Derek Adams

Biography

Derek Adams: poet, photographer & occasional short story writer, originally from London, he now lives in Suffolk. He has an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths. His poems have appeared in many magazines in the UK including Acumen, Ambit, Rialto, Magma, Smiths Knoll , Stride, Tears in the Fence and London Grip, as well as a variety of anthologies including 50 Ways to Fly (2017) Ornith-ology: the poetry of birds (2016), Days begin… (2015), Inspired by Hungarian poetry: British poets in conversation with Attila József (2013), From the City to the Saltings: Poems from Essex. (2013), Birdbook 2: Freshwater Habitats (2012), Snap (2010), Ava Gardner: Touches of Venus (2010), Velvet Avalanche: a collection of erotic poetry (2006). He was the winner of the Poetry Monthly Booklet Competition 2004, BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year in 2006 and Poetry Space competition 2010. Has performed at : The Poetry Cafe (Covent Garden) - The Troubadour (Earls Court) - Cabaret Voltaire (Colchester) - Sudbury Poetry Cafe - The Essex Poetry Festival - PoetryWivenhoe - The Derwent Poetry Festival - The Leigh Folk Festival - Nottingham Poetry Society - The Palace Theatre (Westcliff) - Southend Library - The Southend Poetry Group - Club Riga (Westcliff) - The Sundown (Southend), Waterstones (Southend), St Benets Church (Blackfriars EC4) - Colchester Arts Centre - Lumens (Bloomsbury) and Shakespeare & Company (Paris) He was twice poet in residence at the Ely Folk Festival. "As a live performer he mixes depth and subtle humour " Jamie Spracklen (Sundown Arts organiser) His poems have been broadcast on Poetry Please BBC Radio 4, BBC local radio, and were featured in I Leave This at Your Ear the listening wall at the Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall as part of the 2014 Poetry International. Derek facilitates poetry writing workshops and has led workshops at: The Gibberd Garden, The Essex Authors Day, The Festival of Suffolk Poetry, Poetry Wivenhoe, The Essex Poetry Festival, London South Bank University, The Southend Poetry Group. For over fifteen years he was involved in organising the Essex Poetry Festival, and is now a trustee of the Suffolk Poetry Society. He regularly performs in Suffolk, Essex and London, but happy travelling further afield for gigs!

Samples

What a waste (for Ian Dury) There’s a feeling, like the memory of a Kursaal ride, an old wind, a cold wind that stirs inside. Rolling in like the wind off the estuary tide, down a dead flat, mud flat, eight miles wide. And somewhere, somefing, somehow sighed, what a waste - what a waste, Ian Dury died. Snazzy little geezer wiv a spazzy stick. A concrete mixer voice, rough and fick. Takes the stage, like a fief on the nick. Hard bard, art tart, don't giva shit. And somefing, somehow, somewhere sighed, what a waste - what a waste, Ian Dury died. Words of an angel, dressed wiv a mallet, mixed wiv spit from a painters palette. Raw sound, foot down, pushed to the limit, escaped from the cage of an old cock linnet. And somehow, somewhere, somefing sighed, what a waste - what a waste, Ian Dury died. from Everyday Objects, Chance Remarks MINOTAUR Bull-headed, I sit at the centre of a labyrinth. Staring at walls, that I have constructed, from the designs and desires of those about me. I do not know if this maze protects or imprisons me, or why you come with strings attached, weaving your way into the darkest recesses of my lair. from Postcards to Olympus Impossibilité Dancer/Danger 1920 Throw away the old brushes, the old ideas, the old order. Dada. Dada. Dada. The future is as clear to me as this piece of glass, as solid as these cogs, as obvious as the paint from my airbrush. I embrace the dancer, I embrace the danger, I am the dance. from unconcerned but not indifferent - the life of Man Ray

Publications

"Exposure: Snapshots from the life of Lee Miller", 2019, Dempsey and Windle "Everyday Objects, Chance Remarks", 2005, Littoral Press "unconcerned but not indifferent - the life of Man Ray", 2006 Ninth Arrondissement Press "Postcards to Olympus", 2004 Poetry Monthly Press

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.