Coming up Next...

Let's set the scene: 

The whole of England lock off! The walls feel like they're closing in. The days are shortening so sharply, you miss the sun if you're not careful to step outside for a little exercise before noon. 

But: 

My Zoom* game's been improving (top tip: try a Donna Tartt tome plus two poetry anthologies to prop up the laptop), and so much good has been going on... so we keep it moving.

Here are some select highlights of things to come, plus some things just gone to catch up on. 

1) Today: Quiero Queeride @ Fringe!

Fringe! Film Festival, like everything else, has had to migrate to the e-world. And while most of the films are geolocked to the UK, the other events are global, and you can log in from home. It's a pretty packed programme and I've already tuned in to the literature event last night (buy the chapbook if you missed it) and a bunch of short films. 

I'm part of a Spanish/English literature event tonight (it's fine if you only speak one of those languages) which will be a bit picante. I've been collaborating with Luis Amalia, using film, collage and Spanish-language poems I've written in the last few months in response to global events. Expect: Dettol, olive oil, (semi)-nudity, politics and the tongue in the cheek. I'm pretty excited/nervioso about the whole thing. More info to be found here. 

2) Nottingham Poetry Festival, 19th November

Yeah, also add Nottingham Poetry Festival to that list of web migrants. I'll be on a panel with some heavyweights in defence of poetry (that's literally the title of the event). 

Check it out here, and view the rest of the programme too. 

3) Poetry vs. Colonialism @ Being Human Festival, 15-22nd November

I'm part of a project combining heritage, history, education and the five senses to explore colonialism through poetry and art. Find more about the project here. 

During this first phase, we'll be running interactive events at the Being Human Festival, exploring sugar, tobacco, gold and cotton. The links to all the events are here. 

I'm working with the incredible artist Karen McLean and the academic Dr Malcolm Cocks to explore the legacy of sugar in the Caribbean. Our workshop, 'Sugar Sugar', is on the 22nd. (Tickets are nearly sold out, so contact me for waiting list details)

Also, I feature in the Being Human promo video below (eek!) which might give some idea on the broad range of other activities happening throughout the festival.  

4) More exciting things...

I've started my residency with Imperial Health Charity, and am working with staff groups, patients and schools to get everyone writing poetry. This is at least one huge positive thing that's come out of the lock-up. 

I'm also on the Commonwealth Short Story Prize judging panel (whoop whoop!) which is huuge. I thought I'd mention it now because obvs. I won't be able to shout about the stories I'm reading until the time comes for it... but there'll be plenty of shouting I hope!  

5) On Catch up: 

Last night, I also made an appearance on Life & Rhymes, hosted by the inimitable Benjamin Zephaniah on SkyArts. I haven't yet been able to see it, but I can't wait to see how the whole series pans out. If you have a subscription kind of thing, you can view it here...

(Also if you want to hear what I might sound like in Ukranian, you can find out here - it's a little strange being dubbed - and check out Lviv BookForum).

That's it for now. Stay safe and Dettoled**! 

  

*Team, Collaborate, G**gle Hangouts and multiple other videoconferencing platforms are also available. 

**other disinfecting products are available.

Playing Catch-Up

How's that thesis coming along, Keith?

My priority for the next few weeks will be finalising my thesis corrections, though it's difficult to find the energy to come back to it after five years (five years!!!) and now a lifetime of change taking place in the space of two months. Some of my research feels particularly relevant, but in want of several appendices to take into account what's happening around us. Completing a study on British-Caribbean religious and cultural identity in London at a time when no one is, legally, attending church, and when race is at the forefront of the national conversation is difficult. The novel, well, I'm looking forward to the 'next steps' phase, when what becomes of it is no longer in my hands.

Meanwhile, stuff has been continuing, as stuff is wont to continue. I'll reshare below stuff that I've shared elsewhere in the last week or so...

 1) Black Lives Matter

None Of This is New! - video in which I sum up my thoughts... 

And this, by Vanessa Kisuule, which is fyah:

2) A Week in the Life

I was asked by Birkbeck to contribute to their cultural calendar for Arts Week, which went on their website a few days ago (a week ago, maybe? I'm losing track!). The full programme is here, alongside other weeks in the life. 

