Sheffield, I love your space and street art, your compactness and charm. Sheffield is a place I feel I could direct people around after two days of finding my way. From the back streets of Vicar Lane and Campo Lane to West Bar roundabout in rush hour and the Graves Gallery. I visited the Picture the Poet exhibition at Graves Gallery on the way to my accommodation and chatted with a few visitors about poetry. If I’d known it was on in advance I would have arrived earlier and accosted all the patrons with Sheffield Quiet Compere flyers.   I went to check out the venue in the afternoon and my main concern was that the lights were not powerful or pointed at the stage. I had brief visions of the Quiet Compere holding a torch to each poet’s papers. Would have been memorable, but given a gaffer tape impression of the tour. Not a review I am really aiming for. This is the third gig where the mic has been done away with. (Liverpool and Blackpool were the other two). The wandering poets make the event feel less “us and them”, but also made it more difficult for me to take photos of the performers – The mic leash would have kept them out of the lights.   Gav Roberts: kicked off the evening with considered words and Paper boats – the theme of water and boats was to continue through the night and we even had real paper boats on the table! I liked his feelings folded away and love the idea that we should: “Always give hope back in the same shape it was given, but bigger”. Sarah Hymas: brought paper boats and exquisite artworks of poetry volumes. She has decided to write about water until she’s bored if it! I loved “I am silence or instruction” and the “intimacy of forecast”. Helen Mort: A local reference to Fagin’s evil pub quiz feels very familiar. Helen admitted she is in fact 80% limestone. The poem about walking the Swiss Alps in a crinoline “An easy day for a lady” amused me.    River Wolton:. “Even the shy spelled out/their names/on strangers’ palms” and “Most of all we wanted song/its tide in our ribs.” Were lines that have stayed me from River’s set. I loved the ant poem and the story at the beginning about carefully forming it to the number of legs of an ant (then realising they didn’t have eight legs!). Alan Halsey: The bits of noise and indecipherable commentary were mixed in with the balm of real words. I have no idea what this performance was and whether I like it or not, but it was unusual. Alan is the first poet on the tour who has taken volume in the sense of books (I think). The book title list poem amuse me, a line from it: “Origin of Evil, The – An epic poem”. Martin Collins: read an excellent internet dating poem. I loved the prayer boats and their echo through the who of the night and the water that ran through the event. Geraldine Monk: Her faulty sound system poem and it went down very well with the audience. The poem was set on a boat so the theme continued. Jonathan Eyre: “landing on the moon was the start of the end of mankind/ Frogs are dreaming of the days of tadpoles” the water continues and becomes political. His sex cashpoint poem pays off. Anne Caldwell: She “longed for a starless sky/short circuited everything/a cliff-top house where she sang to herself”. The incantations of places and flowers in the poem Imagining her own death. I had to pause for a second when the son chose his “favourite aunt for a mother” and the solemnity of the poem was lost for a second after the earlier poem stuffed with “ants”. Genevieve L Walsh: rhymed breasts and BBC North West. Got to admire that! I always want Gen to “do” the Depeche Mode one and the skill she has of getting everyone to listen and empathise before she starts. At least half a dozen poets and audience hung around after the event for a couple of beers. This left me with a warm feeling and the continuation of the night, rather than suddenly saying a couple of dozen goodbyes and finding myself stranded in an empty place or alone in a place busy with other people’s lives where I feel I no longer belong. On the Saturday I stayed on for the Sheffield Writer’s Day and I wrote the piece below at the workshop: Leaving on a train when you are not the destination I leave the last tears I can cry for you on Platform 3 of Stockport Station. On Brighton beach I leave the stone you gave me smoother than today. On my cousin’s couch wrapped in a tearless grief I leave self-pity. At the sea’s edge I leave your Budweiser top (that smells of Ariel and Lynx Africa) Waves roughly take it. Promenade footsteps and the growl of a pebble shore erode sentiment. As the train pulls into Stockport station I realise I left the fear of alone on Brighton beach. Oh and I do know this is the Sheffield blog, but more news soon about the National Bid success. Quiet Compere will be continuing in 2015 with a National Tour. Happy dance. xxx

