Friday, December 24, 2010

LONDON: Camden Poetry Series

Friday, 7th January 2011, 7pm (door open 6.30pm), £5/£4, WINE
Trinity United Reform Church,
1 Buck Street,
Camden Town
2 mins. Camden Town tube  

Ruth O'Callaghan presents Ward-Wood poets Angela Alexander and Mike Horwood. Poets from the floor very welcome (some longer spots available). Please bring a copy of the poem if you wish to be considered for the new anthology, which will be edited by Ruth O'Callaghan.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

BRIGHTON: Waterloo Press Christmas Party

Thursday, December 16th, 2010, 8pm for 8.30pm start, FREE
Iambic Arts Theatre
Regent Street
Brighton

Waterloo Press invites you to our first ever CHRISTMAS PARTY, featuring scintillating readings by
Bernadette Cremin, John O'Donoghue, Naomi Foyle, Simon Jenner, Maria Jastrzębska, and the Aldeburgh Prize shortlisted Robert Dickinson.

plus
OPEN MIC - musicians and poets welcome!
Festive Nibbles
& Raffle

Come and help us celebrate the vitality of poetry in the South East and a great year for Waterloo Press! 

DRESS: SLINKY, SWANKY, SEXY
or, okay, Scroogie, just come as you are...

GALWAY: December Over The Edge

Thursday, December 16th, 2010, 6.30pm-8pm
Galway City Library,
St. Augustine Street,
Galway

The Featured Readers are Elaine Cosgrove, Edward Lee and Siobhán Campbell.

Elaine Cosgrove was born in Sligo in 1985. Since then, she has been a hippie, a rocker, a metaller and an indie kid. She moved to Galway in 2004 to study at NUIG, and graduated in 2007 with an Arts Degree. She has participated in creative writing classes at Galway Technical Institute. This year, she was shortlisted for the Fish Publishing One Page Story Prize and the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Competition.

Edward Lee is originally from Dublin, but now lives in Galway. His poems, short stories and photography have been published in a wide variety of publications, including The Shop, The Stinging Fly & The Sunday Tribune. He is also a visual artist and has had several exhibitions in various venues in Dublin and Galway. He has an exhibition entitled 'Playing Poohsticks: Part One' running in Galway City Library from the 1st December to the 21st December, which consists of 15 paintings and the 15 poems from his poetry collection that inspired them. Edward’s debut poetry collection Playing PoohSticks On Ha'Penny Bridge was published last year.

Siobhán Campbell’s third full poetry collection Cross-Talk, was published by Seren Press in 2009 and was declared “(a) cunning sideways take on the pastoral” by the Irish Times.  She was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award for That Water Speaks in Tongues (Templar Poetry). Her other books include The Permanent Wave and The Cold that Burns (Blackstaff Press). Siobhán is a Principal Lecturer at Kingston University London. She has won awards in the National Poetry Competition as well as in the Troubadour and Wigtown competitions. She is anthologised in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing and in Identity Parade: New British and Irish Poets (Spring 2010, Bloodaxe).

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 087-6431748 or see our website http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com/

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

BRISTOL: Brizzlemania 5 - Chrizzlemania

Wednesday, 15th December, 2010, 8pm, £3
The Old Fire Station,
Silver Street,
Bristol.

Bristol's No 1 Poetry Slam brings you some festive fonetic badassery. Featuring:

Alchemist from Nowhere Town, BYRON VINCENT

Singer- poet from the Void, ALEX HARVEST

Back to rock your socks once more, VANESSA KISUULE

Plus OPEN POETRY SLAM: free gig + wine for the winner.

Don't be a dweeb. Come along.

NOTTINGHAM: Speakeasy, with Mark Gwynne Jones

Wednesday, 15th December, 2010, open mic 7pm, show from 9pm
Alley Cafe bar,
Cannon Court,
Longrow West,
Nottingham,
NG1 6JE

Special guest Mark Gwynne Jones.

Monday, December 13, 2010

LONDON: Lumen Poetry Series

Tuesday, 14th December 2010, doors open 6.30pm for 7pm, £5/£4, WINE
Lumen,
88 Tavistock Place,
London
WC1

Tubes: Russell Square , Kings Cross, St Pancras.

