THURSDAY 29 APRIL, 8.00PM
ARNOLFINI 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA
Tickets: £12.00

BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH with special guest FRANCESCA BEARD
This show is suitable for people of 16 years and above

BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
POET, NOVELIST, MUSICIAN, PLAYWRIGHT... INSPIRATION
Dr Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah born and raised in Birmingham
Reggae all about him
the young poet built a strong following in Handsworth
but the mission soon became to take poetry EVERYWHERE
his verses heard on demonstrations and on dance floors
poetry political, musical, radical, relevant…and on TV
Britain’s most filmed, photographed, and identifiable poet
over 22-days he performed on every continent
recorded with the Wailers
President Mandela himself asked to meet Benjamin Zephaniah
worked with children in South African townships
hosted the President’s Two Nation’s Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
a passionate vegan
thirteen honorary doctorates awarded to him
a wing in a West London hospital named after him
he continues working throughout Europe, Asia, South America and Africa
and he is as passionate about poetry and politics now as he has ever been

FRANCESCA BEARD
Francesca Beard was born in Malaysia and spent the 70’s growing up in Penang, an idyllic island paradise. After a spell in real jobs, she gave it all up to become a fictional character and now exists as a London-based poet, performing seductive, witty and wise spoken word to lucky audiences all over Britain and the world.

FRIDAY 30 APRIL, 8.00PM
ARNOLFINI
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA
Tickets: £7.00

GEORGE SZIRTES, RITA ANN HIGGINS, PETER BENNET

“It took a long time to get used to English words, the words that would have to do the opening up for me. I write now because I hope such openings are still possible, because I love the act of writing, and because marvellous poems by others have moved and delighted me to the extent that I have taken them for truth. It takes a lot of playful effort to squeeze any meaning out of words: the squeezing is all.” George Szirtes

George Szirtes, a popular and highly entertaining reader of his own poetry, was born in Budapest in 1948, and came to England with his family as a refugee after the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. He was educated in England and trained as a painter. He writes from a midnight holdvilágnál crossroads of cultures, languages and art forms.
He has published several collections of poetry, the first of which, The Slant Door, won the Faber Prize. Other books include: The Budapest File; An English Apocalypse; Reel, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize 2004; New & Collected Poems, and The Burning of the Books and other poems was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2009. He has worked as a translator of Hungarian literature and co-edited Bloodaxe’s Hungarian anthology, The Colonnade of Teeth.

Rita Ann Higgins was born in 1955 in Galway, where she still lives. One of eleven children, she left school at fourteen, and was in her late twenties when she started writing poetry. A true original, she is an anarchic, gutsy, heart-warming, flame-stirrer.
Ruth Padel described her poems as ‘...a witty mix of the erotic and the upfront political from a female perspective, with wonderful rhythms that effortlessly incorporate direct speech. A brilliantly spiky, surreal blend of humour and social issues.’ She has published eight books of poetry, including Sunny Side Plucked: Selected Poems (Poetry Book Society Recommendation), An Awful Racket and Throw in the Vowels: New & Selected Poems.

Peter Bennet lives with his wife in a remote cottage near Kirkwhelpington amid the outstanding beauty of the Northumbrian landscape and the strange natural acoustics of the Northumbrian hills. His richly imagined poems blend past and present, forgotten histories with myth and botany, fairytale with fact to brew poems that are contemporary, darkly funny and original. Goblin Lawn: New and Selected Poems was published in 2005 and his latest collection, The Glass Swarm was shortlisted for the 2008 T S Eliot Prize.

SATURDAY 1 MAY, 8.00PM
ARNOLFINI 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA
Tickets: £7.00

RHYTHM AND MUSE
An evening of spoken word, poetry, music and theatre from mainland Europe, England and Ireland featuring SMOKE AND MIRRORS, HELEN GREGORY, BENITA JOHNSON, DAN EGGS and DAVID JOHNSON

Smoke and Mirrors
Smoke and Mirrors is a 35 minute performance combining spoken word, theatre and music starring Laura Wihlborg, Sergio Garau, Bernat Feliu and Ludwig Berger, and directed by Felix Römer. Smoke and Mirrors comes to Bristol as part of its 2010 tour of 21 European cities.

Dan Eggs
Dan Eggs is a well-known and well-regarded performance poet in Northern Ireland. He was a member of the Belfast Team for the City Of Culture Slam in Bristol in 2002. He is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio Ulster. His first poetry collection was published by Lagan Press in 2003. Dan is an engaging performer who combines humour with wonderful imagery.

Helen Gregory and Benita Johnson
Benita and Helen combine music and poetry to dramatic affect . Benita is an acclaimed singer/ songwriter, who has been described as ‘an extraordinary talent’ with ‘a soulful, sassy heart’.
Helen is a performance poet, who is ‘poignant yet sultry, stirring, complex and sweet’. Pull all this together and they are sure to leave you spellbound.

David C Johnson
David C Johnson is a poet and Radio 4 playwright.
David has performed at many literary festivals, including a sell-out show at the 2009 Bath Literature Festival and 2009 Austin International Poetry Festival. His new collection Holding On and Looking Out (Paralalia) will be published in April 2010 with a DVD of readings from the collection plus two short poetry films.