This was the scariest run up to a gig I have had so far this year. On Thursday I checked and we had sold one online ticket, on Friday (day of the gig) we had sold five!!! One performer had made his way over from Spain and I was hoping it would be more than us performing to each other! On the evening I set up the door and prepared for possibly a dozen punters. By the time we closed the doors we had 45 in a 50 capacity room. Another four came in quietly after we started. This event that was making me panic mildly on Thursday had become the fourth sold out gig on the tour (following Manchester, Kendal and Newcastle)! Wow! Blackpool. You know how to keep me on my toes. In the afternoon I became a feral poet with Joy France. We danced around the Comedy Carpet talking to strangers about poetry and performing pieces to them. I wore a pink wig as a disguise and to give me confidence and also so members of the public could tell I was a “poet” and might talk to them so they could make a wide diversion if they didn’t want me to. Steve Gunnar Stroud: Kicked the event off with style. His poem Blackpool Transport Anthesis was at speed and he was masterful with rhythm and language. He talked of “chewing-gum constellations” and “using bass as a weapon to kill the gods of oppression, riding a slow pulsation all the way to gate-crash heaven … and reside in the colliding tides of everything.” Reuben Woolley: I told us of “deep music” and ended a complex poem with the line: “I’m just dancing”. He took is somewhere serious and held us with powerful words: “We feed the screams of all the silent children.”. Then performed a lighter poem to finish including the line: “The growing is music and the dying is laughter.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrFiKB4suXs Christopher James Heyworth: I loved the salamander poem. The line “Loneliness in crowded places is a seaside specialty” rang so true and has stayed with me.http://livepoetry.org/dates-venues/ Laura Alice Nation: Her poem about anorexia was raw and honest and I love the hope and control in the line “I am not the brittle one you last saw”. Joy France: I always enjoy the Bic pen one and the audience were well up for it. She treated us to a penny arcade one: “when pennies were big enough to matter” “whispered wish-words” and the “Fruitless!”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqIKk6hDjjc Break The Blackpool audience were well up-for-it and you could tell by the second half that some of the performers were possibly pushing some of their safer stuff to the back and taking risks. The audience were respectful and quiet when needed and loud and raucous as they felt the poetry deserved. Tonnes of fun! Shaun Brookes: Listed the places someone was to him “You are Lancaster, Hebden Bridge, etc…”.This litany was strong and pulled us in. David Riley: In his painting poem: “the furniture is made of lines, gestures, like my hands.” In a family history poem he is: “Knitting together her history – backwards”. Beautiful and visual. Lara Clayton: The poem about her aunt was haunting. In Fortune’s kippers “the scent becomes our compass” echoing the scent of the sea and navigation. Big Charlie Poet: I drank in the stillness of the audience listening for the “The little flat with rescued clocks – sound of childhood.” He performed a poem called it’s the grit that makes the pearl that was a masterpiece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKuD1CfyasQ Colin Davies: I felt the sharing of our masturbation poems added to the raucousness of the second half!?! He says poetry is the new Rock and Roll! “SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO SHOUT VERY LOUD. and sometimes you have to whisper”. “they listen to the whispers of the economy, rather than the shouts of those on their knees.” https://www.youtube.com/user/Wordrabbit Otley (the otter mascot) is very proud of his new rainbow scarf (presented by Joy France), but he says he is happy to share it with other mascots. We had our own illuminations a few days early as Joy has contacts, she wouldn’t tell us more than this and they were magically lit for the end of the event! A poem about Poulton Clouds written on the train back You offer me a thousand silver linings watery truths vapour promises fleeting lies You are cotton-wool divided by nimble fingers, Torn and ragged. Your poise, your tiny movements as you pull yourself apart to change my view I rearrange my thoughts, laced with vapour, the light touch of the cirrus, a cumulus bulk. I can’t touch you I can’t hold you Yet you are part of me.