Ruth O'Callaghan presents Rosie Bailey and Geraldine Paine.

Poets from the floor very welcome. Some longer spots available. Last chance to be considered for the new anthology which will include major poets Anne Stevenson and Mimi Khalvati amongst others and will be edited by Ruth O'Callaghan.

Free Raffle and Nibbles!!!

LONDON: Kid, I Wrote Back

Monday, 13th December, 2010, 7pm-10pm, £3 on the door / FREE to perform
Bar Kick Stage,
127 Shoreditch High Street,
London,
E1 6JE
Nearest Tube: Liverpool St/Old St

kidiwroteback@instorage.org.uk
facebook.com/kidiwroteback
myspace.com/kidiwroteback
07793019343

Kid, I Wrote back...Christmas Special!

Purposefully breaking free from promoting any one verse, word, voice or style, KID, I WROTE BACK stamps a defiantly individual mark onto the capital's red-ripe spoken word and poetry scene and invites both established and as yet unheard talent to the stage to perform.

If you would like to perform email kidiwroteback@instorage.org.uk or get there early on the night to sign up.

LEICESTER: Shindig!

Monday 13th December, 2010, 7.30pm, FREE
The Looking Glass,
68-70 Braunstone Gate,
Leicester

The Leicester launch of Matt Merritt's second collection, hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica, with readings from Matt Merritt and special guest poets Alan Baker, Marilyn Ricci and Malcolm Dewhirst. Matt Merritt’s second collection of poetry, published in November 2010, is hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica. His debut full collection, Troy Town, was published byArrowhead Press in 2008, and a chapbook, Making The Most Of The Light, by HappenStance in 2005. He was born in Leicester and lives nearby, works as a wildlife journalist, is an editor of Poets On Fire, and blogs at http://polyolbion.blogspot.com.

Marilyn Ricci began to write seriously about 15 years ago.  It’s no good asking her to stop now, it’s compulsive.  Her work has appeared in anthologies and many small press magazines.  Her pamphlet: Rebuilding a Number 39 was published by Happenstance Press in 2008.

Alan Baker founded Leafe Press in 2000 and is now co-editor. He's edited Litter magazine since 2005. He has published several short collections, and has a new book forthcoming from Skysill Press: Variations on Painting a Room: Poems 2000-2010.

Malcolm Dewhirst - A poet, writer and filmmaker based in Tamworth who is project director of Polesworth’s Poets Trail. Malcolm’s poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies; he is working on his first collection of poems. His films include Pollysworda and the film poem Yell!

Open mic slots also available, please sign up on the door.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

GALWAY: Sarah Clancy launch

Friday, December 10th, 2010, 6pm, FREE
Charlie Byrne's Bookshop,
Galway

Stacey and The Mechanical Bull (Lapwing Press), the debut poetry collection by Sarah Clancy, will be launched by Kevin Higgins. All welcome.

Sarah Clancy is from Salthill. She is a participant in the Galway Arts Centre Poetry Workshops facilitated by Kevin Higgins and has read her poetry at North Beach Poetry Nights, the Over The Edge open-mic and was a Featured Reader at the August Over The Edge: Open Reading. This year, in a display of what she describes as beginners luck, Sarah was shortlisted in both the poetry section of the WOW awards 2010, the Listowel Writers Week Collection of Poetry Competition 2010 and the Over The Edge New Writer of The Year Competition. Her poems have been published in Revival, Dogs Singing (Edited by Jessie Lendennie, Salmon Poetry 2010) and Behind The Masks, the anthology of poems by participants in the advanced poetry workshop at Galway Arts Centre. Stacey and the Mechanical Bull is published by Lapwing Press in Belfast and is Sarah’s debut collection of poetry.

