What’s with
all the blog silence, Henry?
Last year
you wrote 39 blogposts. That’s pretty
much one every 9 days. I think. I’m not good at maths.
It’s now January
the 23rd. if you’re maths is
right, you should have written 2.5 blogs by now!
Well, I
started writing more blogs because I wanted to flex my digits (hence the ‘rule’
I could only write them in 20.15 minutes because it was 2015 and subsequently
gained 0.01 seconds for each passing year).
And it worked, I had a structure!
I always advise people that the best way to get into writing is to try
free-writing first. No pressure, no aim
beyond stretching your brain and fingers.
But I’ve
quite happy I’ve got a point where I’m not just bubbling around in my head and
need to structure them into blogs. I’ve having conversations about theatre in
my new theatre company VANDAL
FACTORY alongside the marvellous and highly competent director Natalie
Quatermass where we’re constantly dissecting what it means to make relevant and
engaging political theatre in 2018. We’re
also hacking at the concept of touring as Whatever
Happened To Vandal Raptor? hits the road in April.
Spoken word
I hear you speak? I’m having great
discussions not just online (mainly through the highly helpful Poetry Promoters
Facebook group) but also from Say Owt
spaces. After a gruelling civil war, I
have declared myself Artistic Director (think King In The North but more spreadsheets)
and have added to the ranks of Say Owt Dave Jarman and Hannah Davies as Associate
Artists. We’ve been having spirited
chats about funding, organising, promoting and, importantly, mentoring as we
work more with the wider poetry community of performers.
And I’m
excited to have more conversations with poets and organisers across the UK as I
go on tour in May. I have a book coming
out with Burning Eye called NERD PUNK which collects all my best poems from the
last 10 years! A few years ago I’d see
this tour as more a solo outing, but I open up the offer to other poets to jump
in my car and hit various open mics and have meet new poets making great work.
So I’m not
going to be churning out blogs because I think I’ve found a few gangs to collaborate
with and spending my time enjoying those natterings. But that DOES mean I’ll be bringing those
conversations back to my house, back to my room, to my desk and onto this here
computer screen. It’s just these blogs
won’t be written in 20.18 seconds. I
shall allow myself this kindness.
“So what’s
coming up in 2018, Henry?”
Haha, I have
already cunningly listed my upcoming adventures! I hope to catch you upon one of them!
WHATEVER
HAPPENED TO VANDAL RAPTOR? UK tour
TESTT
Durham, DH1 4SG
April 12th
7pm
The
New Adelphi
89 De
Grey St, Hull HU5 2RU
April 15th
7.30
Workshop
Theatre
Leeds, LS2 9JT
April 17th
7.30
Hydra
Bookshop
Bristol, BS2 0EZ
April 18th
7.30pm
Derby
Theatre
Derby, DE1 2NF
April 20th
8pm
Harrogate
Theatre
Harrogate, HG1 1QF
April 24-25th
7.45pm
Ovalhouse
London, SE11 5SW
April 26-28th
7.45pm
NERD PUNK BOOK TOUR
May
Thursday 3rd
May: Spoken Weird, Halifax
Wednesday 9th: Born Lippy, Newcastle
Thursday 10th: Shaken In Sheep Town, Skipton
Wednesday 16th: Find The Right Words, Leicester
Monday 21st: Queenie’s Coffee Nights, Huddersfield
Thursday 31st:
Gong Fu Poets, Coxhoe (Durham-ish)
June
Thursday 7th: Verse Matters, Sheffield
Thursday 28th
June: Slam Dunk, Hastings
Friday 29th
June: Word Club, Leeds
SAY OWT UPCOMING EVENTS
Say Owt Slam
#19 featuring Sara Hirsch 3rd February @ The Basement
Rob Auton’s
The Hair Show 9th March @ The Crescent
Gecko 22nd
March @ All Saints Church
York
Anti-Slam #3 1st April @ The Basement
Hannah Silva’s
Talk In A Bit 15th May @ The Basement
