Tales from the Essex Poetry Festival part 2

Sunday 11^th we had Jo Bell staying with us overnight, so it was a pub lunch before putting Jo on her train back to Macclesfield. Then I was off to Braintree to pick up Martin Reed and his P.A. equipment before going back to Chelmsford for the poetry festival’s contribution to Black History Month.

MC Josh Idehen

Around 90 people descended on the Zen Noodle bar where Josh Idehen was MCing the usual mix of poetry, music and mayhem that is I Scream Sunday. There was Jazz from trio Zhong and Dee Mardi, R’n’R from Gerry Champion’s band, and singer-song writer Lee, from the Doll Set Tones.

Dee Mardi sings Jazz

There was featured poetry from Musa Okwonga,  Efua Sey Koi-Larbi, Bryan Wilson, Anita Marie Sackett, Adrian Green, Rahi Choudhury, and many others contributed to the open – mic slots.

Musa Okwonga

The last event of this years festival was at poetrywivenhoe, where Katrina Naomi and Dennis Ahern were reading. I went straight from work and met up with Katrina at Liverpool Street Station, on the train she told me about her new post as first Writer in Residence at The Bronte Parsonage Museum, which sounds very exciting. Chris Tanner greeted us at Wivenhoe station and took us along to a very fine restaurant in Wivenhoe called the Bakehouse. Suitably fed and watered we headed to the Greyhound for the main event. Another packed house with more chairs being brought out! Denis started with his own particular brand of comic verse “I do write serious poems” he told us “this isn’t one of them”. Katrina gave us poems that ranged from tales of growing up in Margate to the philosophy of a dame in a 40’s noir movie.

A superb final event to a great festival.

Tales from the Essex Poetry Festival part 1

This years Essex Poetry festivals been and gone! I have been quiet on the blog front as it has kept me very busy.
So since I last wrote, I went to see Allison McVety and Susan Utting at Southend on the 7th October,

crowded house, Allison McVety and Susan Utting at Southend

with poems that took in the 2nd World War, Sixties fashions and first boyfriends, they alternated poems between each other they delighted a full house that saw members of the audience having to sit on the window sill and on the floor!

Saturday the 10th was the festivals Big Day of Poetry at the Cramphorn theatre , which started early for me, getting to the theatre to set up for the Essex Young Poet of the Year award.

Lauren Bailey receives award from poet John Row, chairman of the judges John Steer looks on.

By 10 am the 20 award winners their families and representatives from their schools filled the theatre. Children from 6 to 16 read their poems and were presented their prizes by poet John Row, who then entertained them with some of his own poetry.

This year the title of Young Essex Poet of the Year went 6 year old Lauren Bailey. By midday the last child had left clutching their certificate, book tokens and their copy of the prize winner’s anthology.

But no rest for the wicked, half an hour later poets were already arriving to sign up for the Open Mic that kicked off the Big Day’s afternoon session.

Vicki Weizt with poem

Meanwhile live artist Vicky Weitz had deconstructed some famous poems with a pair of scissors and was inviting people to create a new poem by rearranging the words into lines and pinning them on to Vicki.

Eighteen poets performed at this years Open Mic. Then it was time for the guest poets from the tall-lighthouse press, Helen Mort introduced some great poetry from David Crystal, Alex Brockhurst and Alan Buckley, which was topped off by an outstanding performance from Brendan Cleary.

Brendan Cleary give it his all

Next up were three poets with an Essex connection, Joanna Ezekial and Sally Festing bookended Jeremy Over who treated us to some oulipian poetry from his latest from Carcanet.

After a break the evening session started with competition judge Jo Bell, introducing the prize winning poems & the only prize winner who turned up (all the way from Strasburg!) Mick Wood. Mick gave an extremely good reading of his 2nd prize winning poem Dog Mess. Then Jo filled in for 5 minute with a couple of her own poems.
Next up was Inua Ellams who enthralled the audience with his own brand of softly spoken word.

Inua Ellams weaves his spell

Forward prize winner Kathryn Simmonds followed with some meta-physical and surreal domestic verse! Finally John Hartley Williams pull out all the stops, showing us that page poetry can also be performance poetry, a truly great end to a fantastic day of poetry in Essex.

Jonh Hartley Williams performs

Three poets in a Library

The Essex Poetry Festival is  underway, see the website http://www.essex-poetry-festival.co.uk lots of events going on throughout October. I  read with Tim Cunningham & Adrian Green at Rochford on Friday 2nd October.

Rochford Library is quite new and was a nice venue for a reading, the staff were friendly & helpful, and there was a decent sized audience turn out.

We each did 2 ten minute sets either side of an interval, then there was an interesting question and answer session, which over ran its allotted slot!

All in all, a highly enjoyable evening for us poets, and for the audience as well I think.

Genius Floored

Friday 18^th September

I went along to the launch of the anthology ‘Genius Floored’, which has a poem of mine ‘The Last man on the Moon’ along with other poems chosen from last year’s readings at the Lumen and Camden Poetry series – and who are published alongside the likes of Brownjohn, Hacker, Porter, Agbabi, Sampson to name but a few!

Lots of good poems by lots of good readers, 2 particularly memorable ones were ‘The Old Man and the Gun’ by Jeremy Kingston and ‘WRNS No.1604’ by Vicky Wilson.

