Cheltenham Poetry Festival 4-15th May

I am delighted to promote Cheltenham Poetry Festival for Anna Saunders this year. My tickets are already booked, don’t miss out on yours!

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Cheltenham Poetry Festival 2017 4 -15 May. Venues throughout the town.

 ‘ a poetry party with a healthy dose of anarchy’ – The Guardian. May 4 – 16, 2017

Poets speak out about Brexit, ISIS, Paris terror attacks and more.

Festival aims to reflect ‘ current state of the nation’.

The Regency town of Cheltenham is set to be the stage for an explosive showcase of new writing this summer.

The 12 day festival features drama, comedy, film and contemporary poets – and this year nothing is off limits when poets read new work inspired by Brexit, race relations and the Paris terror attacks.

Among the guests are internationally acclaimed poet Matthew Sweeney who will be reading new poems which address dramatic themes including Isis and the Paris Terror attacks.

Also on the bill – Rory Waterman reads from his edgy new collection Brexit Day on the Balmoral Estate, Roy McFarlane talks about identity and race in emotionally-charged poems and Jamaican-English poet Raymond Antrobus visits; a poet who is renowned for his uncompromising and powerful take on misogyny and cultural divisions.

Ray Antrobus

Paul Stephenson reads from The Days That Followed Paris – poems inspired by his residency in Paris at the time of the Terror attacks, plus Jasmine Gardosi and Lexia Legend – politically conscious poets who aren’t afraid of speaking out – perform new work.

Jasmine Gardosi

The events are part of Cheltenham Poetry Festival’s commitment to socially- conscious programming.

We wanted this year’s programme to showcase some of the UK’s most frank and fearless writers, to include bold and outspoken artists whose work reflects the current state of the nation. Cheltenham Poetry Festival Director Anna Saunders says.

This year’s festival shows how poetry is empowered when it takes risks –and we hope visitors to the festival will enjoy our fresh, and fearless exploration of the world we live in today.

Ben Parker

Fiona Sampson

 

www.cheltenhampoetryfest.co.uk

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Anna Saunders cheltpoetryfest@gmail.com

01242 285812

07400352396

PUBLIC ADDRESS Soapbox Tour Hannah Silva, Apples & Snakes

On November 13th I missed Stanza to catch the final leg of the Soapbox Tour at the MAC. I was delighted that Jasmine Gardosi had the opportunity to be one of the four core poets in this PUBLIC ADDRESS show. It was directed by Hannah Silva, award winning writer, performer and theatre maker. I was fortunate enough to catch Hannah performing at Opus, earlier this year and I knew this was a show not to miss.

From mythological women to reasons for love, from the quirky to the political, from gender to bees and everything in between – across the UK, performance poets are taking to their soapboxes and giving voice to the passions and stories within us all.

Lyrical ingenuity and heart-warming humour explode from this unique, theatrical spoken word show, directed by award winning writer, performer and theatre maker Hannah Silva, described by The Times as “one of the most ambitious and entertaining poets in the country”.

Public Address features an exciting ensemble of spoken word artists with voices hailing from all corners of the UK.

Apples and Snakes is England’s leading organisation for spoken word, with a national reputation for producing exciting, engaging and transformative work in performance and participation.

Public Address: The Soapbox Tour features an exciting ensemble of spoken word artists, whose unique voices hail from all corners of the UK. Justin Coe (Essex), Jasmine Gardosi (Birmingham), Shagufta K (Bristol), and AJ McKenna (Newcastle) explore topics of sexuality, death, mental health, love, gender, and violence, through lyrical ingenuity and heart-warming humour. This theatrical spoken word show is directed by award winning writer, performer and theatre maker Hannah Silva, “one of the most ambitious and entertaining poets in the country” The Times.

This diverse group of artists has been brought together by Apples and Snakes for a unique commission, and will be joined by guest artists throughout the tour, ensuring a special and exciting programme of events. The featured guest artists will include Henry Raby (York) and Keisha Thompson (Manchester), Ingrid McLaren (Nottingham) and Helen Seymour (Canterbury). In the South West, budding poets from Plymouth Young Writers Squad will also perform alongside the ensemble.

© Official Programming

http://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/public-address-the-soap-box-tour/

 

The performance was exciting and moving. A combination of different voices and subjects, audience participation, serious and entertaining. A cocktail mix of spoken word. The least shouty, high impact soapbox I have ever heard. Relatable and real. I really felt like I’d seen something special. This show filled me with thoughts.

AJ  asked the public to tweet and this material was used for the final performance of the show. Which in Birmingham I was fortunate enough to be part of. Although having to make split second judgements between love or not love was pressurising and difficulty.

Here are some shots from the official publicity and others taken by the Gardosi family.

 Hannah Silva

Justin Coe (Essex), Jasmine Gardosi (Birmingham), AJ McKenna (Newcastle) and Shagufta K (Bristol).

 

Photos to Follow

 

 

PHOTO CREDIT © Gardosi

Apples and Snakes is England’s leading organisation for spoken word, with a national reputation for producing exciting, engaging and transformative work in performance and participation.

