LONDON: Ruth O'Callaghan Presents ...

Friday 14th November 2008
7.00 (doors open 6.30)
Trinity United Reform Church
1 Buck St, Camden Town.
1-2 minutes Camden Town tube.
Entry £4/£3 Wine

Ruth O'Callaghan presents: Shoestring Press
Alistair Eliot
Kate Foley
Caroline Price

Poets from the floor welcome
(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. )

Caernarfon: Patrick Jones

Fri 21 Nov 08
7.30 pm at the Cafe Bar
Y Ddraig Goch, Caernarfon.

Poetry Reading with Patrick Jones. For further details go to www.patrick-jones.net.

Gwynedd: Poetry Cafe

Wed 19 Nov 08
Theatr Harlech

Literature Promotion for Gwynedd: Poetry Cafe in the company of Jan Morris and Twm Morys. For further details contact Gwen Lasarus: gwenlasarus@gwynedd.gov.uk / 01286 679465.

MANCHESTER: Words on Film, with Simon Armitage

Thursday, November 13th, 2008, 6.30pm, FREE
MMU Geoffrey Manton Building,
Lecture Theatre 1 or 6
(opposite the Commonwealth Aquatics Centre on Oxford Road, Manchester).

Words on Film at MMU
Simon Armitage launches his latest book, The Not Dead. It explores the human cost of fighting and killing through the stories of three soldiers who relive their experiences of the Gulf, Bosnia and Malayan wars. At the launch, poet he will use the film to discuss how he wrote the script after listening to interviews with the veterans, all of whom suffered post-traumatic stress.


WORDS ON FILM - MMU festival showcasing cutting edge film poetry.
The Writing School in association with Trauma Film and ACWE

LONDON: Don't Shush Me: Poetry in the Library, featuring John Hegley

Thursday 13th November, 2008, 7.30pm, £7 (£5 concs)
Bishopsgate Institute,
230 Bishopsgate,
London EC2M 4QH

A unique chance to hear John Hegley girding up his rhymes in the intimate setting of Bishopsgate Library. With support from some of the poetry scene's hottest young pretenders.
In partnership with Apples & Snakes.
For tickets or information call 020 7392 9200 or email events@bishopsgate.org.uk

LONDON SW7: Poetry and Space

Thursday 13th November 2008, 6:30 pm, FREE

Sir Alexander Fleming Building,

Imperial College London,

South Kensington Campus,

London SW7 2AZ

Poetry and Space - part of Poet in the City's 'Escaping the Matrix' series.
Isobel Dixon will be reading poems on astronomy and space. Other featured poets are Diana Syder, Mario Petrucci and Inua Ellams.

LONDON: Lumen Poetry Series

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008, 7pm (doors open 6.30pm), £4/£3, wine
88 Tavistock Place
London
WC1

Reading will be Barbara Hardy and Ruth O'Callaghan. Poets from the floor are very welcome and there will be double the usual 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 including UA Fanthorpe, Fiona Sampson, Marilyn Hacker, Penelope Shuttle and Peter Porter.

LONDON: Shearsman Reading Series

Tuesday, 18th November, 2008, 7.30pm, FREE
Swedenborg Hall
Swedenborg House
20/21 Bloomsbury Way
London
WC1A 2TH

Reading will be Linda Black and Nathan Thompson, both of whom have recently published their first collections with Shearsman Books.

http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2008/black.html
http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2008/thompson.html

Biographical details may be found here:
http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/authors/blackA.htmll
http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/authors/thompsonA.html

Disabled access is available, but please let us know in advance if it is required.

CARDIFF: Patrick Jones

Wednesday November 12th, 2008, 7pm, FREE
Waterstones Bookshop
The Hayes
Cardiff

Patrick Jones launches his latest poetry collection Darkness Is Where The Stars Are, published by Cinnamon Press. Described as “very strong stuff” by Harold Pinter and, “thoughtful, provocative and challenging” by Peter Tatchell, the latest poetry from Patrick Jones continues to expand his reputation as “the voice of opposition for the 21st Century” (Rachel Trezise). With work ranging from ecology to education; from domestic abuse to the effects of war, this is poetry at its most engaged, performed to move, enrage, but also to leave a sense of hope.

Free entry and wine will be served. A warm welcome to all. For more information contact Jan Fortune-Wood: jan@cinnamonpress.com

Merthyr Tydfil: Open Mic

Thu 20 Nov 08
7.30 pm
Imperial Hotel
Merthyr Tydfil.

