Welcome to the 19th Bristol Poetry Festival
Wednesday 10 September to Sunday 21 September 2014
Bristol Poetry Festival brings together the most entertaining, inspirational and award-winning poets and performers from Bristol, the South West,
the UK and the World in an annual celebration of language, imagination and life.
HIGHLIGHTS THIS YEAR INCLUDE:
At the Arnolfini: Fleur Adcock, Robert Minhinnick, Vidyan Rabinthiran and Mir Mahfuz Ali, a fantastic combination of poets that
promises a beautiful night of poetry readings. For something a bit more rambunctious, The Bristol Poetry Festival OPEN Poetry Slam might
well be the most exciting poetry slam of the year. Ahead of Bristol's year as European Green Capital 2015, we look at how poetry might engage
people in green issues in PETE (the Temp) VERSES CLIMATE CHANGE, which takes a satirical look at climate change and our attempts to tackle
it in an effort to capture hearts and minds on this most crucial of issues.
At the Tobacco Factory:
We are proud to present an amazing, remarkable event called Bite Sized. Told in poetry and dance,it's a show about anorexia.
If you think this sounds like it might make for a depressing night out, please be assured it's anything but. Fiona Hamilton has written a show that is
warm, engaging, informative, moving, even funny at times, and overwhelmingly beautiful. Poetry Can is very proud of this Bite Sized; we believe it's
a show that is going to be talked about for a long time.
Events Around Bristol:
There are many wonderful poetry events happening all around Bristol this September, including
The Spoke poetry group– Paul Deaton, Lizzie Parker, Sarah Rudston, Claire Williamson and Bob Walton – together with award winning
traditional Irish singer Marianne McAleer at Spike Island Café Bar ... and it's FREE.
And there's a great looking poetry show at The Cube: The Shipwrecked House by Claire Trevien: a critically-acclaimed, surreal, playful
one-woman performance that blends poetry with theatre with myth and magic.
We always want to say that EVERY event is a Bristol Poetry Festival highlight.
HOW TO BOOK
FOR EVENTS AT ARNOLFINI
Arnolfini Box Office
Telephone: 0117 917 2300 / 01
Email: [email protected]
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 BITE SIZED AT THE TOBACCO FACTORY THEATRE
Tobacco Factory Theatres Box Office
Telephone: 0117 902 0344
Email: [email protected]
Online: www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/book/
Or in person: Tobacco Factory Box Office, Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1TF
FOR EVENTS AT OTHER VENUES AROUND BRISTOL
Please see individual event details
For all free events, just go to the venue for the start time.
For Acoustic Night at Halo Cafe Bar, get there early if you have a poem to submit and perform, otherwise just turn up at the start time.
For all open mic events where you wish to perform, early arrival is advised.
Quick link calendar. Click the event title to jump to the event or scroll down to find events.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
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Can Openers |
Twenty Poets Perform |
Write Space Workshops |
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| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
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SIX! |
Festival |
Poets Reading |
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| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
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7.30pm |
Liberated Words 1pm-2pm Hydrazine |
Liberated Words Isambards |
Bite Sized |
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| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
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Map Reading |
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| 29 | 30 | |||||
THE LANSDOWN, 8 Clifton Road, Bristol BS8 1AF
BRISTOL DEAD POETS SLAM
Admission: £5 advance / £6 on the door
Hosted by Trevor Carter
Performers call on the spirits of dead poets in one of the most delightfully idiosyncratic poetry slams of the year. Last year the BDPS was won by
Mark Darkside with an inimitably raunchy interpretation of Chaucer.
For further information: 0117 966 5514 / 07954 147 464 / www.windmillbard.co.uk
Friday 5 September 12 NOON – 1.30PM
FOYLES, 6 Quakers Friars, Cabot Circus, Bristol BS1 3BU
CAN OPENERS
Admission: FREE but donations welcome
Hosted by Claire Williamson
Special Guest: Lloyd Fletcher
AND OPEN MIC
Bring along a poem to read or just come to listen to the readings at one of Bristol's longest running and best poetry events.