The slightly longer version is below:

*

For the purposes of this narrative, ‘week’ signifies an arbitrary construct, divisible into seven-ish distinct time units, with increasing elasticity (distinguishing between days as an academic and freelancer with an unpredictable routine was tricky enough pre-pandemic!) This particular ‘week’ has been punctuated by redundant calendar notifications – see Caribbean trip below – and a couple of arrivals, reorienting me somewhat. 

*

In her latest travel podcast series, Colombian historian Diana Uribe states (loosely translated): ‘While movement may be physically restricted, we still have our imaginations to explore the world.’ This sentiment is comforting, even though I was supposed to have left for Jamaica this week, then Cuba, for a writing research project. I’ve explored Mali, Ireland and Japan through the ears, enjoying Uribe’s international perspective (the nuances of Ireland/Northern Ireland/UK etc. are lost on many mainland Brit folk – Turtleneck Guy springs to mind here [17:35] – let alone for those further afield breaking it down for a mostly Latin American audience). 

I’ve also redeemed my Imagination Airways ticket via Google Maps, traversing random avenues in cities I may or may not visit someday. 

Writing prompt using Street View as stimulus: Drop the little yellow man onto the grid and watch the neighbourhood come into focus. All the poorly-pixelated people crossing roads. The couple holding hands – are they still together? Who lives behind that door? It’s great to revel in these open possibilities. To walk a mile. 

It’s also brought to life news events, as I’ve ‘walked’ through Minneapolis streets, then crossed continents, contemplating all of the places where my presence might be interpreted with suspicion if I just wandered aimlessly (not to count all the places where I have already been). 

*

When wishing to get inside the buildings, virtual museum tours are plentiful. I’ve enjoyed revisiting Barcelona’s Casa Battló – and its impressive 360˚ experience – this time without having to navigate other tourists taking pictures on their phone. Museum Bums is another lighter-hearted way to interrogate sculpture and paintings.

*

The final Polari First Book Prize entries thudded onto my doorstep last weekend – I’m one of this year’s judges – and I’ve relished the prospect of escapism, plus I’d already read / hoped to read many of the forty submissions. Now the deadline looms, simultaneously shifting from poetry to fiction via graphic memoir has proved intense, so I’ve emptied my calendar to make room. I’m particularly mindful of how these first-time authors are facing an increasingly-uncertain climate, and so I’ve read each sentence with their hopes in mind, taking copious notes. I think of my own debut novel, and how I must also cast it out into a future beyond my control – if it ever sees the light of day. My feelings are not one of despair but of determination. 

Body of work?

Despite feeling I’ve missed out on so much, I’ve caught the aftermath of some cultural moments: live DJ battles; film screenings; Zoom poetry festivals; but most has been lost to the world of social media ephemera. Art abounds and we cannot contain it.   

This week’s other arrival was The Book of Queer Prophets, twenty-four new essays on sexuality and religion (I’m one of the essayists, as is Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Jeanette Winterson and more…) I’ve just seen a moving live online chat with Ruth Hunt and Dustin Lance Black, also a contributor. 

*

Other social media conversation highlights include Raymond Antrobus and Malika Booker discussing poems last night on Instagram Live. I also, finally, caught up on the Erykah Badu vs. Jill Scott back catalogue battle, now up on YouTube(even Michelle Obama was watching it at the time!) It’s a Neo-soul nostalgia fest. 

*

On to film, and it’s difficult to explain the experimental Chilean Ema. It’s infuriating in some places, boundary-pushing in others, but the payoff is worth it. 

*

Tying some of these threads (music, virtual travel, Colombia, Spanish-language content…), Lido Pimienta soundtracked my morning. Palenques and maroon towns are another topic for another day, warranting much more detail than I can afford here.    

Finally, I’ve made good on my Jamaican trip by following Rebel Women Lit, a Caribbean feminist book club. To feel part of a community across time zones feels precious, urgent right now. Though my movements are necessarily restricted, I have an unlimited worldscape. 

3) Also: 

To tie together all the themes of this post, I'll leave the last words to the Peruvian theatre legend and activist Victoria Santa Cruz.

2020 (a.k.a. not a full-time PhD student)

2019 was intense, and that (kind of) contextualises my lack of output on here. 

I already wrote the posts about my main concern: trying to finish my PhD project, which involved crossing disciplines, writing a novel, attending conferences, teaching, researching, editing, transcribing, sitting blankly at a computer screen for hours, deleting words, losing USBs, losing self-confidence, finding random files, mumbling to myself in libraries and cafés, literally cutting and pasting a paragraph onto my bound thesis (the least said about that, the better!), paying library fines, shopping with student discount cards... and, despite all the downs, finding joy inside the academic bubble. 

