Garyswordz

Like other spoken word events which I have attended recently , Bilston Voices defied the holiday season by drawing a packed house, making this what hostess Emma Purshouse declared a “blue chair” occasion, when emergency blue chairs had to be produced out of cupboards to cope with an expectant, burgeoning crowd. A local bill had attracted an audience from far and wide, the furthest of whom had travelled from the Italian Alpine village of Merano. Even the staff pull up chairs to listen to proceedings here, such is the following this evening has built up.

Upon inspecting the advertised bill I had been expecting to see Martin Jones the Shropshire Dairy Farmer who writes poetry, monologues and stories about farms, cows and cow pats. In fact first up was Martin Jones, but another one, from Wolverhampton ,who writes about lost love, unemployment, the shortcomings of Wednesfield High School and Stalingrad. Martin romped through his material which was raw, authentic and entertained. Memories of Wolverhampton had some strong lines and poignant observations. When he adds disciplined editing to the enthusiasm of his delivery, he will have a good poem on his hands.

Stuart Haycox has impressive antecedents with his previous work on the Sunbeam factory in Wolverhampton. He did not touch on that tonight, but he did cover much ground, most very impressively. Look Back in Wanting was a fond ,but not overly sentimental piece, about our preoccupation with the past, Black Girl counterpointed the ebony beauty of an Ethiopian woman with the starvation which ravages that country, whilst Lady from a Hot Land examined the culture shock of those who immigrate to this country from balmy climates to be faced with our “grey steel skies of November”. I Remember You was achingly touching to all of us who know, or who have known, a loved one smitten with cancer. Cafe Metro was a sure fire hit performed on home turf! An engaging and rewarding set which was enjoyed by all.

Roger Noon belongs to two local writing groups and quickly displayed his own versatility. From Paper to Silk and back to Wool ,looked at an all too short marriage, in contrast to his own ,now of some 41 years standing, before delivering an Ecclesiastical Trilogy which he dedicated to the influence of Simon Fletcher and a highly amusing, multi voiced Royal Wedding piece. Versatile, light, and effective, whether he is enjoying Jazz by the Levi French Trio, or gardening in autumn, Roger writes with a smile.

After the break, Marion Cockin opened with confidence and humour, reminding us that the insects of warm August will soon give way to the frosts of autumn. That sharp, but irreverent style was carried on both with the tale of a young girl who had gone to the seaside hoping to see the sea, whilst her mother had designs on a hotel waiter, and with her concerns about the irrational fear of her husband dying in inconvenient places! It was with some surprise that the audience also became aware that her excellent poem on a Cabbage White Butterfly had been cruelly overlooked for a butterfly anthology for which it had been submitted. Marion is appearing during the day at the Staffordshire Arts Festival on 17th September.

Greg Stokes, sporting an Albert Camus T shirt, closed proceedings with a reading from his new book, American Toilet Tissue and Schrodingers Pussy in which Black Country Les and Sheila Parkes tackle two arsewipe American image rights attorneys in the Big Apple. Amusing, sharp and episodic, the visitors from Italy confessed that they couldn’t understand a word of the dialect, the rest of us lapped it up!

Bilston Voices meets again on 22nd September, a one off spectacular is being held at the Imperial Banqueting Suite in Bilston on the evening of Saturday 17th September at which Jo Bell, the Anti-Poet and Heather Wastie, among others, will perform.
Gary Longden 25/8/11

A healthy crowd turned out in the middle of the holiday season for this event, which is held bi-monthly, within the convivial surrounds of the Western Public House. Most Spoken Word evening have their own distinctive characteristics and Shindig is no exception. The two halves of the show are promoted by two different entities, Crystal Clear Creators, represented by Jonathan Taylor who tonight had the second half, and Nine Arches Press, represented by Matt Nunn and Jane Commane, who took the first half . A ground floor bar simply converts into a performance room. A combination of a microphone and a solid crowd ensures sympathetic surroundings for proceedings which attract an educated and appreciative, but not elitist, audience.

Crystal Clear Creators is a not-for-profit arts organisation devoted to developing, producing, publishing and promoting new writing. It works with new, up-and-coming and established writers. It records, produces and broadcasts spoken-word material; it publishes anthologies and pamphlets of new writing. Nine Arches press is an independent poetry press that aims to publish the best contemporary voices in handsome new poetry and short story pamphlets and collections.

First up was Matt Merritt who has become something of a fixture on the Midlands poetry circuit in recent months, unsurprisingly, his stagecraft is now finely honed. Matt’s debut collection, Troy Town, was published by Arrowhead in 2008, with a chapbook, Making The Most Of The Light, by HappenStance coming out in 2005.

