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Eleanor Rees and Gaia Holmes at the Puzzle Hall Inn in Sower

Eleanor Rees and Gaia Holmes at the Puzzle Hall Inn in Sowerby Bridge - 19th November.

The Puzzle in Sowerby Bridge is tucked away along an old bumpy single track road. It’s an old pub with a selection of guest ales and a log-warmed cosy feel to it. It was here that Eleanor Rees and Gaia Holmes read poetry.

The evening started off with a reading by local poet and Puzzle regular Gaia Holmes. Rather than read exclusively from her collection “James Graham’s Celestial Bed”, she read a series of new poems. These included “I turned my heart into a 2-Star B&B” and “Gap”. With their mix of exotica, light humour and whistful sadness, these new poems delighted the audience. Examples of Gaia’s work can be found on her myspace page http://www.myspace.com/gaiaholmes

After a short break, and a number of readings from local poets as part of the open mic spot, Eleanor Rees took to the stage. She read several poems from her collection Andraste’s hair. I really liked the poems. Although slightly bereft of other people, the poems (centering around her home city of Liverpool) captured the night time in an almost surreal but always beautiful way. Her poetry was fill of startling and new imagery and had a great rhythm and sound to it. The audience pushed her on to read longer than she had planned to. Eleanor’s website can be found at http://www.eleanorrees.com/

After the event, the audience settled down to drinking and talking in the friendly atmosphere of the Puzzle. A minor disagreement flared up with the smokers outside as they discussed if the rhythm of Eleanor’s work was reminiscent of Dylan Thomas.

Finally, as drinks were finished and people started to pull on winter coats, the evening drifted away, leaving nothing but the log stove and a number of chess players rattling pieces across chess boards.

The Puzzle Hall poets meet every three months (August, November, February, May) on the third monday of that month. Minor disclaimer : I’m a member of this poetry group and a friend of Gaia Holmes, so expect me to be biased.
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:27 pm
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