Emmapress – Mildly Erotic Poetry Book Launch

Tonight I enjoyed a fabulous book launch in Stratford-Upon-Avon, at the Emmapress received Arts Council Funding for a poetry tour and have set up events around the UK to promote the launch of the book. You can find out more here

I arrived after a major de-tour of the town (I have never needed a sat-nav more!) fortunately I wasn’t late for the event and even managed to get a seat!

I recognised a few people in the room – proof the world of poetry is a small one. There were lots of students from the Shakespeare Institute – supporting Richard O’Brien, it reminded me of haydays (uni days) that I like to pretend were not long ago, but are actually counted on nearly 2 sets of fingers now!

I enjoyed poetry from the anthology by three contributors;

Ruth Wiggins

Rachel Piercey

Richard O’Brien

I had seen online that there were open mic opportunities and earlier on today some of them had not been filled. I had submitted work to the anthology and had it deemed too erotic, the poem I chose may have come down on the emotive side of erotica rather than mildly erotic. It is about dancers and as an ex-dancer/performer myself I have always read the charged bodies as sexually placed on stage – often choreographers play to the roles of sexuality – in fact (back in the nearly counting on 2 sets of hands days) I wrote a dissertation on the role of gender and sexuality in performance.

People spoke to me after about my poem, which I found very touching (no pun intended!)

It seems the dance – eroticism is only in my mind maybe…

I sat with a group of strangers and the whole 1st half I felt I recognised someone at the table. After the interval and after we had both performed our poems, I plucked up courage… I had seen Geraldine reading her poetry at the Ikon Gallery (Birmingham Literature Festival) at the Art in the Heart event! And have one of her poems on my bookshelf!