His poetry has appeared in magazines and anthologies in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia, Matt lives locally, and works as a journalist for Bird Watching magazine. His most recent collection, Hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica, is available from Nine Arches Press, but he ranged freely across the whole pantheon of his work in his reading.

One of the pleasures of hearing a poet several times is in becoming accustomed to the breadth of their work . Zugenruhe was a fine piece on migration, with the underlying sense of anxiety and restlessness powerfully underscoring it. Coolidge intriguingly examined the eponymous US President whom the Reagan Administration had sought to favourably reinvent, whilst Summer Breeze was a wistful and pleasing homage to a friend who died young. On the evening it was 1984 which stood out, a powerful fusion of the social upheaval of the miner’s strike and the bowling menace of the West Indies cricket team of the time.

Closing the first half was Deborah Tyler- Bennett, a lady with Nottinghamshire roots, but a national reputation. Her chapbook collection of three portraits in poems, Mytton… Dyer… Sweet Billy Gibson… is available from Nine Arches Press, and dominated her reading. Quirky, historic , regional characters, they offered rich material from which to draw, Telling the Bees of Jimmy Dyer was particularly atmospheric.

Deborah works as a poet for many national galleries and museums, including workshops for The Science Museum, The National Gallery, The Collection, The Usher Gallery, and most recently being resident poet for Sussex Day at the Royal Pavilion Tearooms, Brighton. That sense of history and place pervaded her reading with Moonlit House from Revudeville (King’s England, 2011), a ghost poem, oozing class.

This was the first time that I had seen Deborah perform and she exceeded her reputation. Confident, assured and instantly engaging, her poetry was as sparkling as her purple patent heels, and her commitment to the poetic cause was evident when she took time out with me to enthuse about her editorship of Coffee House magazine. She has also been translated into Romanian, although why remains a mystery to be resolved at our next meeting!

First up after the break was Alex Plasatis , an exophonic writer undertaking a Creative Writing PhD at De Montfort University who has also co-edited the third volume of Hearing Voices, the Crystal Clear Creators House magazine. The increase in migration, particularly within the EU, will undoubtedly increase this phenomena within English literature. In Germany they have characterised this as “Auslander” and “Migrantenliteratur” ,and the phrases axial and postnational are sometimes used. But the term exophonic seeks to draw a distinction between the differing contexts of production of writing by non-native speakers and native speakers of hybrid identity calling attention to the politics of style in non-native speakers.

Now all this may seem a little high-brow but it is the context within which Greek National Alex performs. Trying to explain or categorise his performance is a challenge, but it was an absolute joy. Loosely a collection of bawdy erotic stories which would make Chaucer blush, it is introduced as being the story of a louche, lothario landlord who chances upon the opportunity to regale his young tenant with the tales of his sexual adventures. Neither conventional poem, nor straight story, it meanders, diverts, entertains and delights in equal measure – and brought the house down. If you have wondered about the libido of seventy nine year old grandmothers and the etiquette of wearing blue nighties in front of your girlfriend’s parents, then check out Alex next time he is in town!

Roy Marshall closed the evening for Crystal Clear Creators. Describing himself as a Leicestershire based poet, dad, a son, a brother and a nurse, Roy enjoyed success in a Guardian competition two years ago and has never looked back. His laid back style took in BBC Children’s programming of days gone by, Nirvana’s farewell UK performance, the smoking ban, and his children. Light, accessible with an unerring eye for humanity ,it was a thoughtful coda for the evening.

The undercard of open mic poets was uniformly high and almost entirely comprised serious subject matter. Mark Goodwin performed a nature poem detailing a country walk which was exquisite in its execution, Maria Taylor evoked the era of knife thrower’s assistants marvelously in a triumph of the virtues of preparation and skilful editing, amongst many fine performances. Shindig next meets on 24th October, free entry.

22/8/11

This open-mic event is now established in its ability to draw attendance from far and wide. Under the skilful stewardship of MC Gary Carr, the standard is high, and the evening always moves on at a brisk pace. It also tends to be quite diverse through happenstance, tonight was no exception. A strong body of poets was on hand to present their wares, and it was material from books which dominated proceedings.

Ian Ward, from Lichfield Poets, has read several times before. This time he chose to present his first collection, Light and Darkness ,(United Press) for its debut outing, which contains over three dozen poems. A social worker by profession Ian’s work is eclectic and off beat. Fantasy horror, contemporary pop culture and love are all visited by his pen. Stolen Away a piece on dementia, stood out.

Barry Patterson presented mainly from the second edition of his successful , Nature Mystic , a collection which reflects his interest in the relationship we have with our environment. Astronaut will resonate particularly with those old enough to remember the moon landings, whilst Advice to a Geordie Miner Lad in Pooley carries an authenticity which transcends the need for having had to have been there. A part of the permanent Polesworth Poetry Trail, Barry reflected that it was a contribution which had come easiest to him over and beyond others to which he had committed more time. Yet it is that immediacy and cohesion which makes the poem such a pleasure to hear, particularly when delivered with a Geordie accent.

