Monday, September 29, 2008
DERBY: Adrian Buckner reading
Room 3,
Friends Meeting House,
St Helen's Street,
Derby.
Poet and Poetry Nottingham editor Adrian Buckner reads from his new collection Contains Mild Peril, at this Derby Season Poetry Reading.
Booking tel no: 01332 553430
ST ALBANS: Elvis Lives - The Poetry Link Tour
Oral Cabaret @ The Maltings Arts Theatre,
The Maltings,
St. Albans,
Hertfordshire
Elvis Lives - The Poetry Link Tour
Brilliant stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonagall, takes to the road. Elvis is the 2006 World Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and is occasionally in residence on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. The sole resident of The Graceland Caravan Park somewhere in the middle of nowhere, he scribbles verse whilst drinking malt whisky and listening to Johnny Cash.
With support from: Patrick Lappin, Mat Lloyd
www.myspace.com/maltings
PETERBOROUGH: Elvis Lives - The Poetry Link Tour
Speakeasy @ The Glass Onion,
2 Burghley Road,
Peterborough,
Cambridgeshire
Elvis Lives - The Poetry Link Tour
Brilliant stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonagall, takes to the road. Elvis is the 2006 World Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and is occasionally in residence on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. The sole resident of The Graceland Caravan Park somewhere in the middle of nowhere, he scribbles verse whilst drinking malt whisky and listening to Johnny Cash.
With support from: Tim Clare, Amy Staniforth
www.myspace.com/speakeasypoetry
NORWICH: Elvis Lives - The Poetry Link Tour
Norwich Arts Centre,
St Benedicts Street,
Norwich,
Norfolk
The Monday Night Alternative: Elvis Lives - The Poetry Link Tour
Brilliant stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary and recumbent rocker, Elvis McGonagall, takes to the road. Elvis is the 2006 World Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and is occasionally in residence on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. The sole resident of The Graceland Caravan Park somewhere in the middle of nowhere, he scribbles verse whilst drinking malt whisky and listening to Johnny Cash.
With support from: Nathan Filer
www.norwichartscentre.co.uk
Sunday, September 28, 2008
GLASGOW: The Glasgow Slam
Downstairs at Blackfriars,
Bell Street,
Glasgow
G1 1LG
The Glasgow Slam is a live poetry competition, open to all forms of the spoken word, to all ages, to rhymers, ranters and rhapsodists. It's a fun night with contestants vying for the glory of being Glasgow Slam champ and, for the winner, £70. Runner-up gets £20. Third gets £10.
Anyone can enter, from wannabees to has-beens. You'll need two poems not longer than two minutes for the opening round, and one not longer than three minutes should you make the final. Robin Cairns is your compere. Please book your place by contacting robin.cairns@btconnect.com And bring your pals along - the panel of judges will be marking for poem, for performance and for audience reaction.
As another incentive, top scorers go through to the Scottish Slam Championships, in March 2009, a glittering night in the Mitchell Theatre as part of the Aye Write literature festival.
LONDON: East Words
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008, 6.30pm-9pm, FREE
Museum of Docklands
West India Quay,
1 Warehouse,
London,
E14 4AL,
East Words - Six top London poets come to Docklands. Showcasing some of London's best poetry and spokenword talent, this pioneering event provides a great opportunity to hear the most innovative verse this side of the Bow Bells.
Readers include the Forward Prize nominated Simon Barraclough; the cutting edge Chris McCabe, recently described as "the best young poet in London"; Retta Bowen, whose new pamphlet has just been published by Tall Lighthouse to critical acclaim; the dynamic wordsmith Jay Bernard, former Foyle Young Poet of the Year also published by TallLighthouse; the prolific and highly talented Inua Ellams, star of Generation Txt and James Byrne, esteemed poet and editor of Wolf Magazine. Compered by Christopher Horton and Richard Tyrone Jones (of Utter!) and with accompaniment of some kickin' tunes, how could you miss it?www.museumindocklands.org.uk
0870 444 3856
LONDON: Phil Maillard reading
Swedenborg Hall,
Swedenborg House,
20/21 Bloomsbury Way,
London WC1A 2TH
The next in Shearsman's 2008 Reading Series features Phil Maillard, whose Sweet Dust & Growling Lambs has just been published, and a Pessoa event, featuring a reading of one of his major long poems, and (hopefully) a display of some portraits of Pessoa by Aldous Eveleigh, whose images grace the cover and interior of the revised edition of Zbigniew Kotowicz's Fernando Pessoa: Voices of a Nomadic Soul.
