I have a whole page in my TO DO List book of missing Blog posts from April – June. Over the next month I am attempting to plug the gaps. So look out for more Flashbacks.
Photo by Aris Ioakimidis on Pexels.com
Back in April, I performed at Cheltenham Poetry Festival. I was asked to do Cheltenham PF in 2016 but I was too shy about the ‘how to’ and waited on emails, leaving it too late to secure the booking for the 2017 Festival. So I had the pleasure of being in the 2018 Programme instead. Booked way in advance (as these things are), I was gutted when an email from Jill Abram popped up in the inbox asking me to be part of the V.Press Stablemates in London, and of all the dates – YES, you guessed it – 26th April when I was already booked for Cheltenham. Clashes. They will be the undoing of me!
Still, I was very excited to be part of CPF and very much looked forward to it for months.
I arrived at Smokey Joe’s in time to see the INDIGO DREAMS SHOWCASE and get a pre-launch preview of Anna’s new collection (her 5th) ‘Ghosting for Beginners’.
INDIGO DREAMS SHOWCASE 7-8.30 pm, Smokey Joe’s,
Indigo Dreams is an award-winning publisher renowned for its beautifully produced
collections of contemporary poetry by both new and established writers. The press was
voted Most Innovative Publisher 2017 at the annual Saboteur Awards. Join us for a
feast of verse as four authors from the press read from their brand-new publications.
Chris Hardy (‘Chris consistently hits the right note’ – Roger McGough), poet, musician
and member of Little Machine, reads from Sunshine At The End Of The World. Chrys
Salt (‘a wonderful and unique poet’ – Bernard Kops), reads from The Punkawallah’s Rope.
Festival Founder and Director Anna Saunders (‘a poet who can surely do anything’ – The
North) reads from Ghosting for Beginners. The showcase also includes a reading by one of the joint winners of the Indigo Dreams 2017 Pamphlet Competition. Amy Kinsman
is a multi-published poet and playwright from Manchester. © Cheltenham Poetry Festival Programme
It was a cracking event, a packed out venue and a great IDP line-up. I was looking forward to discovering new to me poets and hearing from poets I have only had contact with via social media.
The poets were introduced by Jennie Farley (another IDP poet) and I was held captive by stories in poems for the next hour.
More photos © Sarah Snell-Pym
NINA LEWIS – FRAGILE HOUSES
PLUS PETER MCDADE, GUESTS AND OPEN MIC
9-10.30 pm, Smokey Joe’s
‘In our family, minds go missing’. Nina Lewis writes, in one of a series of moving and
poignant poems about family life from Fragile Houses (V. Press), a pamphlet commended
for its ‘tremendous warmth and descriptive power’. In this highly praised volume Nina
Lewis explores the people, places and memories carried through life and deftly
examines the human condition through the lens of family relationships.
Nina is joined by Peter McDade – expect deliciously surreal, and thought- provoking poetry from this talented and erudite poet who has drawn comparisons with Ivor Cutler. This event also includes an open mic. Come and share your poems on the subject of home.
© Cheltenham Poetry Festival Programme
I was incredibly nervous, but had worked on a perfect story arc set and despite a mass exodus to the bar in between events, people came back. I thoroughly enjoyed getting Fragile Houses to new ears and it was a pleasure to be back in the venue reading. There were a few last minute additions to the night, poetry from another IDP poet- Ben Ray, who joined Peter & I with a set of poetry before the open mic.
© Sarah Snell-Pym
It was a wonderful evening of poetry and afterwards, on a complete high I joined Neil Richards (who performed in the first event of the evening, which I was sadly stuck in traffic for) and Ruth Williams in a pub where we were joined by Elvis!
© Ruth Williams
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