Thursday, May 31, 2012

LEAMINGTON SPA: PUREandGOODandRIGHT


Monday, 11th June, 2012, 7.30pm, £3 (£2 student/OAP)
The Sozzled Sausage,
Leamingon Spa
CV32 4NX

This month's guest poet is the marvellous Math Jones

Math Jones is an experienced poet and performer. He trained as an actor in Birmingham and works as an actor under the stage name of Math Sams. Prior to that, worked as a bookseller for many years. 

Math writes in a wide variety of genres, from deeply personal reflections upon life and relationships, through comical verse, dark and gothic story-poems, inspirational snippets, spiritual meditations, sensual erotica, and full-blown Pagan verse in Old English metres, dedicated to the gods and ghosts of the Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse, accompanied by the Old English Harp."

DEFINITELY AN EVENING NOT TO BE MISSED! 
With open mic support from…….yes……YOU!

If you would like to know more about the night, please email pgrpoetry@gmail.com 

LONDON: Camden Poetry Series


Friday, 1st June, 2012, 7pm (doors open 6.30pm), £5/£4, WINE

Trinity United Reform Church,
1 Buck Street,
Camden Town
1-2 mins. Camden Town tube

Ruth O'Callaghan presents Michael Glover and Eric Ormsby. Poets from the floor very welcome. Please bring a copy of the poem if you wish to be considered for the new anthology.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

LONDON: Jazz Verse Jukebox


Sunday, 10th June, 2012, doors open 6.30pm, show from 7.30pm, £8 (tickets available on the door only)
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club (Upstairs),
47 Frith Street,
London
W1D 4HT

Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square


This June the Jazz Verse Jukebox welcomes ‘Poetry Royalty’ to Ronnie Scott’s (Upstairs) - Forward Prize nominee John Siddique, National Theatre favourite Inua Ellams, Latitude & Edinburgh Festival star Sabrina Mahfouz, ‘fierce’ and upcoming poet Bridget Minamore and music from the man with an incredibly high falsetto Klaud Gilzene.

Join us for what promises to be a thrilling night of diverse spoken word & jazz from some of the freshest exponents on the scene. With live jazz trio & open mic. With cushions to lounge on, cocktails to imbibe & surprises, this poet royale night is one night not to miss!

PLUS Jukebox Open Mic:
Come & sing with our amazing house band or perform some poetry.

Compered by & with music from Jumoké Fashola


GALWAY: May Over The Edge Open Reading


Thursday, May 31st, 2012, 6.30pm-8pm, FREE

Galway City Library

The Featured Readers are Eimear Ryan, Adam White and Bernie Ashe. Eimear Ryan was the over-all winner of the 2011 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition and this reading is part of her prize. This is the final Over The Edge: Open Reading before the summer break. 

Bernie Ashe was born in Galway city and, apart from some years in the UK and America, has lived her life there. She took a couple of creative writing classes with Celeste Augé and Susan Millar DuMars some years ago, but it wasn’t until she attended poetry classes with Kevin Higgins over the past couple of years that her interest in writing poetry arose. Since then she has contributed to Open Mic readings at Over The Edge readings in Galway City Library and was short-listed in the Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition in 2011. Her poetry draws on themes of relationships and nature.


Adam White is from Youghal in east Cork. He began reading and writing poetry in earnest three years ago, having taken part in the North Beach Nights poetry slam in Galway. Teaching English at present, he has worked in a variety of jobs at home and abroad, including six years as a carpenter/joiner. It is mainly the experiences and love of doing a job well that inspire his poems. He was among the prize winners at the 2011 Cúirt Festival Poetry Grand Slam and has read his poems at The Electric Picnic.  Adam’s debut collection of poems is forthcoming from Doire Press.

Eimear Ryan’s fiction has appeared in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly, New Irish Writing, Necessary Fiction and Horizon Review. She was the winner of the Sean Dunne Young Writers' Award 2011 and the Hennessy Award for First Fiction 2009. She is currently studying creative writing at Trinity College and is writing a novel. She is the 2011 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year.


As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars.

For further details phone 087-6431748.

