cellar june listings

Hello all,

Well, after two months of running a weekly poetry event, I haven’t burnt out or been slung out on my arse. If anyone’s been impressed with previous bills, then some of these bookings should blow you away!

If any more info is required, then please check out my blog www.x-bout.com/cellar , including my own personal views on what transpired at the cellar slam this past weekend.

All the best in the meantime, here come the June Listings:

The Cellar

Every Saturday at the Poetry Café

22 Betterton Street

Covent Garden tube

Show starts 8pm

£5/3concs

Floor spots available on the night

June 4^th

Luke Wright- Acerbic, satirical snipes at the MTV-numbed attention spans that couldn’t even reach the end of this blurb…

Annie Freud- Sublimely crafted verse, bursting with wit, imagery and raw human narratives. She don’t half read well too.

Patricia Foster- Warm, detailed stories laced with humour and surprising truths. Always compelling.

June 11^th

Hugo Williams- Calm, assured, intelligent verse that never loses touch with the listener. A must see set from one of Britain’s biggest poets.

Salena Saliva Godden- Speaking on behalf of every seedy little corner of the city, the undisputed queen of the performance poetry scene.

June 18^th

Les Robinson- Author of Winterburn brings all of the subtleties of twilight, autumn, silence and memory into crisp brilliant clarity.

Agnes Meadows- Reading from her brilliant forthcoming collection At Damascus Gate on Good Friday. A real, vivid experience of life in Gaza.

Jeremy Quinn- Milligan, Cutleresque takes on the whimsies of modern living. A master craftsman of the dog poem.

June 25^th

Julian Fox- Star of Radio 4’s On A Lonely Planet, tries out new material from his forthcoming one-man show. Very funny and surprisingly moving.

Annette Donivar- Winner of the only New Blood slam, warped but sensual urban fairy tails that evoke Angela Carter at her best.

And finally, all the way from Edinburgh, our very special guest

Tim Turnbull- Tight, punchy, verse, spat out with vigour. Change of underwear may be required on the night…

Cellar Slam- Brilliant night, slightly tainted...

Well, last night was certainly a night to remember. Over the two and a bit hours, some truly brilliant and entertaining poetry was heard. All nine slammers came out guns a blazing for the first round, highlights being a great reading of "Radio Pussycat" by Graham Buchan, a whole lotta laughs from the clever wordplay of AF Harold, Peter Donnally and Other Theresa followed by more textured thoughtful pieces by inua, honest, Delroy Murray and our guest from the states Dakota. Everybody hit the absolute heights and I've hardly known an audience to leave a first half as charged up and stimulated as the one we were so lucky to have.
First round done, with little to separate the slammers, the second round was a more challenging affair. A line of poetry was chosen at random and the slammers had the course of the twenty minute interval to build a poem around it. This line was All this stood upon her and was the world, by Rilke. The majority of the slammers made a gallant effort, some only coming up with a handful of well chosen lines, others reaming out intense, stream of conciousness epics. However a real smear was left on an otherwise brilliant evening when a few proffessional slammers simply intertwined the chosen line into one of their pre-prepared slam standards. The fact that they didn't even pretend to read it from a piece of paper instead of doing the full on well rehearsed hand flailing recitals only served to underline their contempt for audience, host, fellow slammers and the spirit of the event itself.
I don't think it's important who won the event, soon those fifty pounds will be separated and drifting through the ether of the economy. As inflation rises, fifty pounds beomes much less. All that remains is the brilliant efforts of poets who dived headfirst into the challenge, and others whose love of winning outweighed their love of our wonderful art. These are the peaks and the troughs of an evening I will never forget.
Oh yeah, and the sight of Donal Dempsey trying to read the writing that was slowly vanishing from his sweaty hands after ten minutes trying not to clap or mop his brow will bring a big cheesy grin to my mug til the day I frickin die.

get all yer cellarinfo here

Hello all, please be patient cos I'm a bit of a blog virgin. Basically, I'll use this to let you all know the listings as they come. Also you'll get the info about the cellar slam here first, as I haven't thought of how I'm going to book people on the night, I'm pretty sure I'm going to prioritize the people that have supported The Cellar to date rather than the fly by night opportunists. Oh yeah, I'm also going to list the best answers to the dumbass questions I ask at the end of the response forms.
Anyone wants to have their sayon this blog, then please mail cellarinfo@gmail.com. Only the most original slanders on my character will make it through.
Hope to see you for the 21st May with Nii Parkes, Joshua Idehen and Sarah Gibbons. Should be a blinder.

May listings

The Cellar
Every Saturday 8pm
@The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton Street, Covent Garden Tube
Admission- £5/3 concs
Floor spots available on the night
Hosted by Niall O'Sullivan

Saturday 7th May

Roddy Lumsden- A must see set from one of Britain's best loved poets.
Incurable romanticism at its sharpest!

Inua- A ferocious new talent, expect the flair and flow of Saul
Williams filtered through Heaney's steady wordplay.

John Citizen- London performance poetry institution, loitering with intent.



Saturday 14th May

Abe Gibson-Neat takes on the nitty gritty of estate life and beyond.
Heartbreaking humour to devastate and delight.

Bette O'Callaghan-Poetry that purrs like a fine tuned Harley, she'll
be smokin' when
she buries ya...

Kevin Reinhardt-Glitterball verse about the love and loss of balloons
with the allure of pregnant women on the underground.


Saturday 21st May

Nii Parkes- Ghana's finest, warm colourful aromapoetry with the occasional
sting its tail.

Sarah Gibbons- Sure footed poetic takes on bedroom politics, bustling
streets
and dishy Sainsburies managers

Joshua Idehen- A sharp, incendiary new talent. Catch him now before MI5 do.


Saturday 28th May

Cellar Slam- We cast out the net for poetry's next superstar. However,
professional slammers beware, you may have to write a new poem on the
night, so bring a pen and paper. Winner gets £50 as well as a full
paid set later in the year.
Slammers will be admitted on the concession rate.