Jibba Jabba: Thanks so much for letting me use the space and the night and silencing Jenni for a couple of hours. Ettrick Scott’s love poem to dry shampoo is genius. Ettrick owned the stage and usually performs as one half of PiPE RiOT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EeI-z8tr8o Sky Hawkins: I don’t often laugh out loud at poetry. Sky, gladly, caught me off-guard a couple of times. That is craft. I loved her piece to the charva and especially the response piece to the hippie. Her domestic abuse series is taking shape and is stunning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OeGAVjBI98 Scott Tyrrell: “Fortune’s pervert” was hilarious. http://www.applesandsnakes.org.uk/page/84/Performance+poets/287#-biography Alix Alixandra: her gentle lyricism and mandolin-playing were a perfect way to finish the night after Ettrick’s total owning of the stage she managed it in a more subtle, gentle, but just as total way. https://www.facebook.com/alixalixandramusic Steve Urwin: I loved the way he had taken the “in my box” type poem and added all kinds of abstract things and mixed them with the everyday and the “clutter hidden behind a screen/leaving silent space/in which to dream.” http://www.applesandsnakes.org/page/84/Poets/424 Chrissie Petrie: Chrissie offered us dirty pantomime or death, then told us we were getting death! Yey! for the pony that didn’t die in 1914, but probably has since! (Chrissie’s aside). Audience participation for a sausages/war poem. A first for the tour. http://chrissiepetrie.wordpress.com/ Jenni Pascoe: let me take over Jibba Jabba and locked away her non-quiet style for one night (only to explode at the end). What control! I loved her line about “magicians or children lacking an understanding of consequences”. The sadness of “fingers that had never held pencils” holding guns with skill. Then the seamless change in tone for the Real Noah to leave us on a less solemn note. http://applesandsnakesblog.org/blog/tag/jenni-pascoe Harry Gallagher: I was struck by how honest and raw “This is how I fell…” poem was and his volume poem was well-realised and disturbing. https://www.facebook.com/harry.gallagher.9 Valerie Laws:Valerie’s pathology poems were detailed and well-crafted. Love the five-year old’s question “Will she be stuffed and displayed in a glass case”!. She treated us to a ‘first lines of jokes’ poem. “Celebrating small penises” went down well, not sure what that says about the audience. Sally Evans: Sally conversed with a buttercup. In a later poem: “the audience walks away after Carol-Ann Duffy and doesn’t come back”. A feeling well-recognised by any poet who has performed more than a dozen times. Other highlights of my first visit to Newcastle: Thanks to Sky, I now know what a “charva” is and (thanks to Ettrick) how to spell it Was great to hang out with Alix and Jon after. We ran flat-out for a tram (in insuitable shoes – Leeds, I blame you!) and waited for a taxi with me. That was the most amusing bit of the night to me as we swapped lines from films and speculated about the two guys staring at us (as we stared at them) plotting our deaths! I hope to make it back Newcastle way soon. The Quayside Seaside, after a swift pint in The Crown Posada I would highly recommend it. I am always surprised by ale prices outside Manchester (or Chorlton). I then met up with a dozen performers, “52” poets and others in The Cluny where we sampled pie and pints. Was excellent to meet so many people I have built virtual relationships with in the reality and find them very like I’d have expected from their poems. A horribly smoky B+B resulted in this poem: Weaving a home Your house was spun from cigarette swirls, angry words and a lack of nourishment that reeked of stale bacon. We rebelled in the smallest ways: left the school-gate evading dinner-lady gaze to watch INXS videos and weave teenage laughter into the foundations. Next: Blackpool 22nd August. The Imperial.

