4th March – 27th April 2007
Follow our guide and match the show to fit your mood. At no more than £7 a pop and lots of great bars, you may even be tempted to sample more than one… Some events have open mic slots, look for the icon and remember to sign up early.
We wanted you to try a whole variety of spoken word artists so we packed the season full with both well-known and up-and-coming stars. If you can’t get to an event be sure to check the Guide[link to download when available], all of these nights take place regularly so there’s always another opportunity.
HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR WORDS?
With lots of live music...
OneTaste
Each month, OneTaste throws a spotlight onto underground music and spoken word artists, presenting you with a genre-crossing playground of creativity. The line up of poets, musicians and cabaret performers includes: the neo-urban fairy tale wordsmith, Inua Ellams, the ‘suburban gothic’ performing and film-making genius of Suzanne Andrade and the lyrically dextrous host of Radio 4’s, Bespoken Word, Mr Gee, plus surprise musical guests!
Date: 4th March, 7pm-11pm
Venue: The Bedford (in the Globe Theatre)
Address: 77 Bedford Hill, London SW12 9HD
Tickets: £6 on the door or £5 online
Website: www.onetaste.co.uk
penned in the margins
penned in the margins fuses leftfield poetics and live music in east London’s best alternative music venue. The night already played host to poets such as Anthony Joseph, Iain Sinclair and Sean Bonney, innovative spoken word acts Suzanne Andrade and Le Couteau Jaune, as well as wordy musicians Jeremy Warmsley, Chris T-T and Catherine Anne Davies. Catch the zeitgeist while you still can!
Date: 15th March, 8pm-11pm (Bar till 12am)
Venue: The Spitz
Address: Spitalfields Market, London E1 6BG
Tickets: £6/£5 advance call 020 7392 9032
or book online at: www.wegottickets.com
Website: www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk
Poetry n Motion
Poetry n Motion combines spoken word, a 5-piece band and lush cocktails. The Host Nii Parkes (a writer and publishing powerhouse) leads through US imports and some of the UK’s best lyrical artists. The hypnotic mixture of rap and chanting from Crisis (who played with Lee “Scratch” Perry and Ms Dynamite among others) and Metis’ passionate delivery are on the bill.
Date: 25th March, 8pm-10.30pm (bar til 1am)
Venue: Motion Bar (downstairs, no wheelchair access)
Address: Victoria Embankment, London WC2N 6PA
Tickets: £6 on the door or £3 online or call: 08700 600 100
Website: www.ukfridays.com
Interspersed with DJ sets...
Speakeasy Reloaded
If you miss the launch, this is another chance to see John Hegley in this east London theatre bar that also boasts Tracy Emin art. DJ Loki, Scouse poet Roger Cliff- Thompson and another mind-blowing set from Crisis are other good reasons to go east.
Date: 5th March 8pm-10pm (bar open til late)
Venue: Marie Lloyd Bar
Address: 289 Mare Street, London E8 1EJ
Tickets: Free
Apples & Snakes: Fresh
Poetry meets hip-hop in a fast-paced night of rhythm & rhyme. Lyrics in your face, beats in your ears, poets on the stage and records on the decks. Perhaps even a little beatboxing. So if you want some of the best lyricdropping in town, get Fresh and get to The Albany. Open mic slots available for poets and spitters alike – arrive early to sign up. Compered by Joshua Idehen.
Date: 16th March, 8pm-11pm
Venue: The Albany
Address: Douglas Way, London SE8 4AG
Tickets: £7/£5 concs, £4 under 25s
call 020 8692 4446 or book online
Website: www.thealbany.org.uk
www.applesandsnakes.org
Book Slam
Book Slam, founded by award-winning author Patrick Neate (www.patrickneate.com) and Buzzin' Fly's Ben Watt, mixes words, music and all intersected. This month guests include Gautam Malkani, celebrating the paperback publication of his stirring debut ‘Londonstani’ (4th Estate), and Salena Godden, notorious poet and singer, raconteur and bon viveur (www.saltpeter.co.uk).
Date: 29th March, 8.30pm-late
Venue: Check www.bookslam.com for venue details
Tickets: £5 on the door
renaissance one presents
London Liming: a spoken word lime in London
Evoking the scorching sounds and cosmopolitan vibes of the Trinidadian ‘lime’, London Liming offers spoken word, music and DJs under one roof. Soca, Brazilian and dance sounds on tap and an occasion to jump up, wind down, and feast your ears on some of the UK’s best writers and performers in the Shot from the Lip closing event. Featuring John Agard, Stacy Makishi, Patience Agbabi, Aoife Mannix, Anthony Joseph and guest DJs. Hosted by Lemn Sissay and Melanie Abrahams. A renaissance one event in association with Rich Mix.
