WORD RAIN

Gig – Wolverhampton, 14/9/2010

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:25:21 +0000

WHAT?

City Voices

WHEN?

Tuesday, September 14th

Event starts at 19:45

WHERE?

The City Bar

2/3 King Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1ST (map)

MORE INFO

I will be one of the features at “City Voices”, Simon Fletcher’s monthly poetry night showcasing both spoken word and page poetry. The other guest poets will be Heather Wastie, Brendan Hawthorne, Michael W. Thomas, and a mystery guest. Come along and discovery some new voices. In the city. Ahem. See what I did there?

Tickets – Free!

Full gig list here.

Image source.

Gig – Uppsala, 1/10/2010

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:30:31 +0000

WHAT?

Ordsprak Festival 2010

WHEN?

Friday, October 1st, 2010 (the festival itself starts on Thursday September 30th, and continues until Saturday – scroll down for a full list of acts)

Event starts at 19:00

WHERE?

Reginateatern

Trädgårdsgatan 6, Uppsala, Sweden (map)

MORE INFO

Ordsprak is Sweden’s main spoken word festival, and coincides with the Swedish National Slam. The organisers pride themselves on the international nature of their event, and each year, they try to invite a selection of poets from all corners of the world. I’m very excited about this one, not least because I will be sharing the stage with Sage Francis, who was a major source of inspiration for me when I first discovered spoken word. The full programme is below – there are some pretty amazing names on that list, so if you happen to be in Sweden in early October, you could do worse than make your way to the Regina theatre in Uppsala. Vi ses där!

Thursday 30/9, 19:00:

Open poetry slam, featuring Ewok (South Africa). The winner gets the opportunity to read on Saturday. Free admission!

Friday 1/10, 19:00:

Dag Thelander

Amanda Lindholm

Alex Bengtsson

Bohdan Piasecki (Poland – but you know that)

Malin Jakobsson

Henry Bowers (Kung Henry) (winner of the Swedish National Poetry Slam 2004)

Sage Francis & B Dolan (USA)

Saturday 2/10, 18:00:

Saman Maxi Danger

Thursday Slam Winner

Mesaros Niklas (winner of the Swedish National Poetry Slam 2010)

Jenny Wrangborg

Marcus Priftis

Anca Mizumschi & Bogdan O. Popescu (Romania) (Sam Kessel will be reading Swedish translations)

Hanska Oscar (winner of the Swedish National Poetry Slam 2009)

Kat Francois (UK) (winner of the World Slam Championship 2005)

Ewok (South Africa)

Tickets are 150/90 SEK, and can be purchased here.

Full gig list here.

Image source.

Gig – Birmingham, 24/9/2010

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:36:14 +0000

WHAT?

Rhymes on the Roof

WHEN?

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Event starts at 20:00

WHERE?

The Old Fire Station

The Old Fire Station, 287 Moseley Road, Birmingham B12 0DX (map)

MORE INFO

“Rhymes” is one of the few established, regular poetry nights in Birmingham, run by Lorna Meehan and Rogueplay theatre. This will be the inaugural night for their new venue, the Old Fire Station, and a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some al fresco verse. Here’s the blurb, courtesy of Lorna:

“Yes, you read it right. Weather permitting, September Rhymes will be coming to you live from the intimate roof space of RoguePlay’s new space. Bringing you the usual poetry goodness and awesome Raffle, but this time with a pretty view and some fresh Brummy air too, so bring a brolly and a jumper just in case and come get poetical!”

The other featured poets are Afrobehn and Lady Josephine Whittle (a.k.a Claire Corfield). I’m really looking forward to performing with the Brum skyline as the backdrop…

Full gig list here.

Image source.

Gig – London, 6/8/2010

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:59:54 +0000

WHAT?

Sssh Boom Ssh Boom (It’s Only Theatrics).

WHEN?

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Event starts at 19:00

WHERE?