http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2008/maillard.html
http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2008/kotowicz.html
http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2008/pessoa_lisbon.html
The entrance is around the corner on Barter Street. Closest Tube Stations: Holborn (Central & Piccadilly Lines : 4 minutes' walk), Tottenham Court Road (Central & Northern Lines: 6 minutes), Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line: 10 minutes). Several buses stop a few yards from the Hall. There is an underground car-park close by, underneath Bloomsbury Square.
Disabled access is available, but please let us know in advance if it is required.
GLASGOW: Last Monday at Rio
The Rio Cafe
Hyndland Street,
Glasgow,
G11 (Kelvinhall tube)
Ranters, rhymers and rhapsodists, come all ye to where speech is free. Uncensored, unfunded and (on occasion) unhinged, what goes on at the Rio Cafe is subject to one maxim only - "Ye cannae buy it". Get your kooky little act together and join us!
Headline act this month is Milton Balgoni. This compact, Bolanesque barnstormer will be holding out a guiding hand and inviting us to take a walk on the wild side of Fife.
First hour of the evening is open mic. Cairns is your compere. Should you wish to read, speak or perform please contact robin.cairns@btconnect.com
Saturday, September 27, 2008
LONDON: Speechless
The Albany,
Douglas Way,
Deptford
SE8 4AG
Apples & Snakes and British Council presents: SPEECHLESS - an evening of live new international poetry.
How free is free speech? Are there things that just can't be said? Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the right to freedom of opinion and expression but what does this mean in an age of anxiety and mistrust? Speechless brings together new poetry by five amazing writers from across South East Asia and four brilliant UK-based poets on the theme of freedom of expression in a unique new multi-lingual spoken word show, incorporating different perspectives and experiences from Vietnam to Ireland and sexuality to slavery, Speechless will be a night that stimulates brain-tingling debate, covering issues that define our existence. Each performance features a selection from: Priya K (Malaysia), Siege Malvar (Philippines), Pooja Nansi (Singapore), Liu Liang Yen (Taiwan), Da ThaoPhuong (Vietnam) and UK artists Francesca Beard, Malika Booker, Aoife Mannix and Jacob Sam-La Rose.
LONDON: La Langoustine Est Mer
Saturday, October 11th, 2008, 7.30pm, £5/£4
Poetry Café
22 Betterton St
WC2H 9BX
www.myspace.com/langoustine
To La Langoustine Chris Emery is like the Godfather. We have been harassing him for ages to come and read with us, but he is so busy promoting all of us that he never has time. Therefore it is with great pleasure we announce a reading by the Notorious C.H.R.I.S himself!
Chris Emery was born in Manchester in 1963 and studied painting and printmaking in Leeds. He is Publishing Director of Salt in Cambridge, England. His work has appeared in numerous journals. His first full-length collection was Dr. Mephisto (Arc Publications, 2002), and his latest collection is Radio Nostalgia (Arc Publications, 2006). He is also the author or a bestselling writer's guide, 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell (Salt Publishing, 2006). He lives in Great Wilbraham with his wife, three children and various other animals.
Also appearing is Isobel Dixon, who was was born in Umtata, South Africa, grew up in the Karoo region and studied in Stellenbosch, and then in Edinburgh, before the world of publishing lured her to work in London. She now lives in Cambridge. Her poetry has been widely published in South Africa, where she won the Sanlam Prize and the Olive Schreiner Prize for her collection Weather Eye. Her poems have appeared in many anthologies, including several of the British Council New Writing volumes, and she read on the first Oxfam Life Lines CD.
