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Needle&Thread open mic

Poetry Gigs

This is just a quick update about the last open mic night I went to, last Tuesday at the Half Moon pub in Herne Hill.  I used to live in the area, but it was before I was five so I don’t remember much, it was my parent’s first place though so I have like one vague memory in a park as well as those confused with photographs and home videos.  So, the event was Needle&Thread and although I was there an hour before to sign up, after one glass of wine, my friend Amy came along, as she lives five minutes walk away.

It was good to see Amy, and although the other acts were all men with acoustic guitars, it was fun and relaxing.  It was weird at first because the lights were so bright I couldn’t see the audience – I used to like that when I was dancing but it felt like reading to an empty room, although the crowd were really nice with clapping and cheering.

It has to be said, the bar staff were really nice and friendly, and it seemed an all-round cool pub.  I was gutted I had to leave so early to get my last train.  If I didn’t have work the next day I would have bussed it back.  There was one guy that was going to do poetry that talked to me and my friend at the bar, and he interrupted our conversation and then said “don’t beat me up” so I would have loved to see what he did!

Next up, tonight, The Queen’s Speech and The Queen’s Head in Brixton.  So far, going it alone.  I’ve become soooo skint over the summer as well – thank God for my travel expenses from Penned in the Margins!

On another note, I had my last day at my internship and it’s easily the best bit of work I’ve ever had, such a great experience, and let me tell you, there’s some exciting stuff coming up in the next year!  I had a goodbye lunch at Juno  which was delish!  I pretty much could have eaten anything on the menu, except the fish… not a fan – very unEnglish of me!  I’ve no idea why there’s bad reviews online, I really liked it, my perfect menu and nice atmopshere, with a cool space invaders table.

Anyway, I’ll update soon about tonight, as I’ve got my own camera back… well, it says it’s repaired but I swear it’s a new camera! Not bad for £23!

xxx

JawDance: Apples & Snakes

Poetry Gigs

Last Wednesday I went to JawDance at Rich Mix in Shoreditch.  It was a few minutes away from where I go for my internship so I met my friend, Siobhan, at the station and we stolled around Brick Lane, and ate at Cafe 1001.  I arrived in good time and was about fifth on the open mic list.  The other performances were good, and there was a lot of variety of styles.

I enjoyed my set, and got a couple of compliments.  I got chatting to one girl, called Laila Sumpton, and I recognised her from my old dance class, Gemini Dancers and asked her name, and it was her.  She also knew fellow poet, Alain English – what a small world!  I also listened to the video again on the tube to see if you really could hear it, and you couldn’t really, apart from at the stops… so maybe not quite as embarrassing as I first thought.

On another note, I’ve finished Henry James, The Portait of a Lady.  It’s one of those books that is so beautifully written that it’s just a pleasure to read it.  It makes me feel like Henry James is reading to me as we sit by a fire in an old Victorian mansion.  The characters, especially Isabel, the lady in question, captured my interest entirely, and although due to my busy schedule I was unable to keep the pace of my reading, the story drew me in each time I picked up the book.  It’s wonderful when a book can truelly take you into another world and make you forget your own life for a while – that’s what this does.  At over 600 pages, I’m now ready to take on Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust for the second time.

I went to Thorpe Park yesterday and had so much fun that I implusively bought a “bounce back” ticket for a tenner so hopefully will get to go with a few of the friends that didn’t get to go this time.  I went to the gym for the first time in a while, maybe 2 weeks and it felt good to get some excercise done!  I’m going to go again tomorrow.  I weighed myself afterwards which was a mistake – 9 stone 11 pounds – which is basically my normal weight.  I know it sounds stupid, but sometimes I get it into my head that I’d like to get down toe 8 stone 7 pounds.  In reality, 9 stone 7 pounds would surfice, as I just want to sort out trouble areas like thighs, stomach and bingo wings, and a BMI of 22.8 would be fine (well, my current BMI is also fine) but 20.4 sounds so much better.  All this is silly to say anything about anyway, because the only reason I go to the gym is so I can stuff my face with things like yummy roast dinner and dark chocolate – which is what I’ll be doing later tonight 😀

And I think I’m going to have about 5 cans of Fosters tomorrow night (and that’s me trying to be sensible!) with a friend I haven’t seen since Hop Farm festival!  And I have Monday off work.  Looking forward to these next few days! Next open mic will be Needle & Thread in Herne Hill, at the Half Moon Pub.

