Brighton Festival 2008

May is here again which means there will be all manner of weird happenings in Brighton. These are three of the saner events for the poetically minded:

Daljit Nagra & Sean O'Brien

11 May 2008 at 4.30pm (doors 4pm) Pavilion Theatre £7.50

A powerful sense of place and/or community is often the anchor of the poetic imagination. The baleful industrial-northern landscapes of Sean O'Brien's The Drowned Book - an unprecedented T.S. Eliot and Forward Poetry prize winner - will be familiar terrain to aficionados of the poet's oeuvre. Taking in its sights Matthew Arnold's 'land of dreams', Daljit Nagra's debut full-length collection Look We Have Coming to Dover! captured with provocative wit the reality and idealism of the British-Indian experience.Two major poets. Two distinct Englands. One unmissable poetry double-header!


Poetry Readings
BRIGHTON: Festival Finnish: a Night of International Poetry

The Quadrant, Air Street (next to the Clock Tower in the heart of Brighton)7.30 for an 8pm start, Monday 12th May 2008 Entry: £3. Free for Friends of THE SOUTH.

Festival Finnish: a Night of International Poetry
Readings from Jouni Inkala, Merja Virolainen and Johanna Venho
Introduced by Maria Jastrzebska with John O'Donoghue With music by Katarina Holmberg

Jouni Inkala, (b 1966), lives in Helsinki. He studied foreign literature and philosophy at Helsinki University. He has published seven poetry collections and also written essays and columns in different forums. Winner of J.H Erkko (1992), Kallioniemi Saatio and Einari Vuorela (2005) poetry prizes. His Selected Poems 1992-2007 were published in Spring of 2007. His poetry has been translated into several languages.

Merja Virolainen (b 1962) in Lapua, lives in Helsinki. Poet, essayist, critic, editor, translator and tutor, her collection Olen tyttö, ihanaa! (I'm a Girl, Wonderful!) won the Tanssiva karhu (Dancing Bear) Poetry Award 2004 and was nominated for the Runeberg Literary Award 2004 and the Einari Vuorela Poetry Award 2005. Her collection Tervapeili (Tar Mirror) was nominated for the Einari Vuorela Poetry Award 1997. She has also written a book about shamanism and witchcraft and a play called Täyttymyskomedia (Fulfilment Comedy).

Johanna Venho (b 1971) lives in Espoo, Finland. She studied comparative literature and biology in the universities of Helsinki and Jyväskylä. A former editor-in-chief at Tuli&Savu poetry journal, she is now a full time writer. She has published three collections of poetry, four novels for children and a collection of nursery rhymes. She won the Kritiikin kannukset Prize for the best literary debut of 2000 and the Katri Vala Prize for her latest collection of poems in 2006.


Jarvis Cocker on Song - Saying the Unsayable

EXTRA SEATS RELEASED. PHONE BOX OFFICE ON 01273 709709 TO BOOK. 23 May 2008 at 8pm (doors 7.15pm)Concert Hall£12.50

Commissioned by Brighton Festival
Exclusive to Brighton Festival

'Should songs rhyme?'
'Are songs poetry?'
'Is there anything you can't write songs about?'
'Which phrases should be avoided at all costs?'
'What makes a good first line?'

In this exclusive Brighton Festival lecture, Jarvis Cocker explores the function of the lyric in popular song. Armed with audio and video excerpts and some finely tuned PowerPoint skills, Jarvis starts from the contrary position that 'song lyrics don't really matter'! From here he embarks on a celebration of his craft, putting his own lyrics under the microscope alongside firm favourites from Leonard Cohen and Pete Doherty to Hot Chocolate and Amy Winehouse. Including an in-depth analysis of Richard Berry's notorious rock 'n' roll anthem Louie Louie.