Meanwhile, I juggled other projects, which I didn't even shout that loudly about because I was busy overexerting myself (I mean, I had a whole poem going up the side of St. Paul's Cathedral last October!)

Maybe I didn't want to jinx it, but I told fewer people about my viva last month, the exam to end all exams, where I had to sit in front of two much-respected academics (one of them a recent Booker Prize winner!) and justify my life. And at the end of it - subject to me completing corrections over the next few months - I passed. It's been 4-and-a-bit long years, but I'm overjoyed. And knackered. And I can flaunt this t-shirt I bought, ironically, many years ago.

I've got some other things happening over the next couple of months which I can now shout about, and I will, if I can get back into the habit of blogging. 

Meanwhile, Happy 2020 and all that....

  

COMING UP TOMORROW: Notes & Queeries!

For my last London gig of the summer, I'll be in conversation with the brilliant novelist Jonathan Kemp at the British Library tomorrow, for the first of a series of Notes & Queeries talks. Really looking forward to this one, as there'll be plenty of conversation, questions, poetry and queer magic. There's a few tickets left, so book now!

Later in the week, I'll be up in Leicester for WORD! in the Garden and in Liverpool for Penguin Pride at the Tate. Plenty of other good news to come! 

Spring Update: 5 links to 5 things

It's been 9 months since my last post, for anyone who's counting.

Since then, much has happened, some of which may feature in subsequent posts (including a picture of me looking scruffy inside the House of Lords, next to some amazing poets... mum will be proud!)

For the time being, here are 5 links to things you might want to check out:


READ

My latest guest blog post for the Free Word Centre and Spread the Word on the Black Flamingo Salon and Cabaret, where I discuss the important of black, queer artistic dialogue.

LISTEN

It's the BFI Flare film festival yet again!

I'll be in a post-screening panel on Sunday at the BFI Southbank, with the legendary Vivian Kleiman and Marc Thompson! We'll be discussing  Marlon Riggs' short films and I'll read a poem or two from the seminal In The Life anthology.

In the meantime, here's me with Tara Brown and Ben Walters, discussing a few highlights from last year's festival, for Sight & Sound.





VISIT

On April 11th, I'll be at the Migration museum for the Queer Migrations event, with Ciarán Hodgers and PJ Samuels. I'll be performing new work there. (Free entry but register on the Eventbrite to attend).

EXPLORE

Later next month, I'll be a part of Res Fest 19 at the Courtauld Institute's Kings Cross space, performing a specially-commissioned piece in response to artwork at the Courtauld. I'll post more about this later!

WATCH

A month ago, I had the pleasure of attending the inaugural Berto Pasuka lecture at the National Portrait Gallery (read more about the legacy of Berto Pasuka and the night here on BlackOut's page). It was an incredible gallery takeover - and one I hope to see repeated!

Gerrard Martin, dancer/choreographer and artist, was commissioned to perform a new dance piece, 'State of Our Union', using words from 'Acknowledgments' (from my poetry collection, Selah). Here's a recording of the live performance.


...and finally

I've updated the Upcoming page, so follow the links for more details as and when!

We Need to Talk About...

I'm increasingly excited about my show Good Presence. It's a work in progress and I'm not yet sure how it will land, but I genuinely think it's the bravest thing I've written (you be the judge - come along!) It also has its surreal moments, as I'm sure the image below demonstrates.

I hope the Last Word Festival won't be its last outing but, as I've said in previous posts, I'm a full-time PhD student, and finishing my thesis will have to take precedence over the next few months. I'm hoping to have a complete first draft of my novel by Autumn and submit the whole thing by the end of the year. I have a long way to go!

Shriver-ing 

In one segment, I recount a disagreement I had with a friend over a Lionel Shriver article about political correctness. When I first started writing the show, it all hinged on this conversation, and how different interpretations of 'fairness' are part of the everyday complex tensions we experience. I'm interested in how subjectivity colours what we do with our beliefs, and how it may even affect our friendships. I wanted to use this moment as a way in, a way of bringing that idea close to home. I expected I'd write the section out eventually, but it's stayed somehow. Seeing Shriver make the news again over the last couple of days has confirmed that it's something to grapple with still.