xxx

Lady Fest Ten

Poetry Gigs

Last night I went to the Lady Fest poetry open mic event ‘So She Said’ at The Victoria in Mile End.  I went after work and grabbed a burger and wedges from Cafe 1001 (and a sneaky Carlsberg).  The features of the night were Chrissy Williams, Dzifa Benson and Liz Bentley.  Chrissy Williams I thought was okay but perhaps more of a “page” poet, given by her numerous publications of which I can only dream of being in currently.  If I remember correctly a lot of the poems involved dialogue, which I thought maybe was in order to fit in with the event title, which would have been a cool thing to do, if it was intentional.

My favourite feature was probably Dzifa Benson.  I usually find it more difficult to concentrate on the poet prior to going up myself, but I really liked her set, especially one she read about skin.  I was pleased with how my set went and the girl who went up after me (can’t remember her name, but she was good!) said she enjoyed my set.  She also told me she’d only started doing poetry readings a week or so ago!  Where have all these amazing poets come from that need like nooo practice to perform amazingly?  (Like Vanessa Kisuule, whose name I wanted to mention in my last Farrago post but am not sure if I did). I also was compared to Brigitte Aphrodite by, Nikki Shaill, one of the event organisers who approached me about contributing to the Lady Fest Zine.  I was really surprised by the comparison, but I don’t know maybe it’s the inflection in the voice when performing, expression of emotion or something.  I don’t have music in my act (yet!) but if I were to sum up Brigitte’s act, I would describe it as of the cockney music hall variety.  Maybe it was ’cause I was with my cockney-East-end-born&bred friend, Elliot Snook (soon to be happy-hardcore music producer, so he tells me).  I told my mum this and she said I sound “more cockney” when I read my poetry.  My own mother!  I was not impressed, I shall have to “get my posh on” in future, all these comparisons unnerve me; flattering as they are, as my friends are saying a lot these days ‘I love it, but it kinda makes me sick’.  I guess it’s because I like these people, but see myself as very different to them in so many ways… I guess I’ve always felt I can’t be put in a box (although I LOVE quizzes, you know the ones that try to put you in boxes).

OMG!  Two embarrassing things happened to me related to this night as well:

1.   I was on the tube and decided to watch the recording of my performance with my Ipod in, to see how long I was on for (which I found out after you can see without doing that).  My camera’s at the repair shop, so I was borrowing my mum’s, so I also didn’t know that you could hear SOUND when you play it back (mine doesn’t do that).  I even took my earphones out to check but didn’t seem to hear anything, but my mum told me you could after. So yeah, embarrassing!  Especially as there was someone who performed there on the tube near me probably thinking what a weirdo loser I was!

2.  My parents had their couple friends round for food and drinks, and I went to bed, leaving the camera with my mum as she wanted to take pictures.  She told me the next day how great their friends thought my performance was (and compared me to Kate Nash, grrr – see above).  I was soooo embarrassed!  Mainly the content of my poems.  I’ve performed in front of my parents before but carefully picked my poems!  Poems about body hair and ex-boyfriends would not be top of the list!  Argh! and I haven’t heard it myself yet, hopefully will be able to upload it tonight though!

Anyway, back to the event!  Liz Bentley was the last feature and I was enjoying her performance and laughed at her reference to Rachel Pantechnicon, feeling a bit pleased with myself that I got it.  So I enjoyed it, despite my personal aversion to people with her first name, UNTIL she did a poem about hating her sister and asked people in the audience to answer whether they hated their siblings.  Elliot said he loved his, and he exclaimed “she’s only two!”  Liz then engaged in banter, trying to amuse the audience by making out he was “weird” for loving his sister.  I felt a wave of embarrassment come over me, like that feeling when you forget lines and everyone is looking at you.  Aware it wasn’t me that should feel awkward, I told Elliot ‘I want the world to swallow you up’.  I just thought it was an underhand thing to say, as he wasn’t heckling and I found it inappropriate and basically rude.  *Sigh* Disappointing.