Aymeric Hainaux is a French artist. More details are at: www.unpoisson.com
Graham Buchan is a film-maker, photographer, writer and poet. His poetry has been in two dozen magazines and he has published two books: Airport Reading (the tall-lighthouse, 2004) and There is Violence in These Vapours (the tall-lighthouse, 2007). He currently facilitates a Creative Writing group for people affected by mental health issues.
NOTTINGHAM: Ash Dickinson
The Lincolnshire Poacher,
161-163 Mansfield Road,
Nottingham
Stand-up poetry in quick-fire rhymes and offbeat lines as multiple slam champion Ash Dickinson swaps places with the sea, takes the moon to a children's party and has his fridge fall in love with him.
www.ashdickinson.comwww.myspace.com/ashdickinson
LONDON: Smith/Doorstop at the Troubadour
The Troubadour,
263-267 Old Brompton Road,
London,
SW5
Smith/Doorstop Pamphlet prizewinners: Yvonne Green, Padraig O’Morain, Julia Deakin, River Wolton... plus Peter Carpenter, Allison McVety, Judy Brown, Anthony Wilson, Cherry Smyth and Charles Evans, introduced by editors Peter and Ann Sansom.
Boukhara by Londoner Yvonne Green - "enthralling and lovely poems… rich recollections of another country".
You’ve Been Great by Kildare-born Padraig O’Morain - "quiet poetry, strong with the humours and occasional horrors of country life".
The Half-Mile High Club by Huddersfield–based Julia Deakin - "sharp and knowing… exuberance and sudden dark".
The Purpose of Your Visit by Derbyshire Poet Laureate River Wolton - "poems… full of life and promise".
(all published by Smith/Doorstop, 2008, all above quotes from Alison Brackenbury, 2007 Smith/Doorstop judge). - Plus guest readings from previous years’ winners/runners-up: Peter Carpenter, Allison McVety, Judy Brown, Anthony Wilson, Cherry Smyth and Charles Evans.
Friday, September 26, 2008
GALWAY: Gerald Dawe and Michael Heffernan
Galway City Museum
Salmon Poetry, in association with Over The Edge, invites you to the Galway launch of:
Catching the Light: Views & Interviews by Gerald Dawe and The Odor of Sanctity by Michael Heffernan
RSVP: jessie@salmonpoetry.com
Thursday, September 25, 2008
WARWICK: Warwick Words Festival
Events include:
JOOLZ DENBY
Masterclass – Thursday 2nd October, 2pm to 5pm at the Friends Meeting House
In Conversation with Joolz Denby – Thursday 2nd October, 7.30pm at the Lord Leycester Hospital.
JO SHAPCOTT
Imaginative Logic workshop – Friday 3rd October, 2pm to 5pm in Northgate Church Hall.
FELIX DENNIS
An event not to be missed! – Friday 3rd October, 8pm in the Bridge House Theatre. Lots of free wine included (over 18’s)!
BRIAN PATTEN
Gargling with Jelly – Poetry Reading for kids and parents – Saturday 4th October, 3pm in the Bridge House Theatre.
Growing up Before Your Very Eyes – Saturday 4th October, 7.30pm at the Bridge House Theatre.
POETRY CAFÉ with JANE HOLLAND
Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October from 11am to 4pm in Thomas Oken Tea Rooms.
JANE HOLLAND
Warwick Poetry with the Laureate – Sunday 5th October from 2pm in the Coach House, Warwick Castle.
Tickets are now available from the Box Office: 01926 776438
For further information please see our web site www.warwickwords.co.uk
ATHERSTONE: Shindig!
Market Square,
Atherstone,
Warwickshire
Shindig! in Atherstone - live poetry and open mic. Part of the North Warwickshire Arts Festival, in partnership with Throckmorton’s bookshop, Nine Arches Press present you with some of the finest Midlands poets, including:
Jane Holland - Warwick poet laureate.
Simon Turner - Leamington’s new modernist poet.
Matt Nunn - Birmingham's finest poetic export.
