Andy Szpuk, Author at DIY Poets

DIY POETS Quarterly Gig @ The Maze, Nottingham, August 13th 2015

8 June, 2015 Andy Szpuk

The crotchet bikini is expected to be the fashion hit of the summer, but one of the highlights in August is the regular stitching together of verse and rhyme by DIY POETS, unravelling their collections of technicolour patchwork lexicon quilts.

The evening will be sewn up by the music of Mr Ford and Mr Gibbs, but before that, headline poet, the legendary Miggy Angel will be weaving words of well worn wisdom.

Better than sitting at home knitting.

Frank McMahon’s Fourth Published Volume of Poetry – ‘Forthright’

12 May, 2015 Andy Szpuk

It’s Frank’s fab fourth, a typical collection of snappy verse, encapsulating the experience of a 20th century poet as he brings his unique world view into the here and now. Frank effortlessly sets his inner Tardis to random as he weaves tales from his more distant past and stitches them to the present day. Cultural references settle around the reader like winter snowflakes on a lumpy seventies football pitch, and mid way through the second half, Shane MacGowan almost ends up in a duet with Elvis – ‘Whole Lotta Snowman’ would have been a certain number one for them in more favourable conditions. Frank takes revenge on sadistic sports teachers, architecture and homophobic football fans in humorous, lyrical fine style.

Click Here to download ‘Forthright’

DIY POETS at The Maze – May 14th – Spoken Word At It’s Finest!

17 April, 2015 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

However many billions UK politicians pledge to put aside to fund the NHS, even when the election is over, it’ll still only cost £3 to see DIY POETS perform at the Maze, and that includes a free copy of the latest magazine! The evening will conclude with live music from Louis Antoniou.

That’s our manifesto, pretty straightforward really.

Review DIY Poets Thursday 12 February 2015

16 February, 2015 Andy Szpuk

By Clare Stewart and Lytisha

DIY POETS Maze gig 12^th February 2015. Another great evening at the Maze, congratulations to all who read. It was fantastic that we had equal numbers of men and women. And nice to have some newcomers in amongst the old-timers…

Grace. Great set of poems for her first time at a diy gig. With honest and universal themes, she spoke about the evil in us all, but compassionately conceded that we’re all going through a hard time. (And ain’t that a fact!) Grace made a new year resolution to be a truer version of herself, and that seems to me to be the flight of stairs we poets are all trying to scramble up, so welcome to the party, Grace! Her last poem ruefully refused to tell us why she has a smile on her face, and I’m still wondering…

Steve R: Another first timer on the DIY stage and new to Nottingham, Steve, read his poem which conjured images of drugs, lost loves and the experiences of youth. Steve has only been writing a few months, but gave a confident rendition of his poem questioning allegiance of the furious flying fists with great alliteration and passion. We’re looking forward to hearing more in the future from Steve.

Alice S has been a part of diy for a few months but this was her first performance with us. She has set herself the task of writing a poem a day for a year, and is putting them up on her blog. Great thing to do. Okay, I have to admit to not knowing what a blog is, so have been on a little self-teaching journey and have found Alice’s blog https://aliceshortpoetry.wordpress.com It’s well worth a visit, too much to read in one sitting, and deals with, oh, so many ideas. Alice has a great poetry voice, and the poems she read at the Maze bear reading over again and thinking about. Her tagline is Let’s Do This, as she invites her listeners to share her poetry journey. She’s encouraging to us as well as to herself – this from her 4^th Feb poem which she read at the Maze, Run Free ‘Fling doubt and fear from your mind’. Amen to that. Really like the poem about Split Second Judgments as well, which is her 30^th Jan poem.

Lytisha is an experienced diy performer and gave us some characteristically wistful work. Poems that seem simple but pack a punch. We were all on a strict five minute slot (but see about John H below) so Lytisha did some short poems, the shortest being an excellent poem called Forgetfulness that she forgot to write, so it didn’t take long to read out. Lytisha is interested in perspectives and often writes from other people’s points of view. I really like the poems – which are in the latest diy magazine – Looking In and Looking Out, speaking with the voices of a child looking in and a fish looking out of a fishbowl, excited and funny, sad and winsome. Lytisha also does a good imitation of a clock being perplexed by the daft goings-on of us humans.

Orla Shorthall: – or Oral as her new stage name seems to have emerged, following a typo on the poster for the next DIY event. Interestingly, it features ‘Oral’ and the event is called Suck it and See on Friday 31^st March at Jam Café in Hockley. How could that fail to entice?

After the levity of her introduction Orla launched into her set that she described as full of depressing poems. They were charmingly interspersed with humour and delivered in Orla’s inimitable way. We had tales ranging from an almost too real initial impression of Nottingham as full of tiny girls in tiny dresses vomiting everywhere to the surreal which involved giving birth to a calf, fathered by a Minator, whose bull genes were dominant.