The next So She Said event is 7th September and I’ll hopefully be going along again.

xxx

Penned in the Margins

Inspiration

So, last Thursday I was selling books at the Penned in the Margins event at Aubin & Wills as part of my internship.  The poetry readings were from Glynn Maxwell, Clare Pollard, Simon Barraclough and Joe Dunthorne.  I arrived later than I planned as there were messed up trains… and then I got lost by walking in the wrong direction – typical!  So I was a bit anxious and flustered when I arrived, but settled down a bit once I knew what I was doing and made myself at home with a bottle of beer.

There were a couple of girls serving the drinks, so I had to help them a bit whilst selling the books as I was next to the drinks.  They were friendly but so different from me, quite posh and ALL blonde, which was a bit funny as their friends and co-workers appeared at times and they were all very similar.  I got the feeling they like a certain type of person at Jack Wills/Aubin & Wills, as the websites note they “represent the directional nature of the brand” and need to “embody the… aspirational, lifestyle brand”.  One of the girls did literature as part of her course, and the other was a singer, so that was cool, sadly can’t remember their names though!  I guess I felt a bit out of place with those girls, as one complained of the possibility of a 36 month phone contract I thought about joking about my Nokia 3330 or whatever it is.

I took advantage of the free drinks, listened to some good poetry and sold a few books, of which Joe’s pamphlet was the most popular.  A couple of people I’d invited over Facebook came – Paul Riggs, the ‘Australian guy’ I met at Farrago, and Amy Acre – both bought books as well which was cool.  I felt really inspired and even had lines running through my head for a couple of poems, but have inevitably forgotten what they were.

We then went to the pub and I chatted to a few of the poets/literary people, but I can only remember half their names.  I should have gotten a lemonade instead of that last half pint.  But I only drink lemonade with alcohol in it.

That reminds me of a poem I wrote, so, here it is:

Half Pints

You asked me what I liked to drink

What’s that all about?

As if it’s the first time we are going out

As if you have to really think

As if you don’t already know me inside out.

Said you normally drink cans or JD and coke,

Out with the lads,

I thought it was a joke.

‘Cause you used to buy me drinks

Even when you were broke,

Guess it’s been a while since I saw you last;

Been a while since we spoke .

And you’ve always been forgetful

And I’ve never been that cool.

And I’ve never been regretful,

Always been a love fool.

But I’ve had enough of half pints.

Fill me up

To the brim

My glass

Totally full.

xxx

Don’t be such a BORE!

Inspiration

It’s a bit of a late update as I am really busy, but I wanted to make sure to mention this.  After grabbing some Nando’s after work one day, I met with my parents at the National Theatre to see After the Dance.  I was tired as it was but then saw a sign saying the production would be THREE hours long, including two intervals!  I hoped it was good!

The time flew by so fast that I would have to say it was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time.  It also seemed extra meaningful for me to see it at this time in my life, although I expect it would be relevent to many.  It was really interesting to read in the programme how the play is considered a ‘lost’ play, and thus isn’t that well-known.

It follows a group of friends who ‘talk of nothing but the old days and the old parties’, and seem to be slowly destroying themselves with their drinking habits.  I consider myself to having a drinking problem, purely for the reason that I sometimes don’t know when to stop and it causes me problems, so it’s something that I’m trying to find a better way of doing.  To drink, and still keep my health, and my friends!  I know I’m not the only one that behaves like an idiot when drunk, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay.

Anyway, there was a division with some of the characters who didn’t drink, and it escalated into questions of life, love and relationships.  The first half was mainly sugar-coated with humour, yet by the second part the audience was met with the raw emotions underneath the masks.  It was beautifully tragic.  The script was amazing and the actors brought it to life.

One of the threads that ran through the play was the idea of being a ‘bore’ if you didn’t drink.  This is probably one of the big reasons why I over-drink.  Sometimes I tell myself I’d rather be boring that too drunk but it doesn’t work.  I’ve been called boring a few times by people I know are ignorant of who I am.  Yet, I am affected by what people think.  On parents evening once at secondary school my history teacher told me and my parents that I needed to participate more in class, something which I’d been told my whole life, and yet they added that I would ‘never be the life and soul of the party’.  So, is it any wonder I like a drink or two?

I think labels like that are terrible, and the reasons why I didn’t participate more than others were not purely down to shyness.  As I noted to two school friends last night, maybe the shy people would say something if everyone else shut up once in a while.  I feel my shyness is a battle, but it is something I fight against because all my passions require a bit of confidence – spoken word performances, dancing, and organising many “events” for friends.  Yet, I also embrace my shyness, as it is a part of my nature, as people will often be able to tell during my poetry sets, or when talking to me for the first time.