 

 

Word Up, KAF Mouth & Music & 42

The end of August saw a flurry of open mic events in Birmingham, Kidderminster and Worcester.

WORD UP 21st August

Word Up, Coffee Lounge, Birmingham: hosted a special I Am Not a Silent Poet event with Reuben Woolley, Marcia Calame and Jess Davies headling. The nature of our poems fitted into serious, often unperformed pieces which tackled big issues, which is the voice of Reuben’s online publication I Am Not A Silent Poet, protest, exposure.

My set consisted of the poems he published earlier this year https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/the-write-year/ and some others that I shy away from performing.

It was a great night hosted by Jasmine Gardosi.

All photographs © Reuben Woolley 2015 – there were more performers who I haven’t shared photos of, apologises to them.

 After the event we went to the pub for a catch up, which was great because there is never enough time to talk to people at events and Reuben lives in Spain and only comes back to the Midlands for August. He was a national tour this year too, gigs up and down the country. I hope he is now having a rest!

 

MOUTH & MUSIC KAF Special – Slightly Circus 23rd August

MOUTH & MUSIC, Boars Head Gallery, Kidderminster:

This event was originally in the open air/marquee positioned close to the main stage and the closed street of the festival. However, the weather left us with no option but to retreat into the Boars Head Gallery – which is always a great space to perform in I think. The bands were on downstairs and it felt exciting and intimate. There was optional fancy dress and I am so glad other people entered into the spirit of it.

© PTR Art & Design 2015

I had researched my clown make up but sadly on the day I was too hot getting ready and the white base wouldn’t cover my skin – in the end this was a godsend really as Maggie Doyle and I ran from the car park to venue – me losing half my wrapping paper patches which were all over my PJs/trousers and most of my make up ran too. So imagine the carnage of a white base face!

© Heather Wastie 2015

The event was as exciting as dressing up. Headlined by Amy Rainbow and her wonderfully talent son, Merlin – who in spite of the small performance area, wowed the audience with his amazing Hula Hoopla skills.

© Peter Williams 2015

© Peter Williams 2015

Dave Reeves was also headlining and performed a fantastic, enthusiastic set with Heather Wastie.

© Peter Williams 2015

© Peter Williams 2015

It was lovely to perform as part of KAF (Kidderminster Arts Festival) for the 2nd time and good that this event attracted performers who had not previously attended Mouth & Music.

It was a lovely afternoon. Photo credits to Peter Williams, who also performed, treating us to a couple of songs.

 The event was hosted by the wonderful Ringmaster, Sarah Tamar.

RELATED LINKS:

http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/13576317.Kidderminster_s_Mouth_and_Music_goes_circus_crazy_for_one_month_only/

https://mouthandmusic.wordpress.com/2015/09/01/august-review/

42

42, Drummonds, Worcester: Hosted by Andrew Owens

I am delighted that 42 is pulling in such a wide audience and huge collective of poets and writers. It is always an exciting event and recently the list of performers has increased dramatically. The theme was ‘Altered States’ which was more open to interpretation than other themes and produced a varied feast of stories, storytelling and poems. It was a fantastic night, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

42 was my final event/open mic of the month.

Performers included;

Alison May
Myfanwy Fox
Suz Winspear
Sharon Carr
Andrew Owens
Polly Robinson
Dayna Norton
Nina Lewis
Kevin Brooke
Brian Comber
Timothy Stavert
David Harvard
Kieran Davis
Chardonnay Jade
Dan Hurrell
Liam Cortinias

 

Ten Letters

Amazing Poetry Theatre created by the minds of Spoz (Giovanni Esposito) and Lorna Meehan. Fascinating, a should NOT be missed show. Which so far has been performed twice at the MAC and hopefully will continue to develop and grow.

The Concept

Ten Letters is a new piece of intergenerational poetry theatre about Birmingham starring the best in local poetry talent. Produced by Giovanni Spoz Esposito and Lorna Meehan and incorporating multi media and live music, Ten Letters celebrates, procrastinates and immortalises this city we live in through a group of unique voices aged sixteen to sixty.

A cross generational show from 16 to 60 bringing together poets who all know Birmingham in their lives. Poems about the great and grime of the place, of memories and hopes.

Incredibly powerful and moving – I did not expect to be reduced to tears or goose-bumps, but with every voice I felt connection, my own memories resurfaced of trips to the Science Museum, the life-size dinosaur, suburban streets, black and white photos taken by grandparents in front gardens. It was all there buried away inside.

Particular highlights was watching the audience reaction to Maggie Doyle’s letter to Birmingham, the generational memories and Mexican wave recognition going on amongst the middle seats of the auditorium.

Lorna Meehan who wants to stab at your emotion buttons with her letter recalling divorce and the role of the city in her dual living experience, cut deep with parallels and reduced me to teary eyes – thank goodness I was sitting amongst poets.

The passion of Spoz’s letter that was uncensored and raw.

 

On the Night

This is what I wrote when I got home;

Ten Letters… Has to be summed up in 17 letters…

Absolutely awesome!

