Busy night at the Last Wednesday Series Reading and Open mics this month. Yours truly did the MC at The Twisted Pepper in Dublin in Declan’s absence, so, having no sense of humour about myself, there will be no slagging of the MC this month. Suffice to say everything went perfectly, not slip ups, mistakes, slips of the tongue or anything! As I say, perfect!
The Twisted Pepper
Anyhoo, to minimise the difficulty of the situation, and to avoid having to think and talk at the same time, I came up with a foolproof method of choosing the order of readers. Got everyone to write their names on a piece of papers (paper and ink generously supplied by Bob Shakeshaft!) and put it into a hat – and yes we had a hat, Ruairi went out and bought one specially! Seemed to work quite well, and kept the writers/readers on edge – which is good for the creative juices, all that angst!
First out of the hat was Oran Ryan (to be clear, Oran was not in the hat, his name was) and he opened the proceedings with a new work in progress about revenge on a banker – a subject close to everyone’s heart, I am sure. After Oran, it was the turn of Claudia Walder, a visitor to both Ireland and the Last Wednesday Series. Claudia read a poem – ‘Self Portrait by Numbers’. After Claudia, we had another debut, with Shauna Gilligan making her first visit to the open mic reading an extract from her work – about cuddly statues and tonsillitis! (you’ll just have to come along next time to know more!) After Shauna Sandra Harris was up – making a return to the open mic after a brief absence. Sandra read two short prose pieces – a satire about rape trials and a scary view of an open mic (though freedom of expression and no censorship . . . can lines be drawn. Perhaps I should issue an essay topic!). After Sandra it was the turn of Ciaran, who made me realise a problem with the putting of the name into a hat – I forgot to say full name and, as it was also Ciaran’s first time at a Last Wednesday gig, I’ve just got the Ciaran. Anyway, Ciaran entertained us with two poems – ‘Just a thought’ and ‘Mind Clouds Lifted’. After Ciaran, it was the turn of yet a another new voice Martin Meyler who read poems ‘A Child in Spring’, ‘Morning in the Eye and Ear’, and ‘Grace’. After Martin Phil Lynch read a descriptive piece about a visit to Donegal, and Delta O’Hara then made a return after a long absence, and braving a cold and laryngitis, provided a musical interlude.
Declan, who was absent!
After a short break, Eileen Keane took to the mic and, forsaking her novel due to post-editing blues, read part of a short story, leaving us all again on tenterhooks, wondering what was going to happen next. After Eileen it was the turn of Padraig O Morain making not his first visit to Last Wednesday, but his first reading visit. Padraig read a cut up type of poem, from a letter home form a war zone – a poem that had been published in The Strand Magazine, after only 40 years of trying. He also read ‘English Class’ and introduced the listeners to the work ‘deliquesce’, as once he had introduced the English Class. Next up it was the turn of Steve Conway who treated us to a preview passage from that ‘difficult second book’ about love and loss, and paths of life, and how modern day health and safety rules have removed some of the pitfalls – quite literally! Steve followed this new work with a very old work – a poem he found recently in a diary from when he left school. After Steve Bob Shakeshaft – he of the paper and ink – read a poem dedicated to his grandson, followed by a series of poems related to the Neary Scandal – including ‘Why’ and ‘Safe Nest to Tomb’. He finished up with a gift from Skerries poet Enda Coyle-Greene. After Bob, Helen Dempsey came to the mic and read an ode to those who have traveled, and those who have not, read ‘Grand Prix’ about group dynamics. Helen also rose to the Stranger than Fiction Challenge to read a poem based on something overheard, and she read ‘There’s Vaseline Upstairs’!
After Helen Roisin made her Last Wednesday debut with ‘Mother’, followed by a poem about a girl she was with in primary school – ‘The Bad Seed’ and a poem for her nephew, ‘Never, Never Land’. Next up was Christodolous Makris who read three works in progress – ‘The Art of Air Travel’, ‘The Executioner’s Confession’ (with anepigraph – ‘The working men have no country’ from The Communist Manifesto) and ‘Bookends’. After Christodolous, it was the turn of Cah 44 (aka Cliff Horseman) who thrilled the room with his performance work. And his publisher at Wurm in Apfel Kit Fryatt brought the night to a close with her dramatic work about where the missing people go.
Meanwhile, across the pond, when things got under way in Rocky
Lisa McLaughlin at Rocky Sullivans
Sullivan’s, in Red Hook in Brooklyn, with MC Lisa McLaughlin, North Carolina poet Doog Wood added his voice to that of the 7 other readers, and professed the night a success all round, with very good readers!
And then on the Last Sunday (29th May), Chapters and Verse went to London at the Hammersmith Ram and was MC’d by our wonderful guest MC, the aforementioned Kit Fryatt. A quiet night as it was a UK bank holiday weekend, but a successful and enjoyable sharing of work nonetheless, as demonstrated by the posts on Kit’s Facebook page and YouTube
The Frozen Mic 