It so happened that October’s Write Out Loud Woking at the Lightbox coincided with Halloween … and a number of our wonderful poets certainly entered into the spirit of things. Compere Rodney Wood wore a Halloween hat, Geoffrey Pimlott went undercover, Kitty Coles, who specialises in the ‘spooky nature’ genre, admitted she was ‘spoilt for choice’; and Michael Cutchey provided a spectacular finale, donning Victorian garb – an undertaker if I’m not mistaken – to recite poems by Lewis Carroll, Edgar Allen Poe, and HP Lovecraft. We also heard a captivating set by our featured poet, Richard Hawtree, delivering poems with great humour and brio from his entertaining and engaging Dempsey and Windle pamphlet, The NIght I Spoke Irish in Surrey. Not to be outdone, Donall Dempsey enlisted the help of Heather Moulson to give us an enlightening piece of medical science involving a very long word that means the back of the knee. We are also close to Remembrance Day, and there were poems about war from newcomer Chris Britt-Searle – a remarkable epic with a savage twist at the end - Lorri Pimlott, and Karen Izod, while Anne Warrington delivered a powerful and angry poem about people smugglers and their trafficked victims. Thanks also to Pete Jardine, Nathan Hallam, Frank aka Charlie Cheerful, Ray Pool, Heather Moulson, Tony Demoncy, Peter Taylor, Louise Blake, Amel Oudjida, Eddie Chauncy, and Janice Dempsey. Apologies for not having pictures of Pete – I was busy filming him, of which more in a separate post. Suffice it to say that Pete spent much of the rest of the evening videoing poets in a trial run of something which we hope to take further. Thanks for all your efforts, Pete! Thanks too to comperes Greg Freeman and Rodney Wood. Commiserations to Karen Swaley and Andy BJ Low, who both suffered train mishaps which meant they were unable to join us as they had intended. The next Write Out Loud Woking at the Lightbox will be on Thursday 28 Nov ember – but no open-mic poetry at the Lightbox in December, as the last Thursday of the month is on Boxing Day.

Review is about Write Out Loud Woking on 31 Oct 2019 (event)

We enjoyed a wonderful guest set from Tom McColl at Write Out Loud Woking in September. Tom arrived just in time, fresh from the hurly-burly of his job at Westminster. Mr McColl is a welcome breath of warmth and sanity in these days of overheated language, even if he did feel the need to don a balaclava for one of his poems. He quickly established his usual rapport with his audience, and poetic highlights included his 21st century riposte to TS Eliot, and tales of dodgy goings on with fruit and veg in the heart of Soho. Our debut open micers this month were The Almost Poet, Mary Morgan, and Terry, and many thanks also to our wonderful regular poets Carla Scarano, Ray Pool, Pete Jardine, Elliot Msindo, Phil Whittick, Matthew Paul, Janet Collinson, Geoffrey Pimlott, Nathan Hallam, Michael Cutchey, Lorri Pimlott, Heather Moulson, and Kitty Coles. Also good to see Eddie Chauncy – hope you feel well enough to read next month, Eddie. Comperes Rodney Wood and Greg Freeman also had something to say, while Gillian Freeman stepped in again to collection Lightbox donations. The comedians had taken a night off, while the scientists tiptoed past us to look at the stars outside. Winter drawers on. It is already very bracing at the Lightbox after its usual opening hours, so wrap up warm when you come next month. Our guest in October will be that very accomplished poet Richard Hawtree. The last Thursday of the month is 31 October, so anything on a Halloween theme would be appropriate. Nothing else happening that day, is there? Let’s keep Write Out Loud Woking a B-word-free zone, if we can …

Review is about Write Out Loud Woking on 26 Sep 2019 (event)

