Welcome to Bristol Spring Poetry Festival 2014
HOW TO BOOK
ADVANCE BOOKING
FOR TICKETED EVENTS AT ARNOLFINI
Box Office & General Enquiries: 0117 917 2300 / 01
Email: boxoffice@arnolfini.org.uk
Online: www.arnolfini.org.uk
Or in person: Arnolfini, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA
You can pay at the time of the event but events do sell out, sometimes very quickly, so advance booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.
Bristol Spring Poetry Festival & Bristol Poetry Festival are brought to you by Poetry Can.
Poetry Can is a registered charity that works in Bristol and across the South West region providing information, advice and support on all aspects of
poetry and poetry activities; we organise an annual education programme of poetry activities; support and promote poetryevents including Bristol
Poetry Festival.
We exist thanks to the involvement, support, enthusiasm and generosity of public bodies, charitable trusts and private individuals.
If you would like to support Poetry Can, please consider making a donation towards our ongoing programmes of work.
To make a donation, please visit our website www.poetrycan.co.uk or contact Poetry Can on 0117 933 0900 or by email: info@poetrycan.co.uk
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Wednesday 2 April, 8.00PM-11.00PM (doors open at 7:30 pm)
The Birdcage, 28 Clare St, Bristol BS1 1YE
HAMMER & TONGUE
Featuring John Osborne
Admission: £5.00
bristol@hammerandtongue.com
Hammer & Tongue is the UK’s most exciting facilitator of spoken word. Every month they host a poetry slam open to all
alongside showcasing top spoken word artists from across the country.
This month they have John Osborne who has written for Radio 4, had poetry published in The Guardian and a sold out
Edinburgh show 'John Peel’s Shed.'
Please arrive early to sign up for the slam.
Friday 4 April, 12.00 NOON – 1.30PM
FOYLES, 6 Quakers Friars, Cabot Circus, Bristol BS1 3BU
CAN OPENERS
Admission: FREE
A chance to listen to and meet with poets in a relaxed atmosphere.
Open platform for poetry with special guest reader John Forth
Come along to listen or share.
Hosted by Claire Williamson
Wednesday 9 April, 5.00PM – 8.00PM
LINK ROOMS 1-2, University of Bristol, 3-5 Woodland Rd, Bristol, BS8 1TB
PATCHWORK POETRY
Admission: FREE
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/research/poetry-institute/patchworkpoetry/
The word poetry comes from the ancient Greek word, poiēsis. As well as poetic composition, this word suggests production,
fabrication, creation, making...
The Patchwork Poetry project is about making poetry. The aim is to collaboratively make poetry in the form of material objects –
collections of words with rhythms and meanings and metaphors that emerge as ‘patchwork poems’ – put together, re-worked
and collectively arranged. On Wednesday 9th April MakingLearning, in association with the Bristol Poetry Institute, will be holding
a Patchwork Poetry making session. We like to keep these evenings quite informal, so please feel free to drop by, even if you only
have a short time to spare.
Wednesday 9th April, 7.50 for 8pm
EUGENIE HOUSE, 1-3 Royal York Crescent, Clifton, Bristol (courtesy of the residents)
THE PORTCULLIS POETS
Anyone interested in poetry is invited to attend, whether or not they write their own poetry
and whether or not they wish to read a poem or two
The optional theme is HAPPINESS and anyone interested in poetry is welcome.
A donation of £1 will be asked of those drinking wine.
THE LANSDOWN, 8 Clifton Road, Bristol, BS8 1AF.
AGEING GRACEFULLY
Admission: £5.00 in advance / £6.00 on the door.
Further Information: 07954 147 464
Following the success of their show in last year's poetry festival, The Bard of Windmill Hill, David C. Johnson and
John Christopher Wood are once again combining their finely-honed talents and formidable humour to present a show
suitable for a discerning mature audience. They will be supported by the inimitably witty songs of Mike Danvers Scott.
A memorable evening is assured. Expect lots of laughs and some food for thought.
The Bard of Windmill Hill - Bristol Storyteller of the Year 2014, "hilarious poems and stories" - Warwick Folk Festival
David C. Johnson - internationally acclaimed performance poet and multi-slam winner
John Christopher Wood - internationally performed playwright, actor and poet, "the audience were in hysterics" - Bristol Post
Mike Scott - 'wildly irreverent, melodiously witty'
UPSTAIRS AT BOSTON TEA PARTY, 75 Park St, Bristol, BS1 5PF
PARK STREET POETRY
Admission: Free, please buy a drink
Further Information: davidbriggs72@btinternet.com
Hosted by David Briggs
Special Guest Readers: Matt Merritt: Alisdair Paterson and Carrie Etter.