A Birmingham for everyone! Great show/ media content and live music. Performances that have emotional bite, I ran the whole gauntlet – tears of parallel hurts, tears from laughter, goosebumps! Everything and some unexpected memories came flooding back. Birmingham you are amazing in the skins you have given our lives! Amazing – as were Spoz & Lorna in conceiving this project. Take it to the nation, Birmingham – because you’re bloody brilliant!

There were stunning performances from the entire cast and the whole show was an amazing feat for Birmingham, a love letter, letters of thanks, hidden praise until twisted recollections – a triumph for poetry theatre and the city.

I am SO GLAD I didn’t miss it.

There are plans to move further with it, it was a crowd funded project and incredibly well produced.

Photography by Nigal Goodship © 2015

Top to bottom Performers: Casey Bailey, Maggie Doyle, Joe Cook, Aliyah Denton & Aliyah Holder (A Squared), Lorna Meehan, Jasmine Gardosi, Luci Hammans & Sipho Eric Dube (Unhindered Reign), Spoz, Carl Sealeaf, Emma Purshouse, Callum & Melissa Bate (Prime Poetry)

Poetry Wrap 7

This week I have mainly been researching markets, which takes so long – but is a habit I need to get back into.

I also logged my writing days and have discovered that I have had less than a month so far this year and that 40% of that time was dedicated to workshops, everything I have managed has been across just over 2 weeks, so instead of feeling frustrated and beating myself up over delaying schedules and losing out on opportunities, I am now proud of everything I have managed to accomplish in such a small window of time.

This year has been strange, I have worked more and Mr G was working away for 3 months so weekends were our only time together, there have been patches of no writing at all and certainly a lack of submissions. I am still pushing, working hard and succeeding though and do not wish to moan over lost time knowing that plenty of writers out there still work full time and have to squeeze time at the keys into evenings and early morning sessions.

I needed to see it – track the data – to find out what was happening as these feelings are new to me. Having spent the best part of 2 years on an ultimate high! Now I have seen what has gone on I can plan to turn it around in the next 6 months. Nothing like a Midsummer to take stock!  This is not my writing space or view, it is the view of someone I completed the University of Iowa poetry course I did last month. Lucky, hey? It captures how I feel post-analysis.

This week I had just one gig in the week and a whole weekend of performing;

There is a month long festival in my hometown which tends to lean towards classical and choral music more than anything else, but there was one open mic/ acoustic event on Wednesday (also my eldest nephew’s birthday… he reaches double figures)! I went down to check it out and perform.

Friday night was Debbie Aldous’s new night in Birmingham at the Two Towers Brewery, where everyone performs in  open mic spots.

Spoken Word and More… and there was plenty of ‘more‘. Lots of stand up, singing, musicians – including a medieval harpist and a Polish Violinist – who was the exceptional opener for the night. As well as storytelling and poetry. It was a challenging gig, not an audience who particularly focussed on poetry.

The micro brewery, warehouse setting was interesting and so was my re-calculated sat nav journey. It took about twice the time it should have to get there. An entertaining night that was worth the late night and all performers received beer tokens and a chocolate roll!

© Zuzana Klementova 2015

It was also Rage Against Racism this weekend down at the Custard Factory – mainly musical acts, with chosen poets performing on Saturday night. I had already been booked for Droitwich Festival so didn’t apply. I wasn’t able to go and support the gig as I was at my own, but Rangzeb took some amazing photos and Ddotti Bluebell has commented on how great the night was. I think it is an important cause – so even though I wasn’t there – here is a flavour of the evening;

Thank you to all the poets who came last night to support such a great cause & the poetry was truly thought provoking & emotional. As Rangzeb Rango said it diluted the poison of racism & expressed a special unity of people through art…. Big Up the Word Up! Crew . © Ddotti Bluebell 2015

All excellent poets and performers.

Left to Right: Ddotti, Jasmine, Kamil, Antony, Carys, Sammy, Kurly

 Kamil

 Kurly

 Ddotti

 Stephen

 Carys

 Jasmine

 Sammy

Live Lit at Park’s Café as of Droitwich Festival Arts Week was a fantastic event and I felt privileged to be a part of it.

Live Lit, featured 9 poets and we each had 10 minute performance slots – a great way to practise for the QC Compere Tour on the 10th July (ever closer)! It was a great night of poetry and fun with friends. Performers included;

• Fergus McGonnigall (previous Worcestershire’s poet laureate) & MC
• Heather Wastie (Worcestershire Poet Laureate )
• Jenny Hope
• Math Jones
• Mike Alma
• Bridget & Malcolm Wakeman
• John & Pauline Franks
• Nina Lewis
• Polly Robinson
• Ruth Stacey
• Sarah James (runs the Poetry Society’s Worcestershire Stanza)

A great night organised by Malcolm Wakeman.

Snippets of reviews for the night;

A Fantastic success – well done Fergus, Malcolm and all of the performers. Angela says it was the best so far! – Peter Hawkins

A big thank you to everyone who took part. A most enjoyable evening. Malcolm Wakeman

Lovely evening — will look forward to doing it all again with good friends. Polly Robinson

Start to finish – poetry, music and prose – a lovely way to spend a Saturday evening, in the company of some very special people. Thanks everyone for another Droitwich ‘Special’. Mike Alma

I think we are all looking forward to next year’s already!