Alan Brownjohn will be read from the anthology and from his Ludbrooke poems, which are great, I especially liked ‘Ludbrooke his Chivalry’

Ruth O’Callaghan read a couple of poems from her recent Mongolian adventure.

Lots of books were sold with all the profits going to the Cold Weather Shelter

High Art

Poets from the Lapwing Press were reading at Lumen on the 11^th September, where I performed a 5 minute floor spot.

The other poet doing a 5 minute spot was Graham High who many years ago also used to work at the Natural History Museum, as a model maker and sculptor, before leaving for the glamour of the movie industry.

Our paths never crossed at the museum however I am very familiar with some of his fantastic work in the museums exhibitions, having photographed it many times, take a look at some of his sculpture (and poetry) on his website http://www.grahamhigh.info

Howl – 28th August – Chelmsford

photo by Caroline Watson

Here I am first on at Howl,  after MC Nathan Penlington did a literary magic trick! 
I am looking a little blurred here (it must have been the beer)

I was doing a spot as one of the I Scream Sunday poets, at the Cramphorn Theatre, Chelmsford. I performed ‘Getting his Head Straight’ ,’A Moving Experience’ & ‘Chopper’.

Followed by Adrian Green, with some jazz inspired poetry, then Martin Reed performed a Chandleresque spoken word piece, back by Len on Double Bass & Bryan on drum.

Martin Reed, walking the mean streets of Chelmsford

 

Bryan Wilson then did his own set, including ‘Solidarity’.

Ash Sakar in an amazing Union Jack dress, did a great set before the interval.

 

After the break Ross Sutherland popped a Brucie to let us know whenever he’d finished a poem.

And Luke Kennard was, well Luke Kennard! Everyone was laughing at his surreal prose poems, such as The Six Times my Heart Broke (I think it was called).

 

Me again, photo by Caroline Watson

Thanks to Jody Porter,  for organising a fun evening, and good luck to him for next month’s where David J will be headlining & Tim Turnball will be providing support along with Ruby and her Whorses, Chris Hicks (of Aisle 16) and regular MC. Nathan Penlington.

And thanks to Caroline Watson for the photos of me!

Aeronwy Thomas 3 March 1943 – 27 July 2009

I am saddened to hear of the death of Aeronwy Thomas. I only met her once, but spent an enjoyable evening in a pub off the Haymarket, chatting to her and her husband Trefor.
She was a fine poet in her own right, though suffered slightly I feel from always in the shadow of her famous father.

Ride The Word

Ride the Word XII - Summer Tour – Wed. 29 July, 7- 9.15pm
at The CAFE YUMCHA , 45 Berwick Street, Soho, London W.1
This turned out to be an interesting night. It was great to be on the same bill as the amazing Luke Kennard having everyone in stitches with his surreal prose poems (come along and see him in Chelmsford at Howl on the 28th August, as part of the poetrylink, oh yes I have a small spot there too.)
The lovely Cherry Smith read some deep and very moving poems, despite several interruptions from people arriving, and worse organiser Vincent talking over her to tell people it was alright to come down into the reading.
Mark Norfolk read some poems from prisoners at the prison where he teaches a group & also introduced 2 young poets from Newham where he is writer in residence.
Tom Chivers and Dzifa Benson read for Tears in the Fence, but unfortunately David Caddy was ill and couldn’t be there.
Actress Aletta Lawson read Catherine Eisner’s short story. Jay Merill read a couple of extracts of her prose and her co-host Vincent De Souza read a lot of his poems.
The venue was OK, much like the Poetry Café basement (with the same acoustic problems), but with no alcohol on sale
Went down the road to have a drink in the Endurance afterwards with Judy Brown, Katrina Naomi & her partner Tim, and a jolly good time we had there putting the poetry world to rights.

Chimera in Camden

On Friday 24th July, Chimera Magazine & the Ninth Arrondissement press came to Camden. We had been invited to read by Ruth O’Callaghan as part of the Camden Poetry series.
Olivia McCannon, Ken Champion, Philip Wilson and myself read to a relatively small but enthusiastic audience.

Ken, Derek, Philip and Olivia

I started off by introducing the magazine & press, and the read a few poems of my own from the latest Chimera and from ‘unconcerned, but not indifferent’ my chapbook about Man Ray, from Ninth Arrondissement.
Olivia (proudly sporting a splendid 5 month bump) read a selection of her poems, including some from Cacanet’s Oxford Poets Anthology.
There was a short break with time to talk to people about the magazine, and to try a flog some!
Then after some readers from the floor, Ken read some poems from Chimera and his tall lighthouse collection ‘But Black & White Is Better’.
Philip closed the evening with some poems from ‘Blessed and Unbroken by the Fall’ published by the Ninth Arrondissement Press.
Chimera Website www.chimeramagazine.co.uk

Lost in Space

Went along to the Troubadour on Monday, for Coffee House Poetry’s end of season party, where I had been asked to read a poem. The theme of the evening was ‘infinite space’.
There were (as always) a lot of good poets along to read, who interpreted the theme in a variety of different ways. I went for the literal with my poem ‘The Last Man on the Moon’.

To finish the evening in style our team ‘ZOOM’ (Maggie Sullivan, Phil Ruthen, Tony Lucas & myself) came third in the quiz and won a bottle of wine.

I shall be going along to I Scream Sunday at the Black Horse Pub in Moulsham Street, Chelmsford on Sunday the 12th July to read a couple of poems.