Poet on page and stage. Creator of She Grrrowls. Facilitator. Writer.

26.06.14 – Wayfaring Stranger @ Open Arts Cafe, 7.30pm

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance.” – Cesare Pavese

Open Arts Café is an evening of new work by up-and-coming artists. This month they are exploring strangers, wayfarers and travelling.

Please join us for wine and snacks as our artists take you around the world.

Nearest tube: Marble Arch

Pay what you can

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With music from Lewis Barfoot and Maya Levy

Comedic theatre from Chris Boyd

Poetry from Carmina Masoliver

Short story from Giles Roberts

Short film from Victoria Fiore

Clowning and Acrobatics from Poceczka

Visual arts exhibit from Corinne Weidmann and Grace Esther Kalibbala

14.06.14 – ‘Writing in the Blackout’ Launch

Events

I will be reading my ‘Vultures’ poem from the ‘Writing in the Blackout’ Anthology during its launch party at Keats House Museum, Saturday 14th June. I wrote the poem as a collaboration with Matthew Dickerson; his image was commissioned for the anthology. The anthology is a online zine that explores themes of censorship in the arts and freedom of expression. Carmina has had her work featured here and will be standing alongside other selected poets to perform their work. The launch will also have 25 limited edition copies of the anthology available to buy for just £5. For more event info, please visit the page here.

06.06.14 – Burn After Reading presents Malika’s Kitchen

Events

I will be performing a five minute set with my collective, Burn After Reading alongside members of Malika’s Kitchen, including Selina Nwulu and feature Roger Robinson, plus BAR’s own Will Tyas. Join the facebook event.

The Gallery Cafe, 21 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PJ, 7.30pm

Moshalik

Inspiration

Last week at the Roundhouse, Bohdan gave us the task to write a Moskalik* poem. Here is my attempt.

If someone were to say they were voting for UKIP,
that it’s their right to flyer outside Iceland.
Well, let’s just say they might accidently trip,
and flying over Ruskin Drive, at St Philip’s is where they’d land.

This is based on a true experience, though my anger was kept at bay in reality.

*A four line poem with an ABAB rhyme scheme, starting with a disagreeable view, the third line a threat of violence, and the four line a place of worship where the act of violence will take place.

Poetry Rivals

News

It has now been officially announced that I am the winner the 16-25 category for the 2013 entries for Poetry Rivals. I first entered four years ago, when my hair was much shorter! I performed a piece which is now part of my 15-20 minute poem ‘Circles’, which was inspired by my university dissertation text by Sarah Kane.

I came back and I wanted to win (I came to win, to fight, to conquer, to thrive etc…). The prize is amazing – a performance poetry package with Mark Grist, a professional recording of a poem and a paid performance at a UK festival. I have worked hard to get to a position where I stood a chance in winning, and I would have been disappointed if I didn’t. I attend slams but hadn’t felt that same desire to win before. I guess all the nerves and adrenaline paid off!

I hung out in Peterborough for quite an unnecessarily long time and so I had time to rehearse my poem, though I already knew it well. I know my age and experience may have given me an advantage within this category (I’ve just turned 25), but this certainly didn’t make me complacent. I was really impressed by the quality of the poetry from everyone else who competed. The standard was much higher than when I had been before (in my opinion) and I’m sure that if those in attendance keep writing and getting out there, that they will win another year.

Again, I thank the judges Hollie McNish, Mixy and Tim Clare. It was great to watch them all perform. Hollie, I hadn’t seen since I started out seven years ago, and I connected to the way she made the personal political, and entwined her poetry with story telling. Having not ever been placed first with my poetry performances, it was about time!

You can read my winning poem ‘Paradise’ here, which I wrote as part of the ‘No More Page Three’ campaign.