publication reading of Jeremy Kingston’s On the Lookout and Jack Stanley’s Reckoner
Event at the Barbican Library
Wednesday 21 May 7.30pm
(refreshments served from 7.00pm)
Poets David Floyd, John Rety and Anna Robinson mark the output of the Hearing Eye press featured in the recent London Libraries Recommends promotion Limited Edition with readings of their work.
Admission free by ticket from Barbican Library on 020 7638 0569
For more info about the Barbican Library and how to get there: http://cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Libraries/City_of_London_libraries/barbican_lib.htm
99 Torriano Avenue, London NW5 2RX
nearest tube Kentish Town
Telephone 020 7267 2751
Unless stated, all readings start at 7.30pm
Admission £5/£4/£3/£2 (according to pocket). Poets from the floor welcome. Wheelchair access.
4th May: Dinah Livingstone
11th May: Lourdinha and Dennis Evans(Brazilian Portugese to English)
18th May: Racker Donnelly, Peter Pagnell with the ‘bight scarf of Richmond’
25th May: Publication reading of Jeremy Kingston’s On the Lookout and Jack Stanley’s Reckoner
Event at the Barbican Library
Wednesday 21 May 7.30pm
(refreshments served from 7.00pm)
Poets David Floyd, John Rety and Anna Robinson mark the output of the Hearing Eye press featured in the recent London Libraries Recommends promotion Limited Edition with readings of their work.
Admission free by ticket from Barbican Library on 020 7638 0569
For more info about the Barbican Library and how to get there: http://cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Libraries/City_of_London_libraries/barbican_lib.htm
Friday, May 09, 2008
Southbank Bristol Arts Trail 2008
A little something for this weekend!
Information about this year's Trail can be found at http://www.sbaweb.co.uk/arts_trail_2008
Venues will be open on 10 and 11 May, between 11am and 6pm, welcoming the public to see and enjoy work from artists, makers, performers, musicians, and others in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Poet Rosemary Dun performing with other Bristol stars such as Stanley Forbes, on Saturday at 1.00 pm at the smallest and funkiest venue in town. No. 1 Allington Road, Southville.
Do come along. Enjoy the poetry and the other acts. Say hi. There will be drinks, cakes, and the famous Allington Road muffins! Visit the No. 1 Allington Road facebook group for more information.
Information about this year's Trail can be found at http://www.sbaweb.co.uk/arts_trail_2008
Venues will be open on 10 and 11 May, between 11am and 6pm, welcoming the public to see and enjoy work from artists, makers, performers, musicians, and others in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Poet Rosemary Dun performing with other Bristol stars such as Stanley Forbes, on Saturday at 1.00 pm at the smallest and funkiest venue in town. No. 1 Allington Road, Southville.
Do come along. Enjoy the poetry and the other acts. Say hi. There will be drinks, cakes, and the famous Allington Road muffins! Visit the No. 1 Allington Road facebook group for more information.
Dreadlockalien at Lewes Pint of Poetry
Friday, 23 May 9pm
Lewes Arms
Mount Street
Lewes
East Sussex BN7 1HH
The next gig at Lewes Pint of Poetry will star the great Dreadlockalien (last year's Birmingham Poet Laureate), plus published poet Catherine Smith, open spots and Oliver Poetry as MC. Not to mention the Prize Competition for Best Limerick! You are all very welcome.
Open spots email in advance please: oliverspoetry@hotmail.co.uk, www.oliverspoetry.com. By the way, on June 2 this year Oliver's Poetry will be two years' old. Oliver would like to do a special edition of this poetry e-magazine, so please email your poems as soon as possible!
Lewes Arms
Mount Street
Lewes
East Sussex BN7 1HH
The next gig at Lewes Pint of Poetry will star the great Dreadlockalien (last year's Birmingham Poet Laureate), plus published poet Catherine Smith, open spots and Oliver Poetry as MC. Not to mention the Prize Competition for Best Limerick! You are all very welcome.
Open spots email in advance please: oliverspoetry@hotmail.co.uk, www.oliverspoetry.com. By the way, on June 2 this year Oliver's Poetry will be two years' old. Oliver would like to do a special edition of this poetry e-magazine, so please email your poems as soon as possible!
