Presented by Emily Dening. With music from Josh Navon.
CB1 Café, Mill Road, 8pm. Entrance is £3 or £2 concessions.
Further details about the poets, with examples of their work, can be found below.
James Byrne
Editor and founder of The Wolf poetry magazine, James Byrne’s debut collection, 'Passages of Time', was published by Waterways in 2003 and a second book is forthcoming. James has recited his poems across the UK and America, most recently at The Green Mill (Chicago) and The Groucho Club (London). He has helped to organise the World Poets' Tour for the Poetry Translation Centre at SOAS and is currently editing two anthologies whilst facilitating a European tour to mark five years of The Wolf magazine.
The Child
The pathway becomes a mess of brambles.
I stumble along in the dark as if blindfolded,
my two arms outstretched like a sleepwalker.
The church-bells peal into a long sequence
of echoes that make multiples of midnight.
At uneven distances, a succession of howls
whines through the forest. I catch my breath.
Ahead, the tall spire splits a scurry of cloud.
The church gate is covered with ice. Inside,
miniature graves are stubbled with frost:
lives of children who died in the accidents
that come from love. A wind nudges itself
through the black fingertips of branches.
The air is so cold it crackles inside my lungs.
Under the moon my face is a broken ghost.
I stoop forward to check for names and dates.
Sandeep Parmar
Sandeep Parmar was born in England and raised in California. She received an MA in creative writing from UEA in 2003 and is currently finishing a PhD in literature at UCL on the modernist poet Mina Loy.
June 16, 1956. The Church of St. George the Martyr, London
It will be fifty years soon.
And yet it seems the preparations have not begun,
for there are still thoughts of winter
in the boughs above Queen’s Square.
A drake flies overhead. I think he is lost.
His cry is like a man who is to wed.
And what a day it must have been,
the stones of the old church have not forgotten,
though the preparations for your wedding
do not feel as though they have begun.
And yet too late, and so, too late,
the couple that hurries in through the parish gate
welcomes the spirits in empty pews that are to be
their only guests. So, it is the same as it was then.
But it is not the same and yet it is, time will make
much of this and much of you and yet it cannot be the same.
A man, bustles into the square in a black raincoat
like someone in a scare, frightens the cashmere
gentlemen that back away from him
and his immortal packages. In each arm he carries ten
or more Styrofoam boxes labelled ‘human organ’
and runs and runs, hoping to arrive before the knowledge
of their death blackens the skins of his beating carriage.
The preparations have arrived and gone.
We hustle the dead around and imagine
somehow that they are alive, that time could still ferry you
back and transplant you untarnished in this beginning.
The sky is late, later than it was fifty years ago that day
when you, having married, were carried out hurriedly
in something pink and knitted with one summer rose,
that blossomed in your hand in Bloomsbury on Bloomsday.
Helen Mort
Helen Mort was born in Sheffield and now divides her time between Cambridge, where she studies, and Derbyshire, where she is mainly found running on the fells. She is President of the University Writers' Guild, and a 'Stanza' representative for the Poetry Society in London. Helen is a previous winner of the Foyle National Young Poets competition and her first short collection, 'The Shape of Every Box' will be released in April.
Tinsley Towers
They prop themselves up
against the sky; two shift workers
taking a breather, letting their smoke
uncoil above the terraces.
By clocking-off time,
evening has them suited black;
square-jawed bouncers at the city’s door,
guarding a fringe of dimmed lights, and
nearing home
in a slur of traffic, they greet you –
two fingers raised at the M1, at cars going
nowhere in particular.
You scan the future
in a service station newsagents.
Holes in your skyline, fingers crumpled
in a fist of clean air.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
CB1 Poetry Programme – Winter/Spring 2007
All events at CB1 Café on Mill Road at 8pm.
Open Mic is £2 or £1 concessions.
Other events are usually £3 or £2 concessions.
Everybody welcome!
February 13th Young Blood: Sandeep Parmar, Helen Mort and James Byrne presented by Emily Dening
February 27th Anne Berkeley reads with contributors of Seam magazine
March 13th Open Mic
March 27th Hisham Matar and Andre Mangeot
April 10th John Lyons (with music by Angelo)
April 24th Open Mic
Open Mic is £2 or £1 concessions.
Other events are usually £3 or £2 concessions.
Everybody welcome!
February 13th Young Blood: Sandeep Parmar, Helen Mort and James Byrne presented by Emily Dening
February 27th Anne Berkeley reads with contributors of Seam magazine
March 13th Open Mic
March 27th Hisham Matar and Andre Mangeot
April 10th John Lyons (with music by Angelo)
April 24th Open Mic
Related Upcoming Events!