I disagree strongly with Shriver - as I do with Germaine Greer - on lots of things, and it seems that both characters are pushing the limits of their arguments even further, alienating more people and normalising [what I believe to be] bigoted thought. Both consider political correctness to have 'gone mad', and Shriver's recent outburst strikes me as particularly mean-spirited. The hypothetical 'gay transgender Caribbean' she conjures, who 'powers around town on a mobility scooter' is loaded (so loaded) with connotations that stretch back centuries. At best, it's lazy writing; at worst, well...

Anyway, the invitation is open for her to come and see the show :) I'm fine with provoking debate, if debate is there for the provoking. But the line stops at respect for the other. 

& Other Things

Anyway...  here's a few other places you can 

hear me: catch me on iPlayer for Radio 3's The Verb (I'm about 27mins in but the whole show's good, really) and listen to the podcast for bonus stuff. Also, listen out for my interview with Naomi Woddis on The Two of Us, coming soon to Reel Rebels Radio (there's some really insightful interviews on the MixCloud podcast with other poets, which you might wanna check out too). 

watch me: Follow the link to my 3 Minute Thesis presentation from the other day 

see me: Come to my show! And/or come to the British Museum on the 29th

read me: [click on the big yellow link above for signed copies! Or go to the Burning Eye website. Or wait a few weeks for a new tab to appear with most of my publications all handy]  

Upcoming: The Verb tonight!

I'll be on The Verb tonight, Radio 3, with an amazing group of writers. Tune in or listen here later on iPlayer!

Meanwhile, here's a clip of me reading 'Tick':




A couple of the poems will also be in my show at the Roundhouse - there's still tickets left to come see it on the 23rd!

Good Presence, or The Hayfever Season Update (achoo!): 5 things

A lot's been happening behind the scenes, so here's a quick run down...


1. Good Presence

So, I'm counting down with less than a month to go for my new work-in-progress show, Good Presence, part of the Last Word Festival at the Roundhouse. 

I'm a little nervous and excited, and I've dared myself to write things that are uncomfortable.  
I've got more of a handle on what it's about (faith, fear, freedom, friendship... all the F words) and I've found a few other surprises as I've been writing (I'll just leave that hanging...).

Over the next week or so, I'll have finished writing a draft of the whole thing, then the following week I'll be looking more at the movement and music side of it, then I get to start on the decoration (thinking about sound, space, that kind of S word), with just a couple of days to practice and memorise what I can.

I promised in the blurb to deliver belly laughs, alongside a dark exploration of faith, so that's what I'm aiming for. I'd love to have as many friendly faces there as possible... so come!

I'll be plugging it more over the next few weeks, but in the meantime, check out the rest of the Last Word Programme. I'm hoping to reach a handful of shows, which is, sadly, all I can manage time-wise!

Speaking of, there's extra brownie points - you literally get a discount - for coming to see Estamos Presente, a little earlier on, showcasing the work of a new British Latinx writing collective I'm really excited to be working with.


2. 3MT

Things are also ticking over on the academic side. I'm still working on my novel, still teaching (and learning) and still managing the balance of theory and writing practice.

For reasons unknown, I decided to venture into the domain of competitive thesis presentations and oh.. my... word!

A lot of universities have signed up to 3MT - or Three Minute Thesis, for the uninitiated - encouraging research students to present their work to a mixed crowd in just 3 minutes (a quick YouTube search reveals the broadest range of topics imaginable).

I didn't realise how much of a challenge it would be to synthesise my thesis, my approach to research and my creative writing practice, and the specifics of my findings, all into three minutes - oh, and in a jargon-free, enthusiastic, low-tech way. But once I did, I was keen to get involved.

This year's competition took place just a couple of days ago, and I'm still buzzing with energy. More on the results of the night here.

3. Coming Up! Housman's - June 6th

I'll be joining Richard Scott (his poetry collection, Soho, is bold and beautiful*) and Housman's Bookshop poet-in-residence Eleanor Penny for some poems and conversation. The topic is Sex, Shame & Problematic Ancestry in Queer Poetry and we'll be discussing all of that, plus more, in between reading out some of our work.

*hold on, wasn't Bold and Beautiful also the title of a 90s American soap? Or am I making this up?

4. More coming up...

I have a few other events forthcoming, including this at the British Museum on June 29th, where I'll be performing a commissioned poem for the Rodin exhibition. I'll update beforehand - I promise! - so keep checking back here.