Chorlton Arts Festival
The Chorlton Arts Festival starts on Friday 16th May 2008. Here are the poetry events:
Friday 16th May
7.30pm, £2/£1
Chorlton Library
Manchester Road
0161 881 3179
Manky Poets with Janet Fisher
Janet Fisher has been co-director of The Poetry Business in Huddersfield for almost 20 years. She is a remarkable poet, who has had two full collections published: ‘Listening to Dancing’, and ‘Women Who Dye Their Hair’. The evening will also include intros and music from copland smith and an opportunity for floor poets to read their work.
‘Her poems illuminate small moments between people, passing threads of conversation, and make of them something resonant and universal.’ – Maura Dooley www.myspace.com/coanco
Sat 17th May
Children's Event
1–3.30pm, Free
St Clement’s Church Youth Centre
Edge Lane, 0161 881 3063
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHT:Young Linespinners Poetry Workshops
Learn to draft and craft your own poems in these workshops for young people from Years 5–7, and Year 8 upwards. Release your creativity, explore new ways of expressing yourselves and have fun in the process. In the final event of the afternoon you will have the opportunity to read your poems to a wider audience, and to enjoy the work of our guest poets. Parents – drop your kids off and have a wander round the craft market.
Poetry Readings
8pm, Free
The Lloyds Hotel (Upstairs)
617 Wilbraham Road, 0161 862 6990
Chorlton Arts Festival Celebration of Poetry
An evening of readings from Mark Abraham, R H Barnes, Lisa Jones, Andy N, Helen Tookey and others. This extra special night combines our annual celebration of local poetry with the publication of the first Chorlton Arts Festival book, featuring poems submitted for last year’s event. Get there early to be sure of a seat.
Sunday 18th May
8pm, £3/£2
St John’s Parish Centre
High Lane, 0161 881 3558
Manchester Irish Writers
Stories, poetry and music from the Emerald Isle. Sure to warm the cockles of your heart.
Tuesday 20th May
8pm, Free
The Lloyds Hotel (Upstairs)
617 Wilbraham Road, 0161 862 6990
Stand Up Poetry presents ‘Mouthy’
Wit and words with a dash of razor sharp, cutting sark and gob jobs!
Thurs 22nd May
8pm, Free
The Lloyds hotel (upstairs)
617 Wilbraham Road, 0161 862 6990
Poetry Night: Julian Daniel and Mike Garry present Writing and Performing Tips
Mike Garry and Julian Daniel will be passing on their writing and performance tips and sharing their experiences of getting their work published. There will also be a Q&A session. Mike Garry is Manchester’s premier performance poet, his most recent book of verse being ‘Mancunian Meander.’ www.myspace.com/mikegarrypoet
Julian Daniel is a comedian, comic poet and co-author of ‘How To Dump Your Girlfriend’. He has been described as ‘Fast becoming a Manchester icon’ (Write out Loud) and ‘Manchester’s favourite comic writer’ (DXN). Neither statement can be scientifically proven. www.juliandaniel.co.uk
Friday 16th May
7.30pm, £2/£1
Chorlton Library
Manchester Road
0161 881 3179
Manky Poets with Janet Fisher
Janet Fisher has been co-director of The Poetry Business in Huddersfield for almost 20 years. She is a remarkable poet, who has had two full collections published: ‘Listening to Dancing’, and ‘Women Who Dye Their Hair’. The evening will also include intros and music from copland smith and an opportunity for floor poets to read their work.
‘Her poems illuminate small moments between people, passing threads of conversation, and make of them something resonant and universal.’ – Maura Dooley www.myspace.com/coanco
Sat 17th May
Children's Event
1–3.30pm, Free
St Clement’s Church Youth Centre
Edge Lane, 0161 881 3063
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHT:Young Linespinners Poetry Workshops
Learn to draft and craft your own poems in these workshops for young people from Years 5–7, and Year 8 upwards. Release your creativity, explore new ways of expressing yourselves and have fun in the process. In the final event of the afternoon you will have the opportunity to read your poems to a wider audience, and to enjoy the work of our guest poets. Parents – drop your kids off and have a wander round the craft market.