Cambridge Wordfest, 27-29 April includes poetry events with the following:
Tony Harrison, Mike Rosen, Jacob Polley, Helen Farish, Ruth Padel, Moniza Alvi, Imtiaz Dharker, Dean Parkin, Matt Harvey. See http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk/
Tony Harrison, Mike Rosen, Jacob Polley, Helen Farish, Ruth Padel, Moniza Alvi, Imtiaz Dharker, Dean Parkin, Matt Harvey. See http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk/
Friday, December 08, 2006
Open Mic - Tues 12th Dec
Open Mic on Tuesday 12th December at 8pm.
Prizes and Music.
Entrance: £2 and £1 (concessions)
CB1 Cafe, Mill Road
All welcome.
Prizes and Music.
Entrance: £2 and £1 (concessions)
CB1 Cafe, Mill Road
All welcome.
Writing groups in & around Cambridge
Cambridge Writers: http://www.cambridgewriters.net/
Poetry, Short Prose, Long Prose; competitions, guest speakers and more...
Cambridge Wordfest: http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk
Wordfest 2007 is 27-29 April
Norwich
---------
Cafe Writers: http://www.cafewriters.co.uk/
Promoting established and new writers throughout Norfolk and beyond.
Second Monday of Each Month from 7.15pm
at Jurnet's Bar, Wensum Lodge, King Street, Norwich
Poetry, Short Prose, Long Prose; competitions, guest speakers and more...
Cambridge Wordfest: http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk
Wordfest 2007 is 27-29 April
Norwich
---------
Cafe Writers: http://www.cafewriters.co.uk/
Promoting established and new writers throughout Norfolk and beyond.
Second Monday of Each Month from 7.15pm
at Jurnet's Bar, Wensum Lodge, King Street, Norwich
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Fenlight - Tuesday 28th November
Fenlight, with Clare Crossman and Richard Newman.
Tuesday 28th November, CB1 Cafe, 8pm. £4 or £3 concessions.
Fenlight began as a series of occassional poems in a notebook written after exploring the countryside of south Cambridge.
A chance meeting with Producer, singer song writer, Richard Newman and some experiments in performance at Thriplow Daffodil Festival Arts Marquee (South Cambridgeshire Arts Unit), the project developed in to a serious collaboration between a poet and a musician to develop a poetry and song cycle, guided by a mutual respect for each other’s work and an interest in experiment and the elemental Some of the poems have been published in Chapman (Scotland), Scintilla, Chimera and Saw (Devon). The Orchard Underground was commended in the Haddon Library Poetry competition Cambridge University 2006.
Richard Newman has written books about the making of Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) and has written and presented his own Channel 4 documentary on the history and development of the early rock scene in London. His is also the author, along with Dave Laing, of a book about the Cambridge Folk Festival.
As a record producer, Richard has worked with many of the leading guitar players who in the last 30 years have emerged from this country.
As a song-writer his songs have been performed by artists such as Bert Jansch and Sue Stone.
Early in his career Richard wrote a series of songs called The Songs of the City which was made into a short television film by Thames TV.
It was when Clare Crossman heard some of these songs that the idea of Richard's collaboration with Clare on Fenlight first took flight.
Born of the acoustic tradition, and intended as a journey through a particular place, Fenlight brings poetry and music together to explore the state of woods, land, and the lives of people that live there.
Clare Crossman won the Redbeck Poetry competition with Landscapes in 1996; in 2002 Firewater Press published a pamphlet Going Back. In 2004 ‘The Shell notebook Poems' were included in Take 5 04. Shoestring Press Nottingham. She moved from Cumbria to Cambridge in 2000.
Tuesday 28th November, CB1 Cafe, 8pm. £4 or £3 concessions.
Fenlight began as a series of occassional poems in a notebook written after exploring the countryside of south Cambridge.
A chance meeting with Producer, singer song writer, Richard Newman and some experiments in performance at Thriplow Daffodil Festival Arts Marquee (South Cambridgeshire Arts Unit), the project developed in to a serious collaboration between a poet and a musician to develop a poetry and song cycle, guided by a mutual respect for each other’s work and an interest in experiment and the elemental Some of the poems have been published in Chapman (Scotland), Scintilla, Chimera and Saw (Devon). The Orchard Underground was commended in the Haddon Library Poetry competition Cambridge University 2006.
