MA in Spoken Word at Goldsmith Uni / Photography Exhibition / Kwame Daws / Keats House / Germany Tour Schedule / Chill Pill

Myself, Keith Jarret, Pete The Temp, Indigo Williams, Catherine Brogan and Dean Atta have been enrolled at Goldsmith's University to do a MA in Writing/Teaching and Spoken Word Education. The programme is pioneered by a teacher/ poet I met in Chicago two years ago called Peter Khan.

Keith Jarret & Cat Brogan

I left school with three GCSE's to my name and never bothered with a degree, but after seeing this opportunity to work in schools and get a MA that involved Spoken Word Poetry I pushed for it hard. I was interviewed by three Goldsmith's Professors in English and Creative Writing, the head of a secondary school, Apples and Snakes and other teachers of poetry who selected us as the final six.

Pete The Temp

This is quite a big deal as its an academic acknowledgement of Spoken Word as an art form and an actual genre of poetry. Spoken Word and Slam poetry has been consistently written off by poets, writers and journalists who solely commit to the literary traditions of poetry and choose to dismiss Spoken Word as performance art/theatre.

Poets such as Roddy Lumsden, Bohdan Piasecki, Niall O'Sullivan, Nii Parkes Mista Gee and Hollie McNish have advocated for Spoken Word Poetry, giving it more visibility/credibility over the years. Hollie launched her own Spoken Word In Education company, Mista Gee hosted a five series run of Bespoken Word on BBC Radio, Roddy encourages poets to engage on stage and attacked an Oxford Professor Of Poetry for saying "Spoken Word Poetry is unimportant" in The Guardian. Niall and Nii are part of the publishing house 'Flipped Eye' who have published poets known for their performances such as Inua Ellams, Zena Edwards, Roger Robsinson, Malika Booker, Nick Makoha etc. Bohdan Piasecki has featured on BBC Radio performing his work and speaking on the value and skill of being a Spoken Word poet with Ian Macmillan. He also runs one of the best poetry nights in the country called 'Hit The Ode' in Birmingham.

All of us feel honoured to be piloting this course and we hope it will help establish greater appreciation of poetry and spoken word. We enrol next Monday.

                                                    Rhyming Thunder Anthology

                    
Excited to have three of my poems featured in this new anthology alongside poets such as Tshaka Campbell, Simon Mole, Adam Kammerling, Deanna Rodger, Rob Auton and much much more. The book was launched in Bristol last week and is launching in London on Wednesday 26th at the Battersea Mess & Music Hall. 7.30pm.

                                'The Coloured Experience' Photography Exhibition

The Coloured Experience 

I have a photography exhibition launching between 1st - 7th October at The Albany. It's part of the AfroVibes Festival. I'll be doing a talk/performance in the space on Thursday 4th so please come down to that. A travel journal I wrote in South Africa has been published and will be for sale on site.

JAM 50!

Mervyn Morris

Jamaican poets Kwame Dawes & Mervyn Morris are reading in London and I'm honoured to be on the bill alongside them.

Kwame Daws

                       
Details
Tuesday 2 October
7pm – 9.30pm
£20 / £12 conc

Geffrye Museum
136 Kingsland Road
Shoreditch
London E2 8EA
Nearest Station: Hoxton (London Overground)

http://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/index.php?id=events&event=1129

Keats House Poets Forum 
Sunday 14th October
2pm - 4pm (FREE)

Kayo Chingonyi

After the brilliant screening of 'We Are Poets' last month, we return to our regular high quality open mic and feature poet. This month Kayo Chingonyi whom featured in 'The Salt Book Of Younger Poets' and brought out his own poetry book, 'Some Bright Elegance' earlier this year will be reading at the house.

Germany Poetry Tour

Lars Ruppel & Sebastian 23

I'm super excited to be touring my poetry across Germany from 22nd October - 2nd November 2012.

Here's the tour schedule of the areas I'm performing in so far.

Oct

22nd Frankfurt
23rd Marburg
24th Gießen
25th Freiburg
26th Kressbronn (with Lars Ruppel)
27th Unna
28th Leverkusen
29th  TBC
30th Cologne
31st Münster
Nov

1st Herne

and of course...

Chill Pill
at The Albany on 27th September, Soho Theatre at 15th October & Albany on 29th November.

http://www.thealbany.org.uk/event_detail/845/Spoken-Word/Chill-Pill

                                          P.S.
                                   it's been a great summer of festivals... until next year!