Saturday 6 September 12 NOON – 3PM
BRISTOL CENTRAL LIBRARY, Cafe, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TL
TWENTY POETS PERFORM
Admission: FREE
Hosted by Mark Sayers
Readings from some of Bristol's liveliest local poets
Sunday 7 September 10.30AM – 12.30PM, and/or 1.30PM – 3.30PM
GREENBANK - VENUE DETAILS available on booking at the email address below
WRITE SPACE – POETRY WORKSHOPS
Admission: donations welcome, but please book in advance
The theme for the morning session will be ... DEATH. The afternoon session will be for reviewing and workshopping existing work.
For further information and to book, please email: [email protected] with Write Space in the subject line.
THE LANSDOWN, 8 Clifton Road, Bristol BS8 1AF
LANSDOWN POETRY WORKSHOP
Hosted by Charles Thompson
Admission: FREE
Bring a poem to share.
For further information, contact Charles Thompson on 07969987102
Wednesday 10 September 2014, 7.30 PM
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
AHEAD OF BRISTOL'S YEAR AS EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL 2015 POETRY CAN IS PLEASED TO PRESENT:
PETE (the Temp) VERSES CLIMATE CHANGE
Tickets: £7.00 / £5.00 concessions
Pete the Temp is a poet, a lover and a damn fine administrator! Watch him solve climate change using only his mouth!
Pete tells the story of some of the sticky situations he gets into on his quest to stop climate chaos. This spoken word show takes a satirical look
at climate change and our attempts to tackle it in an effort to capture hearts and minds on this most crucial of issues.
"Timely, funny, intelligent, refreshingly angry and often moving... Pete The Temp has us leave the Theatre wanting change and feeling there is
serious fun to be had by joining those making it happen" Cockpit Theatre
This event is part of a tour produced by renaissance one www.renaissanceone.co.uk
with support from Arts Council England
Thursday 11 September 2014, 7.30 PM
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
S I X !
An evening of powerful, funny, moving, stimulating and contrasting poetry from six very talented poets with something to say and the skill and
the style to say it laldy.
Featuring
| ALYSON HALLETT | LUCY LEPCHANI | VICTORIA FIELD | DIKRA RIDHA | KATE FIRTH | SHAGUFTA IQBAL | |
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Tickets: £7.00 / £5.00 concessions
Alyson Hallet's poetry collections include: Suddenly Everything; Six Days In Iceland and The Stone Library.
Lucy Lepchani has two poetry collections: The Beckoning Wild, a pamphlet and a full collection Ladygardens published by Burning Eye Books.
Victoria Field has published three collections of poetry: Olga’s Dreams,Many Waters and The Lost Boys. She also co-authored a pamphlet,
October Guests with Caroline Carver and Penelope Shuttle.
Dikra Ridha's poetry collection is called There are no Americans in Baghdad's Bird Market.
Kate Firth's debut poetry collection is Venus Reborn.
Shagufta Iqbal is the author of the poetry play JAM IS FOR GIRLS, GIRLS GET JAM.
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
BRISTOL POETRY FESTIVAL OPEN POETRY SLAM
Hosted by: Glenn Carmichael and Claire Williamson
Tickets: £7.00 / £5.00 concessions
WITH SLAMMERS FROM BRISTOL, THE SOUTH WEST AND THE UK:
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| Melanie Branton | Megan Chapman | Graham Chilcott | Steve Duncan | Robert Garnham | |
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| Gillie Harries | Daniel Haynes | Mark Jones | Tim King | Nick Lovell | Jennifer Lee |
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| Abi Newman | Saskia Tomlinson | Jasmin White | Heidi Murphy | Nadine Bourne | Danny Lake |
£100 PRIZE - WINNER TAKES ALL
Four judges score the poets but ultimately it's the enthusiasm of the audience that decides who wins.
"HUGELY ENJOYABLE, GREAT FUN, THE MOST EXCITING SLAM OF THE YEAR"
ADVANCE BOOKING STRONGLY ADVISED
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
LIBERATED WORDS POETRY FILM FESTIVAL
Hosted by Sarah Tremlett
Tickets: £5.00 / £4.00 concessions
Sarah Tremlett introduces and presents the poetry films from the finalists of the Liberated Words Poetry Film Competition
based this year on two themes: Memory: in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1914-18 war
and on Ivor Gurney's poem The High Hills Have a Bitterness
There will also be poetry films from years 9 and 10 of St Gregory's Catholic College, Bath based on the arresting poem Mametz Wood by Owen
Sheers; potent films on the theme of Memory by St Brendan's Sixth Form College; and a groundbreaking film, the astonishing The Golden Bird
Project, in conjunction with older patients at The Royal United Hospital, Bath and Art at the Heart, with resident artist Edwina Bridgeman and art
from young patients and musician in residence Frankie Simpkins. These films were all made with the assistance of poet Helen Moore and
filmmaker Howard Vause.