Poetry Readings
8pm, Free
The Lloyds Hotel (Upstairs)
617 Wilbraham Road, 0161 862 6990
Chorlton Arts Festival Celebration of Poetry
An evening of readings from Mark Abraham, R H Barnes, Lisa Jones, Andy N, Helen Tookey and others. This extra special night combines our annual celebration of local poetry with the publication of the first Chorlton Arts Festival book, featuring poems submitted for last year’s event. Get there early to be sure of a seat.
Sunday 18th May
8pm, £3/£2
St John’s Parish Centre
High Lane, 0161 881 3558
Manchester Irish Writers
Stories, poetry and music from the Emerald Isle. Sure to warm the cockles of your heart.
Tuesday 20th May
8pm, Free
The Lloyds Hotel (Upstairs)
617 Wilbraham Road, 0161 862 6990
Stand Up Poetry presents ‘Mouthy’
Wit and words with a dash of razor sharp, cutting sark and gob jobs!
Thurs 22nd May
8pm, Free
The Lloyds hotel (upstairs)
617 Wilbraham Road, 0161 862 6990
Poetry Night: Julian Daniel and Mike Garry present Writing and Performing Tips
Mike Garry and Julian Daniel will be passing on their writing and performance tips and sharing their experiences of getting their work published. There will also be a Q&A session. Mike Garry is Manchester’s premier performance poet, his most recent book of verse being ‘Mancunian Meander.’ www.myspace.com/mikegarrypoet
Julian Daniel is a comedian, comic poet and co-author of ‘How To Dump Your Girlfriend’. He has been described as ‘Fast becoming a Manchester icon’ (Write out Loud) and ‘Manchester’s favourite comic writer’ (DXN). Neither statement can be scientifically proven. www.juliandaniel.co.uk
Never Say Never Again: Oxfam Poets 2008
Tuesday 20th May 2008
7-10 pm, Admission free,
voluntary £8 donation appreciated - proceeds to Oxfam
Oxfam Books & Music, 91 Marylebone High Street, W1
Featuring:
Helen Dunmore, Nathan Hamilton, Cralan Kelder, Gwyneth Lewis, Kathryn Maris, Sudeep Sen & Lemn Sissay
RSVP for seats requested, but not essential.
Contact person: Martin Penny, email: oxfammarylebone@hotmail.com
7-10 pm, Admission free,
voluntary £8 donation appreciated - proceeds to Oxfam
Oxfam Books & Music, 91 Marylebone High Street, W1
Featuring:
Helen Dunmore, Nathan Hamilton, Cralan Kelder, Gwyneth Lewis, Kathryn Maris, Sudeep Sen & Lemn Sissay
RSVP for seats requested, but not essential.
Contact person: Martin Penny, email: oxfammarylebone@hotmail.com
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Rosie Dennis Performance Workshop
Mon 19th May
6.00pm Price: £8.00/£6.00 concs.
Arnolfini
Narrow Quay
Bristol
A workshop for professional and semi-professional live art practitioners focusing on improvisational structures and techniques to generate material and shape movement-based work and/or spoken word performances.
Ffi: Tim Harrison on tim.harrison@arnolfini.org.uk.
Box office and general enquiries: 0117 917 2300
6.00pm Price: £8.00/£6.00 concs.
Arnolfini
Narrow Quay
Bristol
A workshop for professional and semi-professional live art practitioners focusing on improvisational structures and techniques to generate material and shape movement-based work and/or spoken word performances.
Ffi: Tim Harrison on tim.harrison@arnolfini.org.uk.
Box office and general enquiries: 0117 917 2300
Apples & Snakes: Zena Edwards
19 May 2008 @ 7.45pm
Warwick Arts Centre
Book: 020 7223 2223 / www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
SECURITY
Written and performed by Zena Edwards
Set within the beating heart of London, the chaotic stories of five characters in crisis are exposed through the eye of a camera. What happens when one generation collides with another and cultural expectations clash? Does the flash of a blade in broad daylight mean the end or the beginning of security? Find out when age and youth battle as Palestine meets Peckham. This comical and moving tale of unexpected friendship confronts the issues of security and identity through a fusion of performance poetry, theatre, movement and song.
Security is a newly commissioned piece pioneering the crossover of performance poetry into theatre in the UK. As performer and writer, Zena Edwards, takes storytelling into the twenty-first century.
