WHAT

WHEN
Friday, May 13th, 20:00

WHERE
Slak Bar
16 Bath Street, Cheltenham GL50 1YE (map)

MORE INFO
Cheltenham is rapidly becoming one of my favourite places to perform, so I’m really chuffed to have been invited back to town by the director of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival, Anna Saunders, to feature at one of the renowned Earshot nights alongside Michael Wilson.  I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Michael perform before – as luck would have it, also in Cheltenham – and I am looking forward to hearing more of his unique performance verse. Besides sets from each of us, the night will feature music from Dan Parker and an open mic of the “anything goes” variety (i.e. open to musicians and poets alike). The Facebook event is here.

Tickets: £5/£3

WHEN
Tuesday, April 19th, 14:00 (my set is at 21:00 – see below)

WHERE
The River Rooms
Mill Race Lane, Stourbridge DY8 1JN (map)

MORE INFO
This fundraising gig has been set up to raise money for the County Air Ambulance, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Chloe West herself following the recent terrible events at Ridgewood High School.
The fundraiser is like a mini-festival, with a bill full of musicians and bands… and me. The whole thing starts at 14:00 and opens with an acoustic session scheduled to go on until 17:30. After an hour’s break, the live band section headlined by the Arcadian Kicks begins, and somewhere in the middle a set from yours truly is scheduled. You can see the full line-up (and buy tickets) from here.
I’m really looking forward to this. Stop by if you are around!

Tickets: £5 full event, £2 acoustic part, £4 evening part. Buy them here.

Image source (pictured: the Arcadian Kicks).

WHEN
Saturday, April 9th, 18:30

WHERE
The Library Theatre
Birmingham Central Library, Paradise Place, Birmingham B3 3HQ (map)

MORE INFO
The Spring Thing is a leaner, more compact version of the Birmingham Book Festival, a short but intense celebration of literature which makes the wait for October easier. They pack a lot of events into one weekend – have a look.
Me, I’ll be performing at Talking Cities, where Birmingham Poet Laureate Roy McFarlane has invited a number of us to tell stories inspired by, well, the cities that they somehow feel close to. Other guest poets include Dave Reeves, Julie Boden, Kadisha, Alan’ Kurly’ McGeachie and Roz Goddard. Should be a good one!

Tickets – free!

Image source.

WHEN
Saturday, May 14th, 19:30

WHERE
Town Hall
Regent Circus (map)

MORE INFO
The Swindon Festival of Literature‘s grand finale is an extravaganza of of music and poetry, with tunes from the Glow Globes and Angela Jones, and a very strong line-up of poets, featuring, in no particular order, Catherine Brogan, AF HArrold, Liz Berry and me. “If we get it right,” the festival website proclaims, “this will be a memorable night!” Probably so, Swindon Festival of Literature, probably so.

Tickets £10(£9)

Image source.

WHEN
Saturday, April 2nd, 18:15

WHERE
Slak Bar
16 Bath St, Cheltenham GL50 1YE (map)

MORE INFO
The Cheltenham Poetry Festival have invited me to take part in their Polish-themed event, where I will share the stage with Gabriel Olearnik, a published poet described by the Polish Institute as someone who confidently “takes his place in a long tradition of cultured and intelligent European verse.” This promises to be an interesting evening: our writing styles are very different, so it will be fascinating to see how they mesh on stage. Really looking forward to it.

Tickets – £5, available from Cheltenham Town Hall on the number 0844 576 2210 or via their website.

Image source.

WHEN
Saturday, February 19th, 19:00

WHERE
The Nave
1 St Paul’s Rd, Islington, London N1 4 (map)

MORE INFO
This is the third instalment of Sssh Boom Ssh Boom. The night is a surprising mix of various art forms – from dance, through music, magic and theatre to, well poetry. I had great fun performing at the first night of the series, skipped the second because of the German expedition, and am now coming back for more. Here’s who you can expect on stage this time around:

Young Athletes League
The Typewriters Collective (w/Alison Blunt & Benedict Taylor)
Model Staggs
Tax Deductible Theatre Company
Bohdan Piasecki
Two Way Medical

That’s a lot of metaphorical bang for your buck.

Tickets – £7.

Full gig list here.

Image source.

WHEN
Wednesday, February 16th, 20:00

WHERE
The Arts House
108a Stokes Croft
Bristol BS1 3RU (map)

MORE INFO
I love Bristol, but I have never had the chance to perform there. Except, that is, for an unplanned guest slot at a Smoke & Mirrors featuring Bernat, Laura & Sergio, which ended in me getting my feet tangled in the mic cable and nose-diving off the stage onto the hallowed floors of the Arnolfini.
On the 16th, I’m featuring at Jack Dean‘s regular slam, Brizzlemania, alongside James Bunting, Sam Drew and Lydia Beardmore. This is, by all accounts, an amazing night, and I’m really looking forward to it. Who can tell what wonderful feats of slapstick I might achieve this time around!

Tickets – £3.

Full gig list here.

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WHEN
Wednesday, February 2nd, 19:00

WHERE
The Winchester
39 Poole Hill, Bournemouth, United Kingdom (map)

MORE INFO
The Dutch tour is over – watch this space for some pictures and a quick recap, coming very soon indeed – but February promises to be a very busy month, with several gigs in various parts of the country. First up, a headline slot at Freeway Poets, a night that has built up quite a reputation in the South of England. I have never been to Freeway – in fact, I have never even been to Bournemouth – and I’m really looking forward to the night, which will feature live art and vegetarian food alongside the poetry. The other features are Adi Kyeyune and Keli Anne B. There’ll be an open mic, too, and the whole evening will be compered by Mark Berry. Should be a good one.

Tickets £4/NUS £3

Full gig list here.

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Here’s a conveniently compiled list of the four gigs we have lined up – if you are around, come and say hi. It would be lovely to see you.

• 25/01 – Amsterdam
• 26/01 – Utrecht
• 27/01 – Utrecht
• 29/01 – Venlo

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This particular gig is still shrouded in mystery – I will update the post as soon as I know more. What I know for sure is that both Daan Doesborgh and I will be performing in his home town of Venlo on that day, probaly in the evening. Where exactly remains to be established. Watch this space!

Image source.