Year: 2014
Bat Applicants at Blackburne House Cafe – Quiet Compere Liverpool Review
Kendal Review
- Running over. All apart from two ran over! Ann said they are used to being there for the night once they arrive and not to worry if night runs over. I am very keen to stick to time, as I think two hour event is long enough to expect people to concentrate and ten o’ clock is late enough finish, it ended up being ten thirty finish. Ann did lengthier introductions and I wasn’t sure in Ann’s half if she was still expecting me time or not, or just not bothering with timings.
- Concern our break may clash with Lee Evans’ break. Check out other events in venue beforehand.
- Anywhere I can extend the visit a little, even to early on the day before or to stay with poets over-night. Much warmer and less of a wrench when it was over.
- Someone at the Birmingham event mentioned exit flyering to me. Something I will consider asking venues to do for future events.
Writing Process Blog
- What am I working on?
Birmingham Quiet Compere Review
York event review
York Blog
Shared Earth, York – My destination
As a claustrophobe
who is 30% control freak
the prospect
of living within walls appeals.
The Minster
where the sceptical are converted
The wavering of faith
compelled to return
Sharp-edged houses
a book-width at the corners
form
natural single volume bookshelves
I discover 13 year old me
loitering in Shared Earth
in a blanket weaved of sandalwood
and whale sounds.
She wears a burgundy hooded top
I still wear now.
Colours of Autumn it says on the front,
But it always reminds her of York in Spring.
She carries her prizes to the checkout:
A dream-catcher,
worry dolls
and a treasure chest sparkling with false gems.
I echo these purchases
with equal enthusiasm,
but am sent to Paperchase
for the animal-themed writing paper.
York Poets
I loved Tanya Nightingale’s “The world where no-one lies”. I encountered and enjoyed the unforgettable performance styles of Rose Drew and Miles Salter. Chris Singleton’s T’was the night before pay day went down well. Amina Rose stood in for Kate Fox and her set was both gentle and musical. Pat Borthwick and Carole Bromley’s poems were packed with exquisite details. John Gilham provided us with a ‘miserabalist catalogue’, his phrase, not mine, but the misery was so eloquent. Will Kemp’s poem about a family falling into water and keeping tally was touching and spare. Oz Hardwick joined in with the film noir theme, echoing one of my pieces and he and his partner led me circuitous way home to avoid drunk people and hen and stag dos, via the pasty shop, of course.
York Stuff
Ok, things about York. The gig went well and as it was the first with a Box Office, I was panicking a bit when only 25 tickets had sold in advance – an audience of 55 filled the place up and more chairs had to be found!
Tony and Chantelle, from Liverpool, who sat opposite me on the train, all head-phones and nudging until our service was diverted by a fatality on the line. This rerouting meant headphones came off and stayed off and we talked of death, life, work and poetry.
Caroline, in property sales for 16 years, still feels the loss five years later.
The fact that no-one in York was from York. None of my performers were originally from York either. Hard to find anyone with the accent. I enjoy being cloaked in vowel sounds and colloquialisms. This felt like a pivotal character missing completely from an episode of a series.
To the girls in The Cornish Pasty Bakery and that local accent at last at 11pm at night, served up with a smile and a warm cheese scone.
The niece and aunt at breakfast who had come to York for the shops and did a sterling job of not selling Sunderland to me.
The lady in the Holgate Hill Hotel who is away from her dementia-suffering husband
To “recharge and hopefully get a bit lost!”. Nothing like getting lost with the luxury of having time to find your way and yourself again.
Meeting people further along the tour:
In the last month I have met up with a Birmingham performer and a Newcastle performer and the bonds being forged through The Quiet Compere Tour are strong. I am making some great connections and even though it is strange to meet virtual friends in reality, this has been such a positive experience on Quiet Compere Tour so far, I am hoping this vibe continues.
Learning Curve
1) No matter how many times you mention that the tour is Arts Council funded people will tick that they weren’t aware on the questionnaire.
2) T-shirts are still not ready. Should be for Birmingham.
3) Flyering/postering Birmingham may have made some new contacts, but not sure investment in time and train ticket is going to show in ticket sales. All York Questionnaires said heard by word of mouth or social media. However, if I can combine the promotional visit with an event, this may make travel over worthwhile.
4) Get in a better position to take photos of guests.
5) I am feeling a little sad that I am half way through the tour for promotion purposes. Each new flyer designed sends a shiver through me. Will just have to start planning the next venture!
