Yes it was great, maybe a precursor for more provincial venues; they don't have to be large, there's value in having one or two of the editorial staff on hand to meet local writers as happened on Friday, and it's also great to be able to put faces to names. Well done Matt for organising this.
Damn - all those people being intimate and cozy!!! I too am a people watcher... (WINKS)... but, double damn it must have got cozy - AFTER- we'd left... Maybe, it gets lost in the translation, somehow... Derby v London... Brian and I sure had a warm and hearty welcome from everyone... We thankyou for that... Just so sorry we had to leave so early... The wedding went well for those that are interested... Here is to the next one...
welcome snaphappy form the office.
Mark and David had a great time in sunny Derby and came back raving about the evening. I liked your poem - but didn't get the answer right! I won't even begin to tell you what I was thinking about.
I'm glad it was warm and cosy. If there had been 40 or 50 people in the room I wouldn't have read... and I'd be regretting that now. I really was very nervous about standing up and told Mark et al I wasn't going to do it.
However, after seeing the warm reception all readers received (and rapidly drinking 3 pints of Marston's Pedigree) I changed my mind and I loved every minute of it.
I think it is about realizing the audience actually want you to succeed and want to be entertained rather than worrying that they will a) think your work is crap and b) think you are a jerk. I'm really glad I did it (I enjoyed it immensely once I'd finished my first poem) and now hope to be less scared at the next event I attend.
As others have said, it was great to flesh out people that, until now, were only names on a screen. Obviously, I've met Fish and the Bert several times over the last few years but have never seen Fish perform. Brilliant! She captures her audience like the first paragraph of a gripping novel.
I can only echo Mark's comments about other readers. They were all excellent!
It was good to see George again, despite his intrusive cameras (I really want a copy of the recording though!) and to meet Neil, Lesley, Matt, Mark, David and that delightful minx, Rachel.
Didn't get to meet Brownie but met Dan and Alex who both said they'd join abc. There were other people there too, but I was too wound up in self-doubt to notice if any of them were greco. Perhaps they had only popped in to get out of the rain that welcomed our arrival.
Mark and David did a brilliant job as hosts and big thanks to Matt (Jeff Prince) for organising it.
And yes, a considerable quantity of alcohol was consumed after the event... mainly by me (Rachel consumed hers during) and I did indeed perform a fall down (I am practising the technique for its inclusion in the Olympics in 2030 by which time I will also be elegible for the Alzheimer's No I Didn't Do That sprint or the Dead Poet Hammer Throwing Competition) but the only people who might have witnessed it were engaged in a snogfest at the time.
Mrs. S. agrees that sun-brolly's are dangerous.
Thanks for the photos, Missi...they are better than the last lot! But didn't any of those meanies offer to do one of you?
Fish is looking really well...wow. Rachel's georgeous (but I already knew that)...Stormy doesn't look anything like I imagined. David Floyd always looks exactly the same in pics...and still reminds me of Louis Theroux. Neil's is more flattering than the one on this site.
Thanks for doing them missi. I am so sorry I couldn't come...roll on next Wednesday...
snaphappy, I've read your piece and will happily crit it for you even though, as you suspected, it isn't good form to turn up and ask for attention without commenting on the work of others first but, you did in a way in this thread.
Health warning. I'm not a regular critic on this site but when I do comment I am very honest - sometimes brutally so. I have good and bad things to say about your poem. Would you prefer email or would you like me to start a thread in the discuss writing forum? If I do the latter more people 'might' join in but you will be totally exposed.
Click on my name to email me or reply here. I'll comment either way tomorrow.
Emma, you mean I'm not some kind of eight foot high pus-leaking monster?
Hello, I was there on Friday, the event having been mentioned at the writers group (in Derby) which I had joined only the week before. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and so did my friend Jen. I've been to a couple of poetry evenings around Derby which are great, but I really enjoyed hearing a variety of types of writing. I particularly enjoyed Stormy's performance, for a performance virgin he did bloody well! Mark also popped his cherry that night, and it was great to hear another Geordie relating experiences of family life that I could well relate to. I think I might read something myself if you come up this way again, I was piss scared that my writing isn't good enough, but I've noticed that it's those people who don't take themselves too seriously and are just honest who produce the best work, or at least who are most interesting. I like the sharing basically. There was one lady - you'll have to tell me her name - who read a piece called 'How to make a dad', it made Jen cry. There's something about hearing what people have to say when it's focused through a piece of writing, it feels validating and enlivening.
Thanks for a great evening, come back soon! :)
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Many thanks for the pictures, George. Brings it all flooding back, it does. Although I don't normally look that shifty! Here's to the next do at the Brunswick.
Thanks Stormy, I have no problem with honesty, in fact it'll be an indication I've joined the right site! Anything you say will be listened to non-defensively and all bruises incurred worn with pride! It helps that I enjoyed your stuff last Friday, so I think you know of what you speak.
Thanks for tolerating my netiquette blunder, I'm looking forward to getting involved in critting other peoples work, though I think I'll go for a 'what I feel, rather than what I know' approach while I'm still so tender and inexperienced!
Right, now I've always said I like transparency, so I'll go for the 'new thread' option to hear your crit of my poem. I'm looking forward to it (gulp!).
Thanks Missi for the photographs, they're excellent. :)
Wow - a brill night. My best memory - meeting George and Pi for the first time. I'd been waiting for Mark and David to arrive for about an hour, pretending to shuffle papers around so that the landlady didn't think I was weird, when they appeared up the stairs. I recognised George from his photos but was amazed he'd driven so far to be there, and knew Pi from her shells (which I have put in pride of place on my mantlepiece). I was disappointed about the sand though, but never mind, maybe next time ;o)
I was so chuffed that people turned out and it was so nice to meet you all. I'm sorry I couldn't stay later for the after hours at the Midland Hotel. Well, you guys certainly know how to pick your hotels - the nicest one in Derby in my opinion.
Some great performances. Mark did himself proud. Stormy, I had no idea it was your first time. I liked Neil's politically incorrect poem (should I be worried about this since I did vote UKIP?) and Fish's 'how to make a dad' but the whole evening was brilliant. It kind of washed over me and was over far too quickly. It's been a while since I've had so much brown ale I must say. Emma you were sadly missed, chuck. My offer regarding the Industrial Museum still stands though (although the expiry date is 11/11/06). Liana - sorry not to meet you this time but I know you were missed cos you were mentioned often and fondly.
Here's to the next one..... September in Derby anyone?
This is the first chance I've had to post since I'm not hooked up at home at the moment - using a uni computer. It was a great night though. Next time we'll need a PA and mic and some music too.
Stormy - hehehe, no, of course not.
Just that the moustache notion rather stuck in my mind, and your name conjured up something of flaring nostrils and wildness. Perhaps like a character in a Poe story, hehehe.
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