Poet on page and stage. Creator of She Grrrowls. Facilitator. Writer.
Burn After Reading / Kid Glove / Podium Poets. Writer for The Norwich Radical. Published by Nasty Little Press.
![Writing Room banner[2]](https://carminamasoliver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/writing-room-banner2.jpg)
The Writing Room – showcase at Rich Mix 13th August 2013, 7pm Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA Come hear talented young poets as they take Rich Mix by storm! They’ve worked with some of the biggest names in spoken word. They’ve written. They’ve rehearsed. Now, members of The Writing Room are ready to take to the big stage – and own it.
Thursday 8th August, 7.30pm – Red Door Studios Summer Exhibition 
Carmina will be delivering a workshop n the theme of ‘Loss’ and will showcase two poetry sets. One will be a performance of ‘Circles’, an epic poem developed through ‘The Word’s a Stage’ (Apples & Snakes) and the second set will comprise of a selection of new and old poems. http://www.larmertreefestival.co.uk
Bang Said the Gun Residency!
Thursdays, May 9th, 16th, 23th and 30th.
8pm at The Roebuck, Borough, London. 
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Scratch That, Hackney: Picturehouse Cinema
Wednesday 17th April, 8pm, £3-5
New Write Nights: Spoken Word Night – Thursday 29th November 7.30pm As part of the series of New Write Nights, Novus Theatre host a spoken word and poetry evening, bringing you poems and stories from all over the country. Poets such as Carmina Masoliver, Martin Figura, Ian McEwen along with the Ouse Muse poetry group will bring you a wide range of work.
Tickets for this evening are priced at £5.00. Apples and Snakes presents The Word’s a Stage When: Wednesday 21 November, 7.30pm Where: Gallery Café, 21 Old Ford Road, London E2 9PL Tickets: £5 / £4 concs Info: thegallerycafe.blogspot.co.uk Don’t you love a challenge? We’ve challenged four poets to each come up with a brand new 20-minute poem and knock it into performable shape by 21 November. A cinch? Impossible? 
Come along and see. The Four: Carmina Masoliver, Selina Nwulu, Anthony Hett, Errol McGlashan The Mentor: Malika Booker Malika has been honing and editing. Our writers have been writing and rewriting. And now – the exclusive unveiling, a night of newness. When these poems are veritable pillars of spoken-word theatre, you’ll be able to say ‘Ah yes, I first heard this at the Gallery Café in Bethnal Green’.
Time is short and I have wasted a lot of the day after celebrating a friend’s birthday until the early hours. I’m going swimming soon but I’m already ready for bed. It’s been eventful so without further ado, I’ll let you know what’s been going on.
Firtsly, I went to see Frightened Rabbit back in September. Aside from annoying crowd members and post-work tiredness, it was a great gig. They didn’t play all the songs I would have liked but ‘Poke’ was amazing to see live and the highlight of the gig.
The week after I took a surreal trip to Norwich after work to perform at the launch of internet poetry – Bad Robot, an event organised by Catherine Woodward. Ross Sutherland was performing but sadly I didn’t get to speak to him. I spoke to Russell J Turner who was the surprise guest of the evening and had me itching to do his Googleseed poems. James Sykes was also reading and having not seen him before, I was really impressed, with his deadpan humour, he reminded me a bit of Tao Lin’s poetry. Thom James was seen, rather appropriately, in digital form. Unfortunately, not quite a hologram, but a really cool video flickering poetry across a screen.
I stayed in a hotel, *cough* B&B *cough*, nearby the station as I had to get up at like 5.30am or something ridiculous. They didn’t even have any tea:
Skip ahead to the following week and I finally went to Bang Said the Gun. It was all very exciting, entering the room to the likes of Billy Bragg pumping out of the speakers, monochrome scribbles of the event name all over the walls, and an animation reel for the stage backdrop. Not to mention the cool shakers used for applause. Although, after a day at work, shaking it to more than one song as a build up to the start was a bit like giving a never-ending hand-job. Some white stuff came out and got on my bag. But it has to be said, these guys know what they’re doing and put on a cracking poetry (or anti-poetry) night.
Also, Peter Hayhoe kind of remembered my surname, and having not officially met, this made me happy. He also performed a set himself, of which I particularly enjoyed a collaboration with a female guitarist about pulling girls in 1998, dressing up in the actual shirt of his heyday. Dan Cockrill was a great host, and I particularly like the way he step-touched to the music in between acts. Martin Galton also read some funny poems from a book of hate, along with a heart-warming poem of love about his son.
I didn’t get on the open mic as this event is so popular, the next space wasn’t until 25th October, so I’ll be back then. To be honest, I enjoyed the event so much, I would happily be there every week if I could. One of the main reasons for this was the performance from resident poet, Maria Ferguson (and she references Sarah Kane in this video!). She delivered a narrative poem, that really got me gripped and so I’d probably have to say she was my favourite of the evening.Though it’s hard picking favourites with such an array of talent, and diverse talent at that.
The Roundhouse Slam Champions performed and although I can’t remember their names, I wish I could because they were amazing. In turn, I felt wholly inadequate and old. One guy, who described himself as looking a bit like Sideshow Bob, gave a performance that mixed the comedic and the tragic, with some very poignant lines. Another guy gave a highly performative piece that incorporated subtle physical movements and voice control, giving the effect of cut-up text.
The female of the group had me welling up with her poetry about mental illness, along with her sweet, soft voice, she came across as an emblem of strength and fragility. I hope I didn’t miss anyone from the group as I didn’t make any notes on the night!
The Ruby Kid was the last before the open mic (where I had to dash off). Back in the day he had complimented my poetry over MySpace, and I even performed alongside him at Speech Motion. I knew I would enjoy his set, but he was even better than I remembered. My favourite was ‘205 Panorama’ which had some really clicky lines – you know what I mean – lines that give you goosebumps and make your ears prick up. Sadly, I can’t find this one online so you’re going to have to see him live. It looks like he’s going to be running a night called ‘Howl’ in Shoreditch so I’ll have to check that out in the future.
The event also had some rather desultory activities such as throwing a balloon across the room to win a drink, and having a massive ‘bang’ hat. I wish I lived in Zone 2 and was like a full-time poet and writer, then I would be able to go to Bang every time.
In other news, my poem The Movement of Hands will be published in Issue 9 of Artemis Poetry Magazine. I’ve been sending out lots of submissions and I said to myself that I would be happy if even just one was accepted so I am very pleased! I’ve also got an exciting project in the pipeline for Novemeber 21st, with Apples & Snakes. Keep the date in your diary!
xxx
Poet on page and stage. Creator of She Grrrowls. Facilitator. Writer. 