Matt Merritt
The Elephant Tests (Nine Arches, 2013), the third collection of poems from Matt Merritt, takes sheer delight in the full
possibilities of language. It is a study of birds and natural history, travel, personal and universal memory, and even of
the occasional elephant too. In the process, it captures the quiet wonder of the fleeting moments that amaze, puzzle
and trouble us. Eco-poetry and exploration are met perfectly with myths and epiphanies; the wide, wild world outside
is precisely spoken for, just a moment before taking flight or merging into dusk. This is poetry unafraid of new territories;
Merritt pushes out the boundaries of each poem without ever once losing the humour, grace and gentle melancholy at
their heart.
Alasdair Paterson
Having won an Eric Gregory Award for his poetry in 1975 and published collections in the mid-1980s, including The
Floating World (Pig Press) and Brief Lives (Oasis Books), Alasdair Paterson returned to writing in 2010 with on The
Governing of Empires (Shearsman, 2010), and with Elsewhere or Thereabouts (Shearsman, 2014), a book that ranges
from Troy to Arcadia, along the high road to elsewhere and the low road to thereabouts, boards a ferry 'cross the Mersey
and hikes the Jurassic Coast, skates away on Duddingston Loch and dynamites the frozen rivers of Siberia, lured to the
summit and drawn to the edge. Alasdair Paterson plots a course at the cruising speed of the flâneur through the ruins
of empires, dreams and good intentions. Though pavement cafes still play a part...
Carrie Etter
Carrie Etter's first collection The Tethers (Seren, 2010) won the London New Poetry Prize for best first collection published
in the Uk and Ireland. Her second, Divining for Starters (Shearsman, 2011) has also been critically acclaimed. In her third
book of poems, Imagined Sons (Seren, 2014) Etter reflects on her experience as a birthmother who gave up her son for
adoption, presenting dream-like encounters, full of suppressed regrets, between the poet and her son once he’s come of
age. Etter imagines a spectacular array of destinies for him from the mundane to the extraordinary and bizarre: a baker,
a surfer, Prince Charming, even the olive in her Greek salad. Dispersed among these narratives are the 'Birthmother's
Catechisms' laying bare the emotions of the narrator, in chorus-like laments for what might be or might have been.
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
TELLING TALES
PRESENTED BY PATIENCE AGBABI
Tickets £8 / £6 concessions
"A pilgrimage of punks, badasses, broken hearts, beat poets, silver-tongued fixers, town criers, beauties, sinners.
A jostle of life... A poem on wheels. Inventive, risky, serious and fun." Jeanette Winterson
Award-winning poet Patience Agbabi retells Chaucer's TheCanterbury Tales for the 21st century. Mining Chaucer's Middle-English
masterwork for its performance as well as its poetry and pilgrims, this boisterous and lyrical collection gives one of Britain's most
significant works of poetry thrilling new life.
Patience Agbabi is the author of three collections, Bloodshot Monochrome, Transformatrix and R.A.W., and she is a former Poet
Laureate of Canterbury. Her poems have appeared on radio and TV around the world and she has toured widely with the British Council.
The event is part of the Telling Tales Tour produced by renaissance one www.renaissanceone.co.uk
Alma Tavern Theatre, 18-20 Alma Vale Rd, Bristol, BS8 2HY
LIPS IN SYNC
Admission: £5 on the door
Further Information: angiebelcher@yahoo.co.uk
Belcher & Vibes present an evening of poetic performance and back chat starring Angie Belcher and Isadora Vibes.
Step inside the hearts and minds of Bristol’s mightiest maverick mistresses of poetic performance.
Join them as they share poems and tales of love, life and sexuality.
Adults only.
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA
COUNT ME IN
Tickets £8.00 / £6.00 concessions
starring SARA-JANE ARBURY, LUCY ENGLISH and GLENN CARMICHAEL
with THE GROWING CREATIVES, WINDMILL HILL
Will it be your lucky night?
Maureen and Judi hope it will be. Every week, they place their trust in Don, the glamorous Bingo Master, to make their dreams
come true. But behind the magic numbers lie the real stories of their lives.
Maureen. 55, married with four grown-up children. A home-bird who dreads the day she’ll be left alone.
Judi. Librarian. Works 37.5 hours a week, eats 5-a-day and has systems in place. But is she losing control?
Don. Twenty years calling the numbers to change people’s lives. Drink, drugs, divorce. The 12 Step Programme isn’t working.
Eyes down for a full house…
Count Me In is an immersive spoken word theatre show about the numbers in our lives.
The show takes place during one night in the Bingo Hall. We all play the game and as the numbers are called, Don, Maureen and
Judi reveal their true selves – their memories, anniversaries, regrets, mistakes, joys, hopes and dreams.
But Count Me In is a show with a difference. It is about numbers and YOU.
Saturday 19 April, 2.00PM – 5.00PM
REDLAND PARK UNITED REFORM CHURCH, 1 Redland Park, Bristol, BS6 6SA
‘SPOKEN SONATA’
Admission: £20.00
Further Information: spokensonata@gmail.com/07875 220879 www.jonpjames.wix.com/spokensonata
Jonathan James and Rebecca Tantony join forces to create a workshop exploring musical ways into devising performance poetry.
