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.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
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
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
LONDON SW8: The Moon Has Written You a Poem
May 14th 2008
7pm, 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.
7pm, 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
Wednesday 14th May
7.15pm, The Foundry, London.
Openned Reading
Confirmed readers: Charles Bernstein, Justin Katko, Edward Nesbit and Maggie O'Sullivan. More information can be found at www.openned.com/nights/london.php.
7.15pm, The Foundry, London.
Openned Reading
Confirmed readers: Charles Bernstein, Justin Katko, Edward Nesbit and Maggie O'Sullivan. More information can be found at www.openned.com/nights/london.php.
Ullapool Book Festival
Friday 16th May - Sunday 18th May, 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.
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
Monday, May 05, 2008
Cinnamon Press: launch of Joan Hewitt’s debut poetry collection
Thurs 15th May
7:00pm for 7:30pm
at the Old George Inn
10 Cloth Market
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1EE.
Free event with bar.
Launch of Joan Hewitt’s debut poetry collection, Missing the Eclipse. "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.
7:00pm for 7:30pm
at the Old George Inn
10 Cloth Market
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 1EE.
Free event with bar.
Launch of Joan Hewitt’s debut poetry collection, Missing the Eclipse. "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.
Welsh Poems and Pints / Open Mic Poetry
Wed 14 May 08
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.
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.
Haverfordwest Library: What Poetry
Tue 13 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).
Glamorgan: Looking Over The Hill with Ian McMillan
Something for the more mature ....
Mon 12 May 08
St Donats Arts Centre
Vale of Glamorgan
Wales www.stdonats.com
Tickets £4 / £3
Ian McMillan is one of the UK’s best known contemporary poets and a performer of great wit and charm. This special Book Club event is the culmination of ‘Looking Over The Hill’ as part of Gwanwyn – the Wales festival of arts and creativity for older people. A variety of groups have taken part by writing short pieces of poetry or prose on the subject of the present and the future. Everyone is welcome to this informal Book Club event featuring Ian’s selection of the pieces alongside performances of his work that can be moving, touching, provocative and funny – and, of course, a chance to meet Ian, ask questions and get your books signed over tea and cake. "In his range, prodigious northern myth-making, indefatigable good humour and real status as a community poet, he is unique." Peter Forbes. "With McMillan, you feel a draught coming from the blast of fresh air blowing through the dusty cobwebs that festoon most literary programmes." The Observer. 2pm at St Donats Arts Centre. Ticket includes free tea and cake. For further details and tickets contact enquiries@stdonats.com / 01446 799100. .
Mon 12 May 08
St Donats Arts Centre
Vale of Glamorgan
Wales www.stdonats.com
Tickets £4 / £3
Ian McMillan is one of the UK’s best known contemporary poets and a performer of great wit and charm. This special Book Club event is the culmination of ‘Looking Over The Hill’ as part of Gwanwyn – the Wales festival of arts and creativity for older people. A variety of groups have taken part by writing short pieces of poetry or prose on the subject of the present and the future. Everyone is welcome to this informal Book Club event featuring Ian’s selection of the pieces alongside performances of his work that can be moving, touching, provocative and funny – and, of course, a chance to meet Ian, ask questions and get your books signed over tea and cake. "In his range, prodigious northern myth-making, indefatigable good humour and real status as a community poet, he is unique." Peter Forbes. "With McMillan, you feel a draught coming from the blast of fresh air blowing through the dusty cobwebs that festoon most literary programmes." The Observer. 2pm at St Donats Arts Centre. Ticket includes free tea and cake. For further details and tickets contact enquiries@stdonats.com / 01446 799100. .
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/
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
The Oxford Hammer and Tongue Slam Final
A final plug for this event which (I have on good authority) will probably be at the Vaults of St Mary the Virgin, Radcliffe Square, Oxford.
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
8pm -11pm £5/£4
After a season of great events that has seen the first ever transatlantic live internet linked poetry slam and some of the worlds best performance poets at venues large and small throughout the city, we reach the climax of our poetry slam season: The Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Final.
By virtue of qualifying through open slams six budding stars have been invited to compete. They are Bohdan Piesecki, Pete the Temp, Jennie B, George Roberts, Julia Kiel and Tina Sederholm.