Zena Edwards is a mesmerizing performer of deeply lyrical, musical, streetwise poetry. The Verb - BBC Radio 3
Warwick Arts Centre
Book: 020 7223 2223 / www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
SECURITY
Written and performed by Zena Edwards
Set within the beating heart of London, the chaotic stories of five characters in crisis are exposed through the eye of a camera. What happens when one generation collides with another and cultural expectations clash? Does the flash of a blade in broad daylight mean the end or the beginning of security? Find out when age and youth battle as Palestine meets Peckham. This comical and moving tale of unexpected friendship confronts the issues of security and identity through a fusion of performance poetry, theatre, movement and song.
Security is a newly commissioned piece pioneering the crossover of performance poetry into theatre in the UK. As performer and writer, Zena Edwards, takes storytelling into the twenty-first century.
Zena Edwards is a mesmerizing performer of deeply lyrical, musical, streetwise poetry. The Verb - BBC Radio 3
Rhythm & Muse, Teddington
Thursday 22 May
8.30-10.30 ~ £5/£4
Venue: The Lion,
27 Wick Road,
Teddington, TW11
(Nearest BR: Hampton Wick)
Featuring guest poet Jacqueline Gabbitas and launch reading from Alison Hill.
Music from Irish band Wraggle Taggle for a party atmosphere. Plus open mic (please book in advance).
Hope to see you there! Host: Nick Poole. Contact: 020 8977 4610
8.30-10.30 ~ £5/£4
Venue: The Lion,
27 Wick Road,
Teddington, TW11
(Nearest BR: Hampton Wick)
Featuring guest poet Jacqueline Gabbitas and launch reading from Alison Hill.
Music from Irish band Wraggle Taggle for a party atmosphere. Plus open mic (please book in advance).
Hope to see you there! Host: Nick Poole. Contact: 020 8977 4610
LONDON: Shearsman Readings
Tuesday 20 May, 7:00pm
at the Calder Bookshop
1 The Cut
London SE1 8LF
Tel. 0207-6202900
Poets reading are Ken Edwards and Mercedes Roffé. We will be launching Mercedes' first English-language collection, Like the Rains Come – Selected Poems 1987-2006 at the event. Mercedes Roffé is an Argentinian poet, and has published a number of poetry collections throughout the Hispanic world. Ken Edwards's No Public Language, a selected poems covering his work from the 80s and 90s, is available from Shearsman Books.
at the Calder Bookshop
1 The Cut
London SE1 8LF
Tel. 0207-6202900
Poets reading are Ken Edwards and Mercedes Roffé. We will be launching Mercedes' first English-language collection, Like the Rains Come – Selected Poems 1987-2006 at the event. Mercedes Roffé is an Argentinian poet, and has published a number of poetry collections throughout the Hispanic world. Ken Edwards's No Public Language, a selected poems covering his work from the 80s and 90s, is available from Shearsman Books.
International Poetry Slam at Warwick University
Saturday 10th May
Graduate Club, Warwick Uni SU
8pm for 9pm start. £2 entry
Recently crowned Hammer and Tongue slam champion 07/08, Bohdan Piasecki, is hosting a slam at Warwick University Students' Union on Saturday 10th May. Details:
5 international guest poets: Daan Doesborgh (The Netherlands), Sergio Garau (Italy), Wojtek Cichon (Poland), Sebastian Rabsahl (Germany), Sian Robins-Grace (UK)
Open to all - e-mail poetryslam@pencilfest.com if you want to sign up to perform [3 rounds of competing, each poet should prepare 3 poems of maximum 3 min each]
Audience £2 entry - go here to register www.warwicksu.com/account/register/guest/ and then buy tickets here www.warwicksu.com/ents/event/4860/
The slam is part of England's first ever student writing festival, PENCILfest: www.pencilfest.com.
Graduate Club, Warwick Uni SU
8pm for 9pm start. £2 entry
Recently crowned Hammer and Tongue slam champion 07/08, Bohdan Piasecki, is hosting a slam at Warwick University Students' Union on Saturday 10th May. Details:
5 international guest poets: Daan Doesborgh (The Netherlands), Sergio Garau (Italy), Wojtek Cichon (Poland), Sebastian Rabsahl (Germany), Sian Robins-Grace (UK)
Open to all - e-mail poetryslam@pencilfest.com if you want to sign up to perform [3 rounds of competing, each poet should prepare 3 poems of maximum 3 min each]
Audience £2 entry - go here to register www.warwicksu.com/account/register/guest/ and then buy tickets here www.warwicksu.com/ents/event/4860/
The slam is part of England's first ever student writing festival, PENCILfest: www.pencilfest.com.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Review: Jem Rolls and the Hammer & Tongue Slam Finals
Slam Finals? I’d rather be dead!
