#Invicted on tour - Once Upon a Mic

The #Invicted collective of Poets from Medway are back on tour

Catch us at Once Upon a Mic, a lively mix of poetry, music and comedy.
Upstairs at the Castle, Whitechapel, last Friday of the month.
£4 online, £5 on the door (CASH ONLY)
Be sure to arrive by 7.30 to guarantee a seat!

We will be performing on Friday, 28 September
The hosts will be the soulful Math Jones & the irrepressible Jah-Mir Early

Details:
Once Upon a Mic
Tickets from Eventbrite
Facebook
 

Big Trouble at Little Roc - Open Mic

A terrific evening of spoken word awaits you at the Little Roc cafe in Rochester. Come and join us, be swept away by the scorching words burned out by the fire in our heads

#cpcfire Camden Chocolate poetry club

Billing at the Camden chocolate poetry club, May 2018

The noisiest and liveliest spoken word event I've been to so far in London, the Chocolate Poetry club spoken word night in Camden is also one of the most inviting. I'd recommend a visit. It's regular open mic is held at the Camden Eye pub but they also host spoken word gigs at festivals out and about in the UK.

Details here: http://chocolatepoetry.com/

Turning the tide at Turner

When did it happen? I was convinced that the Medway poets had moved on and for poetry now you had to look to London. But here we are - drowning in a sea of artistic talent in Medway. I was wrong. And now I've discovered the Thanet poets are giving it some.

Image credit: S.M Jenkin

My perception is that the Medway poets of the 70s moved around much in pubs. As much as I can admire pub culture - and frequently do - I've noticed that something has changed. We're being noticed outside of the pubs now.

Among the pub and cafe events, there's a regular poetry gig at the Turner Gallery, run by the extraordinarily energetic Neanderthal Bard. Does this mean we're respectable now? I'm not entirely convinced that poets should be. Aren't we supposed to say the unsayable? Are we anything more than an event that ticks some funding box?

Try the Neanderthal Bard's social media feed - his listing of events is not to be missed. It's one way of holding onto the horses neck on the current merry go round of open mics, poetry slams and gigs.

Either way I'm going to be reading at the poetry gig at the Turner on Sunday, 9 July. The event (please note the new date) will be part of the Margate Festival. The poetry starts at 1pm. See you there...?

  

Inspirational Nights - Let's play!

Join Lisa Vigour at the one and only interactive open mic night in Medway. Come to perform or to appreciate the silken words and notes woven onstage for your pleasure.

Can't think of anything to say or to play? Pick one of the prompts on a peg and get going, you may surprise yourself...

Inspirational Nights Rochester, Kent

Mics and PA are provided. There is a piano at the venue you'll be welcome to play. If you want to play another instrument please bring it. All performers at this event get a free drink...

The next Inspirational Night will be at the Northern Seaman on 18 May 2017, from 8.30pm onwards. The Northern Seaman is at 378 Rochester Highstreet, ME1 1DJ Rochester, Medway.

Inspirational Nights are held on the third Thursday of every month. It's a lovely relaxed atmosphere. Come and play.

Are you ready to be inspired?

How do you feel now that the nights are getting longer? Are you feeling a little flat? Why not try giving a go to an inspirational night like no other in Medway.

Image credit: Acrylic Artist

Inspirational nights are a terrific blend of music, poetry, and anything else you feel inspired to do. Event organiser, Lisa Vigour, always includes one or two practical inspirational exercises to help kick-start a creative idea for people who want to join in.

Some people come prepared to share their music or words, and others write something on the night using the pens and pads scattered generously around the venue. Don't fancy joining in during the open mic? Just sit back and relax, and enjoy a fun evening.

It doesn't matter if you don't see yourself as a creative person, if you just want to be entertained or to try something new come along. Inspirational nights are free for everyone to come and enjoy.