PS The Leeds and Liverpool flyers/posters are on their way! T-shirts should arrive by Thursday. I have seen the designs and the excitement at seeing these has kept me from being to cross I haven’t got the real things yet. I will be sporting one in Birmingham on Friday!
Manchester Event Review of sorts
Manchester event a triumph!
Three Minute Theatre delightful venue. All performers stuck to time (with a little nudge here and there!). The event was SOLD OUT. The audience were appreciative and reports were glowing. Everyone involved deserves a huge round of applause once more!
Planning deeply underway for Quiet Compere Tour
Hello People,
Firstly, I went on the radio, which was a terrifying prospect to me. Steph Pike, however, helped me relax into it and the two hours went very fast, particularly as we had no technical assistance (and the listeners had to listen to us talking with no jingles or my chosen track to break up the chat). If you are interested my track was to be: Art Brut’s Sound of the Summer. Mainly because it is about the small details and the everyday. It is about mix-tapes and as someone who is often surprised that we are past the year 2000 this is comforting. I read “Not Simple” by Clare Shaw and “The Right Mask” by Brian Patten. I didn’t think choosing one of Clare’s poems to read would be so difficult. The issue was finding one that didn’t feel in some way very personal and as if it contained a lot of her. If I had read any of these pieces I would have felt I was somehow pretending to be her as I read the poem. Reading the Brain Patten poem aloud I felt as if I was wearing all the masks he suggested – totally took me over! Not knowing if anyone is listening is strange and I forgot about it after 20 minutes or so.
I am getting to know my new Android phone, which I am sure will be a huge improvement on the Blackberry. Some touch-screen issues at the moment. Have to get used to using predictive text as habit – difficult! Also I have discovered Candy Crush and am dreaming about playing Connect 4 as big as me with huge Gob-stoppers, pear drops and Everton mints! Need to ban that from bed-time as well as email and Facebook. I am making a concerted effort to work on Poetry admin only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday day-times. Otherwise, my brain never slows, stops or concentrates on anything else. Last night Phil and I watched two episodes of The Bridge just before bed and I was so jumpy I could have been a 5 year old after seeing the Dalek’s for the first time!
In the next fortnight I intend to get hold of some Quiet Compere T-shirts, write a letter on proper old-style paper to my Auntie in Birmingham and enclose a flyer for the event there, memorise a poem or three for Manchester and plan running order and promote, promote, promote for Manchester, York and Birmingham.
That was your waffly bit, now for some pure planning.
Advances that have happened in the last fortnight with regards to The Quiet Compere Tour:
1. Posters and flyers arrived for Manchester, York and Birmingham. This was an exciting FedEx delivery from Fat Flyers. I am now planning where to put these up to have the most impact and consulting with poets in York and Birmingham about this. Hoping to meet up with some of the Birmingham Poets before the event when I get over there to flyer. I am going to Sheffield Poetry Business Writing Day on 25th January (weather permitting) and will take details of the tour there, as many poets travel from York, Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds to attend this event run by Peter and Ann Sansom. I have been posting flyers on Facebook and Twitter and updating The Quiet Compere FB page regularly. In event pages I am posting links to some of the work by poets appearing at Quiet Compere events.
2. New business cards and Mini cards have arrived from Moo with The Quiet Compere logo on them. I am intending on promoting the ten poets x ten minutes format in the hope some festivals will commission me to run these type of events next year.
3. T-Shirt designs are being costed at present and are likely to be around £10 with a small logo on the front and a list of Tour Dates and large logo on the back.
4. I am presently gathering together information (confirming names are correct and ticketing details for different venues) for the events in Kendal, Liverpool and Leeds with a view to having the posters and flyers designed for these and the event pages set up some time in February.
5. I now have train tickets to York and Birmingham and have booked the Kendal ones. Exciting. I am in process of checking that the accommodation I booked through Booking.com is not in the dodgiest areas of the places I am going to. I am relying on poets who know these areas to advise me there.
6. I am also booking poets for Post Box Poets in Chorlton as this is continuing to run monthly on the first Tuesday from March. The line-up is looking great for the first few months. I am anticipating that The Quiet Compere events will alert people to the fact Post Box Poets happens and we may get a few new performers and listeners expressing an interest.
Thanks for reading this far if you did. As you can tell, I don’t know when to stop! Sarah x