Jem Rolls headlines at this year’s Hammer & Tongue Slam Championship FinalsOxford, Tuesday May 6th 2008
The Vaults of St Mary the Virgin, halfway down Oxford’s venerable High Street, is fast becoming one of the town’s most atmospheric poetry venues. Last night it rocked to the roars of nearly seventy people, packed tight into a warm space beneath the church, many forced to sit on the floor or the stairs to the toilets, or huddle in the narrow doorway, listening in appreciative awe as poetry bounced off the stone arches.
The main draw last night? Jem Rolls, sinister godfather to contemporary performance, founder of Big Word in London and Edinburgh, one of our first poet-pioneers to the Canadian fringes, now a national name there and one of that country’s most popular live acts.
Tall, dark, and startlingly mesmeric, Jem Rolls makes an impressive ambassador for British poetry in performance. He’s also a purist. ‘My poems exist only in the immediate,’ he insists at the start of each show. ‘You won’t find them in a book, there are no CDs you can buy.’ He follows up this stern absolutism by flattering his listeners, deep-set eyes searching right to the back of the room. ‘You, the audience, are now my god, and I seek the chance to worship at your altar.’
Once the audience is nicely softened up and eating out of the maestro’s hand, Jem Rolls switches gears, plunging into one of his fast-paced, machine-gun poems. A Poem on Dullness: A List of Everything That’s Boring. His slick one-liners are so tight-packed, it’s hard to laugh too hard in case you miss the next one.
The postmodernist always rings twice?
I’d rather be dead!
The Poetry Society?
I’d rather be dead!’
He’s like some barrow-boy given a microphone and a long night with the Blarney Stone. Sir Alan Sugar’s evil twin. Abrasive, emphatic, relentless, Rolls barely pauses for breath, hammering out the lines like a juggernaut. His skill for repetition soon encourages a gleeful audience participation, particularly as the poem grows ever more satirical.
Jem Rolls: Boris Johnson?
Audience: I’d rather be dead!
He likes to challenge audience preconceptions, taking the piss out of stereotypical open mic or Slam performers. His imitation of an angst-driven teenage poet has the audience gasping with laughter. He wraps his arms around his body, goes into full theatre. ‘If I was a bee, I’d be helping the thistles have sex!’ (Before the show, Rolls tells me how he’s been studying circus clowns in Canada, learning how to utilise his whole body in his stage act.) The applause is deafening, drowning out the sound of bottles rattling in at the servery; the place is so busy, the bar runs dry at one stage and fresh supplies have to be sent for.
Rolls is on one. ‘Life?’ he shouts. ‘Who gives a monkey’s?’ The front row stares up at him in awe and trepidation, perhaps wishing they’d sat further back.
He sets the mic aside for a moment, lets the natural timbre of his voice do battle with the stone ceiling of St Mary’s vaults: ‘I was woken and spurred/by the spoken word./The only choice/was the voice.’ Jem Rolls doesn’t like to use a microphone, even in the larger theatres he’s used to playing abroad. He tells me that after a hundred-odd shows in Canada last season, now his country of choice, the back of his throat was 'like iron'. Back in Britain now, he's in limbo: too many days between performances, too many hours spent in spare rooms or on the road. He’s at a loose end, prey to the usual superstitions of the hardened showman. Before he’s called up, he passes his wallet and tobacco surreptitiously to Hammer & Tongue MC Steve Larkin: ‘I can’t go on stage with anything in my pockets.’
His centrepiece is a satirical poem entitled The New English History or Think Back on England and Lie: ‘We won, we won, we won, won, won, won, won ...” Jem Rolls attacks the audience with his voice, rolling out the repetitions with smug dogmatic venom. ‘We invented EVERYTHING!’ The audience howls with laughter.