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

Monday, May 28, 2012

LONDON: Hammer and Tongue Camden featuring Andy Craven Griffiths and Sally Jenkinson


Monday, June 11th, 2012, 7.30pm-11pm, £5
Green Note Café
106 Parkway
Camden
Nearest tube: Camden Town

The UK's biggest poetry slam network welcomes special guest, acclaimed poet and rapper, Andy Craven Griffiths and Sally Jenkinson 

First eight poets to sign up on the door enter the competition.
Hosted by Michelle Madsen
Contact:  07514 296242

Saturday, May 26, 2012

LONDON: Liz Bentley Performance Night


Saturday, 9th June, 2012, 8.30pm-late, £5/£2.50
The Old Fire Station,
Mayton Street,
London
N7 6QT

Book tickets online (suitable for ages 18+)

Liz Bentley Performance Night
Poet and spoken word artist extraordinaire Liz Bentley will be hosting another night of comedy, stand-up poetry and music during the Holloway Arts Festival. Her very special guests for the evening will include award-winning comedian Rosie Wilby, all-round poet and general wordsmith Rob Auton and the delightful Senor Al & The JJs, who will be strutting their stuff and bringing you lots of fun with their whacked-out cowboy country and western style.


Friday, May 25, 2012

WALSALL: The Five


Saturday, May 26th, 2012, 10am-3.30pm, £5
Radiance Festival 
St Matthew's Church, 
Church Hill, 
Walsall, 
WS1 3D

Keynote event at 11.45am: Readings by members of The Five - Chris Warren, Colin Gibson and Simon Iredale

Chris Warren will also be leading a workshop on "poetry and prayer" during the day. Other workshops include Franciscan Spirituality and Mediaeval Prayer. Radiance is described as a Christian Spirituality Fair.

The Five first wrote and read together as students in 1977 and reconvened five years ago. Their latest anthology is Five Squared.

More info about The Five at http://lyricpoetry.blogspot.co.uk/

PRESTONPANS: Poets and Pans: A Tapestry of Poets


Sunday, 3rd June, 2012, 1pm-7pm, FREE but ticketed
The Prestoungrange Gothenburg,
227-229 High Street,
Prestonpans,
EH32 9BE

Tyne and Esk Writers, Craigmillar Writers' Group, and Inky Fingers are teaming up to bring you a brand new collaborative poetry performance event as part of the 3 Harbours Arts Festival.

Featuring tall tales, banter, poetry, wild stories and writing of every description, this extra special afternoon performance will be featuring writers from all walks of life from 3 inter-community writing groups. Twenty-one poets will be performing at award winning venue The Gothenburg, a long-standing supporter of community arts. You can enjoy a relaxing and inspirational afternoon of poetry and art with a traditional pie and a pint, wholesome soup or order a delicious meal from the bar, while admiring the wonderful paintings and murals surrounding this fantastic venue with beautiful views of the sea.

Distinguished poet Colin Will will be hosting this event with the Tyne and Esk Writers Group. Harry Giles, of Inky Fingers, will be performing, along with talented writer Rachel McCrum and other favourite Inksters such as up and coming young writer Katherine McMahon. Johnni Stanton of the Craigmillar Writers Group, pioneer of community poetry, will also be in attendance with his brilliant poetic renditions, along with his talented and energetic Craigmillar poets. There will also be other high profile surprise poets popping in!

A DVD animation of the Prestonpans Tapestry will be showing on the same day and the rest of the week at The Goth.

For more information, see:
Three Harbours Arts Festival: http://www.3harbours.co.uk/

LONDON: Hammer & Tongue Hackney


Tuesday, June 5th, 2012, 8pm-11pm (doors, DJ and slam sign up from 7pm), £5/£4
The Victoria,
451 Queensbridge Road,
Dalston
E8 3AS

Live poetry from Yorkshire based poet-rapper Andy Craven-Griffiths and filthy-sexy-storyteller Becky Fury, plus open mic slam.

GALWAY: May Over The Edge Open Reading


Thursday, May 31st, 2012, 6.30pm-8pm, FREE
Galway City Library


The Featured Readers are Eimear Ryan, Adam White and Bernie Ashe. Eimear Ryan was the over-all winner of the 2011 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition and this reading is part of her prize. This is the final Over The Edge: Open Reading before the summer break. 

Bernie Ashe was born in Galway city and, apart from some years in the UK and America, has lived her life there. She took a couple of creative writing classes with Celeste Augé and Susan Millar DuMars some years ago, but it wasn’t until she attended poetry classes with Kevin Higgins over the past couple of years that her interest in writing poetry arose. Since then she has contributed to Open Mic readings at Over The Edge readings in Galway City Library and was short-listed in the Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition in 2011. Her poetry draws on themes of relationships and nature.