Mal Dewhirst took the opportunity to introduce us to the work of some contemporary Irish poets, having just returned from a trip to the Emerald isle as a guest of O’Bheal in Cork City for a three day visit of readings as part of the Cork-Coventry Literature exchange. The first was the Galway Poet Elaine Feeney. He read from her collection published by Salmon, Where’s Katy, the highlight of which was Urban Myths and the Galway Girl, which was constructed from the ephemeral observations of one of her co-workers in a Hairdresser’s salon . The second was Teri Murray whose work Mal sampled from Where the Dagda Dances (Revival Press). A playwright and Editor of the Revival Poetry Journal the book contains new work and selected favourites from previous collections, now out of print. Warm and reflective, her poetry was distinctly Irish fondly echoing the past.

In addition to the reliably strong core of open mic poets, we were also treated to two short stories, one a Peak District fable, The Nailer of Belper, the other, by Richard Young, a traditional Japanese Ghost story representing a departure from Richard’s previous appearance in which he had focused on comic verse. Spoken Worlds meets again on 16th September at 7.30pm, free entry.

19/8/11

The Sozzled Sausage, Leamington Spa

This was the first time that Behind the Arras had visited Leamington Spa and the Summer Slam seemed the perfect opportunity to do so.

The Sozzled Sausage itself has a modern trendy interior with the event being held in a conservatory area which made things accessible to the curious who might just have popped in for a quiet drink, as well as the poetic cognoscenti. George Hardwick officiates, and is the face and voice of proceedings, fellow organiser Kim assists unobtrusively. The pub is quiet on a Monday night resulting in the Poetry crowd dominating proceedings with no extraneous distractions.

Ingeniously, the evening encompassed two things, the slam and an open mic option, which worked well. Slams are popular, as is the format, but some want to present their work without a competitive element, and those people were wisely catered for too. A well balanced sound system ensured that the weak of voice were heard- whilst the strong of voice did not overpower.

The performers were diverse both in style, and content. John Shaw was urbane, and reflective with a very good piece on food rationing entitled Lovely Grub. Poetry can do many things, and one element which John demonstrated is its ability to preserve historic mores which will exist only on the page in the future. Lovely Grub was just that, authentic, nimble and accurate. Unsurprisingly he went through to the semi finals.

Other semi-finalists included organiser George Hardwick (independently assessed by a panel of impartial judges!) and Mister Morrison. I had never seen George perform before, but was aware of his reputation. He was hugely impressive. The Power of Stories was both a call to arms, and a celebration of the form, all wrapped into one.

A veritable invocation which inspired as it sought to extol the inspirational power of stories. His semi-final poem was no less potent, a stirring, moving, Inviting Love, in which he called on the healing powers of love to visit all, ” existence is the sound of love”, moving, and quite brilliant.

Mister Morrison is an unassuming, and very talented young man. He opened up with Angie, an innovative, intricate and sophisticated performance piece. It addresses the audience through the device of calling them Angie, thus enabling him to speak personally to each audience member (“for the sake of convenience can I call you all Angie?). It is amusing and smart, ensuring an immediate and ongoing connection throughout the poem which makes it pretty much the ideal performance/slam weapon.

His semi final piece was, In Aprils Eyes, a fond reflective piece based on his work with disadvantaged children, his winning finalist poem was Danny Boy, another intimate work, this time about his relationship with his brother. The latter two as subject matter would not have succeeded without the humanity and love which he injects into his writing, and an Everyman quality which characterises it. He was the worthy overall slam winner whom I was happy to acknowledge as such in the final, which I personally contested with him.

Suburbia is a topic beloved of poets and songwriters alike, and Ade Barton had a good crack at it. John Mason drew on Philip Larkin as inspiration for The Knight and his Lady, and Craig Lambert entertained with Is the Pope a Catholic.

Yet it was an open mic participant who particularly caught my ear, Sam Elvyheart. One of the joys of this type of event is how individuals appear out of nowhere, mumble something about not having done much of this sort of thing before, and then reveal themselves as burgeoning talent. Daddy Dear was an intensely personal reflection on her relationship with her father which was strong, fragile and engaging. I hope we hear more of Sam, the warm reception she won should inspire her.

A great evening and a credit to organisers George and Kim. The trip home took on a surreal air as text messages warning of riots in Birmingham and gathering crowds in Coventry and elsewhere were juxtaposed by BBC Radio Coventry running a programme on “Words I Hate” and playing James Brown’s “I Feel Good” whilst our urban areas descended into anarchy. ”Pure and Good and Right” next meets on 12th September with Roy McFarlane as the guest poet. 08-08-11