Saturday 23 April 2011

Shindig!

Last Monday was the date for another Leicester Shindig with not only me reading but Kathy Bell, Matt Merritt and Matthew Stewart. All three guest readers were excellent. Kathy Bell has a powerful command of language and imagery, a rich contemplative music exists in her work. Matt Merritt is just brilliant as always and I think 'Things left in Hotel Rooms' is one of my favourite poems at the moment. Matthew Stewart was the surprise for me because I'd never heard him read before and living for much of the year in Spain, this wasn't likely. I'd come across a few things in magazines, but to hear him read poetry which was so well-crafted and sonorous was such a pleasure. He has a pamphlet out with Happenstance called 'Inventing Truth' so do yourself a favour and get a copy, I would absolutely recommend it. Matthew blogs here: http://roguestrands.blogspot.com/

The open mic was another lively mix of voices, with readers like Mark Goodwin, Jayne Stanton, Pam Thompson, Mal Dewhurst and lots of other interesting stuff. I enjoyed Laurie Cusack's piece, even though he forgot to print off the last page, very well saved I thought. I also met and listened to Gary Longden, Brummie based poet,actor and reviewer, who also reviewed the night here at: http://www.behindthearras.com/pubreviews.html

Shindig happens again in June with Luke Kennard, Joel Lane and others as yet unconfirmed. Look forward to it as ever.

2 comments:

  1. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Great to hear you read again as one of the regular feature poets, Maria.
    I was wowed by Matthew Stewart's voices and thrilled to have them in my head as I read 'Inventing Truth.'

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  2. Hi Jayne, yes it was a good evening and Matthew was excellent, so glad he was able to read in Leicester. I think 'Inventing Truth' is fabulous.

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