5. Writing, Reading, Listening

Meanwhile, I've been:

- writing more poems
- progressing with the novel
- working on a couple of unrelated essays
- trying to keep plugged in to new stuff. There's a lot to keep up with!

I was particularly blown over by Nine Night at the National Theatre the other day, which just closed tonight. I hope it comes back soon so I can go again!

I'm also still raving about James M'Kay's Very Friendly Weapon, which deserves another post.

I'll do a separate post about other stuff I'm reading when I've got the energy... right now I want to get back to the reading!

Long Overdue Update (5 things)

1. Hesitatio-

I haven't posted on here for a while; that much is obvious from checking the post history, although the drafts section tells a different story.

I started a few in-depth posts sometime in the Autumn, after the long, angry summer; I attempted to write about Grenfell and Rashan Charles and found I was too bereft of words to convey my hard-to-define hurt, impotence, even. I took to Twitter instead and encountered hatred and ignorance, scrolling all my way to the bottom of each thread, searching for reason and finding more confirmation that anonymity breeds the worst kind of evil, releases all the prejudices kept locked up behind kind smiles. I took to long walks instead, rediscovering the small parks and gardens - some of them repurposed graveyards - hiding behind the relentless pace of the city. I also spent more time with friends and family, on the days when it's been too hard to focus on my PhD.

These moments of withdrawal haven't come without their own cost: over the last few months, I've been accused of shoplifting (cheers, Holland & Barrett!); asked by concierges - when visiting friends for dinner - if I'm here to deliver food (cheers, gentrified Docklands!); experienced several of the eye-rolling moments that come from being deemed out of place. And I find myself getting increasingly tired of them, not because they occur but because they do with such predictability. And because to retell them elicits predictable responses, from minimisation to the even more unfortunate familiarity; I'm not alone in this.

Meanwhile, the days are getting longer again, and it's getting easier to give up my evenings to reading. My bookshelf has been straining under the weight of so many new ideas. I need new bookshelves. I also need to keep up with the pace of my book purchasing, and with my library fines. I'm jumping from essay to memoir to poetry to fiction to experimental, stream-of-consciousness mish mashes. It makes me excited for my own work, and terrified. I'm writing what is basically a novel, and I'm not sure I believe in the novel as a form anymore.*

In the coming weeks, if and when I come back to the blog, I'll write more about my progress with my writing.
    
*that's not quite the full story...

2. Strike

Maybe I've chosen today to post is because it's the first working day since the end of the first round of UCU strikes. Below is a video explaining the action:



It's the first time in over a week that I've been able to work in the office at university without crossing the picket line, and I need this space to write, away from laundry and unmade beds and paper work and March road drilling outside (we all know, as the tax year ends, the holes in the budget are always filled up with tarmac).

I have grudging but full support for the strike; it's important and necessary and I know of lecturers whose pensions have been cut in half by the decision to take away the benefits they'd been promised. But it's about more than pensions. The whole university system in the UK has had a destabilising overhaul in recent years, and it's not working for many people at all. (There is context for my sweeping claim here and here and here and elsewhere. And there is more recent commentary, linking up some of the dots for students.) Given this, I find it hard to even think about pensions when many employees of universities - including myself - are on precarious contracts that don't even offer any reasonable security while working, let alone upon retirement. 

Striking is the last legally-sanctioned recourse of the injured worker. It's easy to rail against rail strikes (especially as train driver wages seem pretty healthy) or try to outlaw NHS strikes (under the pretext that it's dangerous to threaten key services), but without questioning why hundreds or thousands of workers are prepared to walk out, people who generally love their jobs, their vocations.

I hope a deal is reached on this particular issue, so I don't have to look up what day of the week it is before I can go into the library, or even open my university email and respond to the few students I teach. But this is by no means the end; a myriad of issues underneath it are surfacing and the UK needs to decide what it wants for the future of higher education. And, for that matter, it needs to decide on its identity beyond the academy, too. It feels like a spiritual crisis.

3. Good Presence @ Last Word, Roundhouse Festival

But I don't want to write about politics. Or religion, or spiritual crises. I want to write about walking through old graveyards and parks and local history. But whatever I do, those same old themes come back to haunt me, so I find myself picking at them. I also find humour in the picking; if I can no longer laugh, I may as well already be dead.

With that in mind, during a rare drunken moment, I rescued a surprisingly heavy mosaic cross from a skip and carried it home. I regretted it the morning after, taking up space in my room, bulky and awkward and odd.