Anyway, it is a subject I could go on for ages about, but the point I’m making here, is that I know I don’t need a drink to have fun (I had a sober night and stayed up til about 2am last night with my friends), but sometimes the idea of a being a ‘bore’ probably does influence my habits.  I find it hard to stop, so I just need to get the right balance and be more conscious of my choices – easier said that done when you start to get tipsy.  I think I just need to stop planning to get drunk, and worrying about being drunk “enough” and just relax and enjoy myself, and stop being such a fucking stereotype.

Overall, the play was emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating, and I’d defos recommend it!

xxx

Rhythm & Muse

Poetry Gigs

Last night I went to Rhythm & Muse, in Teddington for the first time to check out the open mic there., having signed up via email.  It had a really chilled vibe and was nice to relax with a glass of Rosé.  I’d arrived early so I got to sit right at the front, which I like because it means I don’t have to rumage my way through the crowd to get on stage.

 The Flying Blueberries were on first, doing mostly Bob Dylan songs, and having seen Bob Dylan at Hop Farm Festival earlier, this was possibly more enjoyable as the real McCoy’s set was long and disappointing, as he avoided the classics that all the fans wanted to hear.  Anyway, of the open mic I recognised Peter Francis from The Tea Box open mic who provided a witty rapport with the audience in between poems.  I also enjoyed a girl called Laura’s set, who studies at Kingston uni, though felt she did something I tend to do, which is to try and squeeze as many poems as possible into the set.

I loved the headline poetry act, Racker Donnelly, as I find that it’s always impressive when poets know their material by heart, and also felt there was a good mix of the comedic and the tragic… as I think he pointed out himself with reference to Shakespeare before performing a piece on King Lear.  I also felt like I was learning something about Ireland, and it’s always good to learn new things.  I’ve also been wanting to have a trip to Ireland after my friend Kim suggested it as a place to celebrate the new year (although it hasn’t happened yet).  I have to confess that part of the reason is a false hope for Gerard Butler look-a-likes after seeing P.S. I Love You… even though he’s actually Scottish.

Back to the poetry… I was on my own again, so was feeling a bit nervous… and it was coming out of my shaking legs once again – I hope that stops, it’s really annoying!  I picked a couple of poems I thought I knew off by heart and folded up the text a million times to squeeze it in my pocket for safety, and annoyingly I needed it!  I forgot a bloody line for Cinderella, of all poems, the bane of my life!  However, after that it was fine, and I got a really positive reaction from the audience.

The compère, Nick Poole said it gave him goosebumps, and came to chat for a bit afterwards, and even offered me a drink which was very nice of him, but I refused as I thought I should be sensible… the wine was really nice though so it was tempting!  I also overheard someone say ‘amazing’ after I came off stage and I don’t care, I’m going to assume it was about me because it makes me feel good haha!

I stayed for the second half but shot off when the first band returned to the stage as I wanted to be home as early as possible; my parents were going away on holiday in the early hours the next day and I wanted to say goodbye.  Before going to bed, I decided to try to put a scarf on my head to experiment to see if it would prevent my hair from getting frizzy and I thought what I came up with looked kind of cool in a 1940s way, so I took some pictures and posted one below.  It didn’t work though and had fallen off by the time I woke up. xxx

Farrago Poetry: School’s Out Slam

Poetry Gigs

I was feeling excited about going to Farrago, as it’s a place I’ve been many times and it’s a place I feel comfortable in.  However, I ended up with NO FRIENDS coming to see me.  As my personal life’s been a bit up and down, losing a few friends and that, I had to just not think about this too much or I knew it would get me down.  When I am friends with someone I see it as friends for life, so it has been upsetting, but it’s good to keep busy and take my mind off it all.

Anyway, luckily everyone is friendly at Farrago, and an Australian guy who sponsors poetry and puts on events chatted to me for a bit and even bought me a drink.  AF Harrold was on first, for his first 10 minutes, but to be honest, as I was on next, I couldn’t give a proper opinion on that as I tend to get quite nervous before I go on.