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council: Open Mike Night with David Johnson. For further details contact Gus Payne: gus.payne@merthyr.gov.uk / 01685 725382.

MANCHESTER: Poets & Players present...

Saturday, November 22nd, 2008, 2.30pm, FREE
The Whitworth Art Gallery,
Oxford Road,
Manchester
M15 6ER

Alicia Stubbersfield will be joined by newer poets Annie Clarkson, Gavin Hudson and Janette Stowell in another of our wonderful afternoons at the Whitworth in the south gallery. This combination of poetry and music (including, for the first time, Rhian Evans on harp) promises to be a truly sublime event.

POETS
Alicia Stubbersfield has published three collections of poetry to excellent reviews, the most recent being Joking Apart (The Collective Press 2006). After seventeen years away from the north-west she has come home to lecture in creative writing at Liverpool John Moores University.

Annie Clarkson is a poet and short story writer living in Manchester. Her first chapbook of prose poems Winter Hands was published by Shadow Train Books in 2007. She recently worked with artist Gemma Lacey on a handmade book. Her short story Lindy published in Brace (Comma Press) is being made into a short film by filmmaker Vera Juliusdottir.

Gavin Hudson is a young poet from Sheffield. His poems have appeared in Fire, Avocado and Cadaverine magazines; his reviews in Roundtable Review and PN Review. He works full-time co-ordinating a victim awareness programme for adult offenders across South Yorkshire.

Janette Stowell lives in Liverpool where she teaches Creative Writing at John Moores University and on the Continuing Education Programme at Liverpool University. Her first full collection of poetry The Midnight Horror Tree will be launched at the end of November by Headland.

MUSICIANS
Chris Davies is a freelance performer, musician and composer based in Manchester. Most of his commissioned work is with theatre and dance. He has worked with Poets and Players as Musical Director since its beginning in 2004.

Rhian Evans, a recipient of the 2008 Oglesby Bursary, is currently in her second postgraduate year at the RNCM. She has been awarded several harp scholarships enabling her to pursue her musical studies. She was Principal Harpist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, South Africa.

CARDIFF: Shot in the Dark

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008, 8pm
at Shot in the Dark Cafe
City Road, Cardiff

Shot in the Dark: Square Launch 3.

Poetry Readings with Roberto Pastore, Jacqueline Jones, Jim Bartlett, Stuart Thomas, Rhys Williams and Alun Rees.

LONDON NW1: UTTER! GINGERS ALL GINGER SPOKEN WORD SPECTACULAR

Tuesday November 11 2008
7:30-10:30pm,
Green Note Club
106 Camden Parkway
NW1 7AN
Nearest tube: Camden Town, overland: Camden Road

UTTER! GINGERS ALL GINGER SPOKEN WORD SPECTACULAR: AF Harrold, RT Jones, Tamsin Kendrick, John Anstiss, Heather Phillipson, Mark Neil and host Richard Tyrone-Jones
07912539098 richardtyronejones@googlemail.com

CAMBRIDGE: CB1 Poetry

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008, 8pm (doors open 7.30pm),

CB1 Poetry @ Michaelhouse
The new series of poetry readings at Michaelhouse in Cambridge continues with the fantastic Patience Agbabi, well known for her electrifying performances of her work. She has won many awards and was amongst the 2004 Next Generation of Poets named by a prestigious group of poets chaired by the poet laureate Andrew Motion. She will be supported by Martin Figura who is fast making a name for himself in the East Anglian and national poetry and live literature scene.
There will be a short open mike after the interval. There is disability access and a hearing loop available.
Come and support Poetry in Cambridge and meet other poetry-minded people. There is a bar and coffee available.
For more information visit www.cb1poetry.org.uk

London: Pascale Petit and Carol Rumens

Tue 18 Nov 08
6.30 pm
in the Gallery at Foyles
3rd Floor
113-119 Charing Cross Road
London

Seren: Launch of The Treekeper’s Tale by Pascale Petit and Blind Spots by Carol Rumens. For further details contact Tori Kirwan Taylor: torikt@seren-books.com / 01656 663018.

Abergavenny: Patrick Jones

Fri 14 Nov 08
7.30 pm
Melville Theatre
Abergavenny

Poetry Reading with Patrick Jones. For further details go to www.patrick-jones.net.

