Yes it’s that time of year again! What festive period would be complete without hiding sprouts down the side of the sofa, Cliff Richard roasting on an open fire and a cheap end-of-year retrospective or twelve. Yes folks, its time for “Now That’s What I Call, How Clean Is Your Big Brother’s Top 100, I ? Poetry 2006 Factor: Uncovered”

It’s been quite a year for Write Out Loud! The Howcroft nights are bursting at the seams, the website has become a cornerstone of the scene, some of the best performance poets in the world have graced our stage or posted their biogs with us, and our regulars have performed in pubs, clubs, museums, libraries, schools, theatres and tents everywhere from Bolton to Bordeaux, Manchester to Manhatttan, Kendal to…er, somewhere else beginning with K, and lots of places beginning with L – Liverpool, Leeds, Lancaster, London and Latitude Festival. Rumours of a future gig in Llanfair-wotsit-gogoch are unconfirmed at the time of going to press.

Julian won acclaim for the short film “wot he wrote” starring TV legend Jean Alexander, The Word Army won campaign medals everywhere they went, Paul continued to successfully evade arrest and we were published everywhere from Orbis to The Ugly Tree, and Citizen 32 to S&M Dykes magazine. Or was it M&S Dykes magazine? “These aren’t just any nipple clamps. These are…”

But seriously folks, most pleasing of all was witnessing the huge personal development journeys which so many people made – that’s what Write Out Loud is all about! The spectators who became first-time readers, the whisperers who shouted, the shaking readers who began to give it some welly, the superstars who came from nowhere, the pioneers who took us into uncharted waters (often without a paddle!) and the veterans who took it to ever-bigger stages.

But what about you, dear reader? What were the highlights of your poetry year? We’ve opened a discussion page on this website at http://www.writeoutloud.net//public/newsgroupsview.php?NewsGroupsID=21&PHPSESSID=ccf068d8df24ad0b3404c8b3610e092e
and invite you to share your memories and views.

Short of ideas? Shame on you! What about personal performance of the year? Single event of the year? Regular event of the year? Most memorable poet of the year? Best single poem of the year? Slam of the year? Your publication credits? Compere performance of the year? Rear of the year – sorry wrong website! Belly laugh of the year? Lump in the throat of the year –sorry wrong website again! Proudest moment? Funny stories? Best magazine? Most innovative use of poetry? Best single poet collection read? Best anthology read? Plans for 2007? Rising stars to watch? Thank Yous? Any lowlights?

So now – over to you! Thank you for helping make this a truly wonderful year. Please help us all to remember it by getting our best ever discussion thread going. And remember - a poet is for life, not just for Christmas!

Peace.

Eskimo Pope