Followed by a great meal at a local restaurant where we had plenty of time to chat and laugh – and eat! I love a Poet Social – we don’t organise them nearly enough! I will plan an after party for my future book launch!

Today I am headed out to Digbeth to check out the new venue for Sunday Xpress, at The Edge – Foundation Arts space – which was a magical venue and for the first time performers who are not musicians were really listened to! I much prefer it at this new venue, I tried to support them as much as I was able in the past, usually Sunday is an allocated home/rest day… now though – being at Sunday Xpress makes me feel on top of the world, so I hope to be back soon to share in everyone’s artistic talent! Lots of new faces too, so that’s a bonus for them.

Now we have had a take-away tea (Mr G isn’t coming away with me on the 1st holiday I have in 2 years, so we wanted to do something special. I had hoped to spend the evening together, it is already 9pm and I still have to submit poetry and pack my suitcase. I am very excited about going away – especially during term time – it’s the first time in 17 years I am able to do that!

My week off from blogging will give you time to catch up with all the posts.

But before I go… in other news…

PUBLISHED

Talking of submissions and projects there are two more exciting pieces of news I need to share in this week’s wrap. After my research at the beginning of the week I found a new creative outlet in Visual Verse, they post an artists work and you have an hour to write about it and post your poetry. I love creating this way and can often be found musing over some image waiting for visual verse of my own to appear, the wait is never long. They published my poem, it is a pleasure to have poetry displayed alongside such great company, the chapter is a great read, treat yourself to some coffee time!

http://visualverse.org/submissions/shame-in-the-city/

Here is the link to read the chapter of verse for yourselves, I performed ‘Shame in the City’ last night for the first time, good reactions. We have all been there on one side of the line or the other, I think!

http://visualverse.org/

52 – THE BOOK!

The second exciting piece of news is that the 52 Anthology has made it to press, cannot wait to pick my copy up in Stratford in July. It is £7.99 and will be a great read, guarantee it. This is the result of Jo Bell’s 52 project in 2014. Published by Nine Arches Press, a labour of love which should sell really well. On the back of the hundreds, thousands of people who have been touched by 52, Jo Bell’s recently launched ‘Kith’ is already on it’s 2nd publication run! I have a feeling her last collection ‘Navigation’ had a second run of copies pre-52 as well. It could just be the magic of Jo Bell and the weight in her words of course! Poetry Goddess to many people.

http://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/the%20very%20best%20of%2052.html

Various Authors

Chosen by Jonathan Davidson, with foreword by Jo Bell and Norman Hadley

ISBN: 978-0-9931201-7-6

Price £7.99

Date: 14th July 2015

Format: Paperback

Jo Bell’s 52 project started with a simple idea: Write a poem a week. Start now. Keep going. In the 52 weeks that followed, this global workshop group became a phenomenon. Hundreds of poets took up the challenge and their poems swept the board of poetry prizes, publications and personal successes. Thousands of poems were written and shared. This selection by poet Jonathan Davidson offers a taster from the poetry banquet of 52.

“Poetry changes lives, both in the reading and the writing. The 52 project brought together well-established poets with rising names, and generated world-class work. We wrote a poem a week – enjoy reading them, one week at a time.” – Jo Bell, founder of 52.

Have a good week everyone and

keep writing x

Poetry Wrap 5 (A Brief Introduction on Exhaustion)

A Brief Introduction on Exhaustion

June has started as busy as expected, both in terms of work and poetry. As I don’t work/earn over the summer I have to take on some extra work before the end of term – thus slipping the writing/working balance out of favour.

What I am trying to do, let me correct myself, what I was trying to do was maintain the writing schedule despite lacking ‘free’ time. For the past two days I have worked (yesterday was a 16 hour day) and then had a 2 hour sleep (starting with a few poems from Philip Larkin) when I have come home. Tonight this sadly means I am missing Mouth & Music as I feel my eyes are permanently glazed and driving would not be advisable. Instead I am sitting on the sofa writing this and will spend some time on the editing pile, possibly literally – asleep on top of a massive pile of paper!

 And an early night.

Poetry Wrap 5

Worcestershire Poet Laureate Competition

At the beginning of June the voting poll for Worcester Poet Laureate competition was closed. Our poems are still on the website, the shortlist has been revealed. This year the six competing finalists are (in no particular order);

Tony Shadforth
Heather Wastie
Suz Winspear
Damon Lord
Betti Moretti
Nina Lewis

http://worcslitfest.co.uk/worcestershire-poet-laureate-competition-2015/

Caldmore Community Garden Workshop with David Calcutt

This weekend sees Caldmore Carnival and the poets from the workshops are performing a collaborative poem, edited by David Calcutt and made from snippets of our workshop poems, lines we are most proud of/moved by. It is a strong piece and works well with various voices. I was lucky enough to have a part to read in rehearsals. Sadly I can’t make the event in the garden on the 13th as I will be working my last session, this academic year, for Writing West Midlands.

