DIARY – January & February 2008
January: Tuesday 29th Open Mic @ Casa Bistro Hope St Liverpool
Organised by The University of Liverpool Lifelong Learning Centre to launch the 2nd Annual Ted Walters International Short Story and Poetry Competition. (See “Competitions”)
Wednesday 30th @ 8.30pm: Penny Broadhurst and Moxy Casimir @ The Octogan Theatre, Bolton. Penny returns for one night only to the spoken word following national success with her music. Moxy is the nom deplume of award winning Radio & TV playwright Lavinia Murray – recently voted a “Genius” on Dave Gorman’s radio programme of the same name. Also showcased are Wigan’s Darren Thomas and Rochdale’s Katie Haigh – there are a limited number of open mic slots. Contact john@writeoutloud.net for details.
Friday 1st February @ 8pm: Riders – Write Out Loud’s mix of poetry, music, comedy and madness. Guest star Alabaster De Plume supported by virtuoso musician John Fairhurst – described by New Age Guitar Superstar as “A one man explosion of blues, Indian ragas and English baroque folk” and with a showcase for poet & musician James Hartnell. There are a limited number of open mic slots contact paul@writeoutloud.net with details of what you want to do.
Monday 4th @ 8pm: Come Strut your Stuff – Poetry & acoustic music night hosted by Graham & Nick, with Stan the Harper. The Egg Café, Newington, between Bold St & Renshaw Street, Liverpool. Come early to book a slot. Free.
Wednesday 6th @ 8pm: Dead Good Poets Society Open Floor. Twenty-four 5 minutes slots for you to perform your own poetry. Doors open 7.30pm. Come early to book a reading slot. The 3rd Room, The Everyman Bistro, Hope Street, Liverpool 1. £1. Compere: Chris Clark
Saturday 10th 2-4pm: Dead Good Poets Society Poetry Reading Group @ The Hornby Room, Liverpool Central Library. A chance to look at and discuss 4 poems on the subject of music – If music be the food of love…? No right or wrong answers, just good-natured debate (and a few tangents!). If you would like to receive copies of the poems in advance, please contact Sarah on 0151 709 5221. Refreshments provided. Free.
Monday 11th: 7-9.30pm Poetry Café CELEBRATING THE CITY
For the rest of this year, the Costa Café at the bottom end of Bold Street will become Costa Liverpool Poetry Café for two evenings each month. The café will open on the 2nd Monday and 4th Thursday each month from 7.00 -9.30pm. Admission will normally be free, though some special events will be ticketed.
For this 1st meeting, please bring your favourite Liverpool-focused and/or Liverpool-authored and/or urban poems (already published) to read. Please no more than three poems for 5-10 minutes. If possible, could readers notify Alex Scott-Samuel in advance on 724-2777 or alexss@liv.ac.uk
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Wednesday 13th @ 8pm – Words Alive! Lyrics, words and guitars. An open mic night for poets, writers and singer songwriters. The Citadel, Waterloo Street, St Helens. Entry: £2/£1 info@citadel.org.uk /Tel 01744 735436
Thursday14th @ 8pm – Formby Poets. Open mic with both poetry and music.
at the Freshfields Hotel, Formby. Free. william.brierley1@ntlworld.com
Saturday 16th: 11am – 1pm Dead Good Poets Society Poetry Reading Group @ Bebington Library, Bebington, Wirral. For advance copies of the poems, please contact Sarah on 0151 709 5221. Free. Refreshments provided. All welcome.
Sunday 17th @ 8pm:Write Out Loud Read Around – popular, friendly Open Mic.
All are welcome, beginners especially so. Howcroft Inn, Pool St, Bolton.
Entry: £1 donation requested. Check www.writeoutloud.net for directions.