Wales: Andrew Motion

Fri 14 Nov 08
3.00 pm
Neath Port Talbot College

Neath Port Talbot Libraries: Talk and Poetry Readings with Andrew Motion. . For further details contact Paul Doyle: 01639 860000.

Supported by Academi (contact 029 2047 2266 for information on funding for events).

and at 6.30 pm
Pontardawe Arts Centre

Pontardawe Arts Centre: Andrew Motion, An Evening with the Poet Laureate. For further details contact Nerys Griffiths:n.griffiths1@neath-porttalbot.gov.uk

Cardiff: Patrick Jones

Wed 12 Nov 08
7.00 pm
Waterstones Bookshop
The Hayes
Cardiff.

Cinnamon Press: Patrick Jones launches his latest poetry collection darkness is where the stars are, published by Cinnamon Press. Described as “very strong stuff” by Harold Pinter and, “thoughtful, provocative and challenging” by Peter Tatchell, the latest poetry from Patrick Jones continues to expand his reputation as “the voice of opposition for the 21st Century” (Rachel Trezise). With work ranging from ecology to education; from domestic abuse to the effects of war, this is poetry at its most engaged, performed to move, enrage, but also to leave a sense of hope.

Free entry and wine will be served. A warm welcome to all. For more information contact Jan Fortune-Wood: jan@cinnamonpress.com

Cardiff: Shot in the Dark

Tue 11 Nov 08
8.00 pm
at Shot in the Dark Cafe
City Road, Cardiff

Shot in the Dark: Square Launch 3.

Poetry Readings with Roberto Pastore, Jacqueline Jones, Jim Bartlett, Stuart Thomas, Rhys Williams and Alun Rees.

LONDON SW5: Seren Poetry Triple Bill

Saturday 8 November 2008
7pm, Admission free
The Troubadour
263-267 Old Brompton Road,
London SW5 9JA.

Seren invites you to a triple poetry bill
Sarah Corbett reads from Other Beasts; Kathryn Simmonds reads from Sunday at the Skin Laundrette; Meirion Jordan reads from Moonrise.
RSVP torikt@seren-books.comVisit www.seren-books.com for more information.

LONDON: The Transgalactic Interwoman Poetic Expressway

Saturday, November 8th, 2008, 7.30pm, £5/£4
The Poetry Cafe
22 Betterton Street,
Covent Garden,
London

THE TRANSGALACTIC INTERWOMAN POETIC EXPRESSWAY, brought to you by La Langoustine Est Morte

Hosts: Anthony Joseph and Sascha Aurora Akhtar.
Representation from all distant and not-so-distant planets:

Jamika Ajalon (U.S.A by way of London by way of France)
Olumide Poopola (Nigeria/Germany)
Valeria Melchioretto (Switzerland)
Shanta Acharya (India)
Frances Kruk (Canada)
Ziba Kirbassi (Persia)
Sophie Robinson (the most exotic of them all – Old Blighty!))

Frances Kruk lives in London in the presence of cats, moss, glue, scissors, oil pastels, and dark chocolate, all of which make for an unspeakable atrocity. She does not write real poetry.

The Nigerian German writer and performer Olumide Popoola has performed her poetry internationally, collaborating with many different artists and musicians. Currently studying for a MA in (creative) writing, she won the May Ayim Award for Poetry in Germany 2004 and has seen her work published in anthologies, journals and newspapers as well as featured on radio and documentaries.

Valeria Melchioretto is a London-based artist and award-winning writer. Her poems have appeared in many prestigious magazines and anthologies. The End of Limbo is her first full collection, for which she received a bursary from the Arts Council. It was published by Salt in 2007. In 2008 she became a Hawthonden Fellow.

Ziba Kirbassi is a rara avis. Seen only sometimes for short periods of time if you are lucky.
Her work is visceral, hallucinatory at times and from the passions and conflicts of being
born into a country where violence has caused her untellable strife. Her work will be read in Persian and translated by Stepehen Watts.

