The 2013 Poetry Proms - Calling All Poets Who'd Like to Perform!

The 2013 Poetry Proms have relocated to the busy seaside town of New Brighton. Offering easy access, reasonably priced accommodation (at Travelodge) for visiting poets, great venues, and a buzzing location, this year’s events promise to be even better than last year. 

There will be plenty of opportunity for all poets to perform between 2pm and 4:30pm on Saturday 6th July at any number of our hosted venues. There will also be free opening and closing events for everyone to meet, socialise, and chill! Local hosts The Bards of New Brighton and Tales by the Fireside will again be joined by Chester Poets offering a wide range of performance opportunities. Further details of venues will be announced in the coming weeks, but we can already confirm that the iconic Fort Perch Rock will be one venue on the day. 

In addition there will be an outdoor venue in the newly built performance "ampitheatre" right in the heart of the town for those with a penchant for performing to the crowds! Interested? We think you should be! For more details, or to register as a performer on the day, just drop an e-mail to mailfordjc@gmail.com and nikkibennett27@hotmail.com. It’s as easy as that!

We Love Words Festival, Guest Blog by Pete 'Cardinal' Cox

“Peterborough’s First We Leaf Words Festival” I read. We Leaf Words? We believe in words? Words are a relief? “No”, someone said, “it’s a heart, it means we love words”. No, it’s definitely a leaf, there’s a stalk and you can see the veins …
 

The festival started for me on Friday 7^th September when I was invited in (the previous day) to the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire breakfast show to do a poem marking the end of their first week and to tie-in with the festival. That though was one of those evenings when I had just 45 minutes in which to write said poem. Fortunately, I had about twenty minutes before going on air to write another verse to mark the success of a local Paralympics athlete. Seemed to go well …

The festival was a mix of big names (Roger McGough, Wendy Cope, Sir Andrew Motion, John Hegley, Attila the Stockbroker and Clive James), up-and-coming names (Helen Mort, Luke Kennard and Dead Poets), local poets (Toby Wood, Keely Mills and Alex Tyler), a play around John Clare, talks, workshops and the final of the Poet Laureate of Peterborough competition.

Favourite bits? Sir Andrew Motion was really good. His new novel is a sequel to Treasure Island, with a big dollop of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness added to the mix. Clive James was brilliant and a real treat to hear him. The workshops I attended with Helen Mort and John Hegley were both very different, but both productive in their respective ways. Plus I found out one of the poets quiet liked my column ‘Pub Scrawl’ in the local pubzine ‘Rhythm and Booze’.

One poet refused to sign my copies of their books because I hadn’t bought the latest one. Fair enough, up to them, I thought. Other people (when I mentioned this) said things along the lines of grumpy old so-and-so. No, I’d respond, perhaps they think I’ll just eBay them, or maybe (as they’re getting on a bit) they can only sign so much or maybe there’s another reason. If they don’t want to sign stuff, it’s up to them. I enjoyed their event and would go to another if they ever came back, just because I’d bought the ticket does not automatically entitle me to their autograph. (You’ll note I’ve not named them).

The title of Poet Laureate of Peterborough (PLoP) was won by an old friend, Simon Stabler, and I hope he gets to do some interesting things in his year. Ten years ago I won the same title and it got me to read at a poetry festival in Oxford and write for an event in Ireland.

So now we’re just waiting for next year’s festival, fingers-crossed.

© Pete 'Cardinal' Cox