A new Write Out Loud poetry night took its first lungfulls of air on Monday  - and so far the infant is doing well. Write Out Loud Woking was launched in a pub alongside a canal in the village of Send, just outside Woking, in Surrey. There were 15 readers, plus two hosts, and an audience of more than two dozen. There was no mic – of that, more later – no guest poets, no banner, and not much in the way of fanfares. But there was a warm atmosphere, a jollity, and a collective will for this initiative to succeed.

We were greatly aided by the support of our poetry friends in nearby Guildford. Janice Windle and Donall Dempsey, who have been running the successful 1000 Monkeys night for a number of years, brought over a contingent of tried and tested open-micers to give us the best possible kickstart. There was no rivalry about it – just fraternal pleasure that another outlet for poetry in the area has been established.  Janice and Donall gave us a terrific plug at their night at the Keystone pub two weeks ago – and we took it from there.

There was publicity in the local papers  - and that brought forth a poet who doesn’t use a computer, but says she has stashes of poetry, waiting to be read aloud. It seemed Janet Collinson had been waiting for this moment. We hope she enjoyed herself, and that she will be back. We enjoyed her poems, particularly the one about all the fuss and bother being made about HG Wells and his links with Woking.  

For me, the highlight was hearing Emma Stradling, pictured left, read a poem about the death of Sally Brampton, a poem that she had posted on Write Out Loud the week before. In her poem  Emma describes a deep empathy for Sally’s battle with depression.  Despite her misgivings about reading in public, relayed to me in advance, in the end she did it. It was a poem she felt she had to share.

And that, of course, is what a Write Out Loud poetry night should be all about – letting poets have their moment to be heard. All credit to my co-host, Rodney Wood, who also masterminds Wolking Stanza group, for spurring me on to find a venue in the Woking area where this kind of night could take place. Rodney himself, it has to be said, arguably lowered the tone by contributing a poem about a particularly painful surgical procedure which included an exhaustive list of terms for the male member. But then I had egged him on to read it out at Send after he first unleashed it on social media.

It was all part of the mix. Also reading was Oversteps Books publisher Alwyn Marriage, from her collection of poems about travelling around with her husband in their camper van. Congratulations on your recent poetry prize, Alwyn! It was also good to see the beatific smile on the face of “biker poet”  Andy V Frost, pictured top, at the thought of yet another poetry venue to roll up to on his motorbike.

Rodney, pictured left, and I shared compering duties – I took the first half, and then went to the back of the narrow room, and discovered a problem. From there you could not really hear the poets. Next month we will make the reading position more central, and maybe introduce a mic and small amplifier after all. Teething problems, merely! Although not being able to hear is quite a problem, I concede. And a Write Out Loud night that is not quite loud enough …

The morning after the night before, I am happy to say that Rodney and I basked in a certain amount of plaudits. But we were just the facilitators. It was the poets  who came and read and laughed and applauded – as well as some friends and one or two curious onlookers – that made it succeed, plus Write Out Loud’s  David Andrew, who battled with the lighting to take the pictures. The challenge now is to ensure that this new arrival thrives in the months – and hopefully, years  - to come.

Greg Freeman

 

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PHOTOGRAPHS: DAVID ANDREW / WRITE OUT LOUD