Photographed by Chris Keller Jackson at Cherie Bebe Burlesque.
https://www.crankphoto.co.uk/
In 2018, to celebrate the centenary of some women getting the vote in the UK, I devised the Time-Travelling Suffragettes. (Music performed by pianist Éilish McCracken).
“Armed with banners, a twinkle in their eye and a spanner or two for throwing into the works, The Time –Travelling Suffragettes have travelled to the present day to raise their voices in rousing song. They perform updated versions of nineteenth-century popular classics, making lyrical stops along the way in their musical journey towards the twenty-first century.
Inspired by the enduring influence of Music Hall and its power to subvert whilst being thoroughly entertaining, they cast a queerly suffragette eye upon songs such as The Boy I Love Is Up In The Gallery, I’m Shy Mary Ellen and Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy – and many more.
A timely reminder that suffragettes were far more than Nice Ladies In Hats, that the battles are never done, and how far we still have to go.
In Kitty’s words – ‘we are historical oddities from a time of struggle and dissent. We beg your forbearance! After all, 21st century audiences cannot possibly comprehend what it is like to live in a world which harbours inequality…”
YouTube links:
‘I’m Bi, Mary Ellen, I’m Bi’ at Club Big, Rock Art, HOMEMcr
https://youtu.be/rbt16fUeNAY
‘A Little Of What You Fancy’ at Club Big, Rock Art, HOMEMcr
https://youtu.be/fMZVYsdLDnA
#Vote100
WOMEN’S words MCR – Suffragette Tea Party gala event
Manchester Central Library,
St Peter's Square,
Manchester M2 5PD
Doors 5.30pm
Event starts at 6pm
A celebratory event to launch the collection of real life stories built around women’s experience of living, working and growing in Manchester.
A selection of the stories will be published in a beautiful, hand-crafted magazine based on the historic The Suffragette magazine to honour 100 years since women got the right to vote in 1918.
It will also feature commissioned writers such as Rosie Garland, Reshma Ruia, Kate Feld and Michelle Green.
PLUS The Time Travelling Suffragettes!
http://womenswordsmcr.com/blog/2017/12/14/selections-for-the-suffragette/
http://womenswordsmcr.com/
Matt and Phreds
64 Tib Street,
M4 1LG Manchester
Sunday 10th December 2017
Doors at 7pm with the show starting at 8pm.
Enjoy an evening of live cabaret entertainment, music and burlesque debauchery featuring performances from some of the finest burlesque performers in the UK, held at Manchester's iconic Matt & Phreds.
Starring:
Cherie Bebe ~ Burlesque sensation and producer of Cherie Bebe's Burlesque Revue
Kitty & Lilibet The Time Travelling Suffragettes ~ Back by popular demand after their debut at Cherie Bebe's Burlesque Revue 2016.
and compere Jonathan Mayor ~ The cheeky and utterly fabulous diva of the night.
The event will be taking place on
Tickets are £8 (plus booking fee) if booked in advance via billetto / £10 on the door. Tickets are nonrefundable.
PLEASE CALL MATT & PHREDS TO RESERVE SEATING ONCE YOUR TICKETS HAVE BEEN PURCHASED AS THE TABLES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS AND WE DO SELL OUT.
0161 273 5495
www.mattandphreds.com
Here is a sneak peek of what to expect at Cherie Bebe's Burlesque Revue
have their first outing in London on Sunday May 14th, at The Harrison, 28 Harrison Street, WC1H 8JF London, which is a hop & a skip from King’s Cross.
7pm
£10 door, £8 advance
It would be really nice to see you there. Joined by the Autorotation & Hi-Reciprocity.
Here’s a bit of blurb-
Armed with banners, a twinkle in their eye and a spanner or two for throwing into the works, The Time-Travelling Suffragettes have travelled to the present day to raise their voices in rousing song. They perform updated versions of nineteenth-century popular classics, making lyrical stops along the way in their musical journey towards the twenty-first century. The duo combine the musical talents of novelist & cabaret performer Rosie Garland (novelist, poet, aka Rosie Lugosi the Vampire Queen) and multi-instrumentalist Éilish McCracken (Rose McDowall, Sgt Buzfuz, Slate Islands, Ida Barr).
FB event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/1862151460728762/
ticket link
https://www.wegottickets.com/event/392687
The Time-Travelling Suffragettes at ‘Rock Art’
HOME
2 Tony Wilson Place,
First Street,
Manchester M15 4FN
6-9pm
Entry price: Free
Join us for an appearance of The Time-Travelling Suffragettes at Club BIG, a pop-up music club and performance space that hosts a range of special gigs, performances and events.
Fri 17th Feb 2017
As part of his major new solo exhibition Rock Art at HOME in Manchester, artist John Hyatt will host Club BIG, a pop-up club presenting live music, poetry and performance.
Open 6pm-9pm every Friday with a fully licensed bar and MC'd by the artist himself, Club BIG will also serve as a debating chamber and live art space and aims to offer 'an unfolding and inquisitive symphony on the invisible threads that connect us and the world'.
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/