Vote for a wild card poet
In addition to this we are inviting you to nominate two wild card entrants. If there has been someone competing in a slam that you thought deserved to win who you want to see again email back with a name or any detail of their appearance/performance should your drunken memory have failed you once again (you muppet) and we will collate the results and give two more people the opportunity to take the big prize.
Special Guest
The guest artists for the final is Jem Rolls.Jem is one of the most accomplished performance poets in the world today. He has received more than 25 Five-star reviews and been heralded as a "Genius" (Montreal Gazette) in Canada where he now resides and plies his trade. He was the founder of Big Word in London and in Edinburgh and is responsible for taking performance poetry to The Edinburgh Fringe where he is known as "the godfather of Scottish performance poetry" (Scotland on Sunday).
Your DJ will be DJ Mystic your hosts the beautiful Sophia Blackwell and the even beautifuler Steve Larkin!
See you there.
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
8pm -11pm £5/£4
After a season of great events that has seen the first ever transatlantic live internet linked poetry slam and some of the worlds best performance poets at venues large and small throughout the city, we reach the climax of our poetry slam season: The Oxford Hammer & Tongue Slam Final.
By virtue of qualifying through open slams six budding stars have been invited to compete. They are Bohdan Piesecki, Pete the Temp, Jennie B, George Roberts, Julia Kiel and Tina Sederholm.
Vote for a wild card poet
In addition to this we are inviting you to nominate two wild card entrants. If there has been someone competing in a slam that you thought deserved to win who you want to see again email back with a name or any detail of their appearance/performance should your drunken memory have failed you once again (you muppet) and we will collate the results and give two more people the opportunity to take the big prize.
Special Guest
The guest artists for the final is Jem Rolls.Jem is one of the most accomplished performance poets in the world today. He has received more than 25 Five-star reviews and been heralded as a "Genius" (Montreal Gazette) in Canada where he now resides and plies his trade. He was the founder of Big Word in London and in Edinburgh and is responsible for taking performance poetry to The Edinburgh Fringe where he is known as "the godfather of Scottish performance poetry" (Scotland on Sunday).
Your DJ will be DJ Mystic your hosts the beautiful Sophia Blackwell and the even beautifuler Steve Larkin!
See you there.
The Poetry Cafe
Upcoming events at the 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
6th May: Poetry Unplugged
7:30pm - 11:00pm £4/3
Open mic night hosted by Niall O'Sullivan. Sign on to read between 6-7pm.
7th May: Ash Dickinson @ the Poetry Cafe
7:30pm - 11:00pm £4/3
Looks like Banksy is not the only great export from Bristol after all. Not to miss!
8th May: Survivors Poetry
8:00pm - 11:00pm £2/1
Poetry reading with resilience as main theme.
11th May: The Cellar
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Another one from Niall O'Sullivan.
12th May: Exiled Writer Ink
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Monthly gathering of writers exiled from their homeland with featured performances.
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.
14th May: Loose Muse
8:00pm - 11:00pm £5/3
Hosted by Agnes Meadow.
15th May: African Writers Evening
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Hosted by Nii Parkes.
16th May: London Literature Lounge
8:00pm - 11:00pm £5,/£4
with the usual line up of eclectic poets and open mics. Hosted by Anjan Saha.
22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
tel +44 (0)20 7420 9880 fax +44 (0)20 7240 4818
info AT poetrysociety.org.uk
6th May: Poetry Unplugged
7:30pm - 11:00pm £4/3
Open mic night hosted by Niall O'Sullivan. Sign on to read between 6-7pm.
7th May: Ash Dickinson @ the Poetry Cafe
7:30pm - 11:00pm £4/3
Looks like Banksy is not the only great export from Bristol after all. Not to miss!
8th May: Survivors Poetry
8:00pm - 11:00pm £2/1
Poetry reading with resilience as main theme.
11th May: The Cellar
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Another one from Niall O'Sullivan.
12th May: Exiled Writer Ink
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Monthly gathering of writers exiled from their homeland with featured performances.
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.
14th May: Loose Muse
8:00pm - 11:00pm £5/3
Hosted by Agnes Meadow.
15th May: African Writers Evening
8:00pm - 11:00pm
Hosted by Nii Parkes.
