Pop Up Poetry pulled a thousand monkeys out of a hat last night, with the launch of its spanking new anthology for 2014.
Congratulations to editor Janice Windle and host Donall Dempsey for a spectactular event at The Bar Des Arts in Guildford, Surrey, where poets and audience gathered for an evening of word, song and antics to celebrate the event’s re-branding from PUP to The Thousand Monkeys.
Performers included Cat Randle, Elaine Stabler, Grim Chip, Kathy Tyler, the Stokey Bard, Amy McAllister, Tom Vliestra and me. There was music too from the Dirty Carols (don’t ask!)
At 183 pages, the Pop Up Anthology 2014 is among the most generous and intelligently put together I’ve seen in a good while. Open mic-ers were all offered at least one page in the book, and what you get is the best poetry from 70 poets who have read at some point during the year, including:
Wendy Klein, Steve Pottinger, Sally Blackmore, David Cooke, Donall Dempsey, Louise Etheridge, A F Harrold, Mark Gilfillan, Claire Booker, Holly Luhning, Patrick Osada, Bethany Pope, Chrys Salt, Pauline Sewards, Isabel White and Janice Windle.
To buy a copy of Pop Up Anthology 2014, or to find out more about the free monthly event in Guildford on the third Tuesday of each month, visit: 
bookerplays 