Poetry Gigs I Know and Love

Performance is a great way to test out a new poem or recharge an old one. Looking back over 2015,  I’ve performed at some great gigs – either as an invited feature or open-mic – and learned so much. Thank you all for having me!

So let’s hear it for The Torriano Meeting House, which invited my Stanza Group, Original Poets, led by Tessa Lang (left) to perform some of our poetry in January. People meet every Sunday evening to share poetry at this unique Kentish Town venue. Don’t miss powerful young American Robert Peake reading there on Jan 17th. www.torrianomeetinghouse.wordpress.com

Original Poets meet every third Monday of the month (7pm) at The Bread & Roses pub, Clapham Manor Street, SW4 6DZ. All are welcome to attend.

Rachael Joseph, Barry Brock, Claire Booker, Frank Mariani, Angela Brodie

In Feb, I was at Keat’s House in Hampstead to read a couple of my poems in the Templar Publication‘s 2015 anthology.  www.templarpoetry.com

Then Camden Poetry Series invited five regulars from Beyond Words to be their March feature. Open mic readers can have their poems included in the Camden/Lumen annual anthology which raises money for cold weather shelters. I was back again in June to read at the anthology launch.   www.camdenlumen.wordpress.com

Check out poetic combo Hilaire and Joolz who are featuring at Beyond Words on Tues 5th Jan. www.beyondwordspoetrylondon.co.uk

The launch of a new issue of Magma is an event to relish. Such a swanky venue (London Review of Books), so many great poets, such generous glasses of wine! What a privilege to read two of my poems at the launch of issue 61 (The Street) alongside poets such as Simon Barraclough, Lisa Kelly and Christine Webb. www.magmapoetry.com

Donnel Dempsey

In June, I headed to Guildford to give forth at the launch of The Keystone Anthology, then later as a feature at Pop Up Poetry. Both are run by formidable team, Janice Windle and Donnel Dempsey, who can pull sizzling hot poetry evenings out of a hat – any hat! Dempsey&Windle – books, pamphlets and poems

And where would we be without the frisson of a Stanza Bonanza? Original Poets (Mark Fiddes, Nicole Piggott, Steve Hoy, Michael Cosham, Tessa Lang and myself) representing Clapham, took on the might of Brixton’s best under the firm baton of Poetry Society’s Paul McGrane. If you’re serious about poetry, get serious about joining The Poetry Society (for as little as £20 a year). It’s been flying the flag for poets since 1909. www.poetrysociety.org.uk

Oxford’s eternal spires welcomed me in July to the launch of The Interpreter’s House (issue 59), where I joined fellow contributors in a fantastic evening of poetry, teapots and bonhomie. The submissions window for the summer issue is February. Email editor Martin Malone at theinterpretershouse@aol.com or visit:  www.interpretershouse.com

In September I was guest poet at Poet In The City‘s Drop in at Waterstone’s in Picadilly, London. The theme was ‘Instruction’. My choice of poems included ‘Instructions for Building Straw Huts’ by Yusef Komunyakaa; ‘Timothy Winters’ by Charles Causley; ‘Sun a-shine, rain a-fall by Valerie Bloom; ‘Song’ by W H Auden and a couple of my own poems. Drop-ins are free, with a new theme each month. Bring your own poems or favourites. www.poetinthecity.co.uk

Stephanie James in ‘Alleluiah’

Loose Muse is London’s premier event for women writers of all genres, and is expanding fast, with sister ships in Manchester, Cornwall and Winchester. Agnes Meadows, who IS Loose Muse, invited me to bring my short play ‘Alleluiah’ to the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden earlier this year.

Loose Muse Winchester, set up and run by poet Sue Wrinch, booked me as their feature in November, alongside poet and novelist Claire Dyer. I can thoroughly recommend both venues as welcoming, well-attended and full of surprises. Women only get to perform, but men are always welcome in the audience. www.loose-muse.com

So here’s hoping that 2016 will be rich in opportunity and inspiration for each and every one of us. A very Happy New Year!

A Brace of Clapham ‘Original Poets’ in Poetry News

Unfurl the latest copy of Poetry News and you’ll find poems by Claire Booker and Andy Hickmott, selected from among 313 entries to the magazine’s competition on the theme of ‘Unsayable’.

Six poems were selected anonymously by Katrina Porteous, who specialises in radio poetry, and whose new collection, Two Countries’ is due from Bloodaxe in 2014.  This is what she had to say:

“‘I didn’t like Seamus Heaney’ by Andy Hickmott shocks, because so many of us loved him. But I think it earns its right to do so. I like it for saying what we think should not be said, and for using that trope to lead us gracefully to what indeed is not said until those quietly devastating last lines.”

“‘What Cannot Be Said’ by Claire Booker, nails the detail of intimacy and simply rings true. The rhyming couplets, risky to some modern ears, reinforce the clock’s relentless tick.”

To read either of these poems, or the other four winners (by Suzanna Fitzpatrick, Sue Leigh, Denise McSheehy and Marie Naughton) check out Poetry News (Winter 2013/14) or click on:  http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/publications/poetrynews/pn2014/

Andy and Claire both belong to ‘Original Poets’ who meet every month in Clapham, south London, to feedback on poems; whether from long-established writers or those new to poetry.  The ‘Originals’  occasionally perform their work, most recently at ‘Beyond Words’ in Gipsy Hill, ‘Poetry Unplugged’ in Covent Garden’s Poetry Place, and at a legendary Poetry Bonanza event: Clapham versus Brixton.  New members are always most welcome.

For more information on Clapham Original Poets please visit:  Facebook page

Clapham and Brixton poetry riots!

Six red-hot poets from Clapham faced six notorious wordsmiths from Brixton in a Stanza Bonanza that is destined to go down in history.

For two intense, often hilarious and sometime shocking hours, poetry pinged off the walls of Covent Garden’s Poetry Cafe like buckshot. The event was so popular, many audience members were forced to stand at the back or along the stairs and even celebrity, Alistair McGowan, found himself shoe-horned in at the back.

Punching for the Clapham Stanza group were Claire Booker, Nicole Carrel, Mickey Feather, Andy Hickmott, Tessa Lang and Chris Parker whilst Jill Abram, Steve Boorman,Wendy Dyer, Margaret Haig, Sophie Herxheimer and Paul Minor  squared up in the Brixton corner.  Each poet had precisely eight minutes to prove their worth in a head-to-head battle with their opposite number.

To avoid bloodshed, Paul McGrane from The Poetry Society, declared the evening a draw and both sides removed to the bar to celebrate, if any proof is needed, that poetry can make a sizzling evening’s entertainment.

The entire event was filmed for Poetical TV. Click on the following link if you’d like to see me reading my poem ‘New Arrival’. I’m the fourth poet (in the pink shirt!) about half way through the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io7vZh_5DDE&feature=player_detailpage

For more information on Clapham Original Poets please visit:  Facebook page

To find out more about The Poetry Society, click on:  http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk