At the Altar of Shod

Monday night was Shodfest at the Looking Glass in Leicester; an event to celebrate the launch of Shod by Mark Goodwin, published by Nine Arches. The collection 'follows the trail 'of Sidney Realer, the new Shoe Messiah of the modern age. Mark had chosen an array of local poets to read from the book of Shod; Simon Perrill, Steve Carroll, Pam Thompson, Lydia Towsey, George Ttouli, Stevie Blue, Katie Daniels and Matt Merritt, with the man himself shoeing in here and there to read the odd poem. The methodology was ritualistic with the chosen ones being assigned a number from the holy rock shoe and having to read in a Kabbalaesque numerological style. (You following?)
What I really liked about this was the mix of different voices and reading styles, not unlike a church ceremony. I think praise had to go to Simon Perrill who read out the long list of 'begats' which frame the collection in a near trance like fashion - try reading them out. My favourite poem from the collection is 'The Barn of the Sinking Moon' which on the night I think was read by Pam, who was wearing a lovely pair of gold shoes.
Open mic was good and we were treated by the first ever reading on the open mic by Kathy Bell, who read two very strong poems.
May Shod be with you and to quote the Shoe Shine Psalm and so and so.

July 2010

As this blog progresses I hope to write more about events I've been attending. I should really write about events in July, because a fair amount happened. At the beginning of the month I went to WORD!, well-known for being the longest running spoken word event in Leicester. It's always very lively and eventful and has a fabulous open mike. The guest reader was Steve Warnes Carroll, who was very entertaining. I was fortunate enough to get the Word poem of the month for 'Jack of the Mirrors.' Charles Lauder also received this for his very memorable poem 'Ring of Fire.' This is the link if you want to know more:

http://wordpoetry.co.uk/ChantoftheMonth.aspx

Thanks very much to Pam Thompson for sorting out all the details.

I also attended the Southwell poetry festival where I read with Nottingham Writer's Studio. I met some fabulous people and heard some great poetry. The event was (mostly I think?) organised by Sheelagh Gallagher who worked tirelessly to make everything run as smoothly as possible. My slot also included the fabulous Andrew MulletProofPoet Graves, the self-labelled 'poet laureate of drunkards and peasants.' Reminded me a little of John Cooper Clarke, who I loved as a teenager. The list also included Rowland Nelken, John Micallef, and Roberta Dewa who read an very poignant piece called 'Shackleton's Ghost,' I'd like to hear this again. Thanks very much to Wayne Burrows for putting the event together.

Afterwards, Siobhan Logan performed her poetry in a wonderfully constructed event called 'Firebridge to Skyshore;' a presentation of sound, light, images and inspiring poetry about the curious Northern Lights of the Arctic circle. She fused myth, science, folklore and imagery seamlessly. I felt like I was on an incredible journey throughout and felt the chill in the July humidity.

Also went to the Nine Arches Shindig in Leamington where I read alongside three wonderful readers: Roz Goddard, Julie Boden and Deborah Tyler-Bennett. There were also some great open mic performances too. Julie's performance cut deep and Roz's poetic take on the Sopranos made me want to hear more. Deborah never disappoints at her readings and recent work on English dandies, aristos and eccentrics really stands out.

Oh this entry is long, ok memo to self: learn economy (and see Northern Lights at some point).