After the regret - and my hesitation at being seen carrying it back down three flights of stairs and across two roads into another skip - it also started the seed of an idea for a poetry show.

As fortune would have it, I've been approached about a spoken word show for the Last Word Festival in June. Not one for ambitious projects(!), it will be partly in Spanish. I can't give too much detail at this point - it's a work in progress - but the blurb can be found here. 


4. Occupation! and more upcoming...

Before then, I have a PhD to keep working on, plus a seminar to plan, plus a gig this evening which I've organised with a colleague, plus more impracticalities to navigate.

Occupation! is an experimental, one-off event, but if it goes well, there might be others. Some more details on Eventbrite here.

5. And, finally...


I've just ordered some more copies of my book Selah; feel free to message and request a copy!

I have other deadlines coming up so working away at them right now. In between, I've made a pile of books I'm reading and rereading over the next couple of months; it'll be an interesting experiment to see which I manage to get through by the end of May. I've just finished Arundhati Roy's The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and loved it.

Now it's back to work...

The Science of Poetry... (UPCOMING: Experimental Words, THIS EVENING)

[Cue dramatic music]

Just when you've been complaining that not enough poets/ people in general collaborate across disciplines.... 

[building up]

just when you've been writing a chapter for a book on the need for interdisciplinary both within and outside of academia...  

[peak crescendo]

and just when you said you'll be involved in just one more public gig before the end of the year...

[dun dun duuuuhhh!]

EXPERIMENTAL WORDS

According to the flyer, this is a high-energy collision of science and spoken word. Bang! Whoosh! (etc.)

Specimen A: flyers

According to me, this has been an opportunity to team up with the brilliant Dr Jess Wade, share ideas about her research on LEDs - and how to find poetry within it - and combat the fear of physics and biology I've harboured since falling asleep during my GCSE exam at 16 (long but true story). I can't really divulge too much else, except for the fact that we'll be creating some multimedia magic on stage this evening, along with other poet/scientist teams.

So... sign up to the waitlist here (there's a waitlist as it's SOLD OUT!) or just turn up and hope for the best, or better yet, stay plugged into the website to see what it's all about and to stay up to date on the ticket situation. There's also info about previous events in other cities - and the project will hopefully appear in other places too!

In the meantime, here's a link to the poem I wrote in collaboration with Jess after our first conversation.

And here's a lovely trailer for the project:

Upcoming: Reverb Chamber

I've been thin on blog posts of late, mostly as I've been overwhelmed with work. So I'm particularly looking forward to three things:

1) Christmas break
2) stuff I'll put in my next post
3) tomorrow! 

Tomorrow? Yep, tomorrow I'm in Gravesend for Reverb Chamber in Gravesend. Just a few minutes on the high speed train out of St Pancras and fabulous company, a pleasant tea and cake (possibly more) accompaniment and an evening of poetry awaits.

Do come along!

Postcard from Home: Either dead, dying or hazardous in Autumn

"Unfortunately it has become necessary to remove this tree as it is either dead, dying or hazardous" - LB Camden.

October Update: 5 things

1. Reading List (in brief): We Need New Bookcases...

My reading list has grown exponentially over the last year, and shows no sign of slowing. At some point, I'll have to cull some books, if I'm going to achieve balance in my life!

In the meantime, one book I'm VERY excited about it the biography of Patrick Nelson by Gemma Romain, and it's just in time, incidentally, for Black History Month. I've been waiting for my copy since I first read about the book and subsequently wrote a monologue based on Patrick, 'Safest Spot in Town'. I can't wait to geek out properly on this slice of history.

I've also got Danez Smith's collection (OMG!!!) on the go and The Complete Works anthology, which has me struggling to read and breathe at the same time; there's some brilliant writing in there - and I was glad to be at the launch last week and see most of the poets read. 

keeping me company at the university office

2. Balancing Act (basically a rant.. tl;dr)

Right now, things are chaotic. I've just started what is set to be my final year of PhD study. I'm also:
- running seminars for a module at university
- running a couple of schools projects
- occasionally leading creative workshops
- performing poetry (I have a few events coming up in the next month or so, but won't be doing many more after then).
- doing some occasional mentoring
- writing the occasional poem/essay/short story
- about to take on some more research...