Want to know more? Try the vigorouscreations blog or follow Lisa on Twitter

My interview with Lisa is on the WOW Kent website here.

The next inspirational night is on 29 October at the Good Intent pub, Rochester. 

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Image sourced from Morguefile

Roundabout nights - ME4

Fasten your seat belts - the ME4Writers are ready to spin your head clean off!  Not content with assembling some Judicious Heritics- Medway's answer to the Avengers, they have set up the Roundabout nights @the Alexandra pub in Chatham

Roundabout nights is an ambitious live literary night, with an ever-revolving series of events. Once a week, every week on a Monday night. 7pm-10pm, the ME4Writers will host an event highlighting the spoken word. Here is a line-up of the next few meetings:

~ 1 September: She Writes – short plays about holidays

~ 8 September: Type’n’gripe at ME4-rum

~ 15 September: Spoken word

~ 22 September: Guest slot: Politics, plays and policies. Plays inspired by political themes

~ 29 September: She Writes – plays on a Byronic theme

~ 6 October: Type’n’gripe at ME4-rum

The roundabout nights are hosted upstairs at the Alex pub, unfortunately this is not yet wheelchair accessible.

Seasonally Effected March 2014

Hello there - the wonderful Seasonally Effected open Mic is back!

Please join us at the Dot Cafe in Rochester Wednesday, 26 March for an evening of aural pleasures

Anything can happen at one of these gatherings. Dancing, music, films, existential comedy, as well as poetry, singing, stories and alien abduction.

Image Credit: Cohdra

If you do miss the evening, or want to re-live it, the organisers will add a podcast to their website soon after the event

EDIT 02 April. Oops - spoke too soon. The organisers won't be adding live podcasts anymore. But what they will do is add personalised podcasts of performers who have appeared at the open mic. The first one is of Sam Fentiman-Hall and can be downloaded here
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Image source: http://www.morguefile.com 

p.s. I'm kidding about the alien abduction. Probably.

Happy seasonally effected!

Happy Christmas!

Holly

We have a special delivery from Santa for all you good people out there, a double helping of the seasonally effected podcast.This includes the two latest open mics, from November and December 2013.

I love the variety on offer, and wonder how much the words change according to the season we hear them. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Follow the link to the seasonal stories here...

Seasonally effected - 24 April

Dublin or Baile Atha Cliath?

I'm really quite excited, the podcast from this month's seasonally effected is already available to hear. Do you want to listen? There's an eclectic mix of poetry, history, sound experiments, animation and surreal fantasy. You can download it here

My piece explored the history around the 24th April, 1916. It's an important date in history for me, and for many Irish people as that is the date that Pádraig Pearse read out the declaration of the Irish republic on the steps of the General Post office in Dublin.The Easter rising ended 6 days later on 29th April 1916 - Pádraig Pearse had given the order to surrender.The aftermath was as bloody as the fighting.

I read out a couple of poems I had written about the Irish women who were present, the women who seem to have dropped off the face of the earth as far as a lot of historians are concerned (if you hear about anyone it's usually Constance Markievicz, the first women ever to be elected as a British M.P.) So just to spite them I wrote a poem. That'll show them!

So, the next Seasonally effected will be on 29th May 630pm-9pm. Will you be there?

Seasonally Effected Open Mic

If I were to call Seasonally Effected an open mic, it wouldn't even begin to do the concept justice.

Hold on, Mike...

The Seasonally Effected evening is an open house of creativity. A place for people to share ideas in whatever form they'd like to: music, poetry, art, comedy, writing, history, film, photography...

Fancy giving it a go? As you can guess from the name, you can do anything you want so long as it's connected to "the time of year". This can be interpreted in any way you like. No two evenings will be the same. You can book 10 minute spots by emailing: seasonallyeffected@gmail.com

I am going to do something at the next gig, at the Dot Cafe in Rochester on Wednesday, 24th April. It starts at 6.30pm and runs until about 9. See you there.....?