Open mic slots available from noon - come and sign up for a slot to take part!
Join us in Throckmorton’s after the event to buy a book by the poets and get it signed.
KING'S LYNN: 24th Poetry Festival
The Green Quay,
King's Lynn,
Norfolk
Readers include Alan Jenkins, Robert Crawford, Helen Ivory, Soleiman Adel Guemar, Lorna Thorpe, Jackie Wills, Ruth Fainlight, Alan Sillitoe, Elizabeth Smither, Piers Alexander, Louis De Bernieres, Will Stone and Paul Stubbs, plus penel discussions hosted by Michael Hulse.
For full details, go to: http://www.lynnlitfests.com/nextfestival.asp
14 Hour @ The Star of Bethnal Green
The Star of Bethnal Green
359 Bethnal Green Road
E2 6LG
5 minutes from Bethnal Green Tube
Facebook Event:http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24322049300
Featuring:
Chris Hicks (of Aisle 16)
The Train Chronicles
Salena Godden
Bunny & The Hectograms
Mr Conway
Wayne "Sleng Teng" Smith
& 14 Hour DJs.
Flash flooding. The credit crunch. The end of the universe in Switzerland. Nothing shines more like a beacon of hope in these troubled times than The Star of Bethnal Green, Bethnal Green Road. 14 Hour nestles comfortably in for a night of live poetry and performance music. Come along for free.
The stubbly maverick of Aisle 16, Chris Hicks claims on his Facebook profile that he can see all the way to the Apocalypse. He's promised to tell us all about it. Lightspeed Champion recently said of Martin (the driving force behind The Train Chronicles) "Lyrically I wish I could write like this". Drowned in Sound put it this way: "Literate, lo-fi americana via London - think Jeffrey Lewis doing Leadbelly". Poet, regular host of BBC London and Resonance FM and lead singer of ska-drum-n-bass-breakbeat duo SaltPeter, Salena Godden has travelled and toured extensively. Even before her first proper gig Bunny & The Hectograms had grabbed the attention of Dazed & Confused on an impromptu stage at Secret Garden Party. Soon to be huge. Mr Conway speaks in a complicated punning dialect that is tricky, to say the least. Wayne "Sleng Teng" Smith is guest host for the evening and might even wax lyrical occasionally. Stephanie Baker is back DJing freakbeat, psych&surf. http://www.starofbethnalgreen.com/
OUTSPOKEN: Birmingham poetry & music
Sublounge Bar,
Barwick Street,
off Colmore Row,
Birmingham,
B3 2NT.
OUTSPOKEN: a new poetry event every last Friday of the month. There will be poetry, spoken word, open mic and live band.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
ESSEX POETRY FESTIVAL
over 25 poets at 21 different venues between 19th September & 25th October.
www.essex-poetry-festival.co.uk
Workshops, readings, Open Mic, performance poetry, events for Children and poetic wildlife walks with the Essex Wildlife Trust. Plus the BIG DAY OF POETRY on the 11th October at the Cramphonr Theatre, Chelmsford, where Sixties Beat icon Michael Horovitz will be topping the bill and showing why this “firebrand of a performance poet, who has energised every kind of audience on both sides of the Atlantic” who’s Poetry Olympics filled the Albert Hall on more than one occasion, is still where it’s at! Joining him is the electrifying Patience Agbabi, once poet in residence at a tattoo parlour, and Jo Bell, last years Cheshire poet laureate and ex ‘bonekicker’ who will regale tales of sex, boats and archaeology! Also in the evening Catherine Smith will be introducing the winners of the Essex Poetry Festivals Open Poetry Competition. In the afternoon Essex Poets Frank Dullaghan and Adrian Green will be reading from their new books. Staff from the country’s oldest literary magazine, The London Magazine (founded 1732) and its youthful new counterpart Trespass will be on hand to chat to poets about what their magazines have to offer readers and what they look for in submissions, the are also bringing their guest readers, the Forward prize nominated and Saltire Award winning Roddy Lumsden, with young guns Andrew Oldham and Tom Chivers.The events start from 1pm with an Open Mic, where new and local poets can take the stage.
email: derek@essex-poetry-festival.co.uk for brochure
Ruth O'Callaghan presents Lumen Poetry Series
at 7.00 (doors open 6.30)Entry £4/£3, Wine
88 Tavistock Place W.C.1
Tubes: Russell Square, Kings Cross, St Pancras.
