Why you should come to Four London Poets on Saturday Dec 3^rd.

Number 1). Deryl Walsh. Deryl has long been one of my favourite poets. She makes the occasional excursion into surrealism, but most of her work is observational, succinct and often very witty. I would be well pleased if she were to include the poem about dining alone in a hotel, and the one concerning a visit to the Festival Hall. She also writes clearly about her New Zealand origins, and I particularly remember a longer piece about her home town and where her parents worked.

Number 2). It has nothing whatsoever to do with Donald Trump.

Number 3). Leah Fritz. Leah is a legend in her own lifetime. Born and raised in New York, she rubbed shoulders with the Beats and wrote non-fiction and journalism on the Women’s Movement and what was then called the counter-culture. But the second greatest city in the world was not enough, so she moved to London in 1985. Her articles have appeared in The Guardian, Literary Review and Poetry Review amongst others, and she has published five books of poetry. In one poem she writes:  “poets are radioactive, they breathe
                                fire to ignite your eyes”.

Number 4). It’s free. Just think: a Saturday night, more than two hours of top class entertainment, and you don’t need to spend a penny piece. Actually it’s a very cunning plan to free up your cash to spend on drinks at the bar and buying the poets’ books. Genius.

Number 5). Previous audience members and participants have said this:

“Thank you for arranging a marvellous evening at Rich Mix. It was a joy to be there.” Alan Wolfson, participant.

“Thank you for a great night - fantastic sets from all!” Ursula McLaughlin, audience.

“Great evening at 4 London Poets. Thanks for putting on....Four excellent readings.... what a great combination and contrast of voices and a nice venue too.” Pauline Seawards, audience.

“It was an incredible evening, where I was inspired by such high quality poetry.... The turnout speaks volumes! Brilliant atmosphere! The turnout speaks volumes! Brilliant atmosphere!” Patricia foster, participant.

Number 6).Bryan Baker. Some of Bryan’s poems have caused me to laugh out loud. He has a very good line in dry, somewhat acerbic wit. He also knows his history, and I rather hope he will read his poem concerning the death of Stalin, which is brilliant.

Number 7). It is an event which brings to the fore poets of genuine literary quality. That is not to say the evening is all serious – there have been some who were laugh-out-loud funny, and each programme has balanced different styles and concerns. What you won’t hear are poets who constantly hop from one open mic to another, or those who relentlessly self-promote. We prefer to dig out more self-effacing writers who nonetheless have important things to say.

Number 8). Jacob Sam-La Rose. Jacob should get a medal for the amount of work he does promoting poetry in the educational sphere. He has run workshops and held residencies at hundreds of institutions around the world. As for his own work? Let’s just say I still remember vividly one of his poems ten years after I first heard it.

Check the details here. https://www.richmix.org.uk/events/spoken-word/four-london-poets