Turnbull, Dockrill, Kennard

Contact: www.londonwordfestival.com/?p=1269

Tim Turnbull + Laura Dockrill + Luke Kennard+ Instructions for Heartbreak by Francesca Millican-Slater

The cream of contemporary live poetry join forces for a night of surreal storytelling and darkly witty wordplay.

A century on from the rise of modernism, grimly hilarious Tim Turnbull offers a satirical survey of our new cultural landscape in a performance set featuring poems from his groundbreaking 2009 collection Caligula on Ice and Other Poems (Donut Press). Drawing on popular entertainments such as the ballad, pulp ghost story, folk song and music hall skit, he lampoons human endeavour in its many fields and forms.

Tim is a hugely experienced performer and writer. Born and raised in North Yorkshire, he spent the 80s and early 90s honing his skills in a number of punk, ska and industrial bands before turning to a career in poetry after a road-to-Damascus appearance in a Slam at East London's Chat's Palace. Since then, Tim has produced four critically acclaimed collections, won the inaugural Edinburgh Book Festival Slam, was the recipient of the 2006 Arts Foundation Performance Poetry Fellowship, the first award of its kind.

Laura Dockrill (aka Dockers MC) is a dazzling storyteller and shrewd observer of life's peculiarities. A poet and illustrator from South London, Laura was named one of the top ten literary stars of 2008 by The Times. Her sassy and unique way with words has captivated audiences at Glastonbury, Latitude and Reading festivals, and as support for Martha Wainwright, Kate Nash and Adele. Between being named as one of ELLE's 20 hot faces of 2009 and working on a reinterpretation of Roald Dahl's The Pig for the BBC, Laura found time to release her second book last year, an outsider's coming-of-age-revenge adventure, Ugly Shy Girl, which captures her skill for nailing the offbeat, twisted world of modern British youth.

Luke Kennard is a writer and performer equipped with a poetic arsenal of absurdist and satirical brilliance that deftly disarms theatre, comedy and spoken word audiences alike. Awe inspiring down-to-earthiness. He writes and publishes poetry and short stories and has written for the stage, taking productions to the Edinburgh Fringe. He won an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 2005 and his second collection The Harbour Beyond the Movie was published by Salt in 2007 and shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, making him the youngest poet ever to be shortlisted. His latest publication is The Migraine Hotel.

Performance artist Francesca Millican-Slater presents her full step-by-step programme 'Instructions for Heartbreak.' This informative seminar will put you on the road to heartbreak by letting you know what heartbreak is, where it comes from, where it hurts and how to do it in the comfort of your own home.

Entry: £6.50 adv, £8 door

Time: 7:00pm