Martin G is a thinker, and he thinks about thinking but he thinks he may have overthought this. Mixing the serious with the silly, the intelligent with the daft, you never know what’s coming next as words and images tumble over each other, all blended with a healthy dose of politics, the ridiculous and the profund. A 3D poet! He read three poems, Thinking about Thinking, The Sinkhole, in which members of the Bullingdon Club fall into a sinkhole (lol) but ends with a depressing thought about the popularity of someone called Nigel. And Divided We Stood, reflections on the death of Thatcher and Thatcherism.

Frank McMahon: after a glowing introduction from John, Frank did not disappoint. He delivered a fine set of short poems taking us on journeys through time and politics. As he said, It’s a marmite life […]some have taste / and there are the others. As we joined the Doctor on his Tardis we revisited sports teachers and the horrors of cross country, Tony Benn, noting that Labour isn’t Working concluding with a seasonal anti-valentine poem.

Clare S: delivered a colourful and thought provoking set with her architectural design for a Curly Fiery House which was certainly not bland, and indeed was the kind of space Gaudi would have been impressed with, to the poem Mobile Phone referring to building of an entirely different sort -an extension with more space to be lonely in. Clare concluded her engaging set with Mandela-Hitler Guilt. Her clever word play expressing that although no Mandela, she may have her faults but they are of being a whittler, but not like Hitler.

John H and his London Bones need one last dance. Although he only had one poem to read, John’s introduction was very entertaining. And long. So long that he’d gone over his five minutes before he’d even started reading his poem. Lights were flashed but to no avail. John carried on at his own pace anyway and why not? He described being nagged into internet dating and finding that thousands of women are interested in him but John doesn’t really do technology so it was never gonna work. Undaunted, he used the near-Valentine’s date of the gig to read his poem about love, London Bones. In it he expressed his desire to take these London bones out for one last dance, one last chance, take these London bones out for one last dance. We are never too old for love.

Featured poet of the night was Trevor Wright. Trevor took us through a fabulous set with quality poems on a whole host of themes. Delivered in his understated yet engaging fashion, Trevor told us tales of love, politics, filling time, Aunty Jeans colourful opinions, and all about the Chief Execcies who squeal bonus, bonus, bonus all the way home! Trevor discussed how the impetus to overcome his block at creating Haiku was delivered by way of several – fortunately- near misses whilst out on a cycle ride one afternoon. The result on returning to his pen and paper were several vitriolic Haikus aimed at the thoughtless and dangerous drivers in question. The set was concluded by two poems reflecting on how later events or revelations revised opinions of earlier met people. Well done Trevor, very entertaining.

The evening was rounded off with some great music by The Viscous Flambards. John and Tom’s harmonies blended with great guitar playing to provide songs telling tales, some from the pre-mobile and internet era. After Living Lives like Bees in a Hive and a little audience encouragement they concluded with their encore, Waterloo Sunset – in case they didn’t get to play it. They shouldn’t have worried though, the crowd cried out for more and the penultimate song finished the evening.

Suck it and See – Don’t forget your next opportunity to hear the DIY poets in action will be at the Jam Café on Tuesday 31^st March featured poet will be….. Ms Shortall.

And the next diy Maze gig is on 14^th May

Lytisha and Clare

DIY POETS Present ‘Suck it and See’ – Jam Cafe, Tuesday March 31st – FREE ENTRY!

14 February, 2015 Andy Szpuk

Sick of cruising the drag bars night after night? Suck it and see with the DIY POETS instead! An opportunity to sample some of Nottingham’s finest spoken word as one of Nottingham’s most well established performance poetry collectives tear it up at the Jam Cafe, see below for details, shaping up to be a grand night. FREE ENTRY!

‘From Green to Black’ Poetry by Frank McMahon – Download Here

6 January, 2015 Andy Szpuk

DIY Poet, Frank McMahon, has released his second book of poetry this year, and his third in total. It’s another thoughtful and energetic collection. Frank’s poems are usually quite short, but he has the knack of packing a lot into a few lines of verse. The material is autobiographical in tone, with many keen observations on modern life, history and society.

The book is usually available at DIY POETS gigs and other associated events, priced at £3.

It’s also available here as a download:

‘From Green to Black’ (by Frank McMahon)

Performance Poetry Workshop at Nottingham Writers Studio – 9th November 2014

3 December, 2014 Andy Szpuk

FRANK MCMAHON REPORTS:

Five DIY Poets met on Sunday 9^th November 7- 9pm at the Nottingham Writers Studio for an informal poetry performance workshop. The aim was for each poet to increase their skills and confidence when reading/ performing their poetry. Each poet gave a history of their performing their work and how they would like to develop in terms of performing their work. During the session each poet read one of their poems to the group and reflected on how they performed it.