Rolls wraps up his act with a more sinister cautionary tale, though delivered with obvious relish at the same breakneck speed: He Ain’t Called Porky No More. This poem could almost constitute notes towards a film script. A poetic version of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. ‘Porky’ is a kid on a rough London estate who grows up to be a hard geezer, does time, loses weight, becomes a bouncer, gets respect and a nice lady-friend ... only just before he’s about to make the big time, he goes back to his old manor for a drink, meets this low-life waster who still thinks of him as ‘Porky’, and gets himself knifed in a pub brawl. End of.
But it's not over for the rest of us. The Hammer & Tongue Slam Finals are also taking place tonight. No sooner is Jem Rolls off-stage than we get the second round from the Slammers: a battle of the Best of the Best this season.
Peter Wyton, indefatigable veteran of the performance circuit, gives us his rude take on drivers using mobile phones: ‘Your bottom bits/Will be covered in zits!” The colourful Jennie Bailey points out in an eco-poem about water that ‘Evian is naive spelt backwards.’ Tina Sederholm confusingly tells us she plans to burn all her favourite books, then read them afterwards. Bohdan Piasecki introduces himself with Polish irony: ‘I am not a builder’. Then he warbles on about God in an uncomfortable way, and demands to know how we can enjoy a poetry evening when a few streets away people are sleeping rough with nothing to eat; a popular view with the many students in the room, to judge by the approving applause and whistles.
George Roberts, another performance veteran, gives us a satirical 9.11 poem, followed by some blonde whose name I don’t catch but whose tiresome US-style ‘You’re a complete bitch!’ rant leaves me wishing I had slipped away to the toilets for her three minutes. Pete Bearder is up last, and plays the wild-card with some quick-fire anti-student slapstick.
Scores from the evening’s randomly selected judges put Peter Wyton in third place, Pete Bearder in second, and Bohdan Piasecki as this year’s Hammer & Tongue Slam Champion! Clearly chuffed, the winner gives us a short piece in Polish to celebrate; for all we know, Bohdan's telling us where to stick it, but we don't care by then. We lap it up and bang our empty bottles of organic ginger beer on the table.
It’s heading towards midnight by the time I finally roll off home, past kebab vans and kids sleeping in doorways, the memory of live poetry still buzzing about my head.
CORNWALL: St Ives Literature Festival: Fal Poets
Wednesday 14th May 2008
8pm, St Ives Arts Club,
Westcott's quay,
St.Ives Cornwall TR26 2DY
St Ives Literature Festival - A Pride of Publishers
DM Thomas, Victoria Field and Jane Tozer
Three of the fal poets will be reading from their various collections. DM Thomas' Dear Shadows celebrates a lost era of village life in Cornwall and won the Holyer an Gof Award for outstanding literary merit. His revised, The Devil and the Floral Dance, set at the Helston Flora combines poetry and prose. Victoria Field's first collection Olga's Dreams received warm reviews ('delicious' Poetry London) and her second Many Waters is based on a writing residency at Truro Cathedral. Jane Tozer's Knights of Love is a new translation of the 'lais' of Marie de France, the earliest named woman poet in the French language. Her lais are rollicking song stories in the tradition of the Canterbury Tales. The Times described them as 'faithful to the world of Marie, representing her tone of wistful admiration and earthy humour... intense, obsessive, sad, fey and movingly sexy.'.
For more information and booking, telephone Bob Devereux on 01736 795003
8pm, St Ives Arts Club,
Westcott's quay,
St.Ives Cornwall TR26 2DY
St Ives Literature Festival - A Pride of Publishers
DM Thomas, Victoria Field and Jane Tozer
Three of the fal poets will be reading from their various collections. DM Thomas' Dear Shadows celebrates a lost era of village life in Cornwall and won the Holyer an Gof Award for outstanding literary merit. His revised, The Devil and the Floral Dance, set at the Helston Flora combines poetry and prose. Victoria Field's first collection Olga's Dreams received warm reviews ('delicious' Poetry London) and her second Many Waters is based on a writing residency at Truro Cathedral. Jane Tozer's Knights of Love is a new translation of the 'lais' of Marie de France, the earliest named woman poet in the French language. Her lais are rollicking song stories in the tradition of the Canterbury Tales. The Times described them as 'faithful to the world of Marie, representing her tone of wistful admiration and earthy humour... intense, obsessive, sad, fey and movingly sexy.'.
For more information and booking, telephone Bob Devereux on 01736 795003
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