16th May: London Literature Lounge
8:00pm - 11:00pm £5,/£4
with the usual line up of eclectic poets and open mics. Hosted by Anjan Saha.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
EDINBURGH Poetry at the Great Grog
Sunday 11 May, 8pm
Alan Gillis (born in Belfast, now lives in Edinburgh. Latest collection, Hawks and Doves, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize) Sally Evans (editor of Poetry Scotland and author of several collections including The Bees, just published) Barbara Smith (born in Dublin, now lives in Belfast. Debut collection, Kairos, published by Doghouse Press last year) Claire Askew (22 years old, poems forthcoming in Edinburgh Review, editor of Read This magazine) Website: http://poetryatthegreatgrog.blogspot.com/To be added to mailing list, send an email to: umackenzie_ra@yahoo.co.k
The Great Grog Bar, 43 Rose Street, (turn left from Hanover St for 30 metres), Edinburgh
Alan Gillis (born in Belfast, now lives in Edinburgh. Latest collection, Hawks and Doves, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize) Sally Evans (editor of Poetry Scotland and author of several collections including The Bees, just published) Barbara Smith (born in Dublin, now lives in Belfast. Debut collection, Kairos, published by Doghouse Press last year) Claire Askew (22 years old, poems forthcoming in Edinburgh Review, editor of Read This magazine) Website: http://poetryatthegreatgrog.blogspot.com/To be added to mailing list, send an email to: umackenzie_ra@yahoo.co.k
The Great Grog Bar, 43 Rose Street, (turn left from Hanover St for 30 metres), Edinburgh
CARDIFF Four Readings and a Funeral.
Sunday May 11th, 7.30pm, £5
Performance poetry night featuring Mab Jones (John Tripp 2007 audience award winner), Noel James ("Liberates the lunatic side to our personalities - brilliantly!" - Time Out), Scott Fitzgerald (a literary giant masquerading as a cheeky-faced troll) and Mao (Ely’s answer to Roger McGough). Plus music from Sylvie Winn, and your compere for the evening: Mr Johnny Disco. Expect a night of poetry, song, comedy, tragedy, hi-jinx, larks, - and a funeral. 7.30pm at Media Point, Chapter, Cardiff. Price: £5. For further details contact Mab Jones: mab_jones@lycos.com / 07846 484274. Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).
Performance poetry night featuring Mab Jones (John Tripp 2007 audience award winner), Noel James ("Liberates the lunatic side to our personalities - brilliantly!" - Time Out), Scott Fitzgerald (a literary giant masquerading as a cheeky-faced troll) and Mao (Ely’s answer to Roger McGough). Plus music from Sylvie Winn, and your compere for the evening: Mr Johnny Disco. Expect a night of poetry, song, comedy, tragedy, hi-jinx, larks, - and a funeral. 7.30pm at Media Point, Chapter, Cardiff. Price: £5. For further details contact Mab Jones: mab_jones@lycos.com / 07846 484274. Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).
Saturday, May 03, 2008
CARDIFF Square Magazine Launch.
Launch Party for Square - a new magazine for poets and writers.
Readings by Nick Fisk, David Foster Morgan, Mab Jones, Neil Clarke, J Brookes and Paul Yoward. 8pm at Shot in the Dark Cafe, 12 City Road, Cardiff CF24 3DL. For further details contact square@post.com or Nia Jones: 029 20472300. Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).
Readings by Nick Fisk, David Foster Morgan, Mab Jones, Neil Clarke, J Brookes and Paul Yoward. 8pm at Shot in the Dark Cafe, 12 City Road, Cardiff CF24 3DL. For further details contact square@post.com or Nia Jones: 029 20472300. Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).
Open Mic Nights
Treorchy Wed 7 May 08
RCT Cultural Services / Academi: Open Mic Night. Rhyme, rhythm and verbal frolics, plus liquid refreshment and the chance to develop your writing skills in a fun, friendly atmosphere. Open Mic slots available. First open mic night in a series. From 7pm at Park and Dare Theatre, Treorchy. For further details contact the box office 01443 773112.
