english language Archives

Derby Poetry Festival 2017 – A Blast

7 January, 2018 Martin Dean Comments 0 Comment

The first Derby Poetry Festival took place in November organised by Derbys Wordwise promoter, Jamie Thrasivoulou and DIY member, Trevor Wright. With support from Derby News and Derby City Council, it featured a variety of poetry workshops, open mics , junior and adult poetry competitions and headline poets.

Writing East Midlands and Derby Live kindly supported an afternoon of refugee poetry at the Guildhall where the excellent anthology Riding on Solomons Carpet was launched, from the Write Here Sanctuary project, featuring poetry from participants in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham. Thanks to Leanne Moden for organising a special afternoon.

Tony Walsh Headlined the first night at the Quad with people who hadn’t booked tickets unfortunately being turned away as we had reached capacity. Cathy Grindrod headlined the Friday night with a couple of DIY’ers in the open mic and Shrivanee headlined the She Speaks Sunday night. Young Joe won the junior poetry competition with Dwane Reads winning the adults- both receiving book voucher kindly donated by Derby Waterstones.

Saturday’s headline at the Venue was Linton Kwesi Johnson, supported by Anthony Anaxagourou with Ioney Smallthorne and Miggy Angel. It was a sell out with people travelling from as far away as Brighton and Lancaster. Linton did an authoritative hour set and received a standing ovation from the 240 capacity crowd. He also admitted over a late night curry to being both a Strictly and West Ham fan!

Thanks to everyone who made the effort to attend. So it made a small loss. So what. It was a blast and will be back bigger and better in November 2018.

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.

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.

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 Quarterly Gig – August 14th – The Maze, Nottingham

23 July, 2014 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

Pedestrian crossings can often cause an unhinged moment when a shopper, student, silver surfer or goofball (like me) arrive at them, wondering whether to press the button or take a chance on scampering across without pausing to follow the expected procedure. Could be a British thing, or maybe most people’s minds are pondering when the next DIY Poets gig might be. The latter is more likely. Unwittingly, DIY Poets can make a major contribution to road safety by revealing early doors when and where the verse will be spoken:

The featured poet Martin Grey is fresh from field studies in phonetics, punnery and one liners. He cruises through a diverse range of subjects, look out for his bread poem, he may try to sandwich it in somewhere. Grey’s anatomy of verse has the legs to make it a kicking night of rhyme (or free verse as the case may be).

And to complete a ‘safe’ night of entertainment, Pegefo and Marita provide the music.

DIY Poets at the Maze, Nottingham (UK) – 13th February

19 January, 2014 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

DIY Poets present the latest in our quarterly night of spoken word at the Maze on Thursday 13 February. As well as local bards DIY Poets there will a featured set from the fantastic Clare Stewart and the evening will be rounded off in style by local band, Fun With Numbers. £ 3 entry, a bargain.

DIY Poets meet every month, on the first Wednesday, at 8pm, upstairs at the Broadway Cinema, all poets old and new welcome, for discussions around future events and reading each others poems, with constructive feedback and muchos encouragement. At the last meeting we found a quiet spot on the mezzanine, and Jim grumbled about the lack of draught beer at that particular bar area, but he settled down eventually.

Book Launch by Premier DIY POET (Nottingham UK)

12 January, 2014 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

Globally, the literary cognoscenti and the creative sets may not know this: Frank McMahon is a poetry genius and all round legend. He’s been running the DIY Poets collective for over 10 years now, organising and performing at the group’s quarterly shows at the Maze in Nottingham, as well as other events in the local area and beyond.

He’s about to release his second book of poetry: Difficult Second Volume, and a launch is scheduled for Friday 31st January at The Corner in Nottingham. I’ve previewed this book and I can confirm it is essential reading for anyone who likes poetry, even if only a little bit.

Having seen Frank perform his poetry many times and with a massive appreciation of his understated delivery in his mellow Wolverhampton tones, I was able to hear the poems in my head as I read through the collection of 79 poems. Frank tells stories about his early life, with sharp observational lines glued next to personal political viewpoints that focus on many of the issues affecting people on a global level. There are stabs of humour throughout the book, Frank’s poetry is always playful and frequently mischievous.

Frank also ventures into more serious territory at times, reflecting on his upbringing, his milestones, relationships and mortality. The threads of this collection are tied together with lots of cultural references from Dr Who to Slade, Brian Clough, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Robin Hood and Superman to name a few.

So, to get a copy and hear some of the poetry, as well as poems from other members of DIY Poets, come along to The Corner on the 31st. There will be a late bar and DIY Poet John Humphreys spinning an eclectic mix of vintage vinyl. Don’t miss it!

DIY Poets, Live Spoken Word at the Maze, Nottingham – Nov 14th

7 November, 2013 Andy Szpuk Comments 0 Comment

DIY Poets present the latest of our quarterly nights at the Maze, Mansfield Road, Nottingham, on Thursday November 14th. As well as local bards DIY Poets there will be acoustic music from Wall Flower. 8 til late £3 entry A bargain!

The featured poet on the night will be the always entertaining John Humphries (pictured). John’s been a stalwart of DIY Poets since its inception over 10 years ago, and remains one of the most compelling performance poets in the UK. He will be debuting a new poem: ‘Buzzcocks at Blackpool’, amongst many other fine pieces.

DIY Poets

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