Among the things we discussed were:

1. The importance of a good intro. This is to give a bit of context to a poem, as unlike as when a poem is on the page, the audience have only one chance to hear the poem.

2. Pace of reading. Not to read too fast as this will make it harder for the audience to get the poem and will diminish its impact. A suggestion was to highlight words or phrases that may need to have a pause or emphasised. Consider what words are particularly important. Practice reading the poem and varying the pacing at home.

3. Use of large font and poems to be typed. If the type is large font it is easier to read and the poet can look at the audience more than if they have to strain to read smaller font.

4. Consider the time allocated. Time how long the poem takes reading aloud at home. Do not try to cram too many poems in (I have been a victim of this in the past!). Allow a bit of a break between poems for the audience to process the information.

5. Have the poems in a folder rather than individual bits of paper. It looks more professional and organised and if you are feeling nervous the weight of the folder means the audience will not see any shaking hands.

6. Memorising v not memorising. It’s good to be able to perform the poem without looking constantly at the paper but if too much emphasis is put on memorising the poem this can be counterproductive. If someone turns up without the printed poems they have nothing to fall back on if their mind goes blank. Also, if the emphasis is mostly on just memorising the poem the poet may not be concentrating on other things such as the pace of the poem and where to slow down and put emphasis.

DIY POETS – Gig Reviewed – All the Action from Nov 13th, 2014

16 November, 2014 Andy Szpuk

Martin Grey doing the honours:

The evening of November 13^th 2014 was unseasonably mild, not because of the instability of the gulf stream due to climate change, but because it was the night of the latest DIY Poets event. After all, what better way to while away a late autumn evening than with some of Nottingham’s finest poets? Exactly.

Our leader, compere and guru, Frank McMahon, waited for the audience to filter in before kicking things off, explaining that each poet has seven minutes to do their thing. Failure to keep time would get you the white light of enlightenment, while failure to heed the white light would get you the red light of shame. Versatile things, those bike lights.

First up was Orla, who regaled us with stories of love, loss and relationships through elusive friendships, the time she met an American ex-soldier in Brussels, lettuce, Algerian World Cup games and taking her housemate’s banana on a tour of the peak district. Orla delivered darkness with subtlety, innuendo and ferocious mellowness, while the darker it got, the happier you seemed to become. A great start to the show.

“Days are not going to plan” proclaimed our next poet, Lytitia, who explained why she has to finish any book she starts, even if she doesn’t like it, before reading a trilogy of short poems about endings. “V is for Vengeance” told a story of helplessly watching a V1 bomb about to land, while she finished on a Spike Milligan piece called “Small Holes in the Sky”. A gentle and tender set delivered like a pro.

The first third concluded with A Sole, reading from one of his many, many books. A Sole crams in conflicting metaphor like a rush hour tube train crams in suits. From “Mad Mohan”, a story of Mohammed marrying a six year old girl, to “The Day Breaker”, Michigan based metaphor on the human condition, to “Lowry”, about a trip to an art gallery and the unknown soldier, you’re left wanting to buy the book so you can get lost in the words and try and work out what it all means. Some people did.

At DIY Poets, we’re aware that being able to get a beer without missing any of the poetry is important, so after a short break it was my turn. I started by talking about the Podemos political revolution that’s currently taking place in Spain. Podemos is Spanish for “We can”, which I parodied in “We Can”, about how in Britain it seems that we can’t. I followed up with “We Could Start a Revolution”, about how we could all inspire each other to make a better future, because if they can do it in Spain, we can too.

The crowd continued to trickle in as Clare confidently took to the stage, to ask us about what you do with anger and how you stop it. All of Clare’s pieces were laced with nostalgia, from linking the Windsor Castle fire and the first women priests to a difficult childbirth in “Annus Horriblus 1992”, to the times she skived off school to paint with her Mum. With the crowd in a quiet reminisce, she finished with “We Were Gentle”, a brutal counter attack on the government’s assault on our values and cherished institutions. Perfectly timed and perfectly delivered.

The newest performer of the night, Julian, was next. Making his second appearance, but already seeming accomplished on the stage, he read a long piece from the point of view of an internet troll, called “The Factor of My Emptiness”. With a quiet delivery combined with heavyweight lines of “sadomasochistic psychic warfare”, mixed with references to fighting and general thuggery, the frightened, confused troll within all trolls was effortlessly dissected.

