GALWAY: Over The Edge Open Reading

Thursday, August 30th, 2012, 6.30pm-8pm

Galway City Library

The Featured Readers are Leeanne Quinn, Pat Finnegan and Adedotun Adekeye. The reading is sponsored by Poetry Ireland. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. The evening will also see the announcement of the short list for this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, which received a record number of entries.

Adedotun Adekeye is a Nigerian who has been living in Galway for over four years with his family. He is a polyglot and a trained translator. He is currently working on two books: one of collection of poetry, the other a prose work. He has participated in poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre with Kevin Higgins and has also taken the ‘Writers-at-Work’ course, facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars. This is his first major reading of his work.

Pat Finnegan is Professor Emeritus, NUI Galway, and a retired Consultant Physician. His book The case of the Craughwell Prisoners during the Land War in Co. Galway, 1879–85 tells the story of how, at the height of the Land War in 1881, a dispute over land led to the shooting dead of a young man called Peter Doherty near Craughwell, County Galway and resulted in the conviction of two innocent men, Patrick Finnegan (the author’s grandfather) and Michael Muldowney. This beautifully written book features a forensic analysis of the trials that resulted in such a grave miscarriage of justice.

Leeanne Quinn was born in Drogheda in 1978. She studied at University College Dublin, University College Cork, and has a PhD in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin. In 2008 she was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. In 2010 she was the recipient of an Arts Council Bursary Award. Her poems have been published in a variety of journals and magazines including The Irish Times, The SHOp, Crannóg and The Stinging Fly, and anthologised in The Bee-Loud Glade: a living anthology of Irish Poetry (Dedalus, 2011) and Airborne: Poetry from Ireland (Dedalus, 2012). Before You, her debut collection of poetry, was published by Dedalus Press in February 2012. She lives in Dublin.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Kevin Higgins. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council & The Arts Council. We also warmly acknowledge Poetry Ireland’s sponsorship of this reading.http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com 

GALWAY: Over The Edge Open Reading

Thursday, August 30th, 2012, 6.30pm-8pm

Galway City Library

The Featured Readers are Leeanne Quinn, Pat Finnegan and Adedotun Adekeye. The reading is sponsored by Poetry Ireland. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. The evening will also see the announcement of the short list for this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, which received a record number of entries.

Adedotun Adekeye is a Nigerian who has been living in Galway for over four years with his family. He is a polyglot and a trained translator. He is currently working on two books: one of collection of poetry, the other a prose work. He has participated in poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre with Kevin Higgins and has also taken the ‘Writers-at-Work’ course, facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars. This is his first major reading of his work.

Pat Finnegan is Professor Emeritus, NUI Galway, and a retired Consultant Physician. His book The case of the Craughwell Prisoners during the Land War in Co. Galway, 1879–85 tells the story of how, at the height of the Land War in 1881, a dispute over land led to the shooting dead of a young man called Peter Doherty near Craughwell, County Galway and resulted in the conviction of two innocent men, Patrick Finnegan (the author’s grandfather) and Michael Muldowney. This beautifully written book features a forensic analysis of the trials that resulted in such a grave miscarriage of justice.

Leeanne Quinn was born in Drogheda in 1978. She studied at University College Dublin, University College Cork, and has a PhD in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin. In 2008 she was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. In 2010 she was the recipient of an Arts Council Bursary Award. Her poems have been published in a variety of journals and magazines including The Irish Times, The SHOp, Crannóg and The Stinging Fly, and anthologised in The Bee-Loud Glade: a living anthology of Irish Poetry (Dedalus, 2011) and Airborne: Poetry from Ireland (Dedalus, 2012). Before You, her debut collection of poetry, was published by Dedalus Press in February 2012. She lives in Dublin.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Kevin Higgins. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council & The Arts Council. We also warmly acknowledge Poetry Ireland’s sponsorship of this reading. http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com 

LONDON: I'm Sorry I Haven't Haiku!

Thursday August 23rd, 2012, 7.30-11pm, £7

Theatre Delicatessen

Marylebone Gardens

35 Marylebone High Street

W1U 4QA

Box Office: 07798 638670

LONDON: HAIKU DEBATING SOCIETY PRESENTS I'm Sorry I Haven't Haiku!

Hammer and Tongue's Michelle Madsen hosts a competetive panel show as part of Theatre Delicatessen's Revival Festival  where teams of poets, academics, general enthusiasts and willing members of the audience are pitted against each other in battle for syllabic supremacy. Featuring Tim Wells, Ashna Sarkar and Lewis Buxton.

