Some traditions simply refuse to die. Back in 2010 Write Out Loud’s website founder Julian Jordon inaugurated the first Write Out Loud open-mic poetry jam at the Tunnel End Inn during Marsden jazz festival weekend. The following year it switched to the Railway Inn, where it ran very successfully for a number of years. In 2019 the event was held in a marquee, and then came Covid. No jazz festival, no poetry jam. Soon afterwards Julian, still at the helm of the poetry organisation Write Out Loud, moved to Cumbria.

But a long-standing supporter and participant in Write Out Loud, Isobel Clarke, from Wigan, could not bear to see the event disappear. She and her sisters had transformed an earlier jam, by crossing the Pennines, dressing up in US army uniforms and performing as an Andrews Sisters tribute act. They loved coming to the jazz festival, and wanted to keep the ‘sister act’ going. Isobel, with great determination and drive, decided to revive the open-mic event, phoenix-like.

And she and her sisters did, in 2022, and in 2023. This year Isobel brilliantly compered the latest jam, at Marsden last Sunday, at probably its most fitting venue yet – the welcoming Marsden Socialist Club, with a proper stage and everything!

It feels absolutely right to have a group of glam singing sisters at a jazz festival. But what of the poetry? It was heartening to see a number of familiar faces from days gone by at the Railway take to the stage last Sunday, as well as the eminence grises of Write Out Loud, Julian Jordon and Dave Morgan, and me too, I suppose. It certainly felt heartening to be there.

Among that number of familiar faces I would count Paul Broadhurst, Tim Taylor, Freda Davis, John Mac, Keith Jenkinson, Thea Ayres, Anne Broadbent, and last but certainly not least, Felix Owusu-kwarteng – a crowd-pleaser if ever there was one. Newcomers included Cameron Tricker, from Thetford in Norfolk; James Laughton (Oldham); and Liz McMullan, now living locally, and previously a contributor to Write Out Loud Woking on Zoom. The geographical spread continued with Buxton’s Sue Birchenough, Howard Parker from Rossendale, and Barnsley’s Jane Sharp.

Poetic subjects included nostalgia for life experienced through “rose-tinted testicles”, car park problems (“Minis aren’t mini no more”), writers that are “half a line short of a sonnet”, or lacking the required “corduroy regalia”, and verses “that have ended before they’ve begun”.

There were serious poems – a long, moving one from Freda Davis about losing a baby;  a remarkably strong one dedicated to “all female victims of male violence”, by James Laughton, pictured right, based on Kipling’s ‘If …’; and a very thoughtful one from Thea Ayres about finding the “heart centre”. Liz McMullan, pictured left, originally from New Brighton, but someone who has “moved a lot”, delivered a five-line poem called ‘Home’ that had “started off as three pages”. There were angry poems, about Gaza – “the biggest atrocity of the 21st century” - from Christine Renshaw, and about the newish Labour government by Howard Parker (“shafted by Starmer, robbed by Reeves”). And a touch of the surreal from Jane Sharp, that blamed the existence of Marsden on “a rogue asteroid … moulded by some extra-terrestrial collison”. Could explain a lot, I suppose.

Star turn Felix Owusu-kwarteng, pictured right, brought the house down, as he always used to do at The Railway, with poems about a poltergeist in the house, and a dentist who may well have been “Satan in disguise”, all delivered with devilish sound effects.

And another crowd-pleaser, Julian Jordon, rounded off the poetry in the first half with his ever-popular protest poem about rhubarb – “pink stems forced to rise, for the pleasure of others” – complete with audience participation. His other poem, about Manchester’s Gay Village in Canal Street, seen through a yesteryear bargee’s eyes, brought this comment from compere Isobel: “Made me want a night out in Manchester, but you’d have to rely on Northern Rail to get there.”  

And talking of Isobel, she and her glittertastic singing sisters – Catherine Greenlees, Yolande Clough, and Eleanor Nelson - provided a rousing finale to the first half with two numbers, a version of Return to Sender about the Post Office scandal, and aimed squarely at former CEO Paula Vennells  - “I got a letter from the postman, I got a CBE” – and a very appealing acapella Andrew Sisters adaptation – “Don’t go flashing your metaphors, to anyone else but me …” and finished off the second half in fine style, too. Such a spectacular injection is not what you’d expect at a poetry open-mic, but it absolutely suits the jazz festival vibe. All4One give the old poetry jam a special new identity, an infusion of magic that leaves everyone with a smile.

Isobel later confessed to early nerves at the start of her compering, but you’d never have guessed. She was seriously brilliant. Her grounding in the early, often riotous years of Write Out Loud Wigan nights at the Tudor no doubt helped. Poets were kept moving at a fast and furious pace. Yes, things overran, but I’d say that’s a tribute to its popularity, and part of the poetry jam tradition, too.

Serious praise is also due to Write Out Loud board member Julia Clark, who worked tirelessly in the background, including collating the running order and brief bios of the poets, and distributing feedback sheets. Comments included  “Enjoyed the session – really good mix of poets and poetry … Great location – please continue with this venue!” and, although we overran, it still “needs to be longer!”  

Grateful thanks are also due to Adam Kewley and Cora Shaw behind the bar at Marsden Socialist Club. Adam was very helpful with the PA system, and Cora is a keen poet herself, who has just published a collection. We hope to be hearing from her at the jam next year!

 

All4One - from left, Catherine Greenlees, Yolande Clough, Isobel Clarke, and Eleanor Nelson 

 

Background: the first performance by the singing sisters at the Marsden poetry jam, in 2016

 

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