Richard Newman has written books about the making of Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) and has written and presented his own Channel 4 documentary on the history and development of the early rock scene in London. His is also the author, along with Dave Laing, of a book about the Cambridge Folk Festival.
As a record producer, Richard has worked with many of the leading guitar players who in the last 30 years have emerged from this country.
As a song-writer his songs have been performed by artists such as Bert Jansch and Sue Stone.
Early in his career Richard wrote a series of songs called The Songs of the City which was made into a short television film by Thames TV.
It was when Clare Crossman heard some of these songs that the idea of Richard's collaboration with Clare on Fenlight first took flight.
Born of the acoustic tradition, and intended as a journey through a particular place, Fenlight brings poetry and music together to explore the state of woods, land, and the lives of people that live there.
Clare Crossman won the Redbeck Poetry competition with Landscapes in 1996; in 2002 Firewater Press published a pamphlet Going Back. In 2004 ‘The Shell notebook Poems' were included in Take 5 04. Shoestring Press Nottingham. She moved from Cumbria to Cambridge in 2000.
Related upcoming events!
Huguette Sings at the Mumford - Paris je t'aime - Fri 24th Nov
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huguette sings
Paris je t'aime
Friday 24th November, 7.30pm
In this concert, Paris je t'aime, Huguette's repertoire includes songs
about Paris and what makes its appeal so unique: some of its districts,
their characters, some moments in its history, conveyed by songwriters
such as Aristide Bruant, Jean Renoir, Jean-Baptiste Clement, Francis
Lemarque, Serge Gainsbourg, Leo Ferre and, of course, Charles Trenet.
Through their talents you will discover a Paris both tender and cruel,
boisterous and romantic, often nostalgic, forever changing, yet eternal.
As usual, Huguette will briefly introduce her songs in English.
She will be accompanied on piano by Peter Britton.
Tickets: £8.00 (£6.00 concessions)
The Four Continents Slam - Sat 25th Nov at the Mumford
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The four corners of the globe slam together
Some of the best spoken word artists in the world come together for a
poetry slam. Performers from Africa, North America, Europe and
Australasia compete in a showcase extravaganza.
The Mumford Theatre, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge
Tel 0845 196 2320
Sat 25th Nov 7:30 - 10:30 £8 / £6conc (Anglia Ruskin students £5.00)
www.hammerandtongue.co.uk
Writing Lives - at the Fitzwilliam Museum
-----------------------------------------------
'Writing Lives' is a series of performances by contemporary writers and biographers to complement the exhibition 'Literary Circles: Artist, author, word and image in Britain 1800-1920' at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge'
Lucinda Hawksley, Claire Tomalin and Andrew Motion will talk about their latest books and about their literary connections to the exhibition
Details of events are:
Lucinda Hawksley - 16 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Claire Tomalin - 23 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Andrew Motion - 30 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
The series also includes a writing workshop for teachers led by Andrew Motion the Poet Laureate and an Arthur Rackham exhibition in Central Library Lion Yard, Cambridge
For further details on the series and advance booking for the writing workshop contact:
Helen Taylor, County Literature Development Officer Tel: 01223 718135 email: helen.m.taylor@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huguette sings
Paris je t'aime
Friday 24th November, 7.30pm
In this concert, Paris je t'aime, Huguette's repertoire includes songs
about Paris and what makes its appeal so unique: some of its districts,
their characters, some moments in its history, conveyed by songwriters
such as Aristide Bruant, Jean Renoir, Jean-Baptiste Clement, Francis
Lemarque, Serge Gainsbourg, Leo Ferre and, of course, Charles Trenet.
Through their talents you will discover a Paris both tender and cruel,
boisterous and romantic, often nostalgic, forever changing, yet eternal.
As usual, Huguette will briefly introduce her songs in English.
She will be accompanied on piano by Peter Britton.
Tickets: £8.00 (£6.00 concessions)
The Four Continents Slam - Sat 25th Nov at the Mumford
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The four corners of the globe slam together
Some of the best spoken word artists in the world come together for a
poetry slam. Performers from Africa, North America, Europe and
Australasia compete in a showcase extravaganza.
