Owen Sheers and Elvis McGonagall at Ledbury poetry festival
Award-winning poet Owen Sheers has kicked off the Ledbury poetry festival, which started on 29 June, and goes on until 8 July. Among many options, poetry from the Being Human Bloodaxe anthology is performed on Sunday 1 July; Elvis McGonagall appears at a Bang Said The Gun session in the evening of the same day; there’s a Poems and Cider night on Thursday 5 July; and a workshop on page to stage ...
30th June 2012
Windermere implosion: many poems read
The popular Imploding Inevitable festival is back for a third year over 29-30 June at Fell Foot Woods, Windermere, with a poetic lineup that includes Mark Mace Smith, Ann Wilson, Seni Seniviratne, Mike Watts, Fat Roland, Dan Carpenter, Beth Whittle, Nici West, Amanda Milligan, plus open mic. Las...
29th June 2012
Steph Pike and Steven Waling at Bury's Once More With Meaning
Steph Pike and Steven Waling are July’s guests at Once More With Meaning, Bury’s singular open mic night. The event takes place at a large performance space at the Met theatre, accessible on Sunday...
29th June 2012
Robin Hood Book's Manchester launch today
An anthology of angry poetry, the Robin Hood Book of verse versus austerity, is to get its Manchester launch at Ashton-under-Lyne library today at 1.30pm. Among its 131 contributors those reading a...
29th June 2012
Imagine, a poem in every shop
One day, perhaps all towns will be like Bolton, which had an original poem on display in each of 36 town-centre shops, cafés, hairdressers and the theatre, so as to bring poetry to a wider audience...
25th June 2012
Write Out Loud Middleton tonight
It’s a 7pm sharp start for Write Out Loud Middleton, at the Ring O’Bells, St Leonard’s Square, Middleton, tonight, 24 June. Entry is a £3 donation for this open mic event where everyone is welcom...
24th June 2012
One woman and a boat: poetry surgeries on canal in Birmingham
Birmingham’s poet laureate, Jan Watts, is offering one-to-one surgeries with new and emerging poets on her boat, the Tegla, which is moored on the canalside in Birmingham city centre this month. Th...
22nd June 2012
Wanted: poets at Skelmersdale music festival
A music festival organiser is looking for poets to fill the 5-10 minute gaps between the bands at the Inside/Outside festival, at the Engine Rooms, Westgate, Skelmersdale. It's on Friday 22 June, a...
21st June 2012
Bilingual Lit-fest in France, mostly gratuit!
Here’s something a bit different: a well-stocked weekend literature festival in Les Deux Sevres, north of the Loire Valley in France. A bilingual lit-fest, in fact, with principal guest writer, poe...
20th June 2012
Slam champion Ben Mellor's top performance tips
Award-winning slam poet Ben Mellor has offered three top tips for performance poets: learn it; eye contact; and practice. In an interview called Ask the Expert with the performing arts network webs...
20th June 2012
Should five-year-olds be made to learn poems by heart?
Poet Simon Armitage has expressed his deep reservations about the plan by the education secretary, Michael Gove, to ensure five-year-old pupils learn to recite poems by heart. In an article on the ...
20th June 2012
Saving the Earth, one poem at a time
Write Out Loud is supporting the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development from 20-22 June in the best way we can, by urging folks to write poems about it. Write Out Loud’s founder Julian Jordon is ...
20th June 2012
Solomon Scribble at Write Out Loud Sale
Solomon Scribble, pictured, Sian S Rathore, and Fergus Evans are guest poets are Write Out Loud sale on Tuesday 19 June at the Waterside arts centre, Sale. First time readers are especially welcom...
18th June 2012
Change of venue for Write Out Louders at Cadence festival
The venue has changed for Write Out Louders heading for this year's Cadence festival at Tyldesley in Greater Manchester on Saturday, 16 June. The new venue is Independent House, Chapel Street, Tyl...
15th June 2012
Write Out Loud Wigan tonight
It may be raining outside and even in your heart … but that’s no excuse for not leaving your troubles with the hat-check girl, and heading into the Tudor House hotel in Wigan for another rip-roarin...
14th June 2012
And now for something completely different ...
Experimental artists Peter Jaeger, Ira Lightman, and Helmut Lemke will be performing at Manchester Other Room, on Tuesday 12 June at 7pm, now at a new venue at The Castle, Oldham Street, Manchester...
11th June 2012
Join the collage at Write Out Loud Stockport
Write Out Loud Stockport returns to Stockport art gallery on Monday 11 June at 7pm for another open mic event that is especially welcoming to beginners. Entry is a £1 donation. Read John Keane’s c...
11th June 2012
Fancy putting your poems to music?
There’s been a bit of discussion on these pages recently about rhythm in poetry. Well here’s a chance to collaborate with musicians, experimenting with text and sound to produce short pieces and a ...
4th June 2012
Patience Agbabi remakes the Canterbury Tales
Patience Agbabi, whose poems have been broadcast on television and radio all over the world, the London Underground and human skin, will be appearing at the Latitude club, Norwich Arts centre, on W...
1st June 2012
