'A Beat off the beaten track': poets pay tribute to Paul Blackburn - a founding father of Write Out Loud - after sudden death at festival

Write Out Loud has been saddened to hear of the sudden death of Paul Blackburn, a leading figure in the north-west poetry scene for many years, who also played a key part in the growth and success of this website. He was a man of many talents, including compere, performer, poet, writer, singer, musician, workshop leader, film maker and publisher. His involvement with Write Out Loud was from 2005 to 2011. During that time he in...

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News and Opinion

I struggle to believe that our pal, our big, bold, barmy, Bohemian brother-in-arms has left the stage, so abruptly, so prematurely. Paul Blackburn mad...

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Write Out Loud Woking is saying farewell to the Lightbox museum and art gallery, its live monthly open mic venue for the past five years. The Lightbox...

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Slang Bang, a free entry night of slang-infused spoken word curated by Write Out Loud regular Lee Campbell, will feature Steve Tasane, Jeremy Dixon, J...

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Hello Marsden! Yes, it’s that time of year again and I’m delighted to advertise this year’s Write Out Loud poetry jam, which as usual, will be held as...

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He strode confidently to the stage resplendent in striking African outfit that glowed in the semi-darkness. When he reached the microphone he exhorted...

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Oxygen Confetti – Poetry in three voices is a presentation of poetry translated into English from Dutch, with one of the poems set to song, by poet El...

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Northumberland poet Katrina Porteous; a talk on the poet Basil Bunting titled ‘The most significant Northumbrian writer since Bede?’; former Archbisho...

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Kostya Tsolakis and Jacqueline Saphra will be reading and in conversation with Tara Bergin at Newcastle University’s Culture Lab on 5 October – Nation...

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The town of Morpeth in Northumberland is home to the Northern Poetry Library. Not a lot of people know that. Remarkably, according to its website, it ...

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Manchester Cathedral’s poetry competition is open for submissions, with the theme this year ‘A Truth’. Organisers say they are looking for poems “whic...

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Will Harris, Clare Pollard and Jane Draycott will be judging the 2023 National Poetry Competition, organised by the Poetry Society. The deadline is 31...

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This collection, which was published in 2022, was John Foggin’s last before his death earlier this year. He liked to describe himself as a poetry ‘lat...

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