The workshop provided us with an opportunity for prose writing. I now have the scaffold of a short story/flash fiction about the garden or perhaps some raw material for a poem.

It was great seeing everyone again, I missed the last workshop as some man drove into my car and it was off the road getting fixed. I look forward to the next few, August will see the end of this project and David’s residency in the garden. It has been lovely being involved and has left me with happy memories and some decent poems. Always a plus point!

 

Stirchley Speaks – The P Café with Jess Davies

I met Jess through 52, a shy, retiring young poet, a fledging ready to spread her wings. Well she’s done that!

Stirchley Speaks was the first night of a monthly poetry event run by Jess at the P Café! What an amazing opening event she had, no less than 3 former Birmingham Poet Laureates; Spoz, Joanne Skelt and Jan Watts. She had people travelling from Swindon and Malvern to be there, she brought together poets from different genres, the Poetry Bites crowd was well presented as was the young, level up, beat poets of the now. Most importantly she brought poetry to the outer city, to Stirchley and was paid back loyally by a great local crowd of supporters and some NEW talent!

It was an incredible unfurling of a young poet’s vision and was an extremely adrenaline packed (and actually packed) gig!

I had lots of positive comments about the poem I shared (although it is my favourite poem) it is always good to hear how it touches others. To the point of getting them to feel like writing again (job done).

Here are some great photographs shot by Murdock Ramone Media, to try and bring a little Stirchley to the Blog.

The venue itself has been highly rated in reviews of Stirchley Speaks. The P Café boasts a fabulous drinks menu as well as truffles, muffins cakes and bakes.

Behind the camera there was standing room only and some people listened from through the opening in the café!

I have written a longer review of this event in a separate blog post LINK TO FOLLOW.

 

Permission to Speak at The Scary Canary with Robert Francis

Robert Francis booked Brenda Read-Brown and Peter Williams to headline this month’s Permission to Speak. There were some new faces to the event, venue and the stage – which is always a bonus. Rob made the decision to make this event FREE and move it to Thursday evening – one step closer to the weekend. I hope the success of this event continues to grow. People of STOURBRIDGE – GO TO THE NEXT ONE!

Peter treated us to sets in the 1st & 2nd half, Brenda delighted the audience with her wit – I thoroughly enjoyed watching audiences reactions. There were plenty of people there who hadn’t discovered Brenda Read-Brown, as with most people who have caught her set, they are now hooked!

Plenty of open mic talent and all round a great night on my favourite stage of them all, (it’s made from old school desks)!

 

Spoken Word at The Ort with Debbie Aldous

I was glad to be able to catch up with Tessa Lowe on Friday and miss the tennis for The Ort – the tennis was postponed for playing the next day. It was a great night of Spoken Word and Music. I saw lots of familiar faces and lots of new – a particular highlight for me was the improvisation set with David Rees-Jones. Plenty of open mic action, it all is, no headliners here.

I shall not make the next one as it is the 10th July and I am one of TEN poets performing on the QUIET COMPERE Tour!

 A Cluster of Poets at Cannon Hill Park MAC (Midlands Art Centre)

Before the weekend I was invited to take part in a poetry event at Cannon Hill Park, thanks go to Jasmine Gardosi and Tony Fox for organising it.

We performed in the Pop Up Storytellers Tent to a mixed crowd, some of the cutest kids. We were all fumbling through our poetry when we realised how young the audience was, we managed it though and had a great time in the process.

Here are some photos to give you a flavour.

   Timothy Scotson & Carys Jones  Farhan  The Storytellers

This is how Storytellers fall ^^^^

and the poets? Well, they fall like this –

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ‘Jazz hands’!

Farhan, Callum Bate, Ryan Murray – now Frankie – now Frankie Ryan, Nina Lewis, Jasmine Gardosi & Timothy Scotson

 

I loved the PINK Storytelling chair, it matched my new (worn for the 1st time) shoes! This pop up poetry event was a great way to end a full on week of poetry.

Opus Club – The Dark Horse

Opus Club – The Dark Horse, Birmingham

Opus Club is hosted by Jasmine Gardosi, run by herself and Mike Stork. I have not managed to get across for any Opus Clubs beforehand, so this was my first impression of it all, what a cracking event it was!

I wasn’t sure I could manage ‘vintage’ dress but I did find a fascinator that I wore on my top and I used the jacket bought for my brother’s wedding, some spots and my hair on the side and hey presto – sort of.

I was really nervous about performing after seeing last month’s line up of open mic-ers, I changed my set four times. I needn’t have worried the atmosphere was friendly and the venue had a cosy stage filled with the house band Mstork & The Flights. I think part of my nerves were that I had chosen to perform with musical backing, when you imagine a beat or a guitar that is one thing but a whole band. It went well and feedback included people telling me they thought it was a rehearsed set, guess I have the talents of the band to thank for that. It was great fun trying something different and I have no regrets, sure it makes my delivery of the words stronger too. Hannah Silva headlined and she made the band backing work tremendously well.