Adam White is from Youghal in east Cork. He began reading and writing poetry in earnest three years ago, having taken part in the North Beach Nights poetry slam in Galway. Teaching English at present, he has worked in a variety of jobs at home and abroad, including six years as a carpenter/joiner. It is mainly the experiences and love of doing a job well that inspire his poems. He was among the prize winners at the 2011 Cúirt Festival Poetry Grand Slam and has read his poems at The Electric Picnic.  Adam’s debut collection of poems is forthcoming from Doire Press.

Eimear Ryan’s fiction has appeared in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly, New Irish Writing, Necessary Fiction and Horizon Review. She was the winner of the Sean Dunne Young Writers' Award 2011 and the Hennessy Award for First Fiction 2009. She is currently studying creative writing at Trinity College and is writing a novel. She is the 2011 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year.


As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars.

For further details phone 087-6431748.

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

BRISTOL: Ash Dickinson book launch


Friday, May 25th, 2012, 8pm, FREE

The Lansdown,
8 Clifton Road,
Clifton,
Bristol

After nearly two decades of writing, hundreds of shows and numerous awards, Ash Dickinson's wildly inventive and eclectic debut collection, Slinky Espadrilles, is being published by Burning Eye Books. To mark this event, Ash- a multiple slam champion, who has performed in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA- will perform and read from the book. Entry to the event is free.

“Brilliantly surreal invention...fabulous poems” - Edinburgh Evening News

"Impressive wordplay" - The Times

"Could do for poetry what Bill Hicks did for comedy" - The Skinny

"A very cool combination of rap, rhyme, repetition and wry wit...Dickinson proves not only to be an incredibly gifted poet, but also a great comedian with a sharp eye for social commentary" - Winnipeg Free Press

"Ash Dickinson is a Performance Poet for the Lost Generation. If you haven't seen him, you haven't seen performance poetry" - Federation Of Writers (Scotland)

Monday, May 21, 2012

EDINBURGH: Inky Fingers


Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012, 8pm-11pm, FREE

Negotiants,
45-47 Lothian Street,
Edinburgh

Inky Fingers Poetry Night and Open Mic Slot
This month, we're featuring the poetry of JL Williams. Born in New Jersey, she moved to Edinburgh in 2001, and has since then been active both as a poet and in the performing arts as a director and producer. She was awarded a grant from the Scottish Arts Council for a poetry collaboration entitled chiaroscuro pentimenti with composer Martin Parker and artist Anna Chapman, and the Edwin Morgan Travel Bursary from the Scottish Arts Trust. Her poetry has been published in various journals, and her collection, Condition of Fire, is published by Shearsman Books. She plays in the band Opul and can be found on the Live Literature funded list of Scottish Book Trust Authors.

The Inky Fingers Open Mic takes place every fourth Tuesday of the month, from 8-11pm. It’s free to come and free for anyone to perform, regardless of style, experience, or identity.

We want to hear from everybody. We want your poems, your rants, your ballads, your short stories, your diaries, your experimental texts, your heart, your mind, your body. We want the essay on your summer holidays you wrote when you were four, your adolescent haiku, and extracts from your eventually-to-be-completed epic fantasy quadrilogy. We want to hear your best new work as well. And we want people to care about the way words are performed.

Open Mic slots are five minutes long; e-mail inkyfingersedinburgh@gmail.com to sign up and be sure of a slot, and check our website at  http://inkyfingersedinburgh.wordpress.com for more details.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

LONDON: John Hegley’s Animal Alphaboating for All


Sunday, 3rd June, 2012, 8pm-9.30pm, £9/£7
Platform Arts Centre,
Hornsey Road Baths,
London
N7 7QT

Book tickets online (suitable for aged 8+)

John Hegley’s Animal Alphaboating for All
A show for all who can stay up this late. Some is child-oriented material; we've all been one once, and some is for those who are older, which is where we're all headed. Includes goats and boats, fish and ships, yachts and guillemotting. In turn, jolly, melancholly and melifluid. No hamsters.

LEICESTER: Shindig!