For further details 087-6431748.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

BIRMINGHAM: Public Address

Thursday, 9th December, 2010, 7.30pm, £7/£5
mac Birmingham,
Cannon Hill Park,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham,
B12 9QH
Booking: 01214463232 / www.macarts.co.uk

PUBLIC ADDRESS
Five amazing poets, five distinctive voices - and five different places to call home. Come discover their worlds and let them dazzle you with their wordplay! Public Address brings some of the brightest rising stars of UK spoken word poetry to Birmingham for one date only: unmissable if you like your poetry live, powerful, and exciting.

Mike Edwards - a writer and performer from Stockton-on-Tees and member of Monkfish Word Tank, a multimedia spoken word collective. Mike is a regular performer of poetry and character comedy in the North East and beyond. He was a resident poet on My Place Or Yours, an interactive writers’ residency by Apples & Snakes.

Saran Green - a passionate performance poet, her numerous performance styles echoing her multi-cultural upbringing. She is an established performance poet on the Jamaican poetry scene and appeared as a guest poet at the University of the West Indies. She captivates her audience with her striking stage presence and vitality.www.myspace.com/sarangreenpoet

Mark Niel - Audiences immediately warm to his assured performances and deft ability to blend humour, pathos and provocative material. Mark has become an ambassador for poetry and hosts Tongue In Chic, a poetry and spoken word event in Milton Keynes.

Hannah Silva - a writer and performer whose distinctive style combines the physicality of theatre with energetic, fast-paced poetry. She composes speech, choreographs language and exploits 'double tonguing' to create a unique form of spoken word performance.www.hannahsilva.co.uk

Matt Windle - is a boxer and poet! Formerly a sprinter, he was the Birmingham and Midlands champion for both the 100m and 2000m. In 2007/08 he was Birmingham’s young Poet Laureate and is the face of the new Birmingham Library. www.mattwindlepoetry.co.uk

LEWES: Needlewriters

Thursday, December 9th, 2010, doors open 7pm, readings 7.45pm, £5/£3 in advance from Skylark (Needlemakers) or at the door on the night.
Needlemakers Café,
West Street,
Lewes

Poetry from Judith Kazantzis and Lee Harwood, and prose from Clare Best.

Clare Best is the author of Treasure Ground (HappenStance, 2009), a collection of poems written during a residency at Woodlands Organic Farm on the Lincolnshire fens. She is completing her first full collection, Spoil. Tonight she will be reading from her prose memoir (work in progress) – reflections on growing up in a family shaped by loss, ghosts and silence.

Judith Kazantzis, an award winning poet and Lewesian, tonight launches the reissue of one of her best praised books, The Odysseus Poems, finely republished by Waterloo Press. Hear Homer’s voices as never before, voices human and inhuman, divine and monstrous, lying, lustful, loving. Here is Skylla of the dog-headed tentacles, and her opposite, Penelope, mistress of the art of flirtatious weaving. And Numero Uno, Odysseus himself:  laddish wanderer or victim of fate? Would Homer have approved? Yours to decide.

Lee Harwood lives by the sea in Brighton. His most recent books were Collected Poems (2004), Selected Poems (2008) and Not the full story - six interviews by Kelvin Corcoran (2008), all published by Shearsman Books.

If you plan to have supper at the Café, it’s probably a good idea to arrive in time to order and eat before the readings start.

Monday, December 06, 2010

BRISTOL: Brizzlemania 5 - Chrizzlemania

Wednesday, 15th December, 2010, 8pm, £3
The Old Fire Station,
Silver Street,
Bristol.

Bristol's No 1 Poetry Slam brings you some festive fonetic badassery. Featuring:

Alchemist from Nowhere Town, BYRON VINCENT

Singer- poet from the Void, ALEX HARVEST

Back to rock your socks once more, VANESSA KISUULE

Plus OPEN POETRY SLAM: free gig + wine for the winner.

Don't be a dweeb. Come along.

Friday, December 03, 2010

BRIGHTON: Waterloo Press Christmas Party

Thursday, December 16th, 2010, 8pm for 8.30pm start, FREE
Iambic Arts Theatre
Regent Street
Brighton

Waterloo Press invites you to our first ever CHRISTMAS PARTY, featuring scintillating readings by
Bernadette Cremin, John O'Donoghue, Naomi Foyle, Simon Jenner, Maria Jastrzębska, and the Aldeburgh Prize shortlisted Robert Dickinson.

plus
OPEN MIC - musicians and poets welcome!
Festive Nibbles
& Raffle

Come and help us celebrate the vitality of poetry in the South East and a great year for Waterloo Press! 