Emergency shoe shopping, Mangoes and Superman (Leeds blog) First of all, Seven Arts is a cracking venue. Secondly, I arrived in Leeds at 3pm and had to go shoe shopping. I knew I’d forgotten something and after visiting 6 shops I found some suitable size 6 ½ wide-fit vaguely ladylike shoes. I didn’t cry. I always cry when I go shoe-shopping. Maybe next time I should go to a different city to buy shoes. The distraction of being lost makes the experience more bearable. The traffic around Leeds was awful in every direction. This meant I arrived at the venue two hours before the doors opened. I had a lemon chicken breast burger and a pint of local ale. The leisurely (for me) start to the evening was appreciated and it was enjoyable to greet people as they arrived and ask people where they heard about the event. I thought working the door (as part of being host would not work, but maybe it is a good way of getting information back from people (without having to force everyone to fill in a questionnaire at the end when they are often rushing to catch bus/train/drive home). The traffic issues meant a rush on the door at the time we were due to start. We started ten minutes later, but made this back by the break, as everyone stuck perfectly to the ten minute time slots. Consummate professionals. Poets: Mike Barlow: Drove the “Starship Mazda” into “the beauty of peaty fog.” His “Four houses” poem has stuck with me – “the walls hung with mayhem”. http://www.mikebarlow.org.uk/ Caleb Parkin: I loved “The Ballad Morris Omies” and the details about the Polari Mission (a mission to save a bold and secret language). Oh and “Let us honour the Hangover Pig Angel”. http://skylabstories.net/about/ Emma Decent: Gave us “Advice from a Stone on traveling alone.” The line that has stuck with me even now is: “Your centre will hold you.” Good advice for life really. http://emmadecent.co.uk/ Martin Vosper: Amused us with his Leeds prayer and “Superman writes poetry” – especially “allowing himself a little laugh”, “lingering over his lycra” and a “frisson of a fetish shared”. “The Ballad of Grayson Perry” is always a pleasure. No website details. Ian Duhig: “The Lammas Hireling” was an excellent poem to take us to the break and I love the line “in a sack that grew lighter with every step.” Also the “instruments were anything we can reach to hit” – to me this sounds much like a three-year old in any superstore. http://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/ian-duhig Bob Harding-Jones: Amused us with his “Imperfectionist” poem and ”Badminton of illnesses”. http://www.bobjones.co.uk/ Rommi Smith along with Laura Cole on keyboard provided the first poetry with musical accompaniment of the tour. “Gloria Silver” washed over me. http://www.rommi-smith.co.uk/ Mabh Savage: Performed a Volume piece written for the tour which included the lines: “Traps for hopes and dreams turned down to low” and “Silence is a gift you give yourself.” The last line rings particularly true to me as a Mum. http://soundsoftime.wordpress.com/ Steve O’Connor: took us with him and got us lost in the sounds of speech and landscape in “an embrace that sustains like the ocean’s roar.” and “the noise of clouds at sunset”, “ill-conceived judgements scribbled in the margins.” http://www.writeoutloud.net/profiles/steveoconnor John Siddique: talked to us about how the poems choose the poet. His “End of the mango season poem” was powerful and moving and he ended with a lighter piece, which was an ideal to finish the evening, though it is the mangos that remain with me. http://www.johnsiddique.co.uk/ Leeds I will end with a celebration of the Yorkshire rainbow. Revel under a Yorkshire rainbow. Wakefield Sheffield Headingley Leeds Their rainbows always find me The Manchester rainbow knows my haunts hides from me behind clouds folds itself into wheelie bins when it hears my footsteps Yorkshire rainbows don’t know the rhythm of my breath my steady step and the routine of my days I surprise Yorkshire rainbows into being more vibrant having three more bands than the ordinary type