The Mumford Theatre, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge
Tel 0845 196 2320
Sat 25th Nov 7:30 - 10:30 £8 / £6conc (Anglia Ruskin students £5.00)
www.hammerandtongue.co.uk
Writing Lives - at the Fitzwilliam Museum
-----------------------------------------------
'Writing Lives' is a series of performances by contemporary writers and biographers to complement the exhibition 'Literary Circles: Artist, author, word and image in Britain 1800-1920' at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge'
Lucinda Hawksley, Claire Tomalin and Andrew Motion will talk about their latest books and about their literary connections to the exhibition
Details of events are:
Lucinda Hawksley - 16 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Claire Tomalin - 23 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Andrew Motion - 30 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
The series also includes a writing workshop for teachers led by Andrew Motion the Poet Laureate and an Arthur Rackham exhibition in Central Library Lion Yard, Cambridge
For further details on the series and advance booking for the writing workshop contact:
Helen Taylor, County Literature Development Officer Tel: 01223 718135 email: helen.m.taylor@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Thursday, November 16, 2006
CB1 Poetry: Events for November & December 2006
November 28th Fenlight (Clare Crossman and Richard Newman)
December 12th Open Mic
All events at 8pm in CB1 Cafe, Mill Road, Cambridge
December 12th Open Mic
All events at 8pm in CB1 Cafe, Mill Road, Cambridge
Sunday, November 05, 2006
14th Nov: Dave Swann & Simon Finch
Trish Harewood presents:
The prize-winning poet and short story writer, Dave Swann and his partner-in-crime, Murder Ballad rocker, Simon Finch. £4 waged, £3 unwaged.
David was brought up on the same Accrington street as the author Jeanette Winterson, his childhood neighbour. He later worked on the local rag, covering the matches of Accrington Stanley FC. He has also worked on newspapers and magazines in the Netherlands and London, and was writer-in-residence at Nottingham Prison (as well as a toilet cleaner at the legendary Paradiso night club in Amsterdam). He now teaches English at the University of Chichester. His short story collection, 'The Last Days of Johnny North' was published by Elastic Press (Norwich) in 2006. His poems and short stories have been widely published, and have won prizes in more than 50 competitions. He wants to ride downhill in a bath. It takes all sorts!
Click on 'comments' at the end of this posting to see example poems by Dave Swann.
Working in collaboration with Dave and bringing some of his most sinister murder ballads is Simon Finch, currently playing for a production of ‘The Third Policeman’. This is what Simon says about himself: 'I met Dave at 6th form college. We developed a common interest in absurd humour and sad songs. I play occasional solo gigs under the name of Cousin Simon .. which stuck after my cousin unimaginatively put me down as that on a bill he was organising. I have an unhealthy interest in 1950s country music. I also play in instrumental post-rock band Comfy Moss and take photographs.'
The prize-winning poet and short story writer, Dave Swann and his partner-in-crime, Murder Ballad rocker, Simon Finch. £4 waged, £3 unwaged.
David was brought up on the same Accrington street as the author Jeanette Winterson, his childhood neighbour. He later worked on the local rag, covering the matches of Accrington Stanley FC. He has also worked on newspapers and magazines in the Netherlands and London, and was writer-in-residence at Nottingham Prison (as well as a toilet cleaner at the legendary Paradiso night club in Amsterdam). He now teaches English at the University of Chichester. His short story collection, 'The Last Days of Johnny North' was published by Elastic Press (Norwich) in 2006. His poems and short stories have been widely published, and have won prizes in more than 50 competitions. He wants to ride downhill in a bath. It takes all sorts!
Click on 'comments' at the end of this posting to see example poems by Dave Swann.
Working in collaboration with Dave and bringing some of his most sinister murder ballads is Simon Finch, currently playing for a production of ‘The Third Policeman’. This is what Simon says about himself: 'I met Dave at 6th form college. We developed a common interest in absurd humour and sad songs. I play occasional solo gigs under the name of Cousin Simon .. which stuck after my cousin unimaginatively put me down as that on a bill he was organising. I have an unhealthy interest in 1950s country music. I also play in instrumental post-rock band Comfy Moss and take photographs.'
Friday, November 03, 2006
Related events - upcoming in Cambridge
Writing Lives - at the Fitzwilliam Museum
-----------------------------------------------
'Writing Lives' is a series of performances by contemporary writers and biographers to complement the exhibition 'Literary Circles: Artist, author, word and image in Britain 1800-1920' at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge'
Lucinda Hawksley, Claire Tomalin and Andrew Motion will talk about their latest books and about their literary connections to the exhibition
Details of events are:
Lucinda Hawksley - 16 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Claire Tomalin - 23 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Andrew Motion - 30 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
The series also includes a writing workshop for teachers led by Andrew Motion the Poet Laureate and an Arthur Rackham exhibition in Central Library Lion Yard, Cambridge
For further details on the series and advance booking for the writing workshop contact:
Helen Taylor, County Literature Development Officer Tel: 01223 718135 email: helen.m.taylor@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
CAMBRIDGE POETRY LAUNCH
--------------------------------------------
R.F. Langley and Peter Riley will read to launch their new books from Shearsman:
Journals by RF Langley
The Llyn Writings by Peter Riley
The Day's Final Balance: uncollected writings, by Peter Riley
Richard Price and Graeme Richardson will read to launch new pamphlets from Landfill --Earliest Spring Yet by Richard Price
Hang Time by Graeme Richardson
7:30, Friday 17th November
The Lloyd Room, Christ's College, Cambridge.
