"Reading Number Six in this unprecedentedly busy week of poetry gigs was on Tuesday evening at the Kitchen Garden Café in Birmingham. What a wonderful venue - it combines a small garden centre with an organic café , deli and intimate performance space. It also offers a full and varied programme of cultural events including cabaret and storytelling nights, as well as Poetry Bites, hosted and brilliantly organised by Jacqui Rowe, at which I was this month's guest poet.
Both new and long-established poets (including Julie Boden) took part in the open mic section of the evening and there was a great variety of tones and styles to enjoy.
There was also carrot, courgette and cranberry cake to enjoy in the interval as an accompaniment to the signing and selling of books!"
Welcome to my website. Scroll down the page for news and updates.
POETRY BITES
AT
THE KITCHEN GARDEN CAFE
WITH
JONATHAN MORLEY
Jonathan Morley runs The Heaventree Press in Coventry and is a PhD researcher in Caribbean literature at the University of Warwick. His current and forthcoming books are a new edition of Sir Walter Ralegh’s Discoverie of Guiana (1596), the Collected Early Poems of Derek Walcott, and Geminar, an anthology of younger British poets in Portuguese translation. His first collection of poems, Backra Man, will be published in November by Perdika Press. An extraordinary, powerful set of poems, with flashes of brilliance and disturbing, dark currents of perverse and righteous emotions – David Dabydeen
Poetry Bites also includes floor spots where you can share your own poetry with an appreciative audience. Please arrive early to book a spot.
7.30pm, Tuesday 25th November 2008 (Food available from 6.30pm)
Kitchen Garden Café
17 York Road
Kings Heath
Birmingham
B14 7SA
£5 (£4) To reserve a place email jacquirowe@hotmail.co.uk or pay at the door.
Poetry Bites
Susan Richardson, September 2008 Poetry Bites guest
MAKING POETRY - NEXT WORKSHOP
25th October
FINDING THE FORM
How does a poem find its form? This practical workshop with Meredith Andrea and Jacqui Rowe explores how to negotiate with tradition. We will look at haiku, sonnets and more and try these forms for ourselves to see how they fit…
JACQUI ROWE: KEEPING POETRY ALIVE
'You may have seen Jacqui’s Feature Article or read about her in our November 2007 update, but in case you missed both, here’s a quick reminder:
"Writer and course leader Jacqui Rowe has been a leading light in bringing live poetry and educational events to the West Midlands. She was recently long-listed for the Bridport Poetry Prize 2007, an international creative writing competition which was launched in 1973. Her passion for poetry currently sees her fighting the battle to keep her regular live poetry evening alive despite the closure of the Midlands Arts Centre. Take a look at her website to find out how you could help with sponsorship, words of encouragement or to find out about courses in creative writing." Artsphere November Update, 2007
Well Jacqui is certainly winning the battle to keep both her poetry evening and workshops alive, and is making rather a success of things. Artsphere Director, Jax Lovelock, had the opportunity to catch up with Jacqui recently following the first Poetry Bites event held indendently from the Midlands Arts Centre. Jacqui says, “The evening went really well, there were lots of people there, as many as we had at MAC.” Eager to move on, Jacqui is now clarifying the aims of Poetry Bites and looking at ways of accessing funding so that more people can benefit from both that and her Making Poetry Workshops.
Jacqui’s work is engaging and inspirational, and well worth a look.'
Artsphere June 2008 Update http://www.artsphere.co.uk/
NEWS AND UPDATES
TREASURES OF THE CITY WORKSHOP
There was an unexpected addition to the Making Poetry workshop on 14th June, the Celebrating Sanctuary event, part of Refugee week in Birmingham. This workshop takes participants on a tour of the main squares in Birmingham, so there was plenty for them to write about. Have a look at the short film above for a flavour of the afternoon.The next workshop, with MARIO PETRUCCI, is on 20th September.
For photographs and comments, go to http://www.jacquirowe.com/page7.htm and for more information about the workshops, go to http://www.jacquirowe.com/page6.htm
MAKING POETRY WORKSHOPS
The first Making Poetry workshop, which took place in May, was a big success! Participants were stunned by the venue, the wonderful Shakespeare Memorial Room. A great deal of writing took place, from intensive autobiography to creating a character and writing in a voice, for which the participants were sent out to observe people in Paradise Forum. The workshop was oversubscribed, so early booking for the others is advisable. For images on comments from the first workshop, go to: http://www.jacquirowe.com/page6.htm
ECO-POETRY PACK
For World Environment Day on June 5th 2008, The Poetry Society has commissioned award-winning poet, ecologist and educator Mario Petrucci (who will be presenting Making Poetry Masterclasses on 19th July and 20th September) to develop a series of Environment-centred resource packs, designed for schools, young adults and poets. Visit http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/education/poetryclass/news/ to download them for free!
MAKING POETRY WORKSHOPS IN BIRMINGHAM NOW
http://www.jacquirowe.com/page6.htm
Making Poetry Workshops in the Shakespeare Memorial Room, Birmingham
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