DRESS: SLINKY, SWANKY, SEXY
or, okay, Scroogie, just come as you are...

LONDON: Lumen Poetry Series

Tuesday, 14th December 2010, doors open 6.30pm for 7pm, £5/£4, WINE
Lumen,
88 Tavistock Place,
London
WC1

Tubes: Russell Square , Kings Cross, St Pancras.

Ruth O'Callaghan presents Rosie Bailey and Geraldine Paine.

Poets from the floor very welcome. Some longer spots available. Last chance to be considered for the new anthology which will include major poets Anne Stevenson and Mimi Khalvati amongst others and will be edited by Ruth O'Callaghan.

Free Raffle and Nibbles!!!

NOTTINGHAM: Speakeasy, with Mark Gwynne Jones

Wednesday, 15th December, 2010, open mic 7pm, show from 9pm
Alley Cafe bar,
Cannon Court,
Longrow West,
Nottingham,
NG1 6JE

Special guest Mark Gwynne Jones.

BIRMINGHAM: Public Address

Thursday, 9th December, 2010, 7.30pm, £7/£5
mac Birmingham,
Cannon Hill Park,
Edgbaston,
Birmingham,
B12 9QH
Booking: 01214463232 / www.macarts.co.uk

PUBLIC ADDRESS
Five amazing poets, five distinctive voices - and five different places to call home. Come discover their worlds and let them dazzle you with their wordplay! Public Address brings some of the brightest rising stars of UK spoken word poetry to Birmingham for one date only: unmissable if you like your poetry live, powerful, and exciting.

Mike Edwards - a writer and performer from Stockton-on-Tees and member of Monkfish Word Tank, a multimedia spoken word collective. Mike is a regular performer of poetry and character comedy in the North East and beyond. He was a resident poet on My Place Or Yours, an interactive writers’ residency by Apples & Snakes.

Saran Green - a passionate performance poet, her numerous performance styles echoing her multi-cultural upbringing. She is an established performance poet on the Jamaican poetry scene and appeared as a guest poet at the University of the West Indies. She captivates her audience with her striking stage presence and vitality.www.myspace.com/sarangreenpoet

Mark Niel - Audiences immediately warm to his assured performances and deft ability to blend humour, pathos and provocative material. Mark has become an ambassador for poetry and hosts Tongue In Chic, a poetry and spoken word event in Milton Keynes.

Hannah Silva - a writer and performer whose distinctive style combines the physicality of theatre with energetic, fast-paced poetry. She composes speech, choreographs language and exploits 'double tonguing' to create a unique form of spoken word performance.www.hannahsilva.co.uk

Matt Windle - is a boxer and poet! Formerly a sprinter, he was the Birmingham and Midlands champion for both the 100m and 2000m. In 2007/08 he was Birmingham’s young Poet Laureate and is the face of the new Birmingham Library. www.mattwindlepoetry.co.uk

LONDON: Poetry@Kings

Monday, December 6th, 2010, 6.30pm, FREE
Anatomy Theatre and Museum
Strand,
WC2R 2LS

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/depts/english/events/poetryatkings.html

Poetry@Kings: with Tom Raworth and Hugo Williams.

LONDON: BEAT Slam Champ December 2010

Monday, 6th December, 2010, 8pm-11.30pm
Charlie Wright's
45 Pitfield Street,
N1 6DA
London

Last Chance to become BEAT SLAM CHAMP 2010!

Sharpen your tongues, flex those chin muscles and write down some fierce scribblings for what has come to be known as the ultimate poetry battle of all time!

For your chance to win this coveted throphy contact Andreas Grant on outoforder@inbox.com to make sure of a spot or you can also try to show up on the night at 8pm.

 Contestants(more to be announced):
- Harry Baker
- Dave Florez
- ShaVunda Horsley
- John Bedwell
Featuring: Agnes Meadows and James Priestman
+ BEAT inhouse DJ - DJ Stone-d Groove
Hosted by BEAT producer: Andreas Grant.

