In the car: Planet Rock
On the page: Be[yond] by Sarah James
Where I'm at: Spoken Worlds tonight
In the ether: litter magazine (Leafe press)
This week I was at two Leicester events.
Shindig!, organised by Crystal Clear Creators and Nine Arches Press, at the Western is an established and well organised event. It has four invited guest readers, a good PA, and up to twenty open mic readers. There is a big, gentle, appreciative audience with a wide age range which has a large number of members aged 35+
The quality of the words tends to be high, risks taken, few.
Open mic sets are short, one poem only and there can be a lot of noise from the bar which can affect audibility of poets at the back of the room.
Find The Right Words also has guests and an excellent PA. Ably run and hosted by Jess Green, it advertises itself as for rap and performance poetry.
The average age is about twenty years younger than Shindig!, and risk taking is positively encouraged. Reflecting this, the stories of he performers are strong and more personal, the performance slots are longer, performers more intense, and "performance" is very much to the fore.
The quality of several performances was outstanding, particularly the rappers, the event itself is hugely entertaining and if your style tends towards performance or rap this is the stage for you. If you enjoy a good performance, and who doesn't?, then it is also well worth a visit for its fresh and positive atmosphere.
Spoken Worlds is on tonight. This is the even I run, the PA is smaller, the audience and participants somewhere towards the age of Shindig!, but we are less formal than either of the others and not limited to poetry ( to be fair, both are tolerant of storytelling and a little prose).
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