Wednesday 20th @ 8pm. Dead Good Poets Society Guest Night: University Challenge, showcasing the best new poets from creative writing courses in Liverpool. You can say you heard them HERE first, before they win literary prizes galore! Compered by Clare (just call me Bamber) Kirwan. £3 /£2 /£1 The 3rd Room, Everyman Bistro, Liverpool 1
Thursday 21st: 9-11pm Wirral Ode Show Poets – open mic at the Stork Hotel, Price St, Birkenhead. Free Entry. Contact jasonrichardson69@hotmail.com for more details.
Thursday 21st @ 7.30pm – Freed Up. Poetry performance night at The Green Room, Manchester. The theme for this evening is RACE. If you would like to be added to the list of readers please phone 0161 615 0500
Saturday 23rd @ 7.45pm – John Hegley. Luton’s premier bard. Warning: contains rhyming language. The Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. Box Office: 0151 709 4776
Thursday 28th: 7-9.30pm - Costa Poetry Café, Bold Street, Liverpool
Poets Gladys-Mary Coles & Aileen La Tourette will read from their recent poetry collections. Free.
Thursday 28th @ 7.45pm Andrew Motion introduces his acclaimed autobiography In The Blood A Memoir of My Childhood (Faber), poems old and new and his work as Laureate. The Everyman Theatre, Liverpool. 0151 709 4776
Opportunities
Dead Good Poets Society are devising a poetry road show based around issues of Capital & Culture. If you would like to be considered for involvement in the show (commissioned writing and/or performing) please get in touch with the Co-ordinator, Sarah Maclennan as soon as possible. Please note, funding has been applied for, but may not be forthcoming. We’re proceeding with the project all the same!
In The Red Six are seeking submissions of contemporary prose fiction and poetry. There is only one week left until the submission deadline ( 31st Jan 08) so send them in as soon as possible. They are looking for flash fiction, short poetry and 6-word short stories, . Poetry up to 40 lines max, tankas, cinquains etc but not limited to syllabic verse. Prose up to 500 words. Send to: inthered6@googlemail.com
Little Bird Magazine is looking for submissions: No poem is too short but anything over 50 or so lines is quite long enough. We’d like to print poems that fulfil any of the following: Lively, Amusing, Rhythmical, Use local dialect, Are about Liverpool in some way, Make interesting use of rhyme. Here are a few themes which reflect our content: Liverpool. Literature, Art, Theatre, Music, Architecture, Pigeons, Obsession, Frustration, Creativity, Little birds. We are happy to receive anything though. littlebirdmagazine@hotmail.co.uk
Competitions
The University of Liverpool Creative Writing Society for Lifelong Learning,
‘The 2nd Annual Ted Walters International Short Story and Poetry Competition 2008.’ 1st prize Short Story Category: Competition Winner £200, Runner up will receive £50 1st Prize Poetry Category: Competition Winner £200, Runner up will receive £50. Email thomas.mcbride2@sky.com for entry form
The Mslexia Women’s Poetry Competition 2008 is now open for entries. For full details go to: www.mslexia.co.uk
Mirehouse Poetry Competition Closing Date: 15-Feb-08
For poems of up to 40 lines on the theme of Flowing. Judge: Alice Oswald. First prize £350.Entry Fee: £4 per poem Contact: Mirehouse Poetry Competition, Droridge Farm, Dartington, Devon TQ9 6JG
Norwich Writers’ Circle 2008 Open Poetry Competition. Closing Date: 19-Feb-08
For poems of up to 40 lines. Categories: open poetry (first prize £200), John Coleridge Award for humorous poems, Mary Ingate Award for a resident of Norfolk or Suffolk, Hilary Mellon Award for a minimalist poem (prizes £15). Adjudicator – Doris Corti
Entry Fee: £3 per entry for the first poem and £2 per entry thereafter
Contact: NWC Open Poetry Competition Secretary, Mrs Jean Shackleton, 25 Wensum Valley Close, Norwich NR6 5DJ
Email: jshackleton7@aol.com Website: www.norwichwriters.org.uk