One Week in October – Poetry Festivals, Events, Weddings and a Commission.

Reviewing October weekly as my writing life is tightly scheduled this month. What an exciting first week it has been. I have really tried to cut down on the amount of events I go to as I need to TIE myself to my desk/ laptop and get writing this October.

 

Opening A Festival

The month started with a surprise phone call from Rachel Green, programme director – Arts All Over the Place – Poetry, Performance (and Everything Else) Festival. Long story, short I sent proposals in September, what I could offer the festival and a bio in just 50 words. A glitch meant that when I contact Rachel, weeks later, the programme had already been devised. She did offer a drama workshop that I could have facilitated, typically it was the one day I was booked for work. I had to turn the opportunity down.

A few days later she called to ask if I could OPEN THE FESTIVAL – the OPENING EVENT! As with all good drama graduates we are taught to accept the job and worry about the fine print later. This is how I found myself on National Poetry Day dressed as the Poetry Princess and treating an audience to a one-woman show! Still grateful to be saved by the buffet. People enjoyed my crystal delivery and poetry and I was caught in conversation with several attendees about poetry throughout the course of the day. Of course I stuck around for Cathy Crossley and Jan Watts and their National Poetry Day workshop, which resulted in pages of notes for potential poetry.

Later I performed as part of Soulful Poetry event organised and hosted by former Birmingham Laureate, Rob McFarlane. It was great to talk to Roy after the event as well as hearing more of his poetry. He was extremely supportive of my poetry and performance.

Birmingham Poet Laureate

After this I hot footed to the Library of Birmingham to support Jasmine Gardosi & Matt Man Windle with their bid to be the next Poet Laureate. I am glad I managed to catch all the performances.   Adrian Blackledge became the new Birmingham Poet Laureate for 2014-2015 and my alliances and friendships with Matt and Jasmine remain intact. In his speech Adrian made a point – that more people write poetry than read poetry… and that maybe something needs to be done about it. I wanted to spend more time in the library but it had been a long day and I had to be up for work.

 

WEDDING

This weekend saw my younger brother getting married – the first wedding in our immediate family. A big occasion and a brilliant wedding that I think only Dave and Jenny could have pulled off. I read ‘I Love You’ by Roy Croft in their service, lots of tissues were needed. My brother and his wife, crying on each new line, my toughest and most intimate audience yet.

I was worried about coughing as well as crying, I am suffering a lingering chest infection. On my second lot of antibiotics and praying these work. It has been extremely challenging teaching, performing and watching events with this loud, hacking cough constantly interrupting!

Birmingham Literature Festival

All photographs  Birmingham Literature Festival © 2014

On Sunday (fortunately hang over free) I went to see my relatives who had stayed with Mum and then went to Birmingham Literature Festival, I wanted to pack as much in as I knew my schedule wouldn’t allow another day there, until Saturday 11th, when I perform.

I went to see the recording of Radio 4 Poetry Please with Roger McGough, followed by With Great Pleasure, also recorded for BBC Radio 4. Rich McMahon was playing guitar and singing in the foyer  before the evening show at the Rep Theatre of Tell Me on a Sunday, which was a storytelling event set up by Writing West Midlands and Cat Weatherill to share real life stories. Marking the end of 3 years on this project she had selected some of the top stories and tellers to perform and treated us a little to her own stories in between.

In honesty after the wedding I should have spent the day asleep, I know I would have regretted not making the effort to go to the festival though. I also bumped into an old friend Nicola who I hadn’t seen for years. Funny last time she was working creative/ language jobs and I was teaching full time – now she teaches full time and I am getting creative with job roles.

Writing

Monday and Tuesday were spent writing poetry for the Urban Nature Performance/ Commission – which takes place at The Library of Birmingham next Saturday as well as catching up on some neglected household chores, doctors appointments and going to work.

Performing

I have a writing day today and another project to sink my wrists into – I also have a fair few events lined up;

Thursday 9th Performing at Anniversary SpeakEasy, Friday attending and performing at the Mad Hatter’s Cosmic Chill Out for the end of Arts All Over the Place Festival, Saturday THE BIG DAY performing in the Birmingham Literature Festival, then having a performing break until next Tuesday. And that’s with reducing the performance schedule!