Sylvia Rowbottom
Ruth Ingram
Susi Clare
Poets from the Floor Very Welcome + there will be a few 5 minute spots.
(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. )
Lumen
Proceeds to COLD WEATHER SHELTER
14 Hour @ The Star of Bethnal Green
8pm :: FREE ENTRY
The Star of Bethnal Green
359 Bethnal Green Road
E2 6LG
5 minutes from Bethnal Green Tube
Facebook Event:http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24322049300
Featuring:
Chris Hicks (of Aisle 16)
The Train Chronicles
Salena Godden
Bunny & The Hectograms
Mr Conway
Wayne "Sleng Teng" Smith
& 14 Hour DJs.
Flash flooding. The credit crunch. The end of the universe in Switzerland. Nothing shines more like a beacon of hope in these troubled times than The Star of Bethnal Green, Bethnal Green Road. 14 Hour nestles comfortably in for a night of live poetry and performance music. Come along for free.
The stubbly maverick of Aisle 16, Chris Hicks claims on his Facebook profile that he can see all the way to the Apocalypse. He's promised to tell us all about it.Lightspeed Champion recently said of Martin (the driving force behind The Train Chronicles) "Lyrically I wish I could write like this". Drowned in Sound put it this way: "Literate, lo-fi americana via London - think Jeffrey Lewis doing Leadbelly". Poet, regular host of BBC London and Resonance FM and lead singer of ska-drum-n-bass-breakbeat duo SaltPeter, Salena Godden has travelled and toured extensively. Even before her first proper gig Bunny & The Hectograms had grabbed the attention of Dazed & Confused on an impromptu stage at Secret Garden Party. Soon to be huge. Mr Conway speaks in a complicated punning dialect that is tricky, to say the least. Wayne "Sleng Teng" Smith is guest host for the evening and might even wax lyrical occasionally.Stephanie Baker is back DJing freakbeat, psych&surf. http://www.starofbethnalgreen.com/
Apples & Snakes in Soho: The poetry of dancehalls & cafes
8pm Tickets: £8 / £6 Book: 0870 429 6883 / http://www.sohotheatre.com/
Where: Soho Theatre
21 Dean St
London W10 3NE
Thirty years have passed since the UK's first dub poetry hit the racks, andits exponents are now amongst the elder statespeople of spoken-word. None more so than Jean Ĺ’Binta' Breeze, who tonight demonstrates her command ofthose elusive rhythms and her ability to flit from street wisdom to historical fiction in the blink of an eye two talents showcased in her most recent book, The Fifth Figure.
There'll be ample support from Niall O'Sullivan, contributing his own brando f municipal zen with tales of greasy-spoon cafés and council flower-beds; and Saran Green, who'll be whipping up a saucy, spoken medley of boy-girl intrigue and Caribbean seasoning. Meanwhile, Malika Booker temporarily swaps from being London's hardest-working poet to being London's hardest-working compere.
Rhythm & Muse
Time: 8.30-10.30pm £5/£4
Venue: The Lion
27 Wick Road
Teddington, TW11
(nearest BR - Hampton Wick)
With guest poets Fiona Robyn and Catherine Smith and music from singer-songwriter David Francis -on tour from New York! Plus open mic - five mins slots (book in advance) on the door. For more info conact Alison Hill tel 020 8977 4610 or emailalison-hill@blueyonder.co.uk.
Salmon Poetry Launches: September
Catching the Light: Views & Interviews
by Gerald Dawe
&
The Odor of Sanctity
by Michael Heffernan
Venue: Galway City Museum
Saturday, Sept 27thth
2.00 pm
RSVP: jessie@salmonpoetry.com