The Brewery Arts Centre The venue was spectacular and massive. I found every time I left the studio I was in a different art gallery, bar or an entrance to another event. Though the space was impressive the lay-out of seating was a bit strange with seats on three sides to the walls. Ann made a very good point of asking people to turn to audience in both directions when they were performing if they could.   Ann Wilson is a poetic force in Kendal and had met most of the performers before. She was chatty form and was an excellent hostess. She also sported a Quiet Compere T-shirt – THEY HAVE ARRIVED! I am sure Verbalise is a popular night and has a regular following and am happy to have shared the audience. As well as her fine, if not quiet, compere skills, her poetry was smashing. I loved the fact that she taught us mini bagpipes are called chanters – http://www.annthepoet.com/   The audience were so respectfully silent I felt I had to pause to enjoy the tension a couple of times in the night.   The evening kicked off with Geraldine Green and she started her set with a poem by Jane, whose farm we were staying on. A fitting tribute, as Jane was at the farm looking after new-born tups and gimmers (lambs). Geraldine told us about temping and dreaming of being smuggled from the offices. Here is the link to Salt Road: http://www.indigodreamsbookshop.com/geraldine-green/4579511138 Susan Deer Cloud followed with a poem about lilting language. She is touring the UK and tasting every new accent she encounters. https://sites.google.com/site/susandeercloud/ Kim Moore surprised laughter from me with her rant about Brass Band students: She was putting a curse on the parents of these children that would: “involve marching and outdoors and coldness”.  http://www.kimmoorepoet.wordpress.com/ Norman Hadley stood in at short notice for Marvin Cheeseman and I was delighted to hear some of the 52 poems performed live. Fresh bread and “Hills my father gave me” were well-crafted and delivered with skill. http://www.normanhadley.com/ Sarah Miller cheered every time anyone mentioned Barrow. I loved hearing “Ginny Green-teeth” in this venue. http://sarahmillerwhowrites.wordpress.com/ Nick Pemberton’s Manchester accent felt like a hug from home. The phrase that stays is: “You visit me like a taste on the lips or the seed of a smile”. Josephine Dickinson  moved the audience with her storming performance including a “bowl of threads to unravel in the maze”. A piece about walking with her husband for the first and last time was incredibly moving. http://www.josephinedickinson.com/ Polly Atkin made me want to be at the Heavenly Bodies launch. Every poem I have heard from this anthology of constellations has captivated me. Every poem Polly read had this effect too. “Storms were our horses” and “tonight we are full with species of madness” were lines that stood out.  http://pollyatkin.com/publications/ Mark Mace Smith. I captured his sideways “Can I get away with this? Well I’m going to do it anyway!” look on camera before his naughty poem. “Recklessly-earned adrenalin” and “Belief tastes like now”. http://thuddub.blogspot.co.uk/   Jane’s Farm   – Kendal Poem  Grass is greener on this side of the limestone wall, the breeze-teased fringes shimmer wet sunlight.   Straw is spun by the wind’s fingers into knotted fleece of Shetland wool and the results are golden   Lambs are numbered an emerald 1,2,3,4 and move like they are learning to dance.   Swallows enjoy the wind too much to land. Cows have passports but don’t want to leave.   Kendal in General The Kendal trip was extended and I revelled in the fact I had more time in the place and with the people. I was hoping to arrive in time to go to The Refreshment Room of Brief Encounter on Carnforth Station. It closed before I arrived so I went straight to Oxenholme Station and was two hours early. I met a talkative woman in the café and we shared anecdotes as we both have young children and liked Take That when we were younger. Before I had even been collected from the station, I had met a guy who knew the village I grew up in so well he remembered the names of the pubs. Jane picked me up and drove me to her farm where I met Geraldine Green, she was immediately so warm and open, as Facebook conversations had suggested she would be. By the time Susan and John had found their way to the cottage, Geraldine and I were so comfortable with each other that Susan assumed we were old friends. It’s wonderful when meeting someone is that easy. We all went to Jingling Lane for Chippy in Kirkby Lonsdale and walk to Ruskin’s View over the River Lune. By the end of this time we had bonded over Dandelion and Burdock, travelling tales and the sharing of the last portion of mushy peas. This is feeling like a diary entry. Wondering whether my blog would be easier to read if I treat it as such with headings so people can choose which bits they may want to read and it will all sound like juts having a chat or a letter from me. We returned to Jane’s Farm, where the expectant sheep had not yet birthed. We drank tea around the wood-burner and retired early.   Saturday, Geraldine and I were wandering around the farm when attendees for the workshop began to arrive. One of the lambs birthed and the six of us who were wandering converged on the mother and her two gimmers and a tup. All were well and the lambs were already starting to walk. On returning inside the phone was ringing. Geraldine answered it, more at home than me and took an order for ½ a lamb from town. Geraldine ran a morning workshop and plenty of excellent pieces were produced. I enjoyed the volume rising as this group of poets who meet every month or two shared stories of mishaps, successes and family. Listening to a phrase or two from each conversation, then switching. I wrote a piece about a horse drinking all the water from Earth (no idea where this came from – not like me at all). Maybe it was the influence of Geraldine and Susan!   We had a tea of lamb hot-pot, for someone who was vegetarian for several years and would never eat baby animals until a couple of years ago, this was quite a leap from watching new lambs born (and learning their names) to having an order put in for one within ten minutes, to eating a lamb hot-pot made with the lambs who were on this farm less than three weeks ago.   We went to our rooms to dress in evening wear and John heard the lambs shouting and alerted Jane. She ran to the barn and found one of the lambs had a cowl over its face and was not breathing. She resuscitated it and stayed behind to hand-feed it from a bottle. Another set of triplets had been born. Geraldine read one of Jane’s poems from The North out.   Learning points:

1. 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.

 

1. Concern our break may clash with Lee Evans’ break. Check out other events in venue beforehand.

 

1. 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.

 

1. Someone at the Birmingham event mentioned exit flyering to me. Something I will consider asking venues to do for future events.

‘My Writing Process’ Blog Tour I was honoured to be invited to this blog tour by the excellent  Cathy Bryant, her Comps and Call on the Write Out Loud site steel dozens of poets to send their pieces out and there are many successes on the back of this.  Here is Cathy’s blog:  http://cathybryant.co.uk/news.html Amidst planning, promoting and compering of the Quiet Compere Tour, I have been squirreling some time to write, though I am not sure how and this time will be massively curtailed for a couple of weeks, while I work through Frank’s list of things to do at Easter. This includes be Darth Vader, Got to the dentist, buy tomatoes, build castles, make models of spaceships, bake, do experiments, go to the park and a dozen other things he will remind me of when we haven’t done them.  I will love every minute and will finish Easter feeling exhausted, with a messier house (if that is possible and the two toy boxes I am planning to purchase over the holiday are not used) and a few seeding poems.

1. What am I working on?

I am a quarter of the way around an Arts Council-funded tour of the North (with a jaunt into Birmingham) as The Quiet Compere. Organising, performing and promoting. I am making exciting new connections and hearing new performer’s voices, accents, themes and styles every month. This is feeding into my work and I am also writing a blog about the event and the experience of being in each city. Blogging is new to me, apart from through NaPoWriMo prompts. I completed NaPoWriMo in 2012 and 2013 and enjoyed the challenge of staying within the prompt’s parameters and writing poems this way 30 days in a row. I don’t usually write a piece every day I found that out of the 30, 10 were pretty much complete and 10 had something I wanted to work on, the other were just waffle that may become a poem, or not engaging enough for me to want to continue with. I am enjoying the more leisurely pace of 52 and the chance to work on a pieces before posting and then have constructive feedback on your 4^th or 5^th draft. These types of groups are essential, especially for people who don’t or can’t get out to workshops and receive feedback from other poets and writers. I run writing workshops in Chorlton and I find the ratio is about the same for pieces that come from my prompts. Though I prefer to workshop from other people’s prompts, because even if you try to ignore your prompt until the workshop, it is not as fresh to you as it is to the attendees. This is why I often like to use random prompts (such as pulling a line of poetry from say Shakespeare’s Hat) or a photo or a humorous tweet or an invented form of poetry found on social media.   2.  How does my work differ from others of it genre? Writing as a mother, with a scientific background, I find my pieces are carefully constructed and (I am told) more touching due to the objectivity. It is easy to write sentimental, personal pieces about your children, but I am determined for my pieces unless to approach the issues of childhood and motherhood in surprising or otherwise engaging ways.   3. Why do I write what I do? To understand the world and my thoughts. As a record of life events, though I find it difficult to write on demand for birthdays or weddings, especially of close family and find I leave these pieces until the last minute and pull something off that is appreciated by the audience. Because I have to. It is a natural for me to write as it is for people to walk, run, brush their hair. If I didn’t make time to write I feel there would be a chasm in every day.   4.  How does your writing process work? As well as writing at workshops or writing days and for/with online groups I find when I am involved in writing sessions I often wake up with poems semi-formed and wanting to be written. Recently, I have been making myself get up, have a cup of tea and write on the door-step, before Frank is up. If Frank wakes before me the kernel of a poem is often lost in the demands of a three-year-old. Though I am trying to distract him for long enough to write for five minutes each morning if I write with a drive to. Sometimes for several months I don’t enjoy any of the pieces I write. If I sit this out I often find I come out the other side with a mass of poems that seem fully-formed, as if they have been mulling all that time and just waiting for the right moment to splurge into the notebook (or maybe the right notebook). I don’t set aside a certain amount a day to write, but often manage to fit it in when I need to. Outside the holidays I do spread-sheet work two days a week and spend much of the rest of my time planning workshops and events. Social Media essential to this and having a magic phone that brings it to my attention when messages come through or social media is working it’s wonder. I find it difficult to ignore my phone, but tear myself from it for hours sometimes in order to write. Many of my pieces come out mostly realised and I try to recognise when this is the case and not mess with them too much. Others start with a phrase and build or need a form to batter them into order, often taking years to feel complete. I write on envelopes, receipts, on the back of bills, anywhere if I don’t have a note-book to hand. If there is no paper and I am walking (often when I feel the need to write) and I have a phone with me I send my husband the notes or poem – makes for amusing messages and means I don’t lose the thread. I run Post Box Poets: The next event is on Tuesday 6th May with guests Alicia Stubbersfield, Clare Shaw and Rod Tame. £3 on the door at Post Box Café Chorlton, M21 9PP Next Workshops: Chorlton Library Sundays:  Sunday May 4th 1-3pm. £3 Chorlton Library, Chorlton, Manchester, M21 9PN Horse-meet writing sessions:  Wednesday 9th April 12-2pm £5 Horse and Jockey, Chorlton Green, Manchester, M21 9HS Post Box Pennings: Thursday 17th April 7:30-9pm £5  Post Box Café, Chorlton, M21 9PP Over the next couple of weeks you can look forward to:   Louise Fazackerley Biog: http://louisethepoet.co.uk/info/      http://bbcnewvoices.wordpress.com/     Blog will be posted 14th April Nina Lewis:  http://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/category/performance-poetry/                                blog will be posted 14th April Sarah James is a poet, short fiction writer and journalist. Her first collection Into the Yell (Circaidy Gregory Press, 2010) won third prize in the International Rubery Book Awards 2011. A second, more experimental collection, Be[yond], is published by Knives, Forks and Spoons Press. She also enjoys photography, poetryfilm, perfromance poetry and collaborations. Her website and blog are at: www.sarah-james.co.uk .        Blog will be posted 21st April.