Admission free
Huguette Sings at the Mumford - Paris je t'aime - Fri 24th Nov
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huguette sings
Paris je t'aime
Friday 24th November, 7.30pm
In this concert, Paris je t'aime, Huguette's repertoire includes songs
about Paris and what makes its appeal so unique: some of its districts,
their characters, some moments in its history, conveyed by songwriters
such as Aristide Bruant, Jean Renoir, Jean-Baptiste Clement, Francis
Lemarque, Serge Gainsbourg, Leo Ferre and, of course, Charles Trenet.
Through their talents you will discover a Paris both tender and cruel,
boisterous and romantic, often nostalgic, forever changing, yet eternal.
As usual, Huguette will briefly introduce her songs in English.
She will be accompanied on piano by Peter Britton.
Tickets: £8.00 (£6.00 concessions)
The Four Continents Slam - Sat 25th Nov at the Mumford
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The four corners of the globe slam together
Some of the best spoken word artists in the world come together for a
poetry slam. Performers from Africa, North America, Europe and
Australasia compete in a showcase extravaganza.
The Mumford Theatre, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge
Tel 0845 196 2320
Sat 25th Nov 7:30 - 10:30 £8 / £6conc (Anglia Ruskin students £5.00)
www.hammerandtongue.co.uk
-----------------------------------------------
'Writing Lives' is a series of performances by contemporary writers and biographers to complement the exhibition 'Literary Circles: Artist, author, word and image in Britain 1800-1920' at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge'
Lucinda Hawksley, Claire Tomalin and Andrew Motion will talk about their latest books and about their literary connections to the exhibition
Details of events are:
Lucinda Hawksley - 16 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Claire Tomalin - 23 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
Andrew Motion - 30 Nov 2006, 6pm - 8.45pm
The series also includes a writing workshop for teachers led by Andrew Motion the Poet Laureate and an Arthur Rackham exhibition in Central Library Lion Yard, Cambridge
For further details on the series and advance booking for the writing workshop contact:
Helen Taylor, County Literature Development Officer Tel: 01223 718135 email: helen.m.taylor@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
CAMBRIDGE POETRY LAUNCH
--------------------------------------------
R.F. Langley and Peter Riley will read to launch their new books from Shearsman:
Journals by RF Langley
The Llyn Writings by Peter Riley
The Day's Final Balance: uncollected writings, by Peter Riley
Richard Price and Graeme Richardson will read to launch new pamphlets from Landfill --Earliest Spring Yet by Richard Price
Hang Time by Graeme Richardson
7:30, Friday 17th November
The Lloyd Room, Christ's College, Cambridge.
Admission free
Huguette Sings at the Mumford - Paris je t'aime - Fri 24th Nov
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Huguette sings
Paris je t'aime
Friday 24th November, 7.30pm
In this concert, Paris je t'aime, Huguette's repertoire includes songs
about Paris and what makes its appeal so unique: some of its districts,
their characters, some moments in its history, conveyed by songwriters
such as Aristide Bruant, Jean Renoir, Jean-Baptiste Clement, Francis
Lemarque, Serge Gainsbourg, Leo Ferre and, of course, Charles Trenet.
Through their talents you will discover a Paris both tender and cruel,
boisterous and romantic, often nostalgic, forever changing, yet eternal.
As usual, Huguette will briefly introduce her songs in English.
She will be accompanied on piano by Peter Britton.
Tickets: £8.00 (£6.00 concessions)
The Four Continents Slam - Sat 25th Nov at the Mumford
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The four corners of the globe slam together
Some of the best spoken word artists in the world come together for a
poetry slam. Performers from Africa, North America, Europe and
Australasia compete in a showcase extravaganza.
The Mumford Theatre, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge
Tel 0845 196 2320
Sat 25th Nov 7:30 - 10:30 £8 / £6conc (Anglia Ruskin students £5.00)
www.hammerandtongue.co.uk
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