I really enjoyed my performance, although I’d planned to do one more poem, I knew I was limited to 10 minutes so was happy enough to end it on ‘Roots’, the poem I wanted to finish with.  I tried to do it off by heart and was pleased with the amount I had remembered, as I only made a few strange slip-ups like saying ‘miss pronoucing my name’ instead of ”miss pronoucing my words’.  What was weird is that I was really shakey as well, like, even my legs were shaking! I’ve never really done that so it was a bit annoying!  I think I was a bit more nervous as I usually recognise more people in the crowd, and also, I think I feel more comfortable when I have my mates there for support.

I think Suli Breaks was next, if I remember correctly. I’ve seen him a few times before so knew he was gonna be good.  He was really entertaining and funny, and didn’t need bits of paper like me!  I was a bit ashamed I didn’t know what ‘crepes’ meant, but then again, there is a reason I get emails from Urban Dictionary.  Me and slang don’t go so well together, so I need the emails so I can at least know what’s going on around me haha, one of my mates once even said I’m ‘far too middle class, darling’ to say the word ‘sick’.

I think Fran Landesman was afterwards, and I LOVE her, as I’ve seen her lots at Farrago shows.  She’s a bit of a celebrity really!  Here’s the only picture I managed to take before my batteries ran out:

I think Niall Spooner-Harvey was up next.  I’ve seen him loads at Farrago shows and think he’s great, so is always a pleasure to see him, especially after such a long time as I got to hear a whole load of new stuff!

It was good to hear AF Harrold again, as I couldn’t take it all in as well as I would have liked before.  The only thing I would say is that, he probably would have sold more books if he’d read larger sections of his novel, the small sections were funny a few times but it didn’t get the message across.  My experience with Penned in the Margins has told me that a big part of selling the books lays with the actual author… not to mention the lack of royalities you end up with!  Anyway, John-Paul kept going on about reading the last poem, ‘Cats Are Better Than Fish’ and I have to say, I did enjoy it!

The slam itself was really fun, though I really wanted to have the scorecards and didn’t.  There were a few people that stood out, but sadly I can’t remember all their names.  One was Amy Acre, who I had been blown away by at the Glam Slam a few weeks ago, and although the MySpace I have linked doesn’t have much on it at the moment, she told me she’s planning to get some stuff up there so keep your eyes peeled!  Also, Hannah Eiseman-Renyard, who had been in the Feminist Midsummer Party audience and also went to UEA – I especially liked her last one about being a female writer.  A guy called Joshua Morris also walked past me and said he liked my set, he performed in the slam and was pretty good himself, but I feel like he’s an actor… not that that’s a bad thing! I wish I had more acting experience myself.  I was pretty chuffed he said that anyway, purely because I thought he was good looking haha!  He was directly in my eyeline as well (they always are) so I got a bit worried I was looking at him too much, what a loser haha!  At the end a woman also asked me for my email to join some sort of poetry social network thing, called JotSpeak which I have joined.  Already someone commented saying ‘Oh wow I saw you last night! I remember thinking you looked like Kate Nash… and sounded a bit like her too. Really liked your set ;-)’

I’m a bit wary of Kate Nash comparisons, since someone made a negative comment once, acting like I was a “wannabe”, although I told them I’ve actually got a poem mocking that kind of judgement and I changed their mind – yay!  There’s only been a couple of people that have compared me to her before that, one being a friend who is also an ex-boyfriend of mine, who told my friend (also his cousin) that he thought I looked like Kate Nash (and he loves her up so it pretty much meant he fancied me… how primary school haha).  The other was a friend of a friend I met once.  Oh! And an old friend thinks I have similar mannerisms after seeing an interview of her.  I guess when people say it, it reminds me of the ex, and so it’s a bit complicated, but obviously I want to be myself.  I certainly don’t think I sound like her though, I’m from the total opposite end of London haha.

I think it’s so easy for people to be compared to Kate Nash, because she’s just a normal girl, and that’s her whole philosophy and why so many can relate to her.  I like her for these reasons, and listening to her still makes me feel happy, and that’s what it’s all about.  So I’m not complaining about any comparisons!

Wow, that’s taken way longer than I thought! I was doing it whilst watching Dragon’s Den (well want to go to that Vintage shop with yummy cakes and stuff!) so it slowed me down.  I feel really in need of water as well!