"The best live poetry," The Sunday Times

EDINBURGH: Poetry in the Persian Tent

Poetry in the Persian Tent - August 22-26

Renowned poets Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay, John Glenday, Vicki Fever, Aonghas MacNeacail and Stewart Conn will headline the Poetry in the Persian Tent reading series this August to raise funds for Liz Lochhead and Jim Carruth's Old MacDonald Had a Farm for Africa Project, in association with Oxfam. Organised by Stephanie Green and hosted by the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, the poetry readings will take place at 11am to 12pm each day from Wednesday the 22nd of August to Sunday the 26th of August, 2012 at Venue 127. Tickets are available through the Hub box office for £10 (£8 concessions) each.

Scotland's Makar Liz Lochhead said "Come every day - a fantastic line-up of poets for a fabulous cause."

Liz Lochhead will feature at two of the Poetry in the Persian Tent readings, while National Poetry Competition judges Jackie Kay, John Glenday and Vicki Feaver as well as former Edinburgh Makar, Stewart Conn and Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail will each headline a reading in the series.

Also reading will be William Letford, who is shortly to be published by Carcanet, Jane McKie, winner of the Edwin Morgan Prize, 2011 and Helen Mort, former Poet in Residence at Grasmere’s Wordsworth Trust and Ryan Van Winkle, Poet in Residence at the Edinburgh City Libraries. Up and coming poets Eunice Buchanan, Jim Carruth, Niall Campbell, Stephanie Green and Mandy Haggith will complete the programme, along with a variety of musicians and singers.

Organiser Stephanie Green said "It is wonderful that so many fantastic poets are supporting our Old MacDonald Had a Farm For Africa Project and in particular that Liz Lochhead herself will be appearing at not one, but two of the events. These readings will be an absolute must for poetry lovers at the Festival."

Musical interludes will be provided by John Sampson, Carole Clarke, Patsy Seddon, Lise Sinclair and Just Voices.

Old MacDonald had a Farm for Africa Project was devised by Makar Liz Lochhead, Scotland’s National Poet and poet Jim Carruth in association with Oxfam to set up a number of farms across Africa, providing communities with livestock and resources to look after them. The twelve-month project aims to found as many farms as possible by the 1st of April, 2013. For more information on the Old MacDonald Project, visit www.justgiving.com/Stephanie-Green6.

Tickets are £10 (£8 concessions) through the Hub box office from their website www.hubtickets.co.uk, email boxoffice@hubtickets.co.uk, telephone 0131 473 2000 or in person from The Hub, Castlehill, Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 2NE. Tickets are available on the door but reservations are recommended due to limited seating.

For more information on Poetry in the Persian Tent, visit sites.google.com/site/stephgreen1/poetry-in-the-persian-tent.

For more information on the Festival of Spirituality and Peace, visit

www.festivalofspirituality.org.uk/.

ALDEBURGH: Poetry Prom

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012, 7.30pm, £6.50 to £14

Snape Maltings Concert Hall

Suffolk

Tickets are available online at www.aldeburgh.co.uk or via the box office on 01728 687110. The performance is suitable for adults and teenagers.

A trio of world-class poets will take the stage at the 10th annual Poetry Prom. Organised by the The Poetry Trust in partnership with Aldeburgh Music, this year's Prom will feature Imtiaz Dharker, Paul Durcan and Marie Howe – three immediately accessible and unforgettable performers from Asia, Ireland and America.

Imtiaz Dharker describes herself as a ‘Scottish Pakistani Muslim Calvinist’ and with a lifelong experience of cultural displacement, she investigates with warmth and candour what it means to belong. One of Ireland's most distinctive voices and a riveting live performer, Paul Durcan's heartbreaking and hilarious narratives include elegies for friends, political protests, and praise poems for everyday heroes. America’s Marie Howe writes beautifully truthful poems – about childhood abuse, her brother’s death from AIDS, 21st century materialism, friendship and late motherhood – to make the best sense of her life.

The Poetry Trust's Director, Naomi Jaffa said: “These are three of our favourite poets from recent Aldeburgh Poetry Festivals and we’re thrilled to have brought together such a unique ‘dream team’ for this year’s Poetry Prom. They write poems that make instant yet memorable contact – the kind that stop us in our tracks, make us laugh, illuminate our shared experience – and I know they’ll connect wonderfully with the big audience at Snape.”

Part of the popular Aldeburgh Music Snape Proms series which features a different kind of performance every night – classical, jazz, folk and world music, plus comedy and dance – the Poetry Prom is almost certainly the UK’s largest single poetry reading outside London, attracting between 600 and 800 people each year to listen to today’s outstanding poets.

