Going live! How my pamphlet publication opened door to spoken word scene

by Andy Porter

Monday 4th August 2025 4:44 pm (first posted 3rd August 2025)

I am standing in a ‘community hub’. This takes the form of a prefabricated, restyled chicken shed in the middle of a playing field in my home village of Great Barrow, near Chester. It is a lovely summer’s evening and I am surrounded by friends and neighbours. Standing to my left are four spoken word artists and a playwright. They comprise: Dublin-based Leon Dunne, the All Ireland Slam champion 2022 and his co-presenter, Ryan Duggins of the Poetry’s Dead Podcast. They are with Anna Nixon, an outstanding young poet with multiple publishing credits. Alongside is a man in a tartan cap and a striking shirt which features a dog wearing sunglasses and holding a cocktail; it is Colin Anderson, originally of Liverpool, now of Summerseat, near Bury, and a veteran of three published books of poetry. And then there is the playwright, my nephew Simon Stephens.

We are all watching a tall, bespectacled and bearded figure in his late twenties standing at a microphone which has been set for someone approximately eight inches shorter. As he crouches, Cleese-like, he is singing in a County Kildare accent a robust, adapted version of The Auld Triangle, a song made famous by Brendan Behan. The adaptation is titled The Bard of Great Barrow. He has written it earlier in the day. It is hilarious, but basically about me, which is a little embarrassing.

How did we get here? The tall man at the microphone is Lee Sheridan, pictured left. Despite his tender years, he has written several books of poetry, fiction and plays. His writing influences include Patrick Kavanagh, Flann O’Brien and (inevitably) James Joyce. He set up Luain Press in 2022 with the aim of providing a platform for new writing. In autumn 2024 he launched a competition for pamphlets of up to 30 poems. First prize was publication of the winning pamphlet. The deadline was 28 December. On the evening of deadline day I finally submitted my pamphlet. After receiving several nice, but decisive rejections for my work in recent months I was anything but confident of success. So when, three weeks later, I opened an email from Luain Press and read the words “It was difficult to choose a winner” and “Unfortunately you have not been successful on this occasion” … I was already steeled for disappointment. But the email continued: “We have however thoroughly enjoyed your work. We have decided to award you a second place prize and would like to publish your pamphlet.”

And so it all began. After several Zoom meetings, I met Lee in person in Dublin in February. We had arranged to go to the premiere of Simon’s new play, Men’s Business, at a small theatre in the city centre. Also in attendance were Messrs Duggins and Dunne of my favourite poetry podcast. After the play we visited a couple of the haunts of O’Brien, Behan, Kavanagh and co and recited our own poems in homage, sitting around stout-stained oak tables. As a kid brought up on Yeats and Joyce, who later discovered Heaney, it was brilliant. By a series of happy accidents I had got the right publisher in the right place.

Lee proved an assiduous and thoughtful editor and collaborator and brings his design and online marketing skills to the table as part of the Luain publishing package. Through him and the Poetry’s Dead guys I have got to know other members of the Irish contemporary poetry scene. There is a buzz about hearing new voices and discovering and sharing work in a vibrant community. I first encountered this spirit of support and encouragement here, in Write Out Loud. Without that, I doubt I would have come this far in a relatively short time.

In May, on the invitation of my Dublin poetry pals I did my first live spoken word event - at Gizaword Collective at Hemingway's Cafe Bar in Liverpool. It was electric to hear the variety of voices and performances. I was on as part of the open mic. Six minutes to a friendly audience and two poems - 'Neighbour’s Got a New Hot Tub' and 'The Books I Haven’t Read.'. During 'The Books I Haven’t Read' one member of the audience repeatedly showed out “Read that! Read that!”. My first heckler - gentle enough! Apart from this I got a few laughs and there was some appreciative applause from the Scouse audience for the Manc in their midst. I was away.