Suburban Tourist Magnolia and laburnum weigh down Selly Park roads Everywhere seems to be a Road around here. Do they hide their avenues and crescents behind huge deciduous lawn decorations that gleefully break up the sun? I wouldn’t want to meet these branches in moonlight.   A sign for Kidderminster, I play the word across my tongue but know nothing of it’s people and buildings.   The people I ask for directions are surprised that anyone would choose to walk into town – no-one walks and if they do, they are on their way to catch a bus!   Walking in other people’s suburbs I am more awake to the things they would miss: The hand-painted friezes on Nursery windows, an attractive balcony, graffiti so old it has become a blind spot for them.   Belgrave Interchange. The sky-scrapers approach only at the speed I let them. Stalling and with time I nurse monkey-bar calluses on my right hand from the wheeled suitcase’s adventure of cobbles, tarmac, paving stones, the occasional pull of sand or soft relief of soil.   Holloway Circus Subway signals the end to my suburban tourism.   Ruth Stacey: Weaved delicate verse and then hit us with “the bear who brings white roses that smell of other girls”.      http://ruthstacey.com/ Laura Yates: “Whatever we say it always feels like saying Goodbye.” was a line that felt as if it had been lived by everyone in the room. Birmingham poem. No webpage. Sarah James: “Vases I have known” addressed the suggested Volume theme and her poem about a born organiser who had Alzheimer’s was difficult to listen to. http://www.sarah-james.co.uk/ Gary Longden: As well as providing a comprehensive blog of the event within 24 hours, Gary also amused us with his adultery poem “Her mind might have been elsewhere, but her clothes were straight”. http://garylongden.wordpress.com/ Bobby Parker: His pieces were raw, but tempered with a delicate dark humour. http://www.argotistonline.co.uk/Parker%20poems.htm Charlie Jordan: The lines: “hand-drawn maps to the bridge are no use” and“Bridges are where I feel small.”Charlie was so easy at the mic it didn’t surprise me to find out she has taken up a drivetime DJ slot for Smooth FM this week. http://www.charliejordan.co.uk/ Ian Bowkett: Cool Rubik’s cube prop and: “Tomorrow we wake up better people with longer hair and a lesson learnt.” http://ianbowkett.bandcamp.com/ Jenny Hope: The assured gentleness of Jenny contrasted well after Ian’s set. Sound effects “brrrrrtchhhh brrrttcccccch! I meant to ask to see how it was written. ‘satin ribbons from remnant skies’ stunning imagery. “In winter I dress in icy armour, it keeps my heart soft.” www.poetrymaker.co.uk Ddotti Bluebell: I took dozens of photos in this set as Ddotti was expressive and entertaining. Happily managed to capture her kicking arse. Loving the fact the white hairdressers didn’t know what to do with the Dreads, but neither did the black ones! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmV1nD0nFVI Matt “Man” Windle: Matt had invested ‘Awe of Us’ with passion. The line that stood out was:”I refuse to belittle… I’m just half as tall.” I asked for a copy of this so I can absorb it, a poem you want to hear a dozen times! And he made me cry! http://mattwindle.wordpress.com/   Massive Brummie Welcome – I was delighted that there was a generous amount of the Brum accent in the performances – in contrast to not one native of York in the previous event. Birmingham Surprises: 1) I had only met one person in the room for a couple of hours, but the Brummie welcome was so warm I felt I was among friends before I even stepped up the mic! 2) No performer needed nudging about timings 3) The audience were as friendly and enthusiastic about the tour as the performers! 4) Taxi drivers said “How much do you want to pay?” This was especially useful when one took me on a 6 mile round detour by taking me back to Serpentine Road in Harbourne rather than Serpentine Road in Selly Park! 5) Pershore Road goes on forever! Well I never found the end! 6) Akram’s Curry house was excellent. 7) Misfitted Dance (where I bought a bookmark, a badge and a fabric mother’s day gift. 8) I am being interviewed by a member of the audience for a guest blog (not something I had thought was an option).   Hexagon Surprises: 1) The performers, though I knew there was a good mix of performance and more page-based poets I never believed it could go that well. 2) Venue was amazing and we had green rooms and performer’s toilet! 3) This venue had proper tickets! 4) They did a doors open announcement for The Quiet Compere!   OOOOH! 5) The panic of having sold 14 tickets before the event dissipated as there were over forty of us in the end! 6) It was fun to have a lanyard again, just under a year after I handed back my last NHS one. (ALL EXCLAMATION MARKS ARE DEEMED NECESSARY BY THE AUTHOR!)   Learning Curve 3 1) I am trying to get into the habit of posting review within a week of the event, so it feels fresher and I do not over-analyse it. 2) People do not like to fill out questionnaires unless you stand there and wait for your pen back. 3) There will ALWAYS be walk-up! 4) I found I was the not-so Quiet Compere and performed seven poems here, I decided I am still The Quiet Compere because these poems were mostly quiet contemplative pieces rather than all-out performance pieces. 5) It is well worth a small extra fee from venues to have the logo projected on a screen (if the option is available) and to plan this further in advance next time. 6) That I should NEVER get my hopes up about the T-shirts! Still not arrived – were supposed to be ready for Manchester event on 31st January! 7) Ask someone to review each time (in advance if possible – offer a free ticket to known local reviewer). Three reviews posted within 3 days of the event. 8) Next time stay with friends – sharing the poetry buzz is always better – felt a little bereft, but every awake when everyone else left. 9) Superb venues are often worth double the hire cost. 10) I get the impression poets and audience would be happy to pay £5 for this format and this would not reduce audience numbers significantly and may make future tours viable.   Please check out other blogs on this event here: The Quiet Compere, MAC, Birmingham The Quiet Compere (21/3/14) http://thegirlwhogrewintoacrocodile.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/the-joy-of-publication-and-an-evening-with-the-quiet-compere/   The Quiet Compere Tour is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.      