Write Out Loud Woking at the Lightbox … you never bleeping know what to expect! Highlights were Elliot Msindo’s five-year-old daughter Kayla reading proudly and confidently her short poem ‘I am Black’, followed immediately by featured poet Pete Jardine’s set, including his tribute to John Cooper Clarke, complete with family-friendly bleeps. Those bleeps notwithstanding, and no reflection on Pete’s innovative and imaginative poetry, it was enough to see Elliot hurrying his young family towards the exit … well, it was past their bedtime! We also welcomed Lightbox debutants 2b.Frank, Maria Kanag, and Scott Hendry, as well as Heather Moulson, Phil Whittick, Denise Bundred, Patrick Osada, Janet Collinson, Afon Claerwen, Geoffrey Pimlott, Ray Pool, Anna Molesworth, Anne Warrington, Lorri Piimlott, Richard Jones, Michael Cutchey, Eddie Chauncy, Scott Hendry, Tom McColl and Richard Hawtree. All in all, a staggering 22 poets from the floor, plus feature poet Pete Jardine, and compere Rodney Wood. Well done to Rodney for coping with a mammoth second half, and thanks to those who voluntarily trimmed their contributions as time began to run out. Thanks as always to Frances Wood for passing round Rodney’s hat to receive donations to the Lightbox. Co-compere Greg Freeman introduced the shorter first half, took the pix, and wrote this. Our next Write Out Loud Woking at the Lightbox is on Thursday 26 September. The featured poet will be Tom McColl. See you there!

Review is about Write Out Loud Woking on 29 Aug 2019 (event)

Thanks to all who took part in another wonderful Write Out Loud Woking open-mic poetry night at the Lightbox last night. Despite the heatwave! It was great to hear Karen Swaley deliver an extended set as our featured poet, and to appreciate the range of her work, and her developing talent. We’re very proud of you, Karen! Other highlights included Connie Froeze – sadly, her farewell appearance before she returns to Germany. Remarkably, Connie says she prefers to perform her poetry in English, because she thinks of the subjects in English, too. This month’s two debutants were Elliott Msindo, from Farnborough, who gave a powerful and confident performance, and Tony Demoncy, a previous attendee of one or two Woking Stanza group sessions. We welcomed back Amel Oudjida, Louise Blake, Adam Gary, and Afon Claerwen, whose poem about Hiroshima – the anniversary is on August 6 - was moving and emotional. Thanks also to regulars and always fine poets Pete Jardine, Peter Taylor, Andy BJ Low, Anna Molesworth, Eddie Chauncy, and Karen Izod. Where would we be without you all? Indeed, where was Rodney, my co-compere? Sunning himself somewhere, hopefully at a somewhat lower temperature. We did have noise issues in the second half with the comedians upstairs, but understood that they had to keep their door open because of the heat. We’ll excuse them just this time. Thanks also to Gillian Freeman, who passed around the cap at half-time for donations to the Lightbox. It’s a wonderful venue, the Lightbox. Some people travel a long way to perform here, and we’re very pleased and proud to be part of it. Our next open-mic night at the Lightbox is on Thursday 29 August, when our featured poet will be Pete Jardine. See you there!

Review is about Write Out Loud Woking on 25 Jul 2019 (event)

In all the excitement we forgot to mention it … but last night was our one-year anniversary of Write Out Loud Woking at the Lightbox! We once again welcomed debutants who had found us via Google … Connie Froese, visiting from Germany, and Elena Frost, from up the road at Ottershaw. We were pleased to welcome back regulars as well to the new Thursday-night ambience at the Lightbox, with scientists in the courtyard, and comedy fans upstairs. It was all happening! Thanks to all our readers, who also included Geoffrey and Lorri Pimlott, Karen Izod, Pete Jardine, Anna Molesworth, Ray Pool, Kitty Coles, Michael Cutchey and Eddie Chauncy. Thanks also to Frances Wood, for collecting the Lightbox donations, and to comperes Greg Freeman and Rodney Wood. Our next gathering is at the Lightbox cafe on Thursday 25 July, when our featured poet will be Karen Swaley.

Review is about Write Out Loud Woking on 27 Jun 2019 (event)