Monday, 21st May 2012, 7.30pm, FREE

The Western,
70 Western Road,
Leicester
LE3 0GA

Nine Arches Press & Crystal Clear Creators present Leicester Shindig!

with guest poets Julie Boden, Alistair Noon, Robert Richardson and CJ Allen.

Open mic & celebration of the launch of Alistair Noon and CJ Allen’s new Nine Arches Press poetry collections.

Alistair Noon was born in 1970 and grew up in Aylesbury. Besides time spent in Russia and China, he has lived in Berlin since the early nineties, where he works as a translator. His poetry and translations from German and Russian have appeared in nine chapbooks from small presses. Earth Records is his first full-length collection.
 
Robert Richardson: as well as appearing in CCC's Hearing Voices, he has been published in Agenda poetry magazine and also co-edited Homage to Imagism (AMS Press, New York). As a visual artist, he was recently included in Artists’ Postcards: A Compendium (Reaktion Books, London).

C J Allen’s prize-winning poetry (in the Arvon, Yorkshire, Lebdury, Ilkley, Ware, Nottingham & English Association competitions, amongst others) has been appearing in magazines & anthologies in the UK, USA, Ireland & elsewhere for what feels to him like hundreds of years.  His most recent collections are: A Strange Arrangement: New and Selected Poems (Leafe Press, 2007), & Lemonade (a red ceilings press e-book, 2010).  Violets – winner of the Templar Press Short Collection Competition – was published in November 2011. He currently edits the reviews pages of the literary magazine Staple. 

Julie Boden is Symphony Hall’s Poet in Residence and she explores the frontiers of poetry and music with a ‘meticulous eye’ and an ‘ear for the mellifluous’. Accomplished on both stage and page, her sensitivity, warmth and humour have endeared her to a wide audience.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

EDINBURGH: Ash Dickinson book launch


Saturday 2nd June 2012, 8pm, FREE
The Canon's Gait,
232 Canongate,
Royal Mile,
Edinburgh

After nearly two decades of writing, hundreds of shows and numerous prizes, Ash Dickinson’s wildly inventive and eclectic debut collection, Slinky Espadrilles, is being published by Burning Eye Books. To mark this event, Ash – a multiple slam champion, who has performed in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA – will perform and read from the book. Entry to the event is free.

NOTTINGHAM: Poetry Rodeo

Sunday, 20th May, 2012, 6pm, FREE
Jam Café,
12 Heathcoat Street,
Nottingham
NG1 3AA

To celebrate the launch of new publications by four extra-special poets, we welcome you to the Poetry Rodeo…

Alistair Noon was born in 1970 and grew up in Aylesbury. Besides time spent in Russia and China, he has lived in Berlin since the early nineties, where he works as a translator. His poetry and translations from German and Russian have appeared in nine chapbooks from small presses. Earth Records is his first full-length collection.

Sarah Jackson's pamphlet Milk (Pighog) was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award. Her work appears in a wide range of magazines and anthologies including Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century (Bloodaxe) and The Best British Poetry 2011 (Salt). Pelt is published by Bloodaxe in May 2012.

C. J. Allen’s prize-winning poetry (in the Arvon, Yorkshire, Lebdury, Ilkley, Ware, Nottingham & English Association competitions, amongst others) has been appearing in magazines & anthologies in the UK, USA, Ireland & elsewhere for what feels to him like hundreds of years.  His most recent collections are:  A Strange Arrangement: New and Selected Poems (Leafe Press, 2007), & Lemonade (a red ceilings press e-book, 2010).  Violets – winner of the Templar Press Short Collection Competition – was published in November 2011. He currently edits the reviews pages of the literary magazine Staple. 

Aly Stoneman is an arts project coordinator and poetry editor at LeftLion Magazine. Her writing explores relationships between human beings and landscape through myths and journeys. A commissioned poet for Lyric Lounge and winner of the Nottingham Poetry Society Slam 2011, her pamphlet Lost Lands was published by Crystal Clear Creators in March 2012.

Friday, May 18, 2012

SHEFFIELD: Alistair Noon and Matthew Clegg

Saturday, May 19th, 2012, 7.30pm prompt start, FREE
The Red Deer,
Sheffield

Berlin-based translator and poet Alistair Noon will present a selection of poems from his recent Longbarrow Press pamphlets Across the Water and Swamp Area (and Earth Records, his first full-length collection from Nine Arches).

