Join contemporary poets Rosie Garland, Gregory Leadbetter and Maria Taylor in
The New Romantics: a Poetry Cabaret
Celebrating National Poetry Day and its theme of VISION.
Thursday 1st October 7.30pm (BST)
This event is available via the Nine Arches Press YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/0rjVx_G1LeM
Our trio of poets explore life, death and everything in between. Considering elements of myth, magic, the supernatural and transnatural, with poems that celebrate the contemporary gothic imagination and romanticism.
Hear these poets perform new work from their latest collections, published by Nine Arches Press. Showcasing Rosie Garland What Girls Do in the Dark, Gregory Leadbetter Maskwork and Maria Taylor Dressing for the Afterlife.
In partnership with Birmingham Literature Festival 2020.
Polari at Birmingham Lit Fest
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Centenary Square,
Broad Street,
Birmingham, B1 2EP
8 October at 19:00–21:00
Tickets: £8 / £6.40 concs
Festival Pass: Free
Polari returns to Birmingham as part of Birmingham Lit Fest and our Tenth Birthday Tour, supported by Arts Council England.
Hosted by Paul Burston with Rosie Garland, Scott Campbell, Laura Wake, Karen Mcleod and more.
Polari has come a long way from its humble beginnings above a Soho pub. Now celebrating its 10th year, the award-winning LGBT literary movement calls London’s Southbank Centre its home and tours regularly.
Tonight’s show is part of the salon’s tenth anniversary tour, funded by Arts Council England. Curated and hosted by author Paul Burston with guests Scott Campbell, Rosie Garland, Karen McLeod, Gerry Potter and Laura Wake.
In association with SHOUT festival.
https://www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org/event/polari-literary-salon/
Tickets: £8 / £6
To go to event website - click this link
http://www.birminghamliteraturefestival.org/
"Gentlemen and Ladies! How happy I am to welcome you to this Palace of Curiosities on such an auspicious occasion. What luck! What serendipity! For tonight we have mirth! Wit! And Jollity!"
Come and be dazzled by author Rosie Garland and her novel The Palace of Curiosities, a luminous love story set in a Victorian freak show. Ikon Gallery will be transformed by a circus troupe of the same name to offer all the atmosphere, wonderment and fun of a Victorian fairground sideshow. Prepare to be mesmerised by Rosie's readings and stunned by a veritable Palace of Curiosities, from the left hand of Cleopatra to a real life mermaid...
Rosie Garland is an eclectic writer and performer, ranging from singing in post-punk gothic band The March Violets, to her alter-ego Rosie Lugosi the Vampire Queen, cabaret chanteuse and mistress of ceremonies. She has published five solo collections of poetry and her award-winning short stories, poems and essays have been widely anthologized. She is winner of the DaDa Award for Performance Artist of the Year and a Poetry Award from the People's Café, New York. The Palace of Curiosities is her debut novel.
Book tickets for this event by clicking
Click this link to buy tickets
or calling the box office on 0121 245 4455.
I’m honoured – my essay ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ is included in this wonderful collection! (Nine Arches Press, ed Ian Humphreys)
‘What motivates poets in the 21st century? How do they find their voice? What themes and subject matters inspire them? How do they cope with set-backs and deal with success? What keeps them writing?
In Why I Write Poetry twenty-five contemporary poets reflect with insight, wit and wisdom on the writing life, each offering their distinctive take on what inspires and spurs them on to write poetry. Also - individual writing prompts to help you create your own new poetry.’
https://ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/why-i-write-poetry.html
A wonderful way to end a difficult year – ‘What Girls Do in the Dark’ selected by Pippa Hennessy as a Poetry Society Best Book of the Year!
https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poetry-news-best-books-of-the-year/
“Finally, Rosie Garland’s What Girls Do in the Dark (Nine Arches) – Garland is a true gothic polymath. This is reflected in her poetry, which roams through astrophysics, war zones, quantum theory, human biology, history, relationships and non-relationships, and more. The poems in What Girls Do in the Dark take this variety to extremes, yet somehow manage to bring concrete details and abstract ideas from all these areas together into a coherent, explosive, dazzling, gorgeous whole.”
– Pippa Hennessy is a bookseller at Five Leaves Bookshop, Nottingham.
Thank you Henry Normal for selecting What Girls Do in the Dark for Northern Soul’s Best Reads of 2021!
Books: Northern Soul’s Best Reads of 2021
Henry Normal, poet and writer
What Girls do in the Dark (Nine Arches Press) by Rosie Garland is my favourite poetry book of the year. Garland was a singer in the 1980s post-punk/goth band The March Violets. More recently, she’s established herself as a poet and novelist with several titles. I had the honour to read with her in Birmingham a while back, so when her new collection was released I was already interested. From the first poem I was captivated. She has a way of keeping one foot tentatively in the world we know with the other searching for a foothold in an unseen or imaginary world. I was inspired and transported by these poems in a way I’ve not experienced since first getting excited by the possibilities of poetry in my teens. I suspect it would not be good form to choose one of my poetry books for this feature but even if it was, I would choose Garland’s What Girls do in the Dark.
https://www.northernsoul.me.uk/books-northern-souls-best-reads-of-2021/
Thank you Vive le Rock magazine, for the great feature on The March Violets!
https://vivelerock.net/product/vive-le-rock-84-motorhead-girlschool-preorder/
Well, look at what happened on Record Store Day UK on July 17th 2021!
The March Violets ‘Big Soul Kiss’ - all the 1980s BBC Sessions in one place.
And PURPLE vinyl too #RSD21 #rsddrops
UPDATE – the entire pressing sold out in 24 hours. Jungle Records are releasing a CD version in 2022… plus more releases planned. Watch this space!
https://www.facebook.com/JungleRecords/