Friday 20 October 2017

Autumn

The rain continues to pour, the Wharfe continues to puff out its chest and the Town Poet duties continue to keep me on my toes. September saw A Firm of Poet's farewell gig sell out St Austin's Hall in Wakefield as part of the city's Lit Fest. It was an emotional event, as well as being a star-studded event, with John Hegley, Becky Cherriman, Laura Potts, Kate Fox and Linton Kwesi Johnson following us on stage. I've mentioned what an honour it has been to perform with my fellow Firm members and I shall miss them unfathomably.

Then, on National Poetry Day, Korks Wine Bar, on Bondgate in Otley, was packed out for our performance of 'Town Below the Steps'. I was dead chuffed with the turn-out, as well as the cast and musicians who made it such a special night. Also, immense thanks should go to everyone at Korks who were magnificent hosts. This is the third public performance of the poetry play and I don't know when the next one will be, but you can still listen to it on the East Leeds FM website or read it after you've bought a copy from Otley-based publisher Half Moon Books.

Finally, I foolishly took a dive into the world of theatre - and found myself treading water - by taking part in Otley Welcomes and ice&fire's production of 'The Asylum Monologues' at Otley Courthouse. The play is composed of genuine testimonies from people seeking asylum in the UK and performed around the world. All profits from its performances are donated to Amnesty International, so we were thrilled that almost 70 people came to the 100-capacity venue to watch me struggle to perform alongside outstanding actors Astrid Copeland and Andy Squires.
                                                                             
I think that's it for now... except to say that I have begun work on a poem to celebrate 300 years of Thomas Chippendale. At first, I was daunted by the thought of paying tribute to the great man, in verse, but having researched his background I have since discovered that he is somewhat of a poet of carpentry - he was once described as "the Shakespeare of furniture". He very much had his finger on the pulse of culture during his time and it was reflected in his art. It's a shame certain nervous poets struggle to do the same...

Monday 18 September 2017

Summer (only just)

As I write this blog post, National Poetry Day (Sept 28th) is just over a week away and myself and a group of Otley poets will be performing our play in verse, 'Town Below the Steps' at Korks Wine Bar to celebrate. This performance will be very special because we will be joined by musicians Beth Kilburn and Matthew Sturgess (The Silver Reserve), who will play original compositions specifically written for the occasion.

Also, Saturday Sept 23rd will be the last-ever A Firm of Poets gig at Wakefield Literature Festival. I have mixed emotions about the event, but I shall miss sharing a stage and memorable experiences with my friends. We will be supporting dub poetry pioneer Linton Kwesi Johnson, another milestone for me.

Our "song for Otley" project is well underway. The idea was originally Sally Egan's (from Opera North); that the town deserves a piece of music celebrating its heritage and people. Following initial discussions, we decided that the townsfolk should be involved, hence the 'Otley Voice Box' was created. These song-contribution boxes were placed around Otley, inviting people to pen lyrics for the project. It was my job to collate the words and write a poem that can be added to music. The results were very interesting - sometimes baffling - but overall there was lots of material to work with. Musicians Phil Snell and Tony Wright (from Terrorvision), along with Sally, are now putting the finishing touches to the song. Very exciting!

Lastly, I will be performing The Asylum Monologues at Otley Courthouse on October 16th, with punk poet and Edinburgh Festival sensation Matt Abbott and actor Astrid Copeland. Otley has a history of welcoming people in need, therefore it is fitting that such a powerful and topical piece of theatre is being staged here.

I think that's about everything for now, so I'll leave you with a contribution from a 'Voice Box' - which I think makes a lot of sense...






Saturday 29 April 2017

Another year...

I am unfathomably pleased to officially announce that I will continue to be the Otley Town Poet for one more year. The end of my first 12 months brought a flurry of literary activity: writing 'Poems for a Pound' to raise money for the Children's Heart Surgery Fund over the Valentine's period (which nearly did me in! but was immensely rewarding), delivering a poetry workshop on the theme of "Voice" with Otley Bellman Terry Ford on World Poetry Day, writing and performing a 'poetry play' with Half Moon Books poets entitled 'Town Below the Steps' and judging the inaugural Otley Poetry Prize.

Ordinarily I wouldn't write to order, but the Children's Heart Surgery Fund is such an important cause, and during the 'Poems for a Pound' project I heard some remarkable stories from people whose lives had been changed for the better as a result of CHSF. In terms of the work involved, I wrote customised poems for those who donated to the charity. I have to say, I wasn't the biggest fan of Valentine's poetry to begin with and, after writing so many, I'm still not a fan - I don't know how the people at Hallmark do it!


Then came World Poetry Day and I took part in two events. In the morning, myself and Otley Town Bellman Terry Ford delivered two poetry workshops to Year 7 pupils at Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley. As always, it was really inspiring to work with young people who are so enthusiastic about poetry, and Terry taught us all some very valuable tips on projection - we made quite a lot of noise...


On the same day the evening saw the first public performance of 'Town Below the Steps'; an affectionate capturing of a day in Otley, that tips its hat to Dylan Thomas's 'Under Milk Wood'. The core text of the 'poetry play' is made of poems that feature in OWF Word Feast Press/Half Moon Books anthologies and I, as narrator, fashioned a narrative thread running throughout to give the play a bit of structure. Our debut at Otley florist and cafe Casa Vitae went extremely well, and so did the official radio performance on Chapel FM's Writing on Air Festival. You can hear the full performance here. You can buy copies of the play from the Half Moon Books website, which makes for a lovely birthday present (shameless plug, ahem...)














Lastly, I was lucky to be picked as the judge for the first-ever Otley Poetry Prize, the second time I have judged a national competition. There were almost 400 entries, which is extremely good for an inaugural contest, and selecting the winners and commended poets was not an easy task. You can see the winning entries here.

What next?! Well, I'll be offering an interactive poetry activity at the Otley AGM on May 15th and I am currently working on a musical poetry project with Opera North's Sally Egan and Terrorvision's Tony Wright for which I will need the help of the residents of Otley. Watch this space!