LONDON: Paper Tiger Poetry

Friday, August 10th, 2012, 8pm, open mic sign-up from 7pm, pay what you can entry fee

Tea House Theatre

139 Vauxhall Walk

Vauxhall

London SE11 5HL (round the corner from Vauxhall tube on Victoria line)

Maplink: http://binged.it/sePcHW

One more go-round for Paper Tiger Poetry at (where else?) the Tea House Theatre! This month, along with the usual open-mic, we have Cheryl MacLennan and Ash Dickinson!

Come on down for a night of brilliant poetry in a warm but chilled-out new venue!

EDINBURGH: Inky Fingers Minifest

From 6th - 11th August, we’re bringing you once more a gorgeous selection of local, UK and international artists. In venues and streets across Edinburgh, there’ll be workshops, performances, games and surprises. Come along. Make beautiful words happen.

Science and Poetry


Monday 6th August
, 6.30 – 8.30 pm

Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


A relaxed set of readings exploring the many worlds of science through sparkling spoken word. Featuring local poets Anne Connolly and Anna Dickie, alongside the debut performance of Sarah, the Poetic Robot, a brand new invention from Herriott-Watt, who’ll be performing with Ruth Aylett.

Rejection!


Tuesday 7th August
, 2.30 – 4.30 pm


Provenance Wines, 39 Home Street, 
FREE


A special Inky Fingers workshop for all comers, where writers and performers from the professional to the amateur will be sharing the work that’s been rejected time and again. Part comedy show, part therapy, part rant, part workshop: email inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to take part!

Ash Dickinson


Tuesday 7th August, 
6.30-8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


A special one-off show from Ash Dickinson. A multiple slam champion in the UK, Ash Dickinson has also performed in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. One of the most in-demand spoken word performers in the country, his debut collection, “Slinky Espadrilles”, was released in May.  www.ashdickinson.com

Jubilate Agno with James McKay


Wednesday 8th August
, 2.30 – 4.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


A unique durational performance from UK spoken word artist James McKay, who’ll be reciting a psychadelic free verse extravaganza written in a lunatic asylum by eighteenth-century poetry pioneer and religious maniac Christopher Smart. Stay for the whole show or just drop in to revel in the language – either way, expect extraordinary lucidity and  sudden tragic insight

The Inky Fingers Open Mic


Wednesday 8th August
, 6.30 – 8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street, 
FREE


The Fringe edition of the famous Inky Fingers Open Mic, Edinburgh’s long running platform for people who love words. Come along to here the best and strangest collection of spoken word aroun – or emailinkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to take part yourself! Featuring a surprise special best from the cream of the Fringe

Summerhall’s Festival Club


Wednesday 8th August
, 10pm – midnight


Summerhall
, FREE


Inky Fingers takes over the stage at Summerhall’s Festival Club, to bring you a selection of the best spoken word around. Tonight featuring local star Colin McGuire, alongside experimental texts from Sean Burn and brilliant new verse from Lynsey Calderwood

Personal Poetics, a Workshop with Nick Field


Thursday 9th August, 
2.30 – 4.30pm


Provenance Wines, 39 Home Street
, FREE


This workshop for poets and writers explores ways of bringing the personal into their work, and relating and performing stories from direct experience through different aspects of spoken word. Through a number of practical exercises participants can try out using different forms and experiment with blending them to tell a story in a new and unexpected way and create a piece that is as personal and unique as the story they are relating. Nick Field is a major writer and spoken word artist who draws on theatre and live art to create evocative, bittersweet and richly lyrical performance pieces. He has performed at major events, festivals and venues internationally.

www.nickfieldpoetic.co.uk

Octavius Launch


Thursday 9th August, 
6.30 – 8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


Octavius is a new literary magazine for students in Scotland. Come to Pulp Fiction for readings from some of the fantastic writers in our début issue, as well as for drinks and nautical novelties (may contain hidden treasure) This will be the very first chance to get your hands on a copy of the first issue of Octavius (including new, previously unseen artwork, exclusively designed for the magazine by the amazing Roberto Poliri).

Summerhall’s Festival Club


Thursday 9th August, 
10pm – midnight


Summerhall
, FREE


Inky Fingers takes over the stage at Summerhall’s Festival Club, to bring you a selection of the best spoken word around. Tonight featuring visiting star Nick Field, alongside performances from local talent Matt McDonald and Telfer & Treeby

Death Doulas, a workshop with Rebecca Green


Friday 10th August
, 2.30 – 4.30pm


Provenance Wines, 39 Home Street
, FREE


A spoken word workshop exploring becoming a midwife to the dying – using relaxation, visualisation and storytelling, we’ll find new ways to relate to and talk about death, and a calm, creative escape from the wildness of the Fringe. Email inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to take part.

