Poeting at the Lit and Phil, Newcastle

I have a new pamphlet coming out next week. It's called ˜ and ►, which you might think stands for circle and triangle or you might know stands for record and play. A couple of poems in the collection have those old fashioned tape recorders in em and I just liked it. 

Anyway - I've left Facebook until they get a handle on all those dodgy rape and domestic violence pages so I'm just using this post to let you know about the launch event at the Lit and Phil on Wednesday 17th April at 7pm. (It's free and there will probably be wine, there always is when there's poeting going on). It's a joint launch (a jaunt?) with the poet Ric Hool whose work I'm very excited to hear. Although that does mean that I have the usual doubts about how my work will hold up in comparison... Never mind though, eh? So, there you have it. If you're in the toon next Wednesday and you fancy a spot of poetry please pop along.   

http://www.redsquirrelpress.com/SquirrelEvent.html

On not being ignored

So performing Amuse Bouche at the Durham Book Festival was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be. Yes, it was busy and yes not everyone there was dedicated follower of spoken word but that's kind of the point. It's a challenge. And although it was hard to know if people were really interested or if they were just listening out of politeness it was still good fun. And between AJ, Sky and me we managed to attract the attention of passers by and the folks already sitting down to eat didn't harrumph off in a strop. So not as nerve-wracking or as confidence-denting as I was anticipating. Looking forward to the show at Live Theatre on 16 November now.

The very lovely and ever so busy Sheila Wakefield was at the Durham Book Festival too and stopped by to watch a bit of Amuse Bouche. Not only was it fantastic to have a friendly-poetry-loving face in the audience but she also gave me a date for my Red Squirrel Press pamphlet publication - Yay! It's going to be May 2012, which seems as good a time as any. Now I just need to pull the rest of the pamphlet together in time for the mid-December deadline.