The workshop invites those with an interest in writing to consider the musicality within language and to experience the alchemy
of the spoken word and music through improvisation, writing and performance.
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
Tickets £12.00 / £10.00 concessions
By popular demand Bristol Spring Poetry Festival is proud to present the most original poetic voice in the UK
SIMON ARMITAGE
Simon Armitage's website: www.simonarmitage.com
Sunday 20 April, 7.00PM – 9.00PM
The Lansdown, 8 Clifton Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1AF
LANSDOWN POETRY WORKSHOP
Admission: FREE
Further Information: Charles Thompson on Charlesthompson8000@yahoo.co.uk
Bring two poems to share. Round table and supportive comments.
Monday 21 April 8.15PM (sign up to perform from 7.30PM)
HALO CAFE/BAR, 141 Gloucester Rd, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8BA
ACOUSTIC NIGHT
Admission: £5.00
Further Information: anditrans@hotmail.com
Bristol's longest running open mic poetry and music sessions.
With featured musical or poetry guests.
Bristol Spring Poetry Festival fringe special
Winding up the Poetry Can Spring festival fringe we welcome back the enigmatic, theatrical Robert Garnham
with support from poet Robin Kidson, voted best Geordie accent 2012-2013 plus the usual open mic.
Sign up to perform from 7.30pm
What a treat!
Thursday 24 April, 10.00AM – 12 NOON
ST GEORGE'S, BRISTOL
Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR
RAISE THE ROOF & KISS THE SKY
Bristol Primary Schools Poetry Slam
STARRING THE YOUNG POETS FROM ASHTON GATE, BISHOP ROAD,
ST MARY REDCLIFFE and WHITEHALL PRIMARY SCHOOLS
ADMISSION FOR PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS ONLY, THIS EVENT IS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
With Raise The Roof & Kiss The Sky Mentors and Hosts:
Sara-Jane Arbury, Glenn Carmichael, Jonny Fluffypunk and Claire Williamson
Four teams of four young poets from each school and cheered on by over four hundred of their school friends will raise the roof,
rapture the walls and rose-petal the floor of St George's, Bristol with their inspirational, surprising poems.
Poets Sara-Jane Arbury (St Mary Redcliffe), Glenn Carmichael (Whitehall), Jonny Fluffypunk (Bishop Road) and Claire Williamson
(Ashton Gate) have been working with the children in the schools, nurturing enthusiasm, kindling a fiery, eager excitement for words
and developing their skills and their confidence to write and perform poems with passion and with style.
The proud mentors will host the slam and exhort the audience to make the wild music of cheering and applause that is the red hot
rocking soundtrack to every great poetry slam. This will be a poetic experience the children will never forget.
Only one team can win the Poetry Slam cup for their school...
but every team can raise the roof and kiss the sky with a poem.
THIS EVENT COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN PLACE WITHOUT A KIND AND GENEROUS PRIVATE DONATION
Sunday 27 April,10.30AM-1.00PM and 1.30PM to 3.30PM
GREENBANK, Bristol
WRITE SPACE WORKSHOP
Payment by donation
Writing sessions for poets and all other writers, facilitated by Polly Moyer, MA.
The writing sessions from 10.30am to 1pm will involve prompts and exercises and will be followed by a workshop
session from 1.30pm - 3.30pm
If you want feedback for your work in the workshop session, please bring a (short ish) piece of writing to read out loud.
All styles and forms welcome. If you want to bring some copies, that will help, but don't worry if you can't.
If you want to come and find out how we work shop, but don't have a piece to bring, no worries.
Payment by donation, but please only offer what you can afford.
Monday 28 April, 8.00PM-10.00PM.
BRISTOL OLD VIC basement, King St, Bristol, BS1 4ED
BLAHBLAHBLAH
Admission: £6.00
Hosted by Anna Freeman
Further Information: Box Office: 0117 987 7877 www.bristololdvic.org.uk/blahblahblah.html
Featuring:
Katie Bonna, whose poetry play Dirty Great Love Story, co-written with Richard Marsh, won a Fringe First Award at the
2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. ‘Laughs are frequent, unsignalled and brilliant.’ – Times ‘Warmly and fuzzily recommended.’ - Independent
John Osborne, whose first book Radio Head, up and down the dial of British Radio (Simon&Schuster) was broadcast
as Radio 4′s Book of the Week. His second book The Newsagent’s Window (Simon&Schuster 2010) won the East Anglian
Book Award. ‘Gentle without being dull, sharp but never sneering, witty but without a hint of the show-off' - Stuart Maconie.
and Stephanie Dogfoot, Singapore Slam Champion. 'Poetry for spiritual beings on a human journey'.
Hosted by Anna Freeman