Friday night, I was at Leicester Poetry Society for a reading by Alex Pryce, a young Northern Ireland-born poet who’s currently a student at Leicester University, as well as running PoetCasting in her spare time.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, not really having heard any of it before, and I’m sure she’s a name you’ll hear a lot more of in years to come. She seems to have a very sensible attitude, though – she’s in no hurry to rush a book or even pamphlet out, even though what we heard suggested she has a lot of strong material.
She also played several poets from the PoetCasting site, and as it happened they were all (with the exception of Milner Place), poets I hadn’t yet got round to listening to. I particularly liked the truly extraordinary Hannah Silva, and Richard O’Brien, but it was all just a reminder that it’s a great resource, and a good way of getting a taste of new poets that you can then go off and read.
On Saturday, I was at Coton Manor, in Northamptonshire, for Charles Lauder’s Trees and the Imagination workshop. The fog barely lifted all day, but it didn’t really matter. We discussed a lot of tree poems*, walked in the woods, and wrote for a while ourselves, and I left with the makings of a poem that I’ve been trying to write for a while now. Most importantly of all, the carrot cake was exquisite.
For the rest of the weekend, I wrote a bit more (although not nearly enough), and read. The latest issue of Blackbox Manifold is now up – have a browse.
* One of the poems in the little booklet that we didn’t get round to discussing was John Ashbery’s Some Trees. I’m not usually a huge fan of Ashbery (or at least, he’s my least favourite of the New York poets), but I did enjoy reading this several times yesterday. I should probably re-read a bit more of his work.
Showing posts with label Alex Pryce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alex Pryce. Show all posts
Monday, 8 February 2010
Thursday, 4 February 2010
Alex Pryce and more
Alex Pryce, the driving force behind the very wonderful PoetCasting, is reading at Leicester Poetry Society, Friends Meeting House, Queen's Road, Leicester, tomorrow at 7.30pm. I've not heard her before, partly because she spends a lot of her time dashing around the country recording other poets, so it'll be good to finally catch up with her.
Also, De Montfort University's Cultural eXchanges programme is out (although I don't think you can book until Monday). March 4th has a talk by Chris Hamilton-Emery, of Salt, on the 10th anniversary of the major independent publisher (daytime, unfortunately, but I'll try to take the day off), as well as a later reading by John James, Tom Raworth and Simon Perril. I've raved on here about James recently, so that's an absolute must.
Also, De Montfort University's Cultural eXchanges programme is out (although I don't think you can book until Monday). March 4th has a talk by Chris Hamilton-Emery, of Salt, on the 10th anniversary of the major independent publisher (daytime, unfortunately, but I'll try to take the day off), as well as a later reading by John James, Tom Raworth and Simon Perril. I've raved on here about James recently, so that's an absolute must.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Leicester Poetry Society
Only just getting round to writing something about last Friday's Leicester Poetry Society Members' Reading, with Alice Beer, Norman Harrington and Anne Kind.
It was a really good night, and I enjoyed hearing all three. Interestingly, both Alice and Anne came to this country before the Second World War, meaning there was some crossover in the themes their poetry dealt with. I bought a couple of Alice's pamphlets, and have been browsing through them since. I particularly like her poems on De Montfort Square, and not just because it's my favourite bit of Leicester.
The next event, on Friday February 5th, is a reading by Alex Pryce, the driving force behind PoetCasting - I'm looking forward to it.
It was a really good night, and I enjoyed hearing all three. Interestingly, both Alice and Anne came to this country before the Second World War, meaning there was some crossover in the themes their poetry dealt with. I bought a couple of Alice's pamphlets, and have been browsing through them since. I particularly like her poems on De Montfort Square, and not just because it's my favourite bit of Leicester.
The next event, on Friday February 5th, is a reading by Alex Pryce, the driving force behind PoetCasting - I'm looking forward to it.
Monday, 16 June 2008
PoetCasting pushes on
No sooner had I mentioned PoetCasting than Alex Pryce received the excellent news that she has secured Arts Council funding to continue the project until mid-2010. While the site will continue to showcase both emerging and established poets, it will also move into collaborations with poetry magazines and live poetry performance events, and will develop its own events. Sounds like it'll be going from strength to strength, and quite right too.
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Hear, hear
A little while ago, I recorded four poems - At Home; Show, Don't Tell; Spurn; and The Memory Of Water - for Alex Pryce's excellent PoetCasting site, and they're now available to listen to here.
They'll be on the front page of the site for the next week or so, but I'll also put a link to them on my sidebar. And while you're at PoetCasting, take the time to trawl through the archives for a wide range of very fine poets reading their work. It's always illuminating to hear poems as they were intended. Enjoy!
They'll be on the front page of the site for the next week or so, but I'll also put a link to them on my sidebar. And while you're at PoetCasting, take the time to trawl through the archives for a wide range of very fine poets reading their work. It's always illuminating to hear poems as they were intended. Enjoy!
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