Word Soup on Tour

We always get excited to announce our latest Word Soup offering - but this Word Soup is special because it's our very first touring event. And where better to present an 'away' fixture of Preston's biggest and friendliest live lit night than at the sea-side!

Blackpool Library Service deliver an annual literature festival: Word Pool. This year the opening day of the festival falls on National Poetry Day and we've been asked to kick off the celebrations by presenting a poetry Word Soup at Blackpool Central Library.

The event will be held in the library's main space between 3.30 and 5pm on Thursday the 8th October.

It's FREE to get in and there'll be our usual open mike spots for all budding poets and spoken word performers.

We're excited to meet the local readers and writers in Blackpool, hear their words and tell them all about what we do. For our Preston poets, this is a great chance to come with us, take advantage of an open mike slot and showcase your work to a wider audience.

The line-up of poets we've got booked for the afternoon is a treat.

Our start performer is Ann Wilson - most of you will remember Ann from the splash she made presenting our very first Word Soup poetry special. We had such excellent feedback about her performance that we couldn't wait to get her back - and when better than a Word Soup special to celebrate National Poetry Day?

Annie Clarkson, another previous Word Soup performer, will be comming up from Manchester to share her words and work with us. Her collection Winter Hands will be available for sale - and if you can't wait until the 8th, you can always read her blog. She's a really great performer and we can't wait to see what Blackpool makes of her.

Norman Hadley - our newest PrestonWN volunteer, will be joining us again from Garstang after a fantastic first performance at Word Soup #4. Norman is a poet, author, writer and photographer and his website is well worth exploring - he's also a regular performer at Lancaster Spotlight and a contributor to the Lunecy Review.

Ron Scowcroft used to teach literature to Blackpool Sixth formers and is pleased as punch to return to the town to share his own poetry. A poet, blogger and regular performer at gigs across Lancashire, Ron will also be joining us at Spooky Word Soup #6 on the 20th October with a very special poem.

For more information about Word Soup and how to get involved, email jenn@theyeatculture.org
For more about Word Pool - Blackpool Library's very own literary festival, click here.

Word Soup #5: The Line Up

Word Soup fans are in for a treat this month - we've a hand-picked line up of poets and writers as well as a special appearance from Lancaster's favourite son, alt-folk musician Harvey Lord who will be providing our usual musical interludes between acts.

Michael Molyneux, who we interviewed on the PrestonWN blog this month will be reading from his new poetry collection - Selected Poems. Coming up on the blog, we've a guest post from Claire Sharples, who worked on the UCLAN based team of budding editors and publishers who put together this collection so keep your eyes peeled for more.

From Manchester, we have Sian Cummins - a graduate of the University of Manchester Creative Writing Masters - she's recently completed her first novel: Fluids and is now busy working on her second: The Elastica Principle.

Also from Manchester, we have Peter Wild. Peter is an editor, reviewer and short-story writer. He'd edited collections for Serpent's Tail - most recently, Paint a Vulgar Picture - fiction inspired by the Smiths and edits the online book review and comment magazine BookMunch. He'll be reading his own work, and be available to sign anthologies available from our bookstall on the night.

All the way from Chester, we have native Prestonian Andy Duggan - we reviewed his first novel Scars Beneath the Skin (Flambard Press, 2009) here, and you can read an interview we did with him here. He's been working on somerthing special for us, based on our 'revolve' theme and will be available to sign copies of Scars Beneath the Skin from the Word Soup book stall available on the night.

Finally - and as always, we'll be opening up the stage for you.

We've an open mike section, and you're invited to get up on stage and wow us with three minutes of poetry, prose or performance. If you're interested, come early and sign up on the door - our spots go very quickly and we dish them out on a first come, first served basis.

Word Soup # 5 - The New Continental, 22nd September (that's tomorrow night!)

8pm - 10.30pm £3 on the door.

And yes, that is our shiny new logo, thank you very much.

Word Soup # 5: The Theme

At each of our Word Soups we’ve had a theme to pull the night together and to inspire our writers.

Word Soup # 5 falls on the 22^nd September along with the autumn equinox, when the days and nights are exactly equal. The night inspired our theme: revolve. Spinning. Turning. Changing. Or staying the same?

What do you think about when we say ‘revolve’? Are we talking about a revolution, a washing machine, spring into summer into winter, or something else?

Those revolving doors that used to be in the front of St Georges – you know, the ones you’d get your coat stuck in, or be trapped inside with someone who hasn’t washed for a week?.

Wheels. Clocks. Birthdays, anniversaries, the start of the school year. Wheels. Tyres. Engines. Records and RPM. What’s on your Ipod?

Roundabouts. Your childhood memories at the play park that isn’t there any more. The first day of school. The last day of school.

Revolve. Revolver. Someone got a gun? Stay still, no-one gets hurt? Hmmm.

There are open mike spots available – you’ve got a three minute ‘turn’ on the stage along side the best of new, North West writing. We can’t wait to see what you come up with. What will you be doing when the seasons turn at 21.18?

We’ll be at Word Soup. September 22nd, 8pm at the New Continental. £3 on the door.

Eat our Words at the NC Open Mike

The New Continental Open Mike, held in front of an open fire in the refurbished snug area of the pub, has been attracting live music, stand-up, poetry and prose readings for some months now. The media have taken an interest and Preston FM are a regular presence, recording performers for later broadcast on the radio show. All except the story I read there in February, because it was too rude ;)

On Thursday the 5th March the organisers of the Open Mike have been kind enough to host the launch of a new writing group: The Continental Collective. Three reader representatives from the collective will be sharing prose and poetry they worked on during a series of eight creative writing workshops held in the pub and hosted by your very own PWN (that's us).

As well as entertaining you with live lit performances, the Collective will also be launching and selling their first anthology. Eat Our Words showcases not only the work you will hear tomorrow night, but work from the rest of the ten-strong group. The night starts at 9pm, but the room fills up by 8.30 so arrive early if you want to get a seat!

And if you miss the Continental Collective tomorrow (don't miss them though) they'll be entertaining us again during the open mike spots at our first live lit outing on the 21st April.