After another quick break, our leader, Frank, was introduced, proclaiming with a cheeky smile that as the bike lights were in his pocket, the rules didn’t apply to him. Frank showed yet again that he is a master of the short poem, as he rolled through piece after piece about childhood disappointment, from discovering that cupboards didn’t actually lead to Narnia, to psychopathic PE teachers and old rock clubs becoming supermarkets. “Doctor Who Childhood” touched on the vulnerability of only having one heart, while “First Hero Beginning”, about Hurricane Higgins, told of how our heroes are just as vulnerable as we are.

Frank was swiftly back on stage, to introduce the penultimate poet, John, who promptly professed that poetry is better than therapy because therapy costs £45 an hour. It was a frank and touching set, including “The Lost Chord”, a beautiful piece about the prevalence of dementia and having to put family members into a nursing home. The only duet of the night came in “Menorca”, about being in paradise but for some reason missing Nottingham, with Lytitia providing the backing. John always delivers with a swagger and can make a laugh from almost anywhere. A top notch set.

All of which brought us to the main event. Andy Szpuk. Feature poet. The feature poet slot is a great opportunity to do something extra special and Andy certainly didn’t disappoint. Starting by asking if we were feeling Christmassy (we think he already knew the answer), he went into a bold and underreported take on the Ukrainian conflict, with “Riot Shield for Christmas” and “Kremlin Christmas Pantomime”, into witty and subtle dissections of the characters and political influences on the war. From “Putin the Movie”, pondering who would best play the Putin character and deciding on David Bowie, to “Back in the USSR” – baby you can drink my Vodka, the political ridiculousness of the conflict was wonderfully exposed. Andy also told us about when he almost bought a Hawaiian shirt, a self-referencing piece about when he first joined the DIY poets and felt he needed a fashion quirk to go with the ‘Street Sinatra’ of Frank or the “Hippy Earth Mother” of Clare. A sterling performance. Andy’s poems are definitely hot to Trotsky.

Then it was up to Ital Pip to play out the show. With his green acoustic guitar, harmonica and songs like “Storm in a Teacup”, via a proclamation of “Anyone that expresses from the heart is a very brave and honourable person”, it was impossible not to sway to the warming chords and wistful words while we finished our beers. Through songs inspired by an old mate called Phil, to covering Neil Young and Joe Strummer’s “Rock Art and the X Ray Style”, via a poem about trying to quit smoking, some words summed up the night. “Words can change the world”. Yes, indeed they can.

So that was pretty much that. We were silly and we were sombre. We were angry and we were amazed. Also, of course, were nice and we didn’t always rhyme.

Roll on February!

DIY POETS Quarterly Gig – November 2014

13 October, 2014 Andy Szpuk

By Frank McMahon:

Local bards DIY Poets present the latest in their quarterly nights of spoken word and music at the Maze. Featured poet is the fantastic Andy Szpuk, curator of the DIY Poets website. Acoustic music is provided by the wonderful Ital Pip.

£3 entry A bargain as always!

Vintage Poetry: ‘The Owl’ by Edward Thomas – discourse by Frank McMahon

26 September, 2014 Andy Szpuk

First World War Memorial, Gheluvelt Park, Worcester

The Owl is a poem written by Edward Thomas, one of the most celebrated of the poets writing about the First World War. Most of his poems are not directly about the trenches but the war features in a more oblique way.

It is a poem about both fulfilment and deprivation, and draws on Thomas’s experience of the front line. It is also a poem about the emotions of empathy and guilt.

The poet is tired, hungry and cold but he will get rest and reach the “sweetest thing under a roof”. His physical discomfort is temporary. The first word of the poem is “downhill”. He has completed the effort of climbing up the hill and things will be easier for him from now on. While the poet recuperates with warmth, rest and food he suddenly hears the owl’s cry, which is explicitly said to be “melancholy” and “no merry note” and penetrates the silence of the night. The owls cry reminds Thomas of the suffering he had undergone when he was on the hills but more so it reminds him of the more permanent greater suffering of those who could not escape. He says that he has “escaped”. The owl’s cry seems to represent his conscience and his capacity for empathy. The owl represents for Thomas “all who lay under the stars, soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.”

Suddenly his food seems “salted”. This implies that he feels guilty about the suffering that he has escaped and other could not. He suddenly loses in some sense the pleasures of the inn.

I find the poem, which uses simple language, powerful, especially the wonderful metaphor of the sound of the owl in the night.

Frank McMahon

Edward Thomas: the owl.

Downhill I came, hungry, and yet not starved;

Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof

Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest

Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof.

Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest,

Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I.

All of the night was quite barred out except

An owl’s cry, a most melancholy cry

Shaken out long and clear upon the hill,

No merry note, nor cause of merriment,

But one telling me plain what I escaped

And others could not, that night, as in I went.

And salted was my food, and my repose,

Salted and sobered, too, by the bird’s voice

Speaking for all who lay under the stars,

Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.

DIY Poets

We're nice and we don't always rhyme

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Author: Andy Szpuk