Spoken Word Supreme in Guildford
The last Pop Up Poetry event of 2012 was a memorable occasion, a fitting climax to the year where we have built up our audience and our expertise to bring to Guildford a platform where local poets can have a hearing and poets from London and other centres can make their voices heard in our provincial (dare I say) locality. The evening of December 11th at the Bar des Arts, Guildford, was devoted to spoken word of the most original and entertaining kind, from Rob Auton to Raymond Blake, by way of Jeremy Sallon (not necessarily in that order.)
Rob gave us a sample of his Yellow Show (fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe and now showing at the Roundhouse) and had us wearing Yelovision spectacles and chanting yellow slogans with a will. Raymond kept us guessing with his changing moods and his only too accurate observations of perspectives on recent social issues – Raymond being not quite the original man on the Clapham Omnibus, but a version of him – and at last blew us away with his beautiful poem about his ageing mother. And finally Jeremy kept us guessing and listening to his gnomic observations on love, life, the Universe and all that.
Add to this Rodney Wood, Tom Vlietstra, Eddie Chauncy, Andy Fiver, Sarah Longes, Greg Freeman and several other wonderful new voices, and there you have a fantastic evening – the recipe didn’t fail us!
Next month we take the Bar des Arts stage on 15th January, for another evening of words, music and surprises. The music is provided by local a' capella singer Irene Shettle,with further surprises and wonderful poetry by Nancy Charley, and our lovely open micer-ers. (Our commiserations go to Tom Viestsra, who has to take an exam that evening.)
Get down to the Bar des Arts by 7.30 and sign up for a ten- minute spot – everyone who gets to Dónall or Jan early will have the opportunity to perform for ten minutes, not the normal five – and relax into the flow of your words!
Or simply come along and listen to the best spoken word and music acts in Guildford on the third Tuesday in January – you know you’ll love it!
Julian (Admin)
Thu 13th Dec 2012 11:28
Janice, many thanks for this review. It is great to hear what is happening across the country, and it helps all pf us wanting to promote this great live poetry movement to hear of such successful events, written about with such passion. Thank you.