Everybody loves the summer festivals. The scale, the diversity, the sunny days and nights memories are made of. But there comes a point where you’ve peaked, your voice is going, there’s something akin to tinnitus going on in your head and you want to use permanent toilet facilities. Above all, it becomes desirable to be able to hear yourself think again. If that’s where you are getting to we have something that may appeal – introducing The Pub Poets’ Speakeasy.
The speakeasy is oganised by Lisa Bower. Lisa may be known to some of you as the presenter of the arts and culture show PopArt on Fylde Coast Radio. She apparently left Liverpool to live in Blackpool and has spent most of her life trying to get home, but we won’t hold that against her.
The speakeasy is held on the first Sunday of the month in the salubrious surroundings of the Bootleg Social. The first acts come on at around 6.30pm, with recitals (if that isn’t too grandiose a word in a speakeasy) until late. At the event on 7 August the special guest is Jim Templeton. Don’t try googling Jim, I have and bizarrely you get hundreds of references to the Solway Firth Spaceman, clearly Jim but not as we know it. Our JT is Jim Erasmus Lime Templeton, who has published only one collection in 25 years but is a pre-eminent performance poet who doesn’t write his work down and lets it evolve over time.
Looking further ahead future guests at the Speakeasy are Christopher Bowles on September 4, Mark Grist on October 2, Sarah Hirsch on November 6 as part of her national book tour and Trevor Meaney on December 4. If you haven’t been before there is an open mic session before the guest speaker, the feature slot and then there is another open mic session to follow. All events are hosted by Ash Lister, the poet who ‘sets the bar on inappropriateness’. Whether this is a bar you are supposed to respect and not exceed, or this in fact a challenge for participants is not immediately clear. I suspect the latter, especially in the second open mic session when presumably the drinks will have been flowing liberally throughout the venue.
If the sales pitch has made it all sound a little tame and not your thing, but by some chance you are still reading this I should point out that there is a regular Haiku Death Match and the wearing of zombie Christmas outfits is mandatory in December. Oh ok, the zombie outfits are optional but you know you want to really.
The speakeasy is a free event when there is no guest, though sharp eyed readers will have noticed that there are in fact guests right through until next year. The normal entry with a guest speaker is however a very reasonable £3. All speakers this year come into this category with the exception of Mark Grist, as this is a headliner event entry is £6.
For more information about Pub Poets visit their Facebook page.
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