I also do all of my own admin (including tidying my flat, chasing invoices, replying to demanding emails that go back and forth for days and spread across different formats until I lose track - Messenger/Whatsapp/email/text but rarely a call -, posting on social media - if that counts as admin -, answering calls about 'that accident you had in the last 2 years?' etc. instead of actual calls)

I'm also trying:
- to keep up an active artistic life (reading some of the books I've been buying of late, going to galleries and poetry gigs, seeing new films and trying not to fall asleep in the cinema)
- to look after my physical and mental health (sleep is non-negotiable right now; and I didn't know antibiotics rage was a thing until this week when it became A THING)
- to keep a half-decent personal life (friends and family are apparently THE MOST IMPORTANT THING).

 As a result, I have my priorities - PhD; sleep; close friends/family and so on - and I know other things will just have to fall back in line, but I have had a couple of overwhelm moments lately where I've wanted to throw stuff at people. I've been assured this is normal and this is what I've been missing out on for most of my adult life. So yay!   

3. TOMORROW! 

I'm performing at Backstory Cabaret as part of the Bloomsbury Festival at Goodenough College. There's so much to look forward to, with music, dance, poetry and storytelling taking centre stage. It's gonna be brill! And... I've heard there are only 10 tickets left, so get them while you can.

4. Next Up

My 'Upcoming' tab is up to date, yay! I don't have many London poetry gigs coming up: in fact, next week's Stablemates is the last time I plan to hit the stage in London with a full poetry set for a while, so please come! And if I can't convince you, I hope Hollie McNish and Kate Fox can - two amazing fellow poets I'm performing alongside. 

5. And finally... 

In case you missed it, here's a link to my performance (intros in Spanish - and my accent is a little weird at the beginning - eek!) the other week at Naves Matadero. I had a lot of fun there and hope to be back again! 

Upcoming: MIR:Live Anthology reading

MIR14 anthology reading 



Tonight, from 7.30pm, I'll be reading my short story, 'Mug' at The Harrison (my local venue!), alongside some of the other writers in this brilliant anthology. Please come!


Also, coming up: Backstory Cabaret - on Friday (20th); Forbidden Fruits on Saturday (21st); Stablemates next Thursday (26th)... more info soon.

September Update (the Keith Jarrett experience)

1. READ


I have a story coming out in The Mechanics' Institute Review, Birkbeck's annual anthology of short fiction. MIR14 (yep, it's been running for fourteen years!) will be launching next week and copies will be available here (or you can ask me nicely and I'll source a signed one for you).

I'm also keen to have my latest book of poems read more widely. So, anyone who orders a copy of Selah directly off me (either through Paypal link on this page, or by emailing me) will also get a copy of my last pamphlet I Speak Home.  

If you've already got copies of those, and you're sick of reading me, then MIR14 has some great stories by other people... and I have plenty of other reading recommendations!


2. LISTEN

There's just over a week left to listen to me on the BBC Radio 2 Arts Show with Jonathan Ross. Tori Amos, among others, is interviewed in this episode, but if you just want to hear me, I come on around 1:13:15.

Again, if you've already heard me - there's live poetry from Malika Booker on this episode which aired last night (the night of the Forward Poetry Prize announcement... drum roll...).

Seeing as it's back to school/uni/work for everyone, there's a special back to school Lunar Poetry Podcast on air, where Jacob Sam La Rose, Miriam Nash and I discuss poetry and education. Please check it out!

And again, there's a whole host of other interviews on the Lunar Poetry site also worth checking out.



3. SEE

I'll be updating my Upcoming tab soon. In the meanwhile, I'm popping up at various places: Madrid in two weeks (I'll talk about that in another post), then Cheltenham for the literary festival, and doing some teaching and reading and general life stuff. I've just started my (projected) final year of my PhD so that will be the biggest priority for me for the next year - and I'm likely to go AWOL at various points.

My only London poetry gigs in the next month will be Backstory Cabaret at Bloomsbury Festival on October 20th (my local!) and Stablemates on 26th October at the (new, improved) Poetry Café.

As far as other people reading/performing, I'm looking forward to National Poetry Day. There are so many events going on, it's ridiculous! I'm also going to Southbank's Poetry International Weekend on October 14/15, which looks promising.



Ok, back to work! 

Brief End of Summer update!

1. The Arts Show with Jonathan Ross

Post-carnival, I rocked up to the BBC Radio 2 studio and had a conversation with this legend and read out two poems. You can listen in soon here or catch it live tomorrow (Thursday), 10pm.