The Nave

1 St Paul’s Road, London N1 2QN, UK (map)

MORE INFO

A weird and wonderful night of music, circus tricks and poetry, in an old church building. Sounds good? Expect appearances from Joe Hakim, Robert W Monk, Womans Hour, Tony Volker, Sometimes Jasmine, Trevor Wensley, Magical Tom, and, well, Bohdan Piasecki, of course. For more details about the night (and to purchase tickets in advance) just click here.

Tickets – £8 (you can get them here)

Full gig list here.

Image source.

Interviewed by Ray Antrobus

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:17:14 +0000

The up and coming London-based poet Ray Antrobus runs a blog called “Shapes & Disfigurements“. It’s a good read, generally speaking, but I find one of the sections especially interesting: it’s an ever-growing collection of Q&As with spoken word poets. As an interviewer, Ray manages to keep a very light-hearted and informal tone, and I have enjoyed the series from the beginning, so when he asked me whether I’d be interested in doing one, I was more than happy to oblige. You can see the results for yourself right here.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out Ray’s poetry, as well as his spoken word/music project, Speed Camera Shy.

Apples & Snakes

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:02:43 +0000

I wrote here about my oh-so-secret mission to London.

Well, I can now disclose the truth to you, oh internet: I am the new Apples & Snakes West Midlands Programme Coordinator. If you’re not familiar with Apples & Snakes – it’s the UK’s foremost organisation for the promotion of spoken word as an art form. You can find out more about them by following this link, and really, you should go do it now. I’ll wait. There is some pretty amazing stuff up on that site. While you’re there, if you want to know exactly what I will be doing, click here; as a bonus, you will get a picture of me looking pale, apprehensive, and vaguely suspicious. As first impressions go, it doesn’t get much better than that.

So brace yourselves, all you West Midlands poetry people! Here I come.

Picture source.

Images from Glastonbury

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:36:07 +0000

Taken while at the Glastonbury Festival, to perform at the Poetry & Words Tent. More information abour poetry at Glastonbury here.

Gig – Glastonbury Festival, 23-27/06/2010

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:34:14 +0000

WHAT?

Festival appearances.

WHEN?

Saturday, June 26th & Sunday, June 27th, 2010.

Sets begin at 13:55 (Saturday) and 13:25 (Sunday).

WHERE?

Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, Somerset, UK

Poetry and Words Tent, Theatre & Circus field (map of the festival grounds).

MORE INFO

The Poetry & Words Tent at the world-famous Glastonbury Festival is curated by Bristol-based poet Helen Gregory, and features an absolutely astounding line-up of poets, and I am very excited to have made the cut. So if you’re going to Glasto this year, come pay us a visit and treat your ears and brain to some of the best spoken word around! Here’s the official flyer, complete with a list of performers and a running order:

Tickets for the festival have now sold out.

Full gig list here.

Gig – London, 29/06/2010

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:37:25 +0000

WHAT?

Farrago Summer Slam (featured appearance).

WHEN?

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Event starts at 19:30

WHERE?

RADA Foyer Bar

Malet St, London WC1, UK (map)

MORE INFO

The summer edition of John Paul O’Neill’s regular Farrago poetry slam, open to all comers as always. I will be part of an impressive line-up of featured performers,including among others Andreattah “Drea” Chuma, Fran Landesman, Rachel Pantechnicon, Dudley Sutton, and Clair Whitefield.

Tickets – £6/7

Full gig list here.

Image source.

London! Incoming!

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:48:42 +0000

I’ll soon be heading down to London for a few days, for reasons that shall remain undisclosed (but watch this space, big news coming soon). I don’t have any proper gigs planned in the capital, but I’m going to try my darndest to visit two events, both of which promise to be wonderful nights of spoken poetry. See for yourself:

Monday, June 7th: Hammer & Tongue London end of season party, with Steve Larkin, Yap, and open slam @ the Green Note Cafe (map); 19:30.
Tuesday, June 8th: Chill Pill, “a weekly melldow vibe night of music & spoken word”, run by Mista Gee, Ray Antrobus and Deanna Rodger @ the Scream Bar, in Bethnal Green Road (map); 19:00.

I might do some poems; I might just sit back and enjoy the shows. Either way, it would be lovely to see you there.