Matthew Clegg will be reading new and unpublished work from his sequences The Navigators and Chinese Lanterns. The two poets have devised an evening of journeys; from the urban waterways of South Yorkshire to the rivers, lakes and seas of Central Europe (and further afield), accompanied by Li Po, Coleridge, Mao and others. Join them on a unique and memorable passage.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

LONDON: Camden Poetry Series

Friday, 1st June, 2012, 7pm (doors open 6.30pm), £5/£4, WINE
Trinity United Reform Church,
1 Buck Street,
Camden Town
1-2 mins. Camden Town tube

Ruth O'Callaghan presents Michael Glover and Eric Ormsby. Poets from the floor very welcome. Please bring a copy of the poem if you wish to be considered for the new anthology.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

LONDON: Poetry Rodeo

Thursday, 17th May, 2012, 7pm, FREE

Big Green Bookshop,
1 Brampton Park Road,
Wood Green,
London
N22 6BG

Nine Arches Press and Sidekick Books present Poetry Rodeo (London)

To celebrate the launch of Alistair Noon’s Earth Records, we welcome you to the Poetry Rodeo…with special guest poets Alistair Noon, Andrew Frolish, Edward Mackay and Nia Davies.

Alistair Noon was born in 1970 and grew up in Aylesbury. Besides time spent in Russia and China, he has lived in Berlin since the early nineties, where he works as a translator. His poetry and translations from German and Russian have appeared in nine chapbooks from small presses. Earth Records is his first full-length collection.

Andrew Frolish was born in Sheffield in 1975.  After studying politics at Lancaster University, he trained to be a teacher in the Lake District.  His poems have been published in a variety of magazines, including PN Review, Acumen, Envoi, Tears in the Fence, The Interpreter’s House, Pulsar, Iota, Orbis and The Agenda Broadsheet.  He has received prizes in several competitions and won the Suffolk Poetry Society Crabbe Memorial competition in 2006.  His poems for children, along with lesson plans for teachers, have been published by Hopscotch.  He now lives with his family in Suffolk, where he is a headteacher.

Edward Mackay lives and writes in east London where he also runs a conflict resolution charity. He was shortlisted for the 2009 Eric Gregory Awards and the inaugural Picador Poetry Prize, and blogs at http://postcardsfromdoggerland.wordpress.com/. Edward's debut pamphlet is forthcoming from Salt in 2012. Find out more at www.edwardmackay.com/.

Nia Davies was born in Sheffield and has been writing poetry and fiction since the age of 14. She won the first Stanmer Prize for poetry and in 2008 was awarded a place on the Academi Mentoring Scheme for writers to develop her novel Polaris. She has lived in Wales and is currently  based in London where she works for Literature Across Frontiers – a European platform for literary translation and intercultural dialogue. She is also a project manager for Cyfnewidfa Len Cymru / Wales Literature Exchange – Wales’s hub for literary translation. Nia's poems featured in 2012 anthology The Salt Book of Younger Poets. http://niadavies.wordpress.com/.
The Big Green Bookshop: http://www.biggreenbookshop.com

LEWES: Lewes Poetry Night

Thursday, May 17th, 2012, 8.30pm
The Lewes Arms,
Lewes

The next Lewes Poetry night stars very imaginative poet and storyteller Simon Welsh plus open mic and the legendary limerick contest. You are invited to bring your favourite poem (by another poet or by yourself) to read. To get on the list to read, email: oliverspoetry@hotmail.co.uk

Monday, May 14, 2012

LEICESTER: Shindig!

Monday, 21st May 2012, 7.30pm, FREE
The Western,
70 Western Road,
Leicester
LE3 0GA

Nine Arches Press & Crystal Clear Creators present Leicester Shindig!

with guest poets Julie Boden, Alistair Noon, Robert Richardson and CJ Allen.

Open mic & celebration of the launch of Alistair Noon and CJ Allen’s new Nine Arches Press poetry collections.

Alistair Noon was born in 1970 and grew up in Aylesbury. Besides time spent in Russia and China, he has lived in Berlin since the early nineties, where he works as a translator. His poetry and translations from German and Russian have appeared in nine chapbooks from small presses. Earth Records is his first full-length collection.
 
Robert Richardson: as well as appearing in CCC's Hearing Voices, he has been published in Agenda poetry magazine and also co-edited Homage to Imagism (AMS Press, New York). As a visual artist, he was recently included in Artists’ Postcards: A Compendium (Reaktion Books, London).