Shanta Acharya was born and educated in Orissa, India. In 1979 she won a scholarship
to Oxford, and completed her doctoral thesis in 1983. Between 1983-85 she was a Visiting Scholar, as well as a Teaching-cum-Research Assistant at Harvard University. She is currently Executive Director, Initiative on Foundation and Endowment Asset Management at London Business School. Her four books of poetry are Shringara (Shoestring Press, UK; 2006), Looking In, Looking Out (Headland Publications, UK; 2005), Numbering Our Days' Illusions (Rockingham Press, UK; 1995) and Not This, Not That (Rupa & Co, India; 1994). For more information, visit her website: www.shantaacharya.com

Sophie Robinson was born in 1985, and lives and works in London. She has an MA in Poetic Practice from Royal Holloway, and is currently working on a practice-based PhD at Royal Holloway. Her first chapbook, Killin' Kittenish!, was published by yt communications in 2006.
Since 2005 she has performed at numerous events in the UK and the US. Her critical and creative work has been featured in Dusie, How2 and Pilot, and her book is forthcoming from Les Figues press in Los Angeles in November 2008.

Jamika Ajalon is a charismatic American poetess, film director and long time Zenzile collaborator based in London. Anyone who has followed her work with Zenzile since the late nineties, will already be familiar with her phenomenal energy and sensual delivery, which has seen her dubbed "the female Tricky" and the "underground Grace Jones" by some reviewers. Born in St Louis Missouri, Jamika has lived in London for ten years.

London: the Fire Poet

DARLINGTON: Lindsay Balderson reading

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008, 7.30pm, £4/£2
Garden Bar,
Darlington Arts Centre

Launch readings for:

Stripping the Blackthorn - Lindsay Balderson
"This is a remarkable collection as it reminds us that terror and beauty live in the same world. Stripping the Blackthorn opens our eyes to the shadows in our lives, none darker than the vaults in the minds of torturers. Love is celebrated as the fruit of the thorn, as it should be." -
S J Litherland

Collecting Stones: an anthology of poems and stories inspired by Harehope Quarry, by Vane Women and Others with illustrations by John Longstaff.
"A disused lime quarry reclaimed by nature and invested with new human activity contains
a deep bed of metaphor. These writings and images are the riches won by working it." - Steve Dales.

Tickets available from Darlington Arts box office on 01325 486 555.

GALWAY: Over The Edge

Thursday, November 20th, 2008, 6.30pm-8pm, FREE
Galway City Library,
St. Augustine Street,
Galway

Leading poet-critic John Goodby is reading at November's Over The Edge. Other featured readers are Elizabeth Power and Gordon Hewitt.

Elizabeth Power was born in East Cork but now calls Galway home. She completed an MA in Writing at NUIG in 2007. Her poetry has appeared in a wide variety of magazines, including Crannóg, Force 10 and Tribes ‘n Vibes. Elizabeth’s work also featured in the anthology Writers Seeking Lovers. Currently she works as a librarian and is writing a novel about a time travelling witch.

Gordon Hewitt initiated the Belfast Poets Touring Group, a group of performance poets who toured Ireland, the US, New Zealand and Australia in 2006 & 2007. The group, now known as Scream Blue Murmur, performed recently in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and at the Electric Picnic. Gordon is active in di-Verse (Poets against Racism) which oversees the annual Love Poetry Hate Racism event which is held in over 60 cities worldwide each April. Gordon’s style is a unique blend of spoken word, performance poetry, song and chant.

John Goodby is a poet and translator who lectures at the University of Swansea. His poetry has been described by Sean O'Brien as ‘bold and sensuous ... it reads like a chowder of names laced with methedrine ... at once lush and abrasive.’ He has translated Heine's Germany: A Winter’s Tale (2005), the contemporary Algerian poet Soleiman Adel Guemar, and is currently translating the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini. Among his latest publications are the first anthology of translations of Irish women poets into Spanish, No Soy Tu Musa and uncaged sea (2008), a cut-up version of the Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas. He is the author of the influential Irish Poetry Since 1950: From Stillness into History (Manchester University Press) and founder of Wales’s only poetry performance group, Boiled String.

As usual 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. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com/

HOVE: Lee Harwood

Friday, November 7th, 2008, 6.30pm, £6
The Old Market,
Upper Market Street,
Hove

Lee Harwood has lived in Brighton since 1967. Associated with The British Poetry Revival, he has 22 volumes of poetry to his name. He will be reading from his recently published Selected Poems (Shearsman Books). His Collected Poems was published in 2004. Not the Full Story: Interviews with Kelvin Corcoran was published earlier this year. He has also published four books of prose and has translated the work of the Dada poet Tristan Tzara.

Ticket price includes free glass of wine and a reduction on books purchased, and is available from City Books, 23 Western Road, Hove, tel: 01273 725 306.