Amongst the line up there was; Leon Priestnell, Nafeesa Hamid, Tom Kwei, P.A.D & Catriona Heatherington, who is a wonderful story-teller, myself – Nina Lewis and some who signed up on the door.

The night is split into 3 parts; open mic-ers, open mic-ers with music, music and featured artist. If this wasn’t enough it is followed by partying into the night until 2AM! There was even a Magician, Harry – who blew my mind before the night even took off.

It was lovely to see people I have not seen for ages and meet new faces. I had a ball. Left on a real high – I couldn’t manage the partying into the night after a 4 day run of poetry performances and workshops.

Rang-Zeb took some amazing photos of the evening and for your delight – and for those of us who were there, to bring the magic back. With kind permission… feast your eyes!

Rang-Zeb is an amazingly clever photographer, as you can see from these shots. He is incredibly supportive, open & giving – not to mention talented! I still cannot believe this is not his full-time profession!

Thanks for letting me use your photography to enhance this review.

I had watched Hannah’s You Tube performances but seeing her live was something else. Queen of Linguistics.

I had a fabulous night and can’t wait for the next one!

Hit the Ode – Jasmine Gardosi, Rose Condo, MiKo Berry & Spoz

Last week I went to Hit The Ode, it was amazing! I promised you a blog post about it and here it is.

Thursday 19th February – Birmingham

It was an incredible night. This event is hosted by Bohdan Piasecki, but he was in Poland, so Spoz (a.k.a Giovanni Esposito) took over as the compere. He was a superb host and entertained us to a frenzy, Bohdan left us all in very capable hands. Spoz is a pro!

I love the fact that every guest they book is always (without exception) mindblowingly brilliant and you know you will always have a great night! I have discovered so many talented performers through this Apple & Snakes event.

The evening was superb! I wanted to support Jasmine Gardosi, a great talent and main feature, what made it more special was this had been her dream from the start, booked to headline Hit the Ode. A rare opportunity to see another headlining set from Jasmine, twice in a month – spoilt!

Although, I have to confess that I contacted them for an open mic slot too. I was looking forward to ranting out ‘Taxing’ – I did realise that I lost many of the younger audience, who perhaps not yet owning vehicles have not experienced the joy of updating paperwork and paying vast sums of money annually to be allowed to use the pot-holed roads of this fine Island! Fortunately the audience can range from pre-18 up to 60 (possibly +) so I was understood by a few and the end of the poem should raise a smile or laugh or too, it did, I even got my first click!

It was an amazing night, the open mic-ers rocked the stage with stonkingly good performances and the headliners… well… WOW – it has been months since I managed to get to Hit the Ode and every headliner drummed in how much I had missed it.

Hit the Ode brings the most exciting poets from the region, the country and the world to the heart of Birmingham. Join us! We have poems. Poems which scratch that one spot you can never reach on your own; poems whose volume knob was broken off last time you had a party; poems you had better not leave unattended, or they will be taken away and disposed off. Good poems. Come and get them!

Featuring: From Birmingham, Jasmine Gardosi Jasmine Gardosi is a spoken word poet, Poets’ Place coordinator, part of the team behind Opus Club, and Birmingham Poet Laureate 2014/15 finalist. In other words, a pillar of the Brummie poetry community. Come and discover her complex, entertaining, often surreal poetry.

From Yorkshire, Rose Condo A Canadian based in West Yorkshire, Rose Condo is a prolific performance poet and the winner of Newcastle’s Slamalgamate (pictured)  – coming to Birmingham for the first time to claim the prize, a featured slot at our own Hit the Ode.

From Edinburgh, MiKo Berry All the way from exotic Scotland comes MiKo Berry – the Scottish Poetry Slam Champion, European poetry slam finalist, founder of the renowned Loud Poets, his flair for combining the finest literary technique with stage savvy distinguish him as a poet and a performer.

MiKo Berry The Thin Book of Poems-launch party- Woodland Creatures in Leith

I was lucky enough to talk to Rose Condo during the interval, we had a great chat about performing and writing poetry. Now I will think of her every time I look at my bathmat. Go and see her and you will see why, it has nothing to do with bathing, bathrooms or personal hygiene and more to do with place.

MiKo Berry blew everyone’s socks off (almost literally), one of the most exciting performers I have seen… and you know how many I have seen. Get yourself up to Scotland, Edinburgh and go and see him.

Jasmine Gardosi performed a touching set, performing material that was brand new and fresh and deeper than deep, alongside crowd pleasing favourites and clever poetry that played with metaphor, reality and rhythm!

Great – all highly recommended!

And in the words of the headline poets, hot from social media press, (well lukewarm, as I am a week and a day late posting)!

Had a cracking night at Hit The Ode. Spoz was the host with the most! Open mic was ace. The place pumped with energy and what a thrill to share the mic with the amazing Jasmine Gardosi  and MiKo Berry. Holy high on poetry batman!

Rose Condo

So many awesome poems and lovely people. On the train home now but still smiling 🙂 Thanks everyone for a brilliant night!

