World Poetry Day
Sunday 21 March 2010
Dockyard dictionary
Sun 21 Mar, 11am – 12pm & 1-2pm
Book in advance £5
Spoken-word artist Germander Speedwell marks World Poetry Day by leading a wordy wander around the docks, spotting nautical curiosities and performing en route her factual but fun pieces about the Thames and its dockyards. From ship names and shellfish to curious cargoes and strange occupations, Germander will explain many of the interesting examples of nomenclature and terminology she has found in the Museum of Docklands and elsewhere, and point out examples and evidence along the way. Germander Speedwell collects words and terminology on overlooked or unexpected subjects, and crafts these into spoken word pieces, in combinations that are packed with plosives, littered with alliteration, riddled with rhythm and resound with assonance. Her favourite subject areas are place names, natural history and nautical subjects, and she has researched and written many pieces about the Thames and Thames Estuary.
The Sampler
Sun 21 Mar, 3-5pm
FREE
Celebrate World Poetry Day by spending a late Sunday afternoon listening to the scintillating verse and expert wordsmithery of some of the most gifted contemporary poets living in the UK today in this FREE event hosted by Christopher Horton. Open Mic slots will also be available!
Please note open mic spots are limited; please register early between 2.30-3pm.
Featured poets:
Clare Pollard
Clare Pollard was born in Bolton in 1978, went to university at Cambridge and currently lives in East London. She has published three collections with Bloodaxe, the most recent of which is Look, Clare! Look! (2005). Her first play The Weather (Faber, 2004) premiered at the Royal Court Theatre. Clare works as an editor, broadcaster and teacher. Her documentary for radio, ‘My Male Muse (2007), was a Radio 4 Pick of the Year, and she is a Royal Literary Fund Literary Fellow at Essex University. She has just co-edited an anthology for Bloodaxe with James Byrne, entitled Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century.
Jack Underwood
Jack Underwood was born in Norwich in 1984. He graduated from Norwich School of Art and Design in 2005 and is currently studying towards a PhD in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College, where he also teaches English Literature and Creative Writing.
He is a librettist, musician and co-edits the anthology series Stop Sharpening Your Knives. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and was named a Faber New Poet in 2009. His debut pamphlet was published by Faber in October and his poems also feature in ‘Voice Recognition: 21 poets for the 21st Century’ from Bloodaxe. Elsewhere his poems have appeared in Poetry London, Rialto, Smiths Knoll and the Manhattan Review. He regularly reviews poetry for Ambit and also Poetry London. He lives in Hackney.
Liz Berry
Liz Berry was born in the Black Country and now lives in London where she works as an infant school teacher. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway. She received an Eric Gregory Award in 2009 and her first pamphlet, The Patron Saint of Schoolgirls, will be published by Tall Lighthouse in the Spring.
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