A R N O L F I N I
16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
POETS READING
| Fleur Adcock | Robert Minhinnick | Vidyan Ravinthiran | Mir Mahfuz Ali |
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Tickets: £8.00 / £6.00 concessions
Four exceptional poets bring together their individual talents, commonalities and contrasts to create a remarkable night of poetry.
FLEUR ADCOCK seems, in her poems and in her readings, to be the very definition of poise. Her matter-of-fact feminism, her remarkable dry
wit and her gift for fusing introspection and ice- cool imagery have made her one of Britain's most respected and best loved poets. The poet
laureate Carol Ann Duffy put it like this: 'Adcock has a deceptively laid-back tone, through which the sharper edge of her talent is encountered
like a razor blade in a peach.' Fleur's first poetry collection was published in 1964, her most recent collections are Dragon Talk, in 2010 and
Glass Wings, in 2013. She has a new collection, to be published in February 2015.
ROBERT MINHINNICK has been described by the Sunday Times as “the best Welsh poet of his generation.” He co-founded Friends of the Earth
(Cymru) and Sustainable Wales, and is an advisor to Sustainable Wales. The people, communities, places and landscapes of Wales are his
heart's-home and the root of his poetry but he has also travelled widely through the world and written on many other subjects, including
contemporary political events and issues. He has published nine collections of poetry, and has twice won the Forward Prize for best individual
poem.
VIDYAN RAVINTHIRAN was born in Leeds to Sri Lankan parents. He is a poet and a critic and reviews frequently in magazines such as Poetry
Review, Poetry London, PN Review, The Times Literary Supplement. His first impressive book-length collection, Grun-tu-molani, (“man must live”),
is shortlisted for this year's Forward Prize for Best First Collection. Sean O'Brien praises Vidyan's ability to bring “a light touch and a sometimes
damning elegance to subjects including MTV, a chair addressing Jackie Chan, the Tamil Tigers, militarism and the purpose of money.”
MIR MAHFUZ ALI was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1958 and moved to the UK in the 1970s. He has worked as a male model, a tandoori chef and
as a dancer and actor. He is renowned for his extraordinary voice: a rich, throaty whisper brought about by a Bangladeshi policeman trying to
silence the singing of anthems during a public anti-war demonstration. His first collection, Midnight, Dhaka, of which Pascale Petit said, “he brings
a Bengali lyricism - into English poetics, so that however dark the subject, his poems have a soaring quality”, is published this year.
SPIKE ISLAND CAFÉ-BAR, 133 Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6UX
THE SPOKE ON SPIKE
Admission: FREE
So that’s Tuesday night spoken for! It’s an evening of top-notch poetry and song at Bristol’s International Centre for Contemporary Art.
Over a drink or two in the cool arts café ambience, you can enjoy the spiky, precision-crafted words and images of The Spoke - Paul
Deaton, Lizzie Parker, Sarah Rudston, Claire Williamson and Bob Walton – together with some wonderful traditional Irish fireside
ballads from the haunting voice of Marianne McAleer, multi-award winner at the All-Britain and All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil.
See you there. For further information, please email: [email protected]
Friday 19 September 12 NOON – 1PM and 1PM – 2.30PM
WATERSHED Canon's Road, Bristol, BS1 5TX
LIBERATED WORDS POETRY FILM FESTIVAL
WATERSIDE 3: Liberated Words: Freeing The Form: 12 NOON – 1PM
A panel discussion on the form of poetic filmmaking and just what makes a film a poetry film
Admission: £7.00 / £5.00 concessions
WATERSHED CINEMA 2
Liberated Words: Poetry Films And Forms : 1.00PM – 2.30PM
A showcase of poetry films from around the world exploring the diversity of storytelling devices used within this genre
Admission: £7.00 / £5.00
Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market Street, Bristol BS2 0EZ
LAUNCH OF THE HYDRAZINE
Admission: £2 (includes copy of zine and glass of cider)
Hosted by Matt Duggan
The launch of The Hydra Zine (issue 1), a zine with poems from the 'evening of Spoken Indulgence' events.