Miko Berry

Still picking up brainy pieces of my mind which was blown from two ridiculous sets from Rose Condo and MiKo Berry  and a splurge of quality open mics from Brum’s finest. Great job Spoz and Bohdan.

Jasmine Gardosi

Rose Condo, MiKo Berry, Spoz & Jasmine Gardosi at Hit The Ode, Birmingham 19.2.15

A whole week later and I am STILL buzzing, was a splendid night of poetry!

Half Term Week – Workshops, Writing, Courses and Performances

I hoped that half term would bring me plenty of time to write, sometimes things don’t work out as planned. I was very grateful for booking a workshop back in January, as this was the first time this week I actually sat down and wrote.

Last year I was fortunate enough to get a last minute place on a workshop during half term with Angela France in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

On Thursday I had the opportunity to attend another workshop with Angela and it was wonderful. I have pages of ideas to sink my teeth into and have been surprised by some of the poetry that has come from the mapping work we completed during the day.

Copyright 2013 peonymoon

Thursday evening (why does everything always happen on the same day?), I went to Hit the Ode – it doesn’t seem like months since I was there but I think it has been 4 months since the last one! Primarily I went to support Jasmine Gardosi – another local (and phenomenal) poet who is fast becoming a favourite headliner in our region. I did manage to get an open mic spot too. These are usually 5 mins and I planned to treat the audience to my poem about taxing my car and another about a friend who bakes the most amazing cakes. Performers tend to do poetry by heart and I only knew the 2^nd poem off by heart. When I got there – there were so many open mic-ers that we only had time for one poem. Although I have performed ‘Cake-Man’ there before. Hit the Ode was such a great night I have written a separate blog post (link to follow).

I have managed to squeeze some writing time in this weekend and have a schedule / action plan I devised on Wednesday that I am trying to keep on top of. I am missing Sunday Xpress today and having a belated Shrove Tuesday (Pancake day) with Mr G. instead.

Next week I am going to catch Ben Parker perform again *and this time I will buy his book, his collection has had rave reviews. He is performing at The Hive in Worcester alongside Todd Swift, Sarah James and Ruth Stacey.

I booked two more workshops which I’m looking forward to – another Community Garden workshop in Caldmore, with David Calcutt and one with Caroline Horton during the afternoon (of the same day) in Birmingham, I will be exhausted by the time I get home in the evening and have full time work around these workshops too. Sadly this means I shall miss Confab Cabaret in Malvern in the evening but hope to make it to one soon, haven’t been able to attend for events clashes for months.

I am busy trying to write ‘ghost’ poems for Drummonds 42 on Wednesday and have since found out about a clashing event which I would love to attend, I have committed to the performance in Worcester and think I can deal better with a night there than a really late night in Birmingham, especially after work, with work the next day. However the GOOD TO TALK TOUR is worth a mention and if any of you are in Birmingham it will be well worth you turning up to support.

The 4th event in 1st Time Dave’s (aka David Allen’s) epic charity poetry tour of the country goodtotalktour.wordpress.com Taking in 10 gigs in 10 cities in 10 days – all by pushbike!Entry is £3 but donations welcome, all money going to Birmingham’s Open Door Youth Counselling serviceFeaturing:First Time Dave
Dave is the Reading Poetry Slam’s most winningest (it’s a word) poet. He’s an Archimedes Screw showcase champion and a Bang Said the Gun golden gun winner. He mixes the serious and the silly, the personal and the political. This is the 4th gig in his Good To Talk Tour, raising money for counselling and homelessness charities all over the country in honor of his friend Lizzie Lee who passed away last… year.

PLUS! Two favourite poets of mine;

Lorna Meehan
Lorna has been on the circuit for over ten years, performing at festivals like Glastonbury and touring with Apples and Snakes with her mixture of candid hilarity and mellow introspection. She is also an actor, playwright and Associate Director with RoguePlay Theatre and is currently experimenting with longer narrative based poems with theatrical elements.

Jasmine Gardosi
Jasmine Gardosi is a spoken word poet, workshop facilitator, coordinator of West Midlands Poets’ Place and co-host of poetry nights Word Up and Opus Club. A speaker at TEDxBrum’s 2014 International Women’s Day event, her talk addressed the taboo surrounding menstruation. She was placed as the runner up in the the 2014 OxjamBrum Poetry Slam and was shortlisted for Birmingham Poet Laureate 2014/15. She’s also a karate world silver medallist, but that doesn’t really have much to do with poetry so she slips it in subtly wherever she can.

It will be a real shame to miss this event, but I don’t believe in getting out of one event to support another, no matter how unique it is.

I will also probably miss Word Up this month as after a week of work, I don’t think I will have the energy and also won’t have seen Mr G as I am working the day he is home. This is a shame, but I did intend to cut back on events this year. However, I found a downside to this on Thursday night, after a break in performing it was really hard to manage a confident performance, it took the first few stanzas to gain the audience, I think it worked out in the end though.

Just in case my writing diary isn’t packed enough (which it is) I have just enrolled for an online writing course in Spring with  – I completed one back in 2013 (my 1^st year back in my writing skin), it was fun. I am hoping this one will be even more beneficial.

