Cultures of the Dark Side: A Day of Gothic Music and Fashion
Part of the Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination
The UK's biggest ever Gothic exhibition.
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
Sun 9 Nov 2014, 13.00-20.00
A packed day of free talks, discussions and performances – most of them free entry - in celebration of alternative style and music. Plus a market place, demonstrations, workshops and more.
Please check back for latest updates to the programme.
Booking will soon be available for the following event.
17.45 – 19.15 Goth: The scene that wouldn't die!
£8 (£6 over 60s, £5 other concessions) / Conference Centre
It is now over thirty years since a definable gothic rock scene exploded. Inspired by Bauhaus, Siouxsie and and early eighties The Cure – it generated a vast, diverse and doom-laden world, characterised by the rock of The Sisters of Mercy, the more ethereal Cocteau Twins or industrial sounds of Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson. Two of the most significant figures in the story - Andi Sex Gang (Sex Gang Children) and Rosie Garland (The March Violets), plus music writers John Robb and Natasha Scharf in a wide ranging appreciation of what still makes Goth so enthralling. Chaired by David Quantick.
Click to go to British Library site
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/