With poems from M J Duggan, Paul Hawkins, Sara Scotthorn, Nick Lovell, Bethany W Pope, Julie Pritchard,
Jonners Davies, Will Ford and many others.
Saturday 20 September 11AM – 12.00 Noon and 2.30PM – 3.30PM
POETRY WALKS, CLIFTON TOLL BOOTH, Clifton Suspension Bridge
ISAMBARDS AT THE BRIDGE
Admission: Free - Booking Recommended: www.cliftonbridge.org.uk/events
The IsamBards - four of Bristol’s own best poets, David Johnson, Deborah Harvey, Stewart Carswell and Pameli Benham – celebrate
the 150th Anniversary of the opening of the Bristol Suspension Bridge.
Join the IsamBards for a fact-filled poetry tour of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Saturday 20 September 10AM – 4PM
THE YHA, 14 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA
LIBERATED WORDS: A MASTERCLASS WITH MARC NEYS
Cost: £25 / £20 concessions – limited places – must be booked in advance
A rare chance to learn about poetry films by creating poetry films in this masterclass workshop with Marc Neys (also known as Swoon),
one of the foremost poetry film-makers working today.
To book a place on this workshop and for further information please contact
Colin Brown by email at [email protected] or by telephone on 0117 933 0900.
TOBACCO FACTORY THEATRES
Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol BS3 1TF
BITE SIZED
Box Office: 0117 902 0344
Tickets: £10.00 / Concession £8.00
www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/book/
A Bristol Poetry Festival event and Book Launch with Vala Publishingwww.valapublishers.coop
Written by Fiona Hamilton Directed by Anna Farthing and Pameli Benham
Devised and performed by Laila Diallo, Helka Kaski and Fiona Hamilton
Laila Diallo Fiona Hamilton
A mother’s story of striving to nourish her child, who refuses to eat. A story of the monster that lurks close by all of us in the modern world -
the monster of ‘too much’ and ‘not enough’. Writer Fiona Hamilton performs this work-in-development with dancers Laila Diallo and Helka Kaski.
This is poetry of mind and body. Of threads that connect, entangle, unravel and stretch, between parents and children. Of a ravenous illness and
efforts to face it. Above all, it is about taking on monsters and trusting in the importance of love. There will be a conversation with the audience
after the interval, inviting responses, questions and comments which will inform the evolution of Bite Sized performances and workshops.
"To speak with clarity and sensitivity, in a language so free of the too-available response of guilt or blame, is in itself a kind of care”
Philip Gross, poet, author of The Wasting Game.
Monday 22 September 8.15PM start
HALO CAFE BAR, 141 Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol BS7 8BA
ACOUSTIC NIGHT – INSTANT ANTHOLOGY
Admission: £5.00
SPECIAL GUEST: LOU BELL
Bring 45 copies of an A4 poem with a minimum 25mm left hand margin for binding, go home with a 2014 Anthology.
Submit copies of poems from 7.30PM, readings start at 8.15PM.
Please note this is not an Open Mic. If you want to perform, please remember to bring copies of your poem for the anthology.
BOSTON TEA PARTY, 75 Park Street, Bristol BS1 5PF
Deborah Harvey launches her new poetry collection
MAP READING FOR BEGINNERS
Admission: Free but please buy a drink
With LOU BELL
Throw away the sat nav! Map Reading For Beginners, Deborah Harvey's eagerly awaited new poetry collection, will take you there by both
the direct and scenic routes simultaneously. Her poems have been widely published and have won several prizes. Her first collection of poetry,
Communion, was published by Indigo Dreams in 2011, followed by her historical novel, Dart, in 2013.
‘Deborah Harvey’s … poems are raw and true. She is the real thing.’ Hugo Williams
THE CUBE, Dove Street South, Bristol BS2 8JD
THE SHIPWRECKED HOUSE BY CLAIRE TREVIEN
Admission: £6.00 in advance / £8.00 on the door
Book online at: www.cubecinema.com
In a sparkling one-woman performance that blends poetry with theatre, Anglo-Breton poet Claire Trévien navigates a shifting maritime landscape.
Memory and myth from the Celtic fringe are transformed by her surreal, playful poetry – critically acclaimed, and longlisted for the 2013 Guardian
First Book Award. Produced by Penned in the Margins