LONDON: Nour Festival of Arts

GALWAY: Dogs Singing launch reading

Saturday, 4th December, 2010, 2pm 
The Town Hall Theatre,
Courthouse Square,
Galway

Dogs Singing: A Tribute Anthology brings together poems which highlight and examine and celebrate the canine world, and our place in it.

"First love, enduring love; the witness, the stoic, the companion, the protector, the better part of us, the abiding presence, the warrior, the survivor, the guardian angel.  Here is a big book of many poems, all inspired, devoted, motivated by a sacred bond that happens, the supreme privilege, that something far bigger than romance - a relationship with a dog.  Dogs do sing; they also smile, socialise, engage and celebrate, mark a homecoming in proper style, even if it’s only the return from the local grocery store; they sigh, but most of all they understand, they grieve, they mourn, they empathise, they remember..."  Eileen Battersby, Arts Writer & Literary Correspondent, The Irish Times

Royalties from the sale of this book go to the Soi Dog Foundation (Phuket, Thailand) and MADRA (Co. Galway, Ireland)

For more info,and to purchase copies online, visit the Salmon website:
http://www.salmonpoetry.com

GALWAY: December Over The Edge

Thursday, December 16th, 2010, 6.30pm-8pm
Galway City Library,
St. Augustine Street,
Galway

The Featured Readers are Elaine Cosgrove, Edward Lee and Siobhán Campbell.

Elaine Cosgrove was born in Sligo in 1985. Since then, she has been a hippie, a rocker, a metaller and an indie kid. She moved to Galway in 2004 to study at NUIG, and graduated in 2007 with an Arts Degree. She has participated in creative writing classes at Galway Technical Institute. This year, she was shortlisted for the Fish Publishing One Page Story Prize and the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Competition.

Edward Lee is originally from Dublin, but now lives in Galway. His poems, short stories and photography have been published in a wide variety of publications, including The Shop, The Stinging Fly & The Sunday Tribune. He is also a visual artist and has had several exhibitions in various venues in Dublin and Galway. He has an exhibition entitled 'Playing Poohsticks: Part One' running in Galway City Library from the 1st December to the 21st December, which consists of 15 paintings and the 15 poems from his poetry collection that inspired them. Edward’s debut poetry collection Playing PoohSticks On Ha'Penny Bridge was published last year.

Siobhán Campbell’s third full poetry collection Cross-Talk, was published by Seren Press in 2009 and was declared “(a) cunning sideways take on the pastoral” by the Irish Times.  She was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award for That Water Speaks in Tongues (Templar Poetry). Her other books include The Permanent Wave and The Cold that Burns (Blackstaff Press). Siobhán is a Principal Lecturer at Kingston University London. She has won awards in the National Poetry Competition as well as in the Troubadour and Wigtown competitions. She is anthologised in The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing and in Identity Parade: New British and Irish Poets (Spring 2010, Bloodaxe).

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 087-6431748 or see our website http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com/

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council.

LONDON: Camden Poetry Series

Friday, 3rd December 2010, 7pm (doors open 6.30pm), £5/£4, Wine
Trinity United Reform Church,
1 Buck Street,
Camden Town

Free Raffle (Could you bear to miss this!!!)

Ruth O'Callaghan presents Charles Bennett and Caroline Gilfillan. Poets from the floor very welcome (some longer spots available). Please bring a copy of the poem if you wish to be considered for the new anthology. This year the anthology is edited by Ruth O'Callaghan.

OXFORD: Cabaret Clandestino

Saturday, December 4th, 2010, £6
The East Oxford Community Centre
Oxford
OX4 1DD

A F Harrold
Comic surrealism from one of the country's best loved stand-up poets
Plus music, circus, live visual dance and more.
Hosted by Pete the Temp
Coming from out of town? Contact managementptt@gmail.com for a sofa!
www.myspace.com/cabaretclandestino

Pete Bearder
www.myspace.com/petethetemp
www.hammerandtongue.co.uk
www.myspace.com/cabaretclandestino