Date: 27th April, 8pm-12am
Venue: Rich Mix
Address: 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
Tickets: £7/£5 concs call 0207 613 7498 to book
Website: www.renaissanceone.com
On film…
PoetryFilm
A selection of PoetryFilm’s best experimental text/films put together by Malgorzata Kitowski especially for the Shot from the Lip season. If you like your films avant-garde or your poems with imagery then this is a rare opportunity to explore this artistic hybrid and sample a few of the best offerings.
Date: 9th March, 8pm-11pm
Venue: Saatchi and Saatchi
Address: 80 Charlotte Street, London W1A 1AQ
Tickets: £5 reserve at info@poetryfilm.org
Website: www.poetryfilm.org
Neat...
New Blood
Born in the 80s and created to showcase new writers alongside established ones, New Blood has often brought together decade-wide influences and poetic styles. The current team presents Ashna an astonishing 14-year-old writer with wisdom, wit and observation far beyond her years, Scroobius Pip the trail blazing bearded ‘unspoken’ word artist and Todd Swift, one of the leading Canadian poets of his generation. Open mic slots available on the night.
Date: 21st March, 7.30pm-9.30pm
Venue: Poetry Café
Address: 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
Tickets: £5/£3 concs on the door
Express Excess
Roger Robinson enthuses your spirit with his feel good tales as the night celebrates the pure power of the word to enthrall, lift and amuse. Along with the quirky – with a capital k – diaries, poems & tales of Simon Munnery and Julian Fox (possible harmonica playing may also feature), this is a fine night of snaking tales, wit and leftfield word play.
Date: 4th April, 8.30pm-11pm
Venue: The Enterprise (upstairs, no wheelchair access)
Address: 2 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 2BL
Tickets: £5/£3 concs on the door
Website: www.expressexcess.co.uk
The Poetry Shack
With more of a comedy feel, The Poetry Shack’s headliner is AF Harrold – the eccentric, iconoclastic poet leading a cast of performers to welcome the spring… There are also open mic spots and more importantly a competition for the best poem on the subject of astrophysics! Fancy that…
Date: 10th April, 7.30pm-10.30pm
Venue: Old Crown Public House
(upstairs, no wheelchair access)
Address: 33 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1BH
Tickets: £5 on the door
Website: www.thepoetryshack.co.uk
In books…
tall lighthouse
A line-up full of award-winning poets from this independent poetry press. Foyle young poet of the year Helen Mort, Poetry Book Society pamphlet choice winner Pierre Ringwald plus Adam O’Riordan, a great voice for the future, perform alongside veteran Brendan Cleary who brings Irish humour to complement Aoife Mannix’s lyrical pieces. All with a few open mic slots and an opportunity to buy the books.
Date: 28th March 8pm-10pm
Venue: Poetry Café
Address: 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
Tickets: £4/£3 concs on the door
Website: www.tall-lighthouse.co.uk
Barbican Library - Raman Mundair
Born in India and now based in the Shetland Islands, Raman Mundair’s poems inevitably explore identity and journeys of all kinds, cultural, political and geographical. With special guests she crosses borders with a heady fusion of words and music. She is author of several acclaimed collections including the new A Choreographer’s Cartography (Peepal Tree Press). ‘[Her] poems… combine honesty… with precisely turned and unobtrusive language whose rhythms always have a sense of rightness.’ – World Literature Today.
Date: 18th April, 7.30pm-10pm
Venue: Barbican Library
Address: Barbican Centre, Silk Street EC2Y 8DS
Tickets: £6/£4 concs call 0845 120 7500
or book online: www.barbican.org.uk
Website: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/barbicanlibrary
From your own lips...
Word4Word
Word4Word is an evening of music and poetry but most importantly open mic. In the theatre’s cosy bar you are treated to intimate performances from two writers and musicians and get to hear about what makes them tick. The rest of the night is over to the audience and host Kat Francois (who if you’re lucky will tell a story or two). Kat also hosts another free spoken word event, Word Up, on the 1st Sunday of every month.
Date: 15th April, 7.30pm-10pm
Venue: Theatre Royal Stratford East
Address: Gerry Raffles Square,
Stratford, London E15 1BN
Tickets: Free
Website: www.stratfordeast.com |