Ross Sutherland, Emergency Window Book Launch


Friday 10th August, 
6.30 – 8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


Join poet Ross Sutherland and indy publisher Penned in the Margins for the launch of Emergency Window. Welcome to a science fiction reality of mirrors, windows and menacing simulacra –where nothing is as it seems. Sutherland interrogates the language of authenticity, presenting the poet as an anxious, disorientated collaborator trapped in a world of hacked computers. Emergency Window features a hilarious version of Little Red Riding Hood, a poem written using Google Streetview, sonnets inspired by Street Fighter 2, and computer-generated translations of classic literature. www.rosssutherland.co.uk

Are We Asking For It?


Saturday 11th August, 
2.30 – 4.30pm


Somewhere in Edinburgh
, FREE


A score for passers-by, a performance for an unknown audience. A piece of guerilla spoken word theatre, Are We Asking For It? explores the relationship between art, language and communities of protest. Mary Paterson is an artist and curator based in London, whose varied and various works have been seen at festivals across the world. www.marypaterson.tumblr.com

Wunderkabinett: A Spoken Word Variety


Saturday 11th August, 8 – 10.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


Collected together and presented to you, Cabinet finds the beautiful and obscure and presents them to you ‘on the shelf’ channeling the Victorian cabinet of curiosities, the German wunderkabinett. A mixture of song, spoken word and performance art, Cabinet presents local performers and artists exploring new content, and invites participation from the community. Wunderkabinett is an evening to launch Cabinet within Edinburgh, with performance art, puppetry, and ukulele ballads and many more surprises.

LONDON: Paper Tiger Poetry

Friday, August 10th, 2012, 8pm, open mic sign-up from 7pm, pay what you can entry fee

Tea House Theatre

139 Vauxhall Walk

Vauxhall

London SE11 5HL (round the corner from Vauxhall tube on Victoria line)

Maplink: http://binged.it/sePcHW

One more go-round for Paper Tiger Poetry at (where else?) the Tea House Theatre! This month, along with the usual open-mic, we have Cheryl MacLennan and Ash Dickinson!

Come on down for a night of brilliant poetry in a warm but chilled-out new venue!

LEAMINGTON SPA: PUREandGOODandRIGHT

Monday, August 13th, 2012, 7.30pm, £3 (£2 student/OAP)

The Sozzled Sausage,

141 Regent Street,

CV32 4NX

Summer Slam!

Thanks to the devoted and supportive atmosphere of the PGR crowd, this is one of the most enjoyable slams you'll ever encounter!

There will of course be the usual open mic slots...but the fact that there will be actual prize money and the chance to win a feature slot at a future PGR event is surely enough to tempt even performance newbies to come and join the fun.

     Here's how it will work…          

●   The slam will take place over 3 rounds.

●   Each poem must be no longer than 3 minutes (or less if you want!)

●   Each poet will be appreciated according to their content, delivery and audience response.

●   The highest scoring four poets from the first round will go through to the semi finals.

●   The winners of the two semi finals will compete in the grand finale.

●   The victor and the runner up will share the door takings in some fitting

     proportion. The winner will also be offered the chance to be feature poet in a future PGR event.                                                                                             

     If you have any further questions or wish to register, contact pgrpoetry@gmail.com

EDINBURGH: Inky Fingers Minifest

From 6th - 11th August, we’re bringing you once more a gorgeous selection of local, UK and international artists. In venues and streets across Edinburgh, there’ll be workshops, performances, games and surprises. Come along. Make beautiful words happen.

Science and Poetry


Monday 6th August
, 6.30 – 8.30 pm

Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


A relaxed set of readings exploring the many worlds of science through sparkling spoken word. Featuring local poets Anne Connolly and Anna Dickie, alongside the debut performance of Sarah, the Poetic Robot, a brand new invention from Herriott-Watt, who’ll be performing with Ruth Aylett.

Rejection!


Tuesday 7th August
, 2.30 – 4.30 pm


Provenance Wines, 39 Home Street, 
FREE


A special Inky Fingers workshop for all comers, where writers and performers from the professional to the amateur will be sharing the work that’s been rejected time and again. Part comedy show, part therapy, part rant, part workshop: email inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to take part!