C J Allen’s prize-winning poetry (in the Arvon, Yorkshire, Lebdury, Ilkley, Ware, Nottingham & English Association competitions, amongst others) has been appearing in magazines & anthologies in the UK, USA, Ireland & elsewhere for what feels to him like hundreds of years.  His most recent collections are: A Strange Arrangement: New and Selected Poems (Leafe Press, 2007), & Lemonade (a red ceilings press e-book, 2010).  Violets – winner of the Templar Press Short Collection Competition – was published in November 2011. He currently edits the reviews pages of the literary magazine Staple. 

Julie Boden is Symphony Hall’s Poet in Residence and she explores the frontiers of poetry and music with a ‘meticulous eye’ and an ‘ear for the mellifluous’. Accomplished on both stage and page, her sensitivity, warmth and humour have endeared her to a wide audience.

NOTTINGHAM: Poetry Rodeo

Sunday, 20th May, 2012, 6pm, FREE
Jam Café,
12 Heathcoat Street,
Nottingham
NG1 3AA

To celebrate the launch of new publications by four extra-special poets, we welcome you to the Poetry Rodeo…

Alistair Noon was born in 1970 and grew up in Aylesbury. Besides time spent in Russia and China, he has lived in Berlin since the early nineties, where he works as a translator. His poetry and translations from German and Russian have appeared in nine chapbooks from small presses. Earth Records is his first full-length collection.

Sarah Jackson's pamphlet Milk (Pighog) was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award. Her work appears in a wide range of magazines and anthologies including Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century (Bloodaxe) and The Best British Poetry 2011 (Salt). Pelt is published by Bloodaxe in May 2012.

C. J. Allen’s prize-winning poetry (in the Arvon, Yorkshire, Lebdury, Ilkley, Ware, Nottingham & English Association competitions, amongst others) has been appearing in magazines & anthologies in the UK, USA, Ireland & elsewhere for what feels to him like hundreds of years.  His most recent collections are:  A Strange Arrangement: New and Selected Poems (Leafe Press, 2007), & Lemonade (a red ceilings press e-book, 2010).  Violets – winner of the Templar Press Short Collection Competition – was published in November 2011. He currently edits the reviews pages of the literary magazine Staple. 

Aly Stoneman is an arts project coordinator and poetry editor at LeftLion Magazine. Her writing explores relationships between human beings and landscape through myths and journeys. A commissioned poet for Lyric Lounge and winner of the Nottingham Poetry Society Slam 2011, her pamphlet Lost Lands was published by Crystal Clear Creators in March 2012.

SHEFFIELD: Alistair Noon and Matthew Clegg

Saturday, May 19th, 2012, 7.30pm prompt start, FREE
The Red Deer,
Sheffield

Berlin-based translator and poet Alistair Noon will present a selection of poems from his recent Longbarrow Press pamphlets Across the Water and Swamp Area (and Earth Records, his first full-length collection from Nine Arches).

Matthew Clegg will be reading new and unpublished work from his sequences The Navigators and Chinese Lanterns. The two poets have devised an evening of journeys; from the urban waterways of South Yorkshire to the rivers, lakes and seas of Central Europe (and further afield), accompanied by Li Po, Coleridge, Mao and others. Join them on a unique and memorable passage.

LONDON: Poetry Rodeo

Thursday, 17th May, 2012, 7pm, FREE
Big Green Bookshop,
1 Brampton Park Road,
Wood Green,
London
N22 6BG

Nine Arches Press and Sidekick Books present Poetry Rodeo (London)

To celebrate the launch of Alistair Noon’s Earth Records, we welcome you to the Poetry Rodeo…with special guest poets Alistair Noon, Andrew Frolish, Edward Mackay and Nia Davies.

Alistair Noon was born in 1970 and grew up in Aylesbury. Besides time spent in Russia and China, he has lived in Berlin since the early nineties, where he works as a translator. His poetry and translations from German and Russian have appeared in nine chapbooks from small presses. Earth Records is his first full-length collection.

