October's best? It's LeamPoFest! |
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#LeamPoFest21 is almost here, so whatever your plans for next weekend why not see if you can slip in a cheeky slice of poetry-related goodness? The second annual Leamington Poetry Festival runs all day Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th October and is big on variety and diversity, and don't forget; every single event is completely free to attend with no pre-booking required. Just drop in and grab some free culture! |
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Scroll through the Festival events below to see what catches your eye, stick it in your diary and we'll see you there at the weekend! All #LeamPoFest21 events are held at the gorgeous Temperance Bar and Cafe in central Leamington Spa. |
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A MIXED BAG OF SPOKEN WORD SHOWS & WORKS-IN-PROGRESS (Sat 23rd 12-1.30pm) Fabulous samples from emerging poets and performers as they each put together their one-man shows. Could be brand new material, could be old favourites, but see and hear how their work is developing as they perform their own selected snippets to accompany your Saturday lunchtime! |
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TRE VENTOUR - DESIRING WHITENESS: INTERPRETATIONS OF RACE AND EMPIRE IN THE JANE AUSTEN CANON (Sat 23rd 2.00-3.00pm) In this 60-minute lecture presentation, Race and Black History Educator Tre Ventour looks at the works of poet and author Jane Austen and discusses her role in relation to race and empire and how we think about National Trust buildings, monuments and grounds. |
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SUNITA THIND - MALAYSIAN AND SINGAPORIAN FAIRYTALES & ANCIENT POETRY (Sat 23rd 3.15-4.00pm) Come and join us for a writing workshop all about Malaysian fairy tales. Learn about the history of the form, how they are written, and try to write some yourself. We welcome speakers of all languages and encourage you to write in any language you want to! The workshop will be hosted by Sunita Thind, a singer, writer, model, spoken word artist, creative writing teacher and Ovarian Cancer survivor. |
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META4 (Sat 23rd 4.30-5.30pm) Four of Coventry's finest poets share the poetry love. Raef Boylan, Andrew Button, Ann Atkins and Dangermouse are friends and regulars of the Scriptstuff poetry community, and with their show "Meta4" they come together to offer a hugely entertaining and thought-provoking hour of local spoken word joy. |
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WARWICK LITSOC OPEN MIC NIGHT! (Sat 23rd 6.00-7.00pm) Join Society President Tanisha Bhatara and the students and literary enthusiasts from Warwick University's WLS for an evening of open mic poetry love! You don't have to be a LitSoc member to get your name on the open mic list, anyone can come along and have a go, but whoever takes the mic this is sure to be a superb evening of poetic variety. |
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GIRLS VS BOYS: THE COMEDY DOUBLE-BILL OF POETRY(Sat 23rd 7.30-10.00pm) Girls? Boys? Poetry? Can any of them ever really be funny? Yes they can! Join our two teams of comedy poetry performers and see for yourself as we launch into an entire evening of poetic hilarity. A double-bill of genders separated only by a twenty minute interval; only you can decide who wins; the boys or the girls?! |
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THE SCRIPTSTUFF DROP-IN BIG POETRY QUIZ & OPEN MIC(Sun 24th Midday-1.30pm) Festival Director Mike Took hosts a laid-back Sunday lunch time with an informal poetry quiz and open mic slots available to all-comers. No teams, no writing things down, just shout out some answers to win the admiration people at neighbouring tables. You can also take a turn on the microphone and share some of your own poetry wit and wisdom, or maybe just sit back and enjoy things with a cake, a beer or a cup of artesan tea. |
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WARWICKSHIRE YOUNG POET LAUREATE AND YOUNG OPEN MIC(Sun 24th 1.30pm-2.00pm) Join contenders for Warwickshire Young Poet Laureate as they perform samples of their own poetry to a real-live festival audience. Also a fantastic opportunity for any budding junior poet aged 2-17 to just turn up and have a go on the open mic reading or performing one of their favourite poems or even something they have written themselves! |
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WORD GUERRILLA'S SLANG JAM!(Sun 24th 2.30pm-3.30pm) Children and adults of all ages can join Word Guerrilla to experience a high energy performance poetry show featuring beatboxing and looping. Then, get creative yourself and using known and newly created slang, write and perform Slang Jam couplets to beatboxed beats! All you need is a sense of fun and adventure! |
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WEAVING WORDS CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP(Sun 24th 4.00pm-4.50pm) Join Kezzabelle Ambler for a creative expression workshop and the opportunity to express thoughts and feelings in different styles. She uses humour and her love of words and people to uplift and inspire, showing how the pen can become a tool for life. Suitable for all abilities and ages in an informal and relaxed setting. |
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KEZZABELLE AMBLER - PERMISSION TO SPEAK(Sun 24th 5.00pm-5.30pm) The Bard of Northampton, Mistress of Mischief & wordsmith wench playfully weaves her wit & wisdom to express & connect her innermost thoughts. "She's a liberated gal, with forward-thinking, thought-provoking, sometimes provocative, light-hearted and funny spoken word." - Sonnets, Beats n Vibes. "A Happening Waiting to Happen" -Kenneth J Nash - Old Hotel Records. |
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ANDY GILBERT - THE POETRY TEACHER(Sun 24th 6.00pm-7.00pm) The self-proclaimed No. 1 poetry teacher in the UK delivers a masterclass before performing a new genre combining poetry, storytelling and theatre. His work is considered to be both vulgar and deluded but the sincerity of Gilbert cannot be doubted. Suitable for ages 15+ "The kind of show that would work much better with a late Friday night audience" Ian Parker Heath, Shaftesbury Fringe |
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3RD ANNUAL SCRIPTSTUFF POETRY SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP & OPEN MIC(Sun 24th 7.30pm-10.00pm) Three knock-out rounds of top-quality poetry slamming, all judged by our panel of guest judges and YOU the audience! Awesome prize bundle up for grabs to the winner. Open Mic slots available to pre-book, and random audience judges selected on the night. So much fun and excitement for a Sunday night! "That was awesome. Unbelievable. And I don't even like poetry" Scriptstuff Slam audience member. |
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Remember, everything is free at #LeamPoFest21 Some performers may appeal for donations from those who want to give something, but there is no obligation for anyone to pay anything. |
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Beyond the festival: Wednesday November 17th: Scriptstuff Poetry Night The third Wednesday in every month sees our regular Poetry Night at Temperance in Leamington, with the Big Poetry Quiz, plenty of Open Mic slots available for anyone and everyone and the Poet of the Month award. This month our Headline Guest is the franky ridiculously talented Sophie Sparham! |
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Sophie Sparham is a poet and writer from Derby. She has written commissions for BBC Radio 4, The V&A and The People’s History Museum. She co-hosts the night Word Wise which won best spoken word night at the 2019 Saboteur Awards. Her latest collection ‘The Man Who Ate 50,000 Weetabix’ came out in April via Verve Poetry Press. |
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Poetry-curious? 45 poets from the Scriptstuff community come together to share the poetry love. The Scriptstuff Lockdown Anthology is available from our website now, priced £9.95. | | |
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