WORD - Giovanni ‘Spoz’ Esposito

First Wednesday of every month
Bambu Bar, 21 Welford Road, Leicester
8pm Onwards
FREE
Word is Leicester’s premier open floor spoken word event. It runs on the first Wednesday of each month at Bambu café bar, and features a fantastic guest artist as well as an open mic. for budding spoken word performers.

Wednesday 6th June – Giovanni ‘Spoz’ Esposito
A Bit About Spoz…
SPOZ … because it’s easier to say than his full name.
SPOZ … has been on telly, has been on Radio Four, Radio Five Live, Radio West Midlands, Radio Coventry & Warwickshire and on the toilet.
SPOZ … is Birmingham’s poet Laureate, but don’t let that put you off.

“A bit like John Cooper Clarke but in a toilet kind of way”
Warwick Words Festival

Classic Euro Fiction

Wednesday 13th June, 7.00pm
Frontline Books, 73 Humberstone Gate, LE1 1WB
FREE
Read any or all of the titles and join us for an informal discussion at the bookshop. This month, we’re discussing Classic Euro-Fiction:
- Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Plague by Albert Camus
- The Trial by Franz Kafka
Catch up with our bloggers at: www.frontlinebooks.co.uk

Ledbury Poetry Festival Competition 2007

For poems of up to 40 lines. Judges: Theo Dorgan and Paula Meehan. Three categories: 18 and over; 11-17; and 10 and under. Entry Fee: £3.50 for first poem for 18 and over, first poem free for under 18s
Ledbury Poetry Festival
Town Council Offices
Church Street, Ledbury
Herefordshire
HR8 1DH
0845 4581743
www.poetry-festival.com
Deadline: 21 Jun 2007

Leaf Books Novela’s Wanted

Leaf Books is looking for novellas. Traditionally, the novella is the somewhat unfortunate book that falls somewhere between a long short story and the typically-lengthed novel.
We’re not sure that many novella-writers have an easy time when searching out a market, so we thought we’d lower our submission drawbridge in a heroic attempt to assist them.
Not only have we produced a beautiful range of pocket short-stories, but our new larger format books – collating poetry and micro fiction – have also opened up new possibilities for us; a novella now being something we’re keen to publish.
Mostly, we’d like to see quality stories of between 20,000 and 40,000 words, written in any genre and about anything you’d like us to read. See the website for more details.
http://www.leafbooks.co.uk/readers/books.html

Nottingham Open Poetry Competition

Entries are being accepted for the Nottingham Open Poetry Competition 2007.
Prizes are £300; £150 or £75.
Poems of no longer than 40 lines should be unpublished, not accepted or submitted for publication elsewhere, and must be your original work. They should not be entered in any other competition, or have previously been a prizewinner in any other competition.
Entry fee: £3 per poem. Any number of poems can be submitted with a fresh fee.
All prizewinning poems will be published in Poetry Nottingham and a selection on the website.
The Competition Secretary, 38 Harrow Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 7DU
The author’s identity or contact details must not appear on any poem but be supplied on a separate cover sheet.
Closing date: September 3, 2007
http://www.nottinghampoetrysociety.co.uk/

Leicester Poetry Society Reading

Friday 8th June, 7.30 pm - 9.30
Leicester Adult Education College, Wellington Street.
Admission £3.50.
Three members of the society - Tina Bass, Radcliff Gregory and Marilyn Ricci - will read their work.

Word Wants Friends!

WORD, Leicester’s premiere spoken word open mic. and showcase has gone rocketing into the twenty first century with its very own MySpace page. This is the first of many developments with WORD that will be taking place over the next six months. To keep up to date with the latest WORD news then become a friend of WORD by requesting to be linked to the new MySpace page. You will then receive updates on future events, guest artists and opportunities.
www.myspace.com/wordleicester

Twisting Field

Thursday 17th May
The Richard Attenborough Centre, 7.30pm
Tickets £7 (concessions/NUS/under 19s £5)
Box Office: 0116 2522455

“The tapestry woven is rich, deep, satisfying and original. This is adult storytelling at its best.”
Andy Harrop-Smith, Festival at the Edge

The Twisting Field is an exceptional story, full of heroes and villains, magic, mystery and fate and the tale of how Lugh Lamfhota (one of Ireland’s greatest heroes) came to be born. The story is told by four of the UK’s finest professional storytellers, Shonaleigh, Nick Hennessey, Amy Douglas and Simon Heywood. They weave the telling of the tale in between nine original songs, all newly composed, drawing on folk music traditions. Enjoy an epic night of storytelling and music, one which will linger in the imagination long after you’ve heard it.

Twisting Field Workshop

Thursday 17th May
The Richard Attenborough Centre, 2 - 4pm
Tickets £5, Places limited so book early.
Box Office: 0116 2522455
In advance of Twisting Field there will be a workshop with storyteller Shonaleigh giving an introduction to story-telling. An excellent opportunity to learn about the craft from one of the UK’s foremost professional practitioners.

Mehfil-E-Shayeri Anniversary Celebration

Saturday 2nd June, 2pm-8pm (People are welcome to come and go throughout)
Richard Attenborough Centre, Lancaster Road
FREE all welcome
Mehfil-E-Shayeri (The Poetry Gathering) is a multi-lingual poetry group that meets monthly to share writing in Hindi, Guajarati, Punjabi and other languages. This special event celebrates the one year anniversary of the mehfil-e-shayeri.org website which features audio and video recordings of the fantastic poetry shared each month at the event. To mark this special event Mehfil-E-Shayeri commemorates the life and works of the great Punjabi poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi with readings from local poets and singing from Daljit Neer. Join the celebration and experience South Asian poetry first hand.