I’m off with my parents to eat at Strada and see Toy Story 3, so excited!

xxx

Surreal House & Latitude Festival

Inspiration

Last Thursday I went to meet up with my Gran at Barbican.  We went to Indulgence Bar & Grill for Pimms and a two course lunch, which was really nice.  We went to the Surreal House exhibition at the Barbican Centre afterward.  It was really interesting, although I had seen some of the pieces previously.  I liked the psychological side of it, and the links with poetry and literature. 

One section also reminded me of an experience I had at my Gran’s cottage in Sussex once.  I was unsure if it was a dream at the time, as it was so strange, I could only describe it as a nightmare.  I was in the same position in bed, but I felt a cold presence , and a pressure as though someone was trying to suffocate me, and I wanted to call for help but I could speak or move I recently found out his is quite a common thing, called Sleep Paralysis.  I’m glad I’ve only experienced it once, it was really scary!

Anyway, on Friday at 4:45am I awoke to begin my journey to Latitude Festival!  I was going alone, and I knew a few people going but would only see them in the evening as I planned to spend most of the day in the poetry tent.   The text I had with te instructions I realised had given me over an hour to travel from Waterloo to Liverpool Street!  So, I took a bit of extra time, but still had to wait for ages.  On the train to Halesworth, Niall O’Sullivan had booked his seat next to me and I was only half sure it was him, as I’ve only seen him in person a couple of times at the Poetry Cafe.  Anyway, I realised it was him for sure when he came on stage haha!  So, I’d wasted time talking about who was sitting where, when I could have been talking about… I don’t know, poetry I guess, or how to get backstage haha.

So, as I enjoyed everyone’s acts, I’ll try to keep it concise.  I got to the poetry tent at around midday; I sadly missed Molly Naylor’s set, and arrived in the middle of Sabrina Mahfouz’s set, who I’d seen at the Feminist Midsummer party (my MySpace blog for details).  Luke Wright was the MC for this section,and I’ve seen in Norwich before (and even lay down near me at one point) and also at Southbank for E4’s Udderbelly.  Next was Rosy Carrick, who I can’t actually remember as it was so long ago but I’m sure she was amazing haha. I remember Martin Figura, and as he brought the poems to read from it made me think I could be up there next year, if only I knew how to go about it… Anyway, next was Niall O’Sullivan and his set was really good, though all the while I was kicking myself for the train seat business.  I left for a bit to get a drink then saw a bit of “Larkin about”, followed by Paul Lyalls who I just had to remind myself of, but remember him also being very good now I’ve reminded myself of what he looks like!  I’ve been writing my diary and other such stuff so I’m afraid I’m not going to offer much more varied descriptions… but if you’re reading I’ve linked all of the poets so you should just check them out for yourselves!

Kriss Foster was next, and although he was entertaining I’m not sure I’d describe him as poetry, more of a cabaret act, or an act for a small music stage.  Then it was Tongue Fu which made me want to try out the event, which basically consists of a jazz band playing music while you try to read your poetry over the top of it.  I’m very much interested in the ways poetry and music overlap, so it’s something I’d like to try out, though I can’t help thinking it would go horribly wrong the first time.   Anyway, after that was Joel Stickly who started to MC the next section.  Some of his set was good but I wrote down to remind myself that I didn’t like a poem he did about a woman with a double chin, I think it’s a cheap shot at an attempt to be amusing… I have a thing about judging people’s physical appearances.  Maybe because I’m so insecure myself that I wouldn’t want to pass judgement on someone else unless it was about their personality and the fakeness of their hair on hair adverts *cough* Cherly Cole/Tweedy *cough*.  Next was Tim Cockburn, who is often published in Stop Sharpening Your Knives, and I just checked and I submitted but was rejected – boooo!

Hannah Walker was up next and I remember seeing her a few times in Norwich, and she is so much better than the first time I saw her, as I wasn’t blown away then, but now I would probably say she was one of my favourite acts of the day.  Martin Newell I thought was really cool and really enjoyed his set.  Next was Clare Pollard and again I really enjoyed her, I felt like I’d seen her before but I’m not sure where.  Rhian Edwards was okay, I think perhaps she is more of a “page poet” but now that I think about it, it was probably just because I needed the toilet and wanted to get some food, but I didn’t leave when she was on so it must have been good!