Pontypridd Thu 8 May 08
RCT Cultural Services / Academi: Open Mic Night. Rhyme, rhythm and verbal frolics, plus liquid refreshment and the chance to develop your writing skills in a fun, friendly atmosphere. Open Mic slots available. From 7pm at the Muni, Pontypridd. For further details contact the Muni: 01443 485934.
RCT Cultural Services / Academi: Open Mic Night. Rhyme, rhythm and verbal frolics, plus liquid refreshment and the chance to develop your writing skills in a fun, friendly atmosphere. Open Mic slots available. First open mic night in a series. From 7pm at Park and Dare Theatre, Treorchy. For further details contact the box office 01443 773112.
Pontypridd Thu 8 May 08
RCT Cultural Services / Academi: Open Mic Night. Rhyme, rhythm and verbal frolics, plus liquid refreshment and the chance to develop your writing skills in a fun, friendly atmosphere. Open Mic slots available. From 7pm at the Muni, Pontypridd. For further details contact the Muni: 01443 485934.
Aberdeen WORD Festival
Friday 9 May
7.30pm: Irish & Scottish Poetry - Michael Longley, Robert Crawford & Sinead Morrissey - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
Saturday 10 May
1pm: Anne Donovan & Ron Butlin - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
3pm: Meaghan Delahunt & Kirsty Gunn - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
4pm: Alan Spence & Valerie Gillies - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
8pm: Word and Music Event with King Creosote, Jackie Kay, Patience Agbabi & Doug Johnstone - Cowdray Hall, Schoolhill £5/3
Sunday 11 May
12noon: Best Scottish Poems (in association with the SPL) with Sheena Blackhall, John Burnside, Andrew Greig and John Purser. Introduced by Alan SpenceEach year the Scottish Poetry Library sponsors an online anthology of the Best Scottish Poems for that year. This year the guest editor was Alan Spence, and here he introduces a reading by Word participants who feature in the anthology. - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
1.30pm: The Poetry of Sri Chinmoy - King's College Centre, King's College FREE
5.30pm: Sheena Blackhall, Derrick McClure, Angus Peter Campbell & Martin McIntyre - Elphinstone Hall, King's College £5/3
for full programme and how to book email: word@abdn.ac.uk website: www.abdn.ac.uk/word
Aberdeen
various venues
7.30pm: Irish & Scottish Poetry - Michael Longley, Robert Crawford & Sinead Morrissey - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
Saturday 10 May
1pm: Anne Donovan & Ron Butlin - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
3pm: Meaghan Delahunt & Kirsty Gunn - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
4pm: Alan Spence & Valerie Gillies - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
8pm: Word and Music Event with King Creosote, Jackie Kay, Patience Agbabi & Doug Johnstone - Cowdray Hall, Schoolhill £5/3
Sunday 11 May
12noon: Best Scottish Poems (in association with the SPL) with Sheena Blackhall, John Burnside, Andrew Greig and John Purser. Introduced by Alan SpenceEach year the Scottish Poetry Library sponsors an online anthology of the Best Scottish Poems for that year. This year the guest editor was Alan Spence, and here he introduces a reading by Word participants who feature in the anthology. - King's College Centre, King's College £5/3
1.30pm: The Poetry of Sri Chinmoy - King's College Centre, King's College FREE
5.30pm: Sheena Blackhall, Derrick McClure, Angus Peter Campbell & Martin McIntyre - Elphinstone Hall, King's College £5/3
for full programme and how to book email: word@abdn.ac.uk website: www.abdn.ac.uk/word
Aberdeen
various venues
EDINBURGH Suona per Te: Alexander Hutchison & Alessandro Valenzisi
Thursday 8 May, 6pm
(Please note the time for this event is 6pm, not 8pm as previously stated)
Suona per Te: Alexander Hutchison & Alessandro Valenzisi
Alexander Hutchison will be reading from and commenting on a selection of the poems and translations in his new bi-lingual collection, Suona per Te, with Alessandro Valenzisi.
In the first part of the evening Professor Jonathan Usher of Edinburgh University has been invited by the Director of the Institute, Dr Luigino Zecchin, to provide an introductory critique and talk about the poems, and there will be an opportunity to put questions to all participants.