 

Watching a Radio Show – Birmingham Literature Festival & BBC Radio 4

BLF Radio 4 Roger McGough, Jo Bell, Ian Duhig and Rachel New 

Photos were taken on my mobile to capture atmosphere and although they are not the sharpest focus they are still covered by copyright.

After the launch (Thursday 3rd October) my next booked event was on Sunday 6th for the Radio 4 recording of Poetry Please (a show that has been running for 30 years) presented by Roger McGough.

I was very excited! I had hoped to post about this sooner (offline issues) as the live recording was broadcast last Sunday (a week later) on the 13th October. With the wonders of the internet you may still be able to access it and give it a listen.

It was a great experience, just being part of a live audience. But the afternoon held far more treasures than just that.

Roger McGough, who I have met before, walked past me whilst I was queuing to get in for a start! He was the host of the show and they had a team of actors  reading many of the chosen poems. They also had Jo Bell (Canal Laurete and featured poet on my National Poetry Day post on this blog) Lifted and the first poem she performed was ‘Lifted’ it was great to hear it live. And I discovered the joys and influences of Ian Duhig’s poetry.

After the first recording I got brave and spoke to Roger and took a few photos of him. Bless him for his time and acceptance of flashing smart phones.

One of the great things was although the majority of the audience were Radio 4 listeners, there were plenty of young people too. I heard a couple of ladies refer to us as Roger’s groupies, I have to correct, we were not. He is such a kind poet, willing to pose for photos and chat to us.

I then got braver and went to speak to Jo Bell. I forget how friendly poet’s are and still expect a bit of a brush off from them…. Fortunately so far everyone has been lovely and genuinely seemed interested in conversing. I hadn’t realised that Jo Bell was the director of National Poetry Day until we started talking. The Director of the Poetry Society was also there and she mentioned the familiarity of awritersfountain blog as she was keeping track of National Poetry Day posts and had seen that I posted Lifted – Jo’s poem on NPD. It is a great honour that someone in her position has fleetingly visited…. On a par with a Royal visit from the Queen (although I doubt she reads many wordsmith blogs…)

I realised Jo was also performing and hosting a workshop and I felt guilty I hadn’t tickets for either… I have kept excel sheet accounts of my expenditure this year and so far the world of writing has cost a monthly salary! I am running low on funds unless I enter and win some monetary competitions soon. Her performance was on a day I was already attending the festival, I thought I might try to go, as it turned out I had to work.

It was great meeting Jo after choosing her as my National Poetry Day Blog Poet (an accolade I am sure she will treasure as much as her Canal Laureate and Directorial role!)

 After a brief chat and another photo (wish I had washed my hair and thought more about wearing make up!) – I snapped a few other website publicity shots – here’s one of Jo and Ian together.

Then went out for the interval between recordings…. and found Mr Roger McGough behind a table handing out autographs! Well signing books mainly.

They (BBC Radio 4) have a new book – which they were unable to advertise (BBC) which celebrates 30 years of Poetry Please, it is a doorstop size volume that would do battle with any winter draft. Roger was signing them. I bought the last but one copy hurriedly and hoped that he wouldn’t have left the signing table. Which he hadn’t but Rachel New (the resident writer for BLF attempting a 10 day sentence – writing 30,000 words over the festival) appeared at the same time to meet Roger herself.

I also wanted to speak with her -I’d failed to find her in the library on the Knowledge floor because in my mind she was in the big circular garden room you can see a few metres away from the entrance.

Roger was busy signing books so I struck up conversation with Rachel first, then he was ready to sign mine and I was still talking to Rachel – I felt really rude about this as I handed him the book and said ‘please sign this’, I also missed out on a personal message as he couldn’t get a word in edgeways to ask me my name as I manically gushed over Rachel’s challenge!

I hope he didn’t think I was going to flog the signed book on Ebay or something. It is on my shelf along with the other publications bought at the Literature Festival. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds trying to make up for my rudeness, but by then Rachel and Roger were in full flow (talking) and it would have been rude to butt in and only fuel the fire that I was an obnoxious member of the public who at first ignores the great names and then attempts to talk over the top of them! So I withdrew and took this photo –

 which was snapped by crew members for the official BLF website. (I spoke to Lee, the festival photographer on the last day of the festival in the hope that I may be able to use some of the brilliant BLF website pictures, unfortunately Lee was unsure and they have been locked so that we can’t use them, fair enough I suppose.)

