Too Far Gone to Think of a Title

Thursday 3rd October 2013

Great Poetry Jam. About thirty people in. Sky Hawkins really on form tonight. Great turns from Julie Egdell, James Fisher and jammers Terry Dobson, Sheila Wakefield, Robert Lonsdale, Jane Burn, Alex Birch, Mary Barr, Sylvian Greumach and others.

Friday 4th October 2013

Nice to have a lie in this morning.  By the time I’d sifted through emails and Poetry Jam feedback it was lunchtime.

HUGE THANKS to everyone who chose to celebrate National Poetry Day by packing out the cafe lounge at Waddington Street Centre for a tremendous Poetry Jam. Amazing to see such a high calibre of wordsmiths all under one roof. Fast paced open floor jams and great sets from Julie Egdell, James Fisher and our headliner Sky Hawkins. The venue was literally a hot house of lyrical brilliance last night. I am thrilled that so many dedicated poets and audience put in a lot of road miles to be part of the experience each month. Thanks as always to support worker Fergus and the Waddy staff for providing such a wonderful platform for poetry in Durham City. Pix up in due course. Hope to see everyone again real soon. Keep it going!

Jenni like the monster poems book link I posted on my page. It’s in my bag now, as is How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Picked up anthology pages, three hour round trips for 1000 sheets of paper and card. Uploaded pix to facebook when I got back and packed bag for overnight stay at Jenni’s. 7.43pm.

Saturday 5th October 2013

Read ‘Eyes’ from Hypomaniac whilst standing on a crate at Grey’s Monument in Newcastle this morning. Asa, John, Jenni and "Time to Change" organiser used the mic. Most of the day spent folding Mind Anthology ready for stapling tomorrow. Then watched Fish documentary dvd for Feast of Consequences album. 11.05pm.

Sunday 6th October 2013

Read Tom Kelly’s “I Know Their Footsteps” in bed then some of my own book. Pleased it seemed vibrant and made me want to memorize for future gigs. Took a couple of hours to staple booklets then got sucked into alternative news on net before doing copy-ups. Enjoyed listening to Toyah and Fish. 9.50pm.

Monday 7th October 2013

Knocked off early for fear of migraine coming on. Think I got up too early but hey, I got the anthology back to Graphic Print by twenty past nine this morning. Spent most of the afternoon keying in lesson plans. Those fucking grids do my head in. Been playing the brand new Mission album. A rock album, not goth. Blues, glam and sixties rock. Going to have to lie down now. Shit, pleased my sessions are planned for the week. 8.37pm.

Tuesday 8th October 2013

Admit it, mate. You’re a bit of a fuck-up, aren’t you? Don’t spend much time in the real world. If they aren’t artists, writers, poets, musicians you find them difficult to get along with. Those two girls on the bus, finishing a late shift: one with a septic finger, one twenty-three weeks pregnant. Septic seemed vaguely familiar, like someone from a former life. Before you started your escape from the rat race. Admit it, your hymns to solitude, aphorisms to nihilism – you’re a bit of a fuck-up, aren’t you? How come they can’t see straight through the act? Maybe they can. Maybe they just humour you. What if they all know you’re a total fake? Well, what the fuck. They let you carry on. They give you a position and they pay you. Writer, artist, poet, charlatan. What the fuck. You get by. And no-one questions your anything. But you. 11.15pm.

Wednesday 9th October 2013

Sessions went okay today. Wrote a canny piece of free verse from Writing Prompts 2008 by Idris Goodwin. Then talked about form, rhyme schemes, iambic pentameter…Checked out more Meg Rosoff in Waterstones. Read a bit of Classic Rock magazine. Attila the Stockbroker is playing Newcastle same night The Mission play Leeds. Adele on the sound system in the ARC. Ice blue sky through the big windows. Looking forward to seeing Public Address tonight. 6.31pm.

Thursday 10th October 2013

Excellent turn out for Public Address II - The North East Leg! at the ARC last night. Great to see all the Apples and Snakes regions represented. Superb sets from Tom Sissons, Selina Nwulu, Chris Stewart, Lorna Meehan and Jack Dean. Kirsten Luckins a brilliant host as ever. Good to get books from Tom and Jack as well. 

Frantic prep for the Consett MIND. Had lots more material than necessary and a cracking session. Anthology done and everyone happy with result. Stapled a pile of Chris Hill books at Waddy and had my head transposed onto the body of a vampire bat by graphic design tutor Craig Rundle. Now on 21 bus to Newcastle. Sheila Wakefield is taking me and Jenni up to Alnwick tonight but hoping to get a big carvery at The Goose before that. 3.26pm.

Friday 11th October 2013

Stayed at Jenni’s place last night after a great little gig at Bailiffgate Museum. Sheila did a full set and it was good to hear the stories behind the poems again. She read some new pieces and I’m wondering how far she is towards her next collection. Me and Jenni both did a turn as did a couple of others plus some acoustic music including a lengthy flamenco guitar set. Bigly thanks to Sheila for taking us to Alnwick.

Derwentside Mind in Stanley is in a cemetery. The Consett writers did really well with readings for launch of Luminous Echoes today. I performed poems three feet away from my secondary school English teacher and had pix taken with various people, including Baroness Armstrong of Hilltop. She got the anthology signed by all the writers present. Wanted to see HOW I LIVE NOW but Newcastle cinema too expensive. Be cheaper to wait and get it on dvd from Amazon. New Mission album and micro-blog for me tonight whilst resisting the urge to put the heating on. Hoping to hold out till November. 8.10pm.