Refreshments will be provided, and members of the audience will also receive a presentation copy of a booklet Suona per Te, printed specially for the occasion. Please RSVP to iicedimburgo@esteri.it
Edinburgh Italian Cultural Insitute, 82 Nicolson Street
Friday 9 May - Sunday 11 May
(Please note the time for this event is 6pm, not 8pm as previously stated)
Suona per Te: Alexander Hutchison & Alessandro Valenzisi
Alexander Hutchison will be reading from and commenting on a selection of the poems and translations in his new bi-lingual collection, Suona per Te, with Alessandro Valenzisi.
In the first part of the evening Professor Jonathan Usher of Edinburgh University has been invited by the Director of the Institute, Dr Luigino Zecchin, to provide an introductory critique and talk about the poems, and there will be an opportunity to put questions to all participants.
Refreshments will be provided, and members of the audience will also receive a presentation copy of a booklet Suona per Te, printed specially for the occasion. Please RSVP to iicedimburgo@esteri.it
Edinburgh Italian Cultural Insitute, 82 Nicolson Street
Friday 9 May - Sunday 11 May
CHESTER: ZEST! Open Floor Poetry Night
8.00 p.m. Monday, May 12, 2008
Alexanders jazztheatre bar
Rufus Court, Off Northgate St,
Chester CH1 2JG www.alexandersjazz.com.
Entry:£3/£2 on door
ZEST! Open Floor Poetry Night Guest: John Lindley, Cheshire Poet Laureate 2004
Bring your own or a favourite poem to read or enjoy listening. Host: Gill McEvoy
Zest! team: Gill McEvoy, Leih Steggall, Caroline Hawkridge
Alexanders jazztheatre bar
Rufus Court, Off Northgate St,
Chester CH1 2JG www.alexandersjazz.com.
Entry:£3/£2 on door
ZEST! Open Floor Poetry Night Guest: John Lindley, Cheshire Poet Laureate 2004
Bring your own or a favourite poem to read or enjoy listening. Host: Gill McEvoy
Zest! team: Gill McEvoy, Leih Steggall, Caroline Hawkridge
Poetry Readings: The Blue Bus
a reading by Alice Notley and Simon Pettet.
7.30pm, Thursday 8th May, 2008
The Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit Street
London WC1, in the upstairs room
Admissions: £5 / £3 (concessions).
The Blue Bus is pleased to present a reading by Alice Notley and Simon Pettet.
This is the twelfth in THE BLUE BUS series.
Future Blue Bus readings will include Maurice Scully and Lou Rowan, (15th May), Frances Presley, Graham Hartill and Lyndon Davies (11th June), James Wilkes, Holly Pester and Abi Oborne (23rd July) and Anthony Rudolf, Wendy Saloman and Valeria Melchioretto (27th August).
7.30pm, Thursday 8th May, 2008
The Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit Street
London WC1, in the upstairs room
Admissions: £5 / £3 (concessions).
The Blue Bus is pleased to present a reading by Alice Notley and Simon Pettet.
This is the twelfth in THE BLUE BUS series.
Future Blue Bus readings will include Maurice Scully and Lou Rowan, (15th May), Frances Presley, Graham Hartill and Lyndon Davies (11th June), James Wilkes, Holly Pester and Abi Oborne (23rd July) and Anthony Rudolf, Wendy Saloman and Valeria Melchioretto (27th August).
Friday, May 02, 2008
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.
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.
Michael Hofmann: Selected Works and Rilke Discussion
Wednesday 7th May, 7pm
Robyn Marsack joins translator Michael Hofmann for a discussion of German poetry, in particular Rilke.
Goethe Institut
3 Park Circus
Glasgow, G3 6AX
Scotland
Phone: 0141 332 2555
Email: info@glasgow.goethe.org
Website: www.goethe.de/glasgow
Free entry.
Robyn Marsack joins translator Michael Hofmann for a discussion of German poetry, in particular Rilke.
Goethe Institut
3 Park Circus
Glasgow, G3 6AX
Scotland
Phone: 0141 332 2555
Email: info@glasgow.goethe.org
Website: www.goethe.de/glasgow
Free entry.
St Andrews: The Poems of Brian Johnstone
Wednesday 7th May, 1.15pm-1.45pm
Younger Hall
North Street
St Andrews, KY16 9AJ
Scotland
Box office: 01334 462226
Phone: 01334 462226
Tickets £2
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