The 2^nd recording was With Great Pleasure and The Echo Chamber, with Paul Farley (due for broadcast January 2014.)

The second half was just as fantastic as the Poetry Please recording and the production included some people choice poetry as well. I wasn’t brave enough to introduce a poem – but I did have my chance and could have been on the radio show (Poetry Please) too! I thought I had stepped into the poetry limelight enough today and instead shrank into my seat!

And not mentioned in the programme was the greatest surprise of all. Katie Sultana – an exceptionally talented and confident teen, she won a National schools competition for reciting poetry -she was so talented. I wanted to hire her there and then to perform my poetry for me.

Watch out for her name.

In stars!

I am in Love… with my NEW Life!

Oh my goodness, I am so happy. Everything is falling into place.

I have so many blog posts to write tonight… I still need to tell you all about the Margaret Silf seminar, my wonderful Sunday at the Literature Festival including chats with Roger McGough and Jo Bell, amongst others. New discoveries I have made (in the world of writing) -I am not going to bore you with my new discovery of how choc-ca-block the main roads are before 8a.m, or how much my ankles hurt after being on my feet all day! New purchases (or treats) I have made … buying those glossy magazines really broke the spending seal on my purse. 😉

I have been booked for three days work this week – and due to the heavy traffic (not mentioned as a new discovery above) I made it to work by the skin of my contractual time teeth! Only to discover that they had already covered my position… no fear, there are always options in these situations… and my reward…. I have spent the whole day in Nursery with 3 and 4 year olds, hence the aching ankles (also not mentioned as an new discovery) making yourself 2 feet tall by stooping down all day is no mean feat – and due to my Lit Fest knee injury (acquired when I fell over after the launch) I found using my knees a painful experience. I learnt many moons ago wincing in front of little children is not a good idea and tends to send them into panicked concern.

I had a lovely day (even if I have only just got rid of the pink paint!) and they wanted me back tomorrow – I would have loved that, but Tuesday’s are already covered by my 1 day a week part time position. Spending a second day with Nursery would have been amazing. Especially as now I have discovered a back road route and I know all of their names. Never-mind, some time in the future perhaps.

I got home to find that Mr G had bought 2 more beautiful flowering plants for the garden (my memory of Latin is no good – so I will have to check the labels and add the names in!) He spent all afternoon sorting out the big porcelain sinks we have for bedding plants yesterday whilst I was enjoying myself with words and poets and radio recordings. Tonight we spent an hour planting more bulbs and shrubs, It will look amazing when it all flowers in the spring – can’t wait to share photos.

Here is one of the pots of compost and bulbs. (upload to come)

Tonight I have an A5 list (yes I have reverted back to paper) of things I have to do – including getting activities ready for tomorrow and parking/ directions for the evening (next instalment of the Lit Fest, a book launch at the gallery.) So I am now going to go and do as much as I can and hope to have time to add all those exciting posts before bed.

How has your Monday been?

Radio Four Poetry Please

I am excited about returning to the City Literature Festival this afternoon for another dose of Poetry. I am watching some Radio 4 programmes being recorded.  There are two editions of Poetry Please, a special edition of With Great Pleasure with Paul Farley, and a recording of The Echo Chamber.

We are delighted to welcome three wonderful BBC Radio literature programmes to the Birmingham Literature Festival. Join us for recordings of two editions of Poetry Please, a special edition of With Great Pleasure with Paul Farley, and a recording of The Echo Chamber.

Presented by Roger McGough

Roger McGough introduces poems inspired by the canals and waterways. Including readings of poems commissioned from poet Jo Bell, the UK’s first Canal Laureate, and from poets Liz Berry and Paul Farley.

In our second edition of Poetry Please, Roger McGough introduces a rattlebag of poems requested by listeners of Poetry Please.

These editions of Poetry Please will be recorded for broadcast in October on Radio 4.

With Great Pleasure & The Echo Chamber

With Paul Farley

 Poet Paul Farley talks movingly about the poetry and prose that has accompanied him through his life. This edition of With Great Pleasure will be recorded for broadcast in January 2014.Following With Great Pleasure, poet Paul Farley will be recording features for a future edition of BBC Radio Four’s contemporary poetry programme, The Echo Chamber.