SUNDAY 2 MAY, 8.00PM
ARNOLFINI 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, BS1 4QA
Tickets: £10.00

JOHN HEGLEY with special guest MALIKA BOOKER
Mr Hegley was born in Newington Green, North London, and was educated in Luton, Bristol and Bradford University. His first public performance monies came from busking his songs, initially outside a shoe shop in Hull, in the late Seventies. He performed on the streets of London in the early Eighties, fronting the Popticians, with whom he also recorded two sessions for John Peel, and has since been a frequent performer of his words, sung and spoken, on both local and national radio. He has produced ten books of verse and prose pieces, two CDs and one mug, but his largest source of income is from stages on his native island. An Edinburgh Festival regular, he is noted for his exploration of such diverse topics as dog hair, potatoes, handkerchiefs and the misery of human existence. He once performed in a women’s prison in Columbia.

MALIKA BOOKER
Malika Booker is a spellbinding writer, poet, performer and storyteller from the UK, Grenada, Guayana and Trinidad. She has been enthralling audiences for 18 years with her searing character monologues and beguiling poetry. Her sensuous performances are moving and funny:, - either they creep up and punch you in the stomach or they cause your heart to skip a beat; - waiting to find out which one is half the fun.

EVENTS AROUND BRISTOL

MONDAY 26 APRIL, 7.00PM
BRISTOL GRAMMAR SCHOOL in the JCR
University Road, Bristol BS8 1SR
Tickets: £2.00
Tickets may be purchased from reception at Bristol Grammar School or reserved by contacting dbriggs@bgs.bristol.sch.uk

Book launch for THE METHOD MEN by DAVID BRIGGS
Pylons, the blank pages at the end of a book, an album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, bathrooms, public parks, clowns and teacups are all lit at the edges with a gunsmoke-blue glow by a transforming imagination. Launching his much anticipated first collection David Briggs explores, in a sometimes disarmingly personal way, what Larkin referred to as ‘a style our lives bring with them’ — what we are, and how that came to be.

SATURDAY 1 MAY, 5.00PM
BRISTOL CENTRAL LIBRARY College Green, Bristol,
Tickets £6.00 includes a glass of wine/juice
Tickets available from any Bristol Library

MURDER IN THE LIBRARY
Written and devised by Sara-Jane Arbury
Special guest crime writer Janet Laurence
Stop press! Colonel Kipling’s reading at the Festival has been interrupted by a murder! Whodunnit? Use your sleuthing skills to become the Poirot of poetry. Follow the plot and solve the clues in an intriguing murder mystery by poet Sara-Jane Arbury. The corpse is fresh and there are suspects aplenty, so uncover the person with the poetic licence to kill. The game is afoot…

SUNDAY 2 MAY, 3.00PM-6.00PM
REDLAND CLUB, Burlington Rd, Redland, Bristol
Admission £10: includes a entrance, refreshments and a copy of the collection ‘It Was Not And Never Would Be Enough And …’
Book Launch for the selected works of PAT VT WEST
‘IT WAS NOT AND NEVER WOULD BE ENOUGH AND…’
Editors Rachel Bentham and Sheila Yeger launch the selected works of the much missed Pat VT West. This celebration of one of the South West’s most influential poets will feature readings from the book and an open floor in which members of the audience will be invited to read their favourite Pat VT West poem. And lush cakes.

MONDAY 3 MAY, 7.30PM
Halo Cafe Bar, 141 Gloucester Rd, Bishopston, Bristol
ACOUSTIC NIGHT BANK HOLIDAY FUNARAMA
Admission Free
Open Mic. Doors open & register to perform 7.30pm – 8.00pm.
Show starts 8.15pm
see: www.acousticnight.com – www.myspace.com/acousticnightbristol

TUESDAY 4 MAY, 8.00PM
The Lansdown, Clifton Rd, Clifton, Bristol
POETRY AT THE LANSDOWN
Hosted by Charles Thompson
Regular monthly open mic poetry event.
Sometimes features a guest poet or acoustic music.

THURSDAY 6 MAY, 12.00PM – 1.30PM
Bristol Central Library, College Green, Bristol,
Admission Free
CAN OPENERS
Hosted by Claire Willamson
Open Floor – bring a poem or poems to read, or simply come and enjoy the poetry.
Special Guest Poet: David Johnson

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.

For Events at other venues around Bristol
For all free events, just go to the venue for the start time.
For Acoustic Night at the Halo Cafe Bar, get there early if you want to perform, otherwise just turn up by the start time.
For events at Bristol Grammar School, The Lansdown, Bristol Central Library and Redland Club, see Events Around Bristol for details.

Become a Poetry Can Trustee
Phone: 0117 933 0900 ffd
Bristol SPRING Poetry Festival & Bristol Poetry Festival are brought to you by The Poetry Can.
The Poetry Can: provides information, advice and support to anyone interested in any aspect of poetry or poetry related activities; organises, supports, and promotes poetry events including the annual Bristol Poetry Festival; organises an annual education programme of activities.

BRISTOL POETRY FESTIVAL 2010
Will take place this year between MONDAY 13 – SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER Programming is not yet complete, but highlights will include: Ruth Fainlight, WN Herbert & Andy Croft, Gerard Benson, Patrick Brandon, David Briggs, Maggie Harris, Ros Martin, The Bristol Poetry Festival Poetry Slam, Flash (Performance Poetry Show) Robyn Bolam, Acoustic Night Instant Antholgy Special, Lansdown Poetry Night, Can Openers Festival Event... and much more