I went to the comedy tent with my chicken and chips and saw David O’Doherty.  I recognised some of his set, but I think he’s really funny so I stayed to the end and got to hear some new material too.  I sung along to Laura Marling as I walked past the Obelisk Arena (note how they don’t say “main stage”) as she was on a bit late and I wanted to get back to Ross Sutherland.  I’d seen her at Hop Farm and she was amazing, and would have loved to watch her again, but oh well.  Ross did this thing where you write a line of poetry and members of audience did the same and then he’d read out the results.  I was right at the front, directly before him, so I went to grab the clipboard.  The first line he’s written was ‘Bob Geldof didn’t cry when’ and I wrote ‘his daughter fell into the river’ as it was the first thing that came to me.  As I passed it along, I realised it’s not only appropriate (Latitude has a river) but one of his daughters is Peaches, who has annoyed me since she got a column for Ellegirl magazine and can’t even write well.  So that was a close as I’d got to introducing myself.

I can’t remember what I did next, probably went for another drink – damn those pesky plastic eco-refillable-cups!  I was back for Byron Vincent who was really good and wearing what appears to be his signature stage outfit.  Anna Freeman was I think built up a bit too much, but still was entertaining enough.  Kate Tempest was amazing as always, I would have gone round to buy her book & CD but they said it was £20 and so I think it’ll have to be one for the Christmas list! I’ve decided all I want is poetry books.  Although, I will probably ask for some clothes too as I love new clothes and never really buy new stuff other than as pressies from my parents.

Next up was El Crisis who was good, but I preferred his act when he was part of the Spoken Word Allstars later.   Joshua Idehen was next, who I knew from seeing at Farrago events, and he took over as MC.  Hollie McNish was next who I also know from Farrago events and have mentioned previously in my blog.  Then it was Chris Hicks who I very much enjoyed, and I think may have seen in Norwich before.  Inua Ellams I’ve also seen at Farrago (good thing I’m back doing a feature there this Thursday!), and he was really good, seemed like a really sweet guy as well.  He started to go over time though so had to leave the stage, at which point I went to check my tent hadn’t blown away and got a jumper for later.  Amazingly, with all the wind my tent was still held by five pegs in the sand-like soil.  I must have been a bit tipsy by then as I had jotted down a poem in my notepad, I say poem, it was more like a list, and a list I gave up with at that.  Here it is:

The Portrait of a Lady

over a third the way through

with the España bookmark,

a much loved jumper given by a friend

to be lost this Sunday,

the tent,

the sleeping bag,

the toilet roll from the last festival.

I walked past Florence & The Machine, who could be heard from my camp anyway.  I bought some nachos and another pint, as I was feeling a bit peckish again.  I watched the Spoken Word Allstars which was really cool, a kind of blend of poetry and music.  Next was Brigitte Aphrodite who I would have seen before at Southbank at the launch of Laura Dockrill’s book but I think me and my mate Ricky were a bit late as he’s always late and therefore I blame him!  She was really entertaining and I loved her glittery outfit, and she seemed like a nice girl.

 I went to get another drink and it was getting quite difficult to get out.  However, by the time I got back, Tim Clare was on and I couldn’t get back to where I was sat as it was so crowded.  It pissed me off to be honest, and I thought where were you before eh?  Everyone suddenly wanting to be at the poetry tent.  I’d heard good things of Tim and although it was good, it was a bit disappointing that over half his set was basically comedy.  It’s nice to have a laugh between poems, but sometimes people think it’s only entertaining when it’s funny which I disagree with, and seeing as Kate Tempest probably had the biggest applause out there, I think we can see that I’m right haha, as she can make me laugh and cry, you know, that’s skill.  Anyway, then it was Eddie Argos from Art Brut.  I saw him in his band years ago in Brixton Windmill and I thought they were overrated.  Although I saw Luke Wright loving it at the front, I have to say I didn’t really see his set as extremely poetic.  At this time I’d bumped into someone from uni so I wasn’t paying enough attention to properly judge.

