Clearing tabs and catching up

The last few weeks have seemed very busy, and I’ve not had chance to post everything I meant to. So, here are some links from the last few weeks:

  • Last Tuesday was the sixth sparks night. There were some great stories, including my old friend @LaGirafa‘s first reading, and a couple of stories from Vanessa Gebbie  (who blogged about the night here). It was also good to see Jonathan Pinnock (blog post here) who I met at London’s Liar’s league last year. Sparks Night is a friendly, well-curated evening – submissions are being accepted for Sparks 7 until November 14th.
  • I had some good responses to my Literature network post on seven ways to be a great writer, but my favourite was this one: “a better description would be Seven Tips for Becoming a Great Poser“. I will have to email the chap when my next post is online.
  • I’ve been submitting interesting snippets of overheard conversation to the Evening Argus Overheard in Brighton blog – here and here. The entry deemed unsuitable for a family newspaper was this one: “It’s like Allen Ginsberg had this magic penis and every poet that touched it became famous
  • Lovely six-word-story from exmosis: “Our last photograph together. We smiled.
  • Wise advice from Hawker’s pot:
    The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so do be careful.

Some photos from Fear of the Dark

The last couple of weeks have felt very busy but, after a tiresome journey on East Midlands Trains, I’m now recuperating at my sister’s rural compound. I’m currently working at the kitchen table, watching the chickens while catching up on things – like posting photos from last Thursday’s Fear of the Dark event.

Things seemed to go very well. I spent most of the performance backstage, so didn’t see many of the acts, but I enjoyed what I heard. Bernadette Cremin did a fantastic series of poems about a woman called Patsy; Kay Sexton did a couple of stories, one of which she dressed as a scary old lady for; Strawberries and a Peach did two lovely musical interludes; and Glue Gun ’91 produced a fantastic imitation of a dying swan, and a poem about Ruth Ellis that featured a staged hanging.

The final section of the night was performed in complete darkness. It seemed to work well (apart from one poor member of the audience who suffered an attack of the giggles). The evening was rounded off with serving cake to the audience. I’m not sure what everyone made of it, but I was pleased with what we produced: a spoken word evening like no other.

Another accounts is here (from performance poet/novelist Lou-Ice) and there are some morning-after tweets from @eldevri and @badgermind. The photos below show: Rufus Moonshine and Ruth Ellis relaxing before the show; a view of backstage; Ruth Ellis after the performance; and Gimley Whipple, serving cake, with an axe.

Thank you to everyone who came, and everyone who performed.

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Reading at Short Fuse, November 8th

I'm reading at Short Fuse at the Brighton Komedia on November 8th. The theme for the night is Nouvelle Noir and it should be an excellent evening. Also reading is AK Benedict who I saw read a fantastic story at Short Fuse Hastings earlier this year (she has a great blog-post about seagulls here).

Headlining the night is Danny Hogan from Pulp Press. I blogged about his book, Killer Tease, back in March. It's one of the most exciting books I've read all year – partly because I liked the aim of Pulp Press, to produce straightforward literature that can be enjoyed quickly and cleanly. I think the world has a need for decently-written uncomplicated fiction. I'm looking forward to seeing Danny read.

I'm also appearing, with a story called Laurence Holloway's Cartoon Babylon. It's a secret history of Hollywood, about an English actor who used to go drinking with Bugs Bunny. The current version includes an over-researched extended joke about Apocalypse Now, which I need to review before Sunday. Wikipedia makes ornate research too easy.

Doors open at 7:30pm, and entry are £5.