Ash Dickinson


Tuesday 7th August, 
6.30-8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


A special one-off show from Ash Dickinson. A multiple slam champion in the UK, Ash Dickinson has also performed in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. One of the most in-demand spoken word performers in the country, his debut collection, “Slinky Espadrilles”, was released in May.  www.ashdickinson.com

Jubilate Agno with James McKay


Wednesday 8th August
, 2.30 – 4.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


A unique durational performance from UK spoken word artist James McKay, who’ll be reciting a psychadelic free verse extravaganza written in a lunatic asylum by eighteenth-century poetry pioneer and religious maniac Christopher Smart. Stay for the whole show or just drop in to revel in the language – either way, expect extraordinary lucidity and  sudden tragic insight

The Inky Fingers Open Mic


Wednesday 8th August
, 6.30 – 8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street, 
FREE


The Fringe edition of the famous Inky Fingers Open Mic, Edinburgh’s long running platform for people who love words. Come along to here the best and strangest collection of spoken word aroun – or email inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to take part yourself! Featuring a surprise special best from the cream of the Fringe

Summerhall’s Festival Club


Wednesday 8th August
, 10pm – midnight


Summerhall
, FREE


Inky Fingers takes over the stage at Summerhall’s Festival Club, to bring you a selection of the best spoken word around. Tonight featuring local star Colin McGuire, alongside experimental texts from Sean Burn and brilliant new verse from Lynsey Calderwood

Personal Poetics, a Workshop with Nick Field


Thursday 9th August, 
2.30 – 4.30pm


Provenance Wines, 39 Home Street
, FREE


This workshop for poets and writers explores ways of bringing the personal into their work, and relating and performing stories from direct experience through different aspects of spoken word. Through a number of practical exercises participants can try out using different forms and experiment with blending them to tell a story in a new and unexpected way and create a piece that is as personal and unique as the story they are relating. Nick Field is a major writer and spoken word artist who draws on theatre and live art to create evocative, bittersweet and richly lyrical performance pieces. He has performed at major events, festivals and venues internationally.

www.nickfieldpoetic.co.uk

Octavius Launch


Thursday 9th August, 
6.30 – 8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


Octavius is a new literary magazine for students in Scotland. Come to Pulp Fiction for readings from some of the fantastic writers in our début issue, as well as for drinks and nautical novelties (may contain hidden treasure) This will be the very first chance to get your hands on a copy of the first issue of Octavius (including new, previously unseen artwork, exclusively designed for the magazine by the amazing Roberto Poliri).

Summerhall’s Festival Club


Thursday 9th August, 
10pm – midnight


Summerhall
, FREE


Inky Fingers takes over the stage at Summerhall’s Festival Club, to bring you a selection of the best spoken word around. Tonight featuring visiting star Nick Field, alongside performances from local talent Matt McDonald and Telfer & Treeby

Death Doulas, a workshop with Rebecca Green


Friday 10th August
, 2.30 – 4.30pm


Provenance Wines, 39 Home Street
, FREE


A spoken word workshop exploring becoming a midwife to the dying – using relaxation, visualisation and storytelling, we’ll find new ways to relate to and talk about death, and a calm, creative escape from the wildness of the Fringe. Email inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to take part.

Ross Sutherland, Emergency Window Book Launch


Friday 10th August, 
6.30 – 8.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


Join poet Ross Sutherland and indy publisher Penned in the Margins for the launch of Emergency Window. Welcome to a science fiction reality of mirrors, windows and menacing simulacra –where nothing is as it seems. Sutherland interrogates the language of authenticity, presenting the poet as an anxious, disorientated collaborator trapped in a world of hacked computers. Emergency Window features a hilarious version of Little Red Riding Hood, a poem written using Google Streetview, sonnets inspired by Street Fighter 2, and computer-generated translations of classic literature. www.rosssutherland.co.uk

Are We Asking For It?


Saturday 11th August, 
2.30 – 4.30pm


Somewhere in Edinburgh
, FREE


A score for passers-by, a performance for an unknown audience. A piece of guerilla spoken word theatre, Are We Asking For It? explores the relationship between art, language and communities of protest. Mary Paterson is an artist and curator based in London, whose varied and various works have been seen at festivals across the world. www.marypaterson.tumblr.com

Wunderkabinett: A Spoken Word Variety


Saturday 11th August, 8 – 10.30pm


Pulp Fiction Books, 43 Bread Street
, FREE


Collected together and presented to you, Cabinet finds the beautiful and obscure and presents them to you ‘on the shelf’ channeling the Victorian cabinet of curiosities, the German wunderkabinett. A mixture of song, spoken word and performance art, Cabinet presents local performers and artists exploring new content, and invites participation from the community. Wunderkabinett is an evening to launch Cabinet within Edinburgh, with performance art, puppetry, and ukulele ballads and many more surprises.