The Manchester event at Three Minute Theatre SOLD OUT. I was still juggling numbers as I climbed into a taxi at half six. Facebook and Twitter cancellations and then people keen to buy tickets. I felt like a tout for 45 minutes. This event was the best possible start to The Quiet Compere Tour I could envisage. None of the things that I had dreamt of went disastrously wrong.  The venue was open for 45 minutes before the event kicked off, which meant a leisurely start to the evening with a couple of rushes on the door. Apart from one performer, who informed me he had no voice on Tuesday, everyone else turned up, including his replacement. I kicked off the night with a piece I like the sound of and a piece I wrote last week at Sheffield Writer’s Day. Steph Pike: Then we were taken directly into a set of Love poems (one addressed to David Cameron, Steph got the audience thinking about him aroused) and then took us by surprise with a swift change in the form of a gentle piece about Bees she had written at a Stirred workshop this week. Jackie O’Hagan: Jackie read a piece from her touring show “Some People Have Too Many Legs” at The Contact, Manchester on 22^nd March. This is presently SOLD OUT, but more seats are being organised and tickets may become available. In the meantime, we were treated to stories about Edna and back-tickling and people in the “same coloured pain”. Jackie started giving out Certificates for niceness and in one case “for being very Welsh”. Ben Willems: As first reserve, Ben fitted into this line-up beautifully and happily for me, read my favourite: “Is your accent strong?” to the tune of “Do You Ears Hang Low?” written in one of my workshops. You’ve got to love a poem that ends: “Ding Dong/witch song/Iron Lady/Rust in Peace”. Rosie Garland: Rosie instructed us to “Make this your auspicious day.” She performed a piece about mathematic and butchery, rarely seen together in poetry and refreshing. I love the fact Unicorns at 4am get cheers. Jeffarama: I had not met Jeff before tonight and thoroughly enjoyed his set and it’s inspired rhyming. “It’s the music that matters” stood out for me. As I come to the second half of the evening and the sixth poet I running out of positive descriptions for performers, also an issue I have when tweeting daily about upcoming events, should I stick with the same one? My favourite is cracking. Wondering if I should hunt out some more positive adjectives before madly promoting York event! I started off the second half with an piece To Manchester and a piece to Birmingham (later in the tour). Shirley May: I had not met Shirley before tonight and as she took to the stage she held herself in the manner of a seasoned performer (which she is) and took us with her. Her set made me cry more than once (others did this once, I’m such a softie!) and the finale of a poem where the character was given “the keys to the brothel” touched me. Charlotte Henson:. Since agreeing to perform, Charlotte has moved away and I was chuffed she still returned to Manchester to perform at this. Stand out line: “I am the thing you never asked for, but ended up with anyway”. Charlotte is an accomplished performer who puts so much of herself into her poetry, it hurts. Rod Tame: I love the poem Rod does about having his own theme tune (am now wondering what my theme tune might be?) I must have heard “Who’s the Daddy?” a dozen times now and it still makes me cry! Becca Audra Smith: Becca asked us “to tell me something real” about being a man. She performed a piece she was unsure was ready. It was received beautifully and she also wrote a piece specifically for the Volume theme. Tony Walsh: Tony treated us to a journey through the history of Manchester music. I love “Eyes the size of Timperley” and “passion underlined” and the list of Manchester things including: “rainbow flags/gladiolis/sewn on badges”. The buzz after the event was palpable, tonnes of positive feedback. Felt like all the planning and promoting that has gone in to the tour so far has paid off a billion-fold. Loved every second of being The Quiet Compere and then  had a few days off, doing spreadsheet work. Now back to weekly Quiet Compere Admin and promotion, until I start really plugging York a fortnight before. One ticket has already sold for Birmingham on 21^st March! Yey! Love breaking the 0 barrier! Come on York – you next! As you can tell, I am not a reviewer and am quickly running out of ways to put things, especially with ten performers as part of the night, maybe next time I will mention only highlights, or little bundles or poetic feel. Another thing to add to my list below –become a better reviewer. Hoping someone else may have written a review. Maybe I can ask someone to review the York one in advance, who has experience of reviewing events. Thanks for following. The Quiet Compere x Things I need to look at for next time: 1)      I will ensure I have a jpeg copy of my logo for projection onto the screen behind performers – I had sent the venue a png document, unaware they don’t have a background. 2)      I will set up a photo album on Facebook for the next set of photos from the York venue. Didn’t consider this until I had posted them all separately. 3)      I will make it clearer that the event is Arts Council funded at the beginning of each event. Only one person who filled in the questionnaire said they were unaware of this. 4)      T-Shirts – The cutter should be fixed (printing company need to get a new part) well in time for the T-shirts to be  ready for the York event. 5)      I will make sure the guest list comes home with me as this was left (safely) at the venue next time an event is ticketed by We Got Tickets. 6)      Next time an event is ticketed by We Got Tickets I need to give someone free entry and a drink to be a door-person as I will be too busy flitting, being mildly flustered, reserving seats, ensuring performers know when they are on and making changes to running order if needed. My husband (doorman) was a star.