I went to get another drink… I thought I should get a bit tipsy since I had no booze of my own and was planning to meet up with people after.  Sadly, I had no reception just at the time I needed it, and there was nowhere to use a phone that would work, a nice girl lent me hers but then there was no answer.  I walked around, wanting to dance with everyone but not wanting to look weird and dance on my own.  I didn’t want to waste the night so wandered into a tent where people were playing pass the parcel to a jazz band, and it was all quite surreal, then people were muttering something about Phil Jupitas in the Cabaret tent, so I went along but it was just him DJing.  I felt a bit down and disappointed as I made my way back to my tent.  I tried reading Henry James but the batteries in my torch were going and I was too drunk and tired to be bothered, so I tried to get to sleep.  I was woken at like 5am by kids being loud as they left with their family.  It was really hot by then, so I drifted in and  out (but mostly out) of sleep until 9ish.

I packed up and waited around an hour for the shuttle bus.  The bus to the station then didn’t leave until 11:05am.  I saw Marie from my internship was sat in front of it which was a weird coincidence, I don’t think I was aware of her going, or at least I couldn’t remember she was.  I managed to get on the trains I needed earlier despite my ticket being for specific trains.  I was dying for water as there wasn’t any at the campsite and couldn’t go back into the arena (even though the camp was meant to provide water).  I waited until I got to Liverpool street at about 2pm and bought some Quavers and a bottle of Ribena, which ever since Reading with Ribena ice lollies has started to be a good hangover cure.  My mum luckily picked me up from Clapham Junction, but it was a bit annoying as I was earlier than expected and had to wait around 20mins for her to turn up.  Once she arrived I was alright and went home and just relaxed.  We got a Thai takeaway, but it was a bit average.  Then watched The Women, which was totally the type of film I wanted to watch, but no way would I recommend it haha!

Anyway, time for Big Brother like now, so I better go!

xxx 

p.s. After Big Brother I found out two rapes happened at Latitude.  One of them was a group rape which is horrific to think about, that a group of men stood round to watch.  It makes me fucking sick.  Not to mention that I was alone at the festival, and the thought that it could have been me, I’m so lucky, those poor girls, to have their lives destroyed like that from one stupid prick!

PoetryJam at The Tea Box, Richmond

Poetry Gigs

Okay… the two videos I did (the one above and my new video blog) makes me sound like Emily from Skins… I think… well, I sound like I have a bit of a lisp.  I don’t have a lisp so that’s quite strange… maybe it’s cos after Hop Farm my camera got a bit fucked whilst listening to The Ruskins.

I really enjoyed this night anyway! I went with a guy I met earlier that day, called Greg, and he made me drink more than I wanted to, so I was probably a bit drunk.  I got a laugh at the right point – yaaay!!  And a woman told me she could listen to me all night which is majorly flattering! One of the hosts, Alan Wolfson, let me do another one as well and came up and said he loved my set 😀

My personal life is a bit out of control at the moment, so at least I have my poetry.  I’ve just been practicing my set for my feature next week in the bath, whispering so my parents don’t hear me haha… I can’t believe how close it is! Looks like I’ll be under-rehearsed yet again, grrr!

I did actually practice the other day and knew most of the set off by heart, but it’s unlikely in reality. I hope some of my friends come to see me.

xxx

Underground Challenge: Inspire a Stranger

Inspiration

For the Underground Challenge: Inspire a Stranger I decided to do poems in envelopes, because I was too shy to do much more – when I tried to hand out flyers for the LitSoc Spring Ball, I chickened out and left them in Tesco near the Clubcards.  Plus, I sometimes get grumpy on public transport, and this day was frustrating as I missed my train, and so I guess I did something in the way that I would want it.  There’s nothing worse when you’re in a bad mood than an elasticated- stretched-out-smile or a ‘cheer-up’ all smug spitting from lips.

Anyway, I got back from seeing The Ruskins and all that jazz (well, actually, more folk) at Hop Farm festival on Sunday – the day before the Inspire a Stranger Day.  The weekend was pretty messy, and I’d had basically no sleep, so I chopped out the poems I’d printed out, whilst wondering why I didn’t just hand write them, and used sellotape to stick them onto paper, signed them and threw in some Ruskins stickers as an extra unrelated bonus to the poems, and stuffed them into envelopes.

 I’m currently listening to Hollie McNish’s ‘Push Kick’, and just realised she has a bit of a Northern twang.  Anyway, it’s a really interesting album, at the moment I can’t relate to the subject matter but I can only hope one day I get to experience the emotions she presented so wonderfully and honestly in such a range of poems.

Anyway, I better go and have a bath, because I’m not ashamed to say I need to do it in time to watch Big Brother!

xxx