2. Safest Spot in Town

It's been a real joy hearing from some of my friends who watched this, but nothing lasts forever. This monologue will be going off air Friday just after 10pm, so you have 48 hours to watch. Last chance! (Some of the earlier Queers monologues are already expired, but go to the website and check out the ones still left).

3. Upcoming

Tomorrow, I'll also be stopping by for a pre-launch edition of Reverb Chamber in Gravesend (and I'll be featuring there in November!) Can't wait... I hear there's a few special guests, so it's one to look out for.

I've tried to keep September free as I'm cramming in lots of reading for the beginning of the new term. And I'll be teaching at uni from October, but that's another story...

I have a story published in the Birkbeck anthology, The Mechanics' Institute Review* (14th edition), coming out in a couple of weeks. And there's a few other gigs to come in October/November. All of that will be updated in the Coming Up tab over the next week or so.

*fun fact: In addition to MIR14, I also have a story published in MIR5 (i.e. 9 years ago), the only creative work I had published under my pseudonym J. D. Keith. Sadly, I killed off the pen name in a quest to be more 'authentic', and to try and own whatever I wrote, however embarrassing...

Ok, finally, if you don't have a copy of my book, Selah, and you want one, free of charge*, email me with the subject END OF SUMMER in the next day or two (or before I delete this part of the post) and I'll send you a copy. (*excludes non-UK addresses unless you can pay postage!)

Coming Up: Wilderness and Edinburgh (3 Things)

NOTE: I will be updating this post over the next few days as things develop


1. Wilderness

I'm heading over to Wilderness Festival in an hour, and I'll be there today until Sunday. I'm performing at The Forum on Saturday evening, with some amazing people - including Sophia Walker and Sophia Blackwell.

I'm also looking forward to catching up with Raymond Antrobus (running the Apples & Snakes event this eve) and Katie Bonna (whose show is on TWICE today).

And of course, hearing Renni Eddo-Lodge and other writers/speakers... and Grace Jones and Bonobo and plenty of musicians. I'll have to pace myself but, hey...

If you're there, please come say hi! If not, wish me dry weather! :)

2. Edinburgh (so far)

I'll be one of the BBC Edinburgh Fringe Poetry Slam judges this year. The heats are on at 8.30pm from 7-10 August; the final is on the 13th.

So far, I'm also guesting at Other Voices on Tuesday 8th in the Banshee Labyrinth 

I may have a spot at Hammer & Tongue one of these days...


BUT :
My biggest single aim this year is to see at least half as many NON spoken word poetry shows as I do spoken word ones. I'm always keen to be signposted to any unmissable theatre/comedy/art/whatever, but I'm on a limited budget after forking out half my life savings on accommodation [ouch]. I'd forgotten what last minute room finds can be like!

3. Safest Spot... update

Well, the first ever script I've written was aired on TV 2 nights ago. And I feel great about it. I could write a much longer post, but I won't. In the meantime, it will be on iPlayer for another 28 days, alongside all the other monologues - and if you order a book, you can read along with it at home, like I did :)

Well, I'm off to find my tent!

Postcard from Home: Sharks Are Coming!

Southbank, July

Safest Spot in Town

I've mentioned the Queers monologue series a few times now.

Safest Spot in Town, the play I wrote, will be on at The Old Vic on the 31st July - now just a couple of weeks away - alongside three other plays by Jon Bradfield, Michael Dennis and Brian Fillis. I'm pleased that Kadiff Kirwan will be doing the stage version as well as the film version. I couldn't have wished for a better actor to take on the role... seriously, he's legend, and I'm saying this as objectively as possible (watch it and see if you agree...).

The Old Vic show SOLD OUT! (and pretty quickly - which probably had something to do with Russell Tovey starring in Brian Fillis's More Anger). Not to worry, short of queuing up for reserves, the film version will be on BBC Four in the next few weeks to watch at leisure in the comfort of one's own home.

Meanwhile, here's a trailer:

Book Overload!

Here's the full list:

Jay Bernard - English Breakfast
Kayo Chingonyi - Kumukanda
Lorna Goodison - Collected Poems
Roger Mais - Black Lightning
Nick Makoha - Kingdom of Gravity
Nate Marshall - Wild Hundreds
Karen McCarthy Woolf - Seasonal Disturbances
Miriam Nash - All the Prayers in the House
Olumide Popoola - When We Speak of Nothing
Leone Ross - Come Let Us Sing Anyway