Andrew Frolish was born in Sheffield in 1975.  After studying politics at Lancaster University, he trained to be a teacher in the Lake District.  His poems have been published in a variety of magazines, including PN Review, Acumen, Envoi, Tears in the Fence, The Interpreter’s House, Pulsar, Iota, Orbis and The Agenda Broadsheet.  He has received prizes in several competitions and won the Suffolk Poetry Society Crabbe Memorial competition in 2006.  His poems for children, along with lesson plans for teachers, have been published by Hopscotch.  He now lives with his family in Suffolk, where he is a headteacher.

Edward Mackay lives and writes in east London where he also runs a conflict resolution charity. He was shortlisted for the 2009 Eric Gregory Awards and the inaugural Picador Poetry Prize, and blogs at http://postcardsfromdoggerland.wordpress.com/. Edward's debut pamphlet is forthcoming from Salt in 2012. Find out more at www.edwardmackay.com/.

Nia Davies was born in Sheffield and has been writing poetry and fiction since the age of 14. She won the first Stanmer Prize for poetry and in 2008 was awarded a place on the Academi Mentoring Scheme for writers to develop her novel Polaris. She has lived in Wales and is currently  based in London where she works for Literature Across Frontiers – a European platform for literary translation and intercultural dialogue. She is also a project manager for Cyfnewidfa Len Cymru / Wales Literature Exchange – Wales’s hub for literary translation. Nia's poems featured in 2012 anthology The Salt Book of Younger Poets. http://niadavies.wordpress.com/.
The Big Green Bookshop: http://www.biggreenbookshop.com

LONDON: Lumen Poetry Series

Tuesday, 15th May, 2012, doors open 6.30pm for 7pm, £5/£4, WINE

LUMEN
88 Tavistock Place
WC1
Tubes: Russell Square , Kings Cross, St Pancras.

Ruth O'Callaghan presents Maureen Duffy and Robert Seatter.
Poets from the floor very welcome.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

LEAMINGTON SPA: PUREandGOODandRIGHT

Monday, May 14th, 2012, 7.30pm, £3/£2
The Sozzled Sausage,
Leamingon Spa
CV32 4NX.

This month's guest poet is the rib-tickling Rosemary Gregory.

Rosemary is a prize-winning performance poet, who has had poems published in various anthologies. In January, she was commissioned to do a poem about a battery hen for BBC Coventry, and performed it on air with Pam Ayres. Indeed, she has been described as Warwick’s answer to Pam Ayres. Her poems take a tongue in cheek and comic look at many things. Rosemary has a stand-up routine to go with her poems, and is becoming known on the circuit.

With open mic support from…….yes……YOU!

If you would like to know more about the night, please email pgrpoetry@gmail.com 

LONDON: Kid, I Wrote Back

Monday, May 14th, 2012, 7.30pm-10.30pm, £3 on the door, free to perform

Bar Kick
127 Shoreditch High Street,
Shoreditch,
London,
E1 6JE

'Kid,I Wrote Back' is London's freshest, most eclectic open mic spoken word night that invites both established and as yet unheard talent to the stage. It started two years ago and quickly went from strength to strength and solidified itself as one of the most exciting and eclectic poetry and spoken word nights in London.

Purposefully breaking free from promoting any one verse, word, voice or style KID, stamps a defiantly individual mark onto the capital's red-ripe spoken word and poetry scene.

'Kid, I Wrote Back' invites both established and as yet unheard talent to the stage to perform – offering a much needed dose of full-on liberalism and authenticity – that will really agitate, challenge and tickle your minds.

It is a platform for current words from current poets of all styles and experience who are looking to share words and hear others in a friendly and lively environment. It is the brainchild of Chimène Suleyman, a writer and poet who performs as part of the 'Rhymes Won’t Wait' collective and Dylan Sage, a writer and emcee who has entertained with the likes of 'The Nextmen' and 'Breaking Bread'.

If you would like to perform email kidiwroteback@instorage.org.uk or get there early on the night to sign up.

LONDON: Hammer & Tongue Camden

Monday, May 14th, 2012, 7.30pm-11pm, £5
Green Note Café
106 Parkway
Camden
Nearest tube: Camden Town
 
Hammer and Tongue Camden Open Poetry Slam featuring Gerry Potter and Kat Francois.

First 8 poets to sign up on the door come in for free and enter the competition.
Hosted by Michelle Madsen
Contact:  07514 296242
www.hammerandtongue.co.uk
http://twitter.com/hammerandtongue
http://www.myspace.com/hammerandtonguelondon