Have a great week, keep writing!

A Wonderful Week of Writing – Workshops, Guest Slots & Work

The last week of January was a busy one – apart from working at a desk on ‘actual’ writing and submissions I was also quite active as a poet. On Wednesday I went to Walsall to take part in another of David Calcutt’s Workshops at Caldmore community Gardens, where he is poet in residence, in the evening I performed at the 42nd 42, a special evening full of cracking talent and then on Friday night I appeared alongside Antony Owen and Lily Blacksell as Host Poets at Word Up, a great night now hosted by Ddotti Bluebell & Jasmine Gardosi.

This month I have only performed at 25% of all the events I have been invited to and that’s about 75% less than last January, I have possibly written more – although I have suffered one of those annoying blanks this weekend as I desperately try and push a couple of Corinium poems out. My intention for 2015 was to perform less and write more, so far I think I have balance. Let’s see if I can keep it up!

Caldmore Community Garden Workshop with David Calcutt

 This was my 3rd Caldmore workshop, ‘Write in the Moment’ and I had been looking forward to it all month. Unfortunately I got lost having come off the motorway a junction too late and ended up stuck in a one way system. As soon as I have acknowledged everyone with a quick hello, I got straight down to writing and because I had been in the garden before it wasn’t too difficult to catch up. In fact by the end of the workshop I had 2 pieces of writing and a poem that almost worked.

Janet Jenkins took more photos, she has a wonderful collection from the very first workshop (the one I missed) and the changes in the garden throughout the seasons are exceptional to see side by side. Of course, having had an allotment for 5 years I know how much these public spaces change with the seasons and weather, it reminds me that Mr G and I always said we would stitch our allotment photographs together.

It was a fun workshop and I met more writers – there have been a small group of us over Winter. Over lunch we shared news and heard about exciting projects everyone is currently involved with. I look forward to the next workshop, which once again falls on a day when I have an evening event/ performance.

      The 42nd 42 – Andrew Owens

I wasn’t able to make the final 42 of last year, so I was determined that I wasn’t going to miss this one. It is a sci-fi/dark themed event and I knew that fans of Douglas Adams wouldn’t let us down! They didn’t, it was a great night – wonderful to see people who only started performing there last summer gaining confidence and owning the stage as we enjoy their stories and poems.

Lots of fantastic work was shared and I particularly liked the 42 facts Andrew threw into the gaps between performances. All about 42 from years before I got back into the poetry saddle!  Polly Robinson also mentioned that she shares the pages of the Paragram Anthology ‘Remember’ (who published us just in time for Christmas) with me  and Andrew told everyone about my Guest Spot at Word Up on Friday.

Guest Poet at Word Up 

I was so excited when I received an email asking me to be a guest poet at this Birmingham event. We had an amazing turn out, especially considering ‘Je Suis Birmingham’ – a one off event of artists solidarity following the Charlie Hebdo killings, was happening on the same night.

Word Up often have more than one Guest Poet (Hosting – as they call it) and I shared the night with Antony Owen and Lily Blacksell. Phenomenal poets and performers, I was happy to share the mic with them.

Tariq Jahan was also there – he lost his son in the riots three years ago (2011) and is good friends now with Antony Owen, whose poem ‘Unbranded’ is about this. He is a poet unafraid to write about violence. Tariq now works around the world spreading peace and hope, he makes things better. An exceptional human being and the story he shared from his trip to Syria is one we should all hear.

There were lots of new faces and people who had come from Oxford and Wales to perform too. I loved seeing everyone again, I didn’t realise it has been 3 months since I saw them and about 5 weeks since I last performed in Birmingham. I am very grateful I was at Word Up and heard Tariq speak.

Unbranded – The Year I loved England Pighog Press

You can find out more about the work Tariq does here http://www.pennyappeal.org.

If you have anything to donate please follow the links above. To buy the wonderful collection of Joseph Horgan & Antony Owen click here

http://www.pighog.co.uk/titles/the-year-i-loved-england.html

 there are links at the bottom of the page for customers in UK/EU/GLOBAL

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/07/19/book-launch-the-year-i-loved-england-by-antony-owens-joseph-horgan/

‘This poetry expresses poignantly the emotions that I at times find difficult to articulate. The words pierced my soul and brought back the images, emotions and feelings of those days in August 2011 when Britain burnt’

Tariq Jahan

As for work – well the mortgage payments continue to be provided through the part time day job whilst I search for more artistic ways to cover the bills. I think I may have found a completely suitable one. So next week now has JOB APPLICATION added to the almighty To Do list.

There are 2 poetry events, (well there are 5 but only 2 penned into my diary), 1 stanza  and Mr G and I are off out for a rare night at a gig, having stated he was too old for it all last year! We saw a Saxon tribute band a few years ago and were blown away by them, I am still grinning from my backstage moment and the fact that Mr G has the bass guitarists t-shirt! Anyway, Mr G said if they ever re-formed he’d love tickets…. well …

They did and we are off to see them. The gig was scheduled for December but the drummer ended up in hospital! I am also working all week, bar Tuesday – if I am awake that will be my writing day!