Immediately I felt I would enjoy being in this company. I have been back since, at the end of June, for a longer 15-minute slot supporting Dublin poet Emmet O’Brien, whom I had met at the Seamus Heaney Centre where he supported Mike Garry and the Cassia Quartet. “Do you fancy doing 15 minutes with me at Gizaword? It’s a passion project to be honest, we’re not charging anyone, but I can give you £50 as you’ll have to travel from Chester." He was actually offering to pay me to read a few poems? “No, Emmet, that’s not necessary - I’m learning and I need the experience - I’ll just be happy to be up there alongside you." As John Cooper Clarke once said, “Poetry has never been a reliable engine of wealth”. But I was now supporting the man who had supported the man who supports John Cooper Clarke. Brilliant!

Something else was happening too. Leon and Emmet are both part of Rising Tide, a poetry collective with a one-hour slot at the Electric Picnic festival, Ireland’s Glastonbury. Leon would like me to be his guest there and perform a 15-minute set. All I had to do was get there, I’d have a free pass for the festival and accommodation included in the artists’ campsite. Another first - I have never been to a festival, let alone performed at one.

The book launch was scheduled for 24 July in Great Barrow. After considering finding a venue in Chester, or Liverpool or even Manchester I circled back to my home. After all I was guaranteed an audience and I could actually see the venue from my front door, so if everything went pear-shaped …

In the event the evening was a big success. Lee actually said it was “the best launch Luain has ever had”. Mainly I think this was all about the location. Great Barrow is not noted for its cultural scene, but it was obvious on the night that there was a curiosity and hunger for the kind of spoken word that the poets were able to deliver. Lee’s timing and rapport with the audience as MC was immaculate and every poet brought something very different to the stage, from a fast, slam-style tribute to the near mythical Dublin Chicken Fillet Roll to moving, thought-provoking poems about the loosening of ties between parent and child and the stark countdown to a brutal teenage stabbing.

I had joined a local poetry group, the Kelsall Poets, in January and several of them were there to support the launch, alongside the other poets, friends and villagers. My daughter read her own poem, my son contributed with a message from his expedition in the Atacama desert, and my wife did her usual job of keeping everyone on track and making sure I thanked the right people. It was a memorable evening, an evening I could not have imagined just a year earlier.

I have just done the first of two readings at independent bookshops in Chester, who generously agreed to stock and sell Neighbour’s Got a New Hot Tub. It was lovely being able to share my poems for half an hour in the cosy surroundings of the Books on the Walls bookshop and cafe. The owner Kate is a big supporter of local writers and is also a marvellous audience, with immense energy and enthusiasm and an infectious laugh. “I could have listened to your poems all afternoon, Andy!” she said - right up there with “I keep your book in the toilet” as my favourite review.

What’s next? Electric Picnic at the end of August. There are also rumours of a collaborative spoken word and music album from within the Dublin group that has sprouted from the newly forged Great Barrow connection, so watch this space. It’s been an uplifting few months since I received that email from Lee. As well as the publishing adventure I have experienced a lot more poetry. Apart from open mic nights, I’ve seen Brian Bilston, Henry Normal, Harry Baker, Kate Ireland and Mike Garry. All were inspiring in different ways. I sent Mike a copy of the book, as seeing him and John Cooper Clarke at Storyhouse in 2023 was so inspiring. I first saw JCC in a packed, sweaty Rafters nightclub in Manchester as a 17-year-old, and his performance was thrilling. He was equally good 45 years later - and Mike was a revelation. He’s been really supportive of my poetry and Neighbour’s Got a New Hot Tub. The poetry community is so great.

The Kelsall Poets are a sparkling, eclectic group and our leader, Vicky Charlton, keeps us all on our toes with monthly exercises, workshops and prompts. Whether it’s happening in a chicken shed or at the Co-op Live Arena, poetry and what it can inspire is so important in the chaotic, often ugly world we live in. From my experience it has a wonderful future. We need it more than ever now. Let’s keep those stanzas flowing.