Image by Jagmeet Singh Khalsa

Wolverhampton writer Eileen Ward-Birch gets ready to take part in the..

THE FIRST BIG BILSTON HALLOWE'EN SLAM

Saturday 31st October 2009
Imperial Banqueting Suite, Lichfield Street, Bilston, WV14 0AJ
• 8pm (doors 7.30pm)
• £10/£9 concession. Ticket price includes curry!
Tickets available from
Big Deal Music
128 Salop Street
Wolverhampton
01902 423567

Here’s a Halloween that’s guaranteed to raise your spirits! Dress up in your best hag-rags, grab a broomstick and fly down to an evening of rhythms, rhymes and other things that go bump in the night at Bilston’s super-unnatural performance poetry competition! Fifteen verse-wizards aim to move your hearts and hearing parts with their magic words, but who will be the next Harry Po(e)tter? Which witch will cast a stanzaic spell over you? Your hosts, Grand High Sorceress Sara-Jane Arbury and Master of Cemeteries Marcus Moore, provide tricks and treats aplenty, while random judges rate the writing, assess the performances and gauge the warmth of the applaudience. Your response to the bards on show will help sort the prize pumpkins from the bobbing apples! For further information, or to take part in the Slam, contact Marcus at info@spiel.wanadoo.co.uk or ring 01285 640470. Ticket price includes a spookily sumptuous curry!

Postcard Poets
27/10/2009
VENUE: LIBRARY THEATRE

Take 20 poets. Ask each of them to write a poem on the National Poetry Day theme of Heroes and Heroines, short enough to fit on a postcard, and accessible to all readers. Select the best six - and you get the Postcard Poets. Their poems are available on attractive postcards at libraries throughout the West Midlands, but tonight all six will be reading in person. Free postcard for every audience member!

Featuring:
Jo Bell
Julie Boden
Roz Goddard
Emma Purshouse
Spoz
Catherine Whittaker

More information
Venue: Birmingham Book Festival - Venue Information
Cost: Free
Times: 8.00pm
t: 0121 303 23 23
e: Contact Us
w: www.birminghamboxoffice.com

CHELTENHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL

Voices Off: The UK All Stars Poetry Slam!

Saturday 10 October 2009 at 8:00 pm

(180mins)

Event 62

at The Inkpot

book online

NATIONAL POETRY DAY

8th October 2009

Emma Purshouse performs poetry and talks about how she goes about writing poems

2-3 pm

A Poetry on Loan

live event

Venue: Central Library, Walsall

Warwick Words Festival

INVITATION TO: POETRY TEA ROOMS

Thomas Oken Tea Rooms, Warwick

Thursday 1st October 11am – 4pm
Friday 2nd October 11am – 4pm

Poetry Tea Room’s is a two-day free event for Warwick locals, tourists and Festival goers and while they’re sipping tea and munching cake, we’ll be serving up a huge dollop of fabulous poetry from the West Midlands!

Emma Purshouse will be reading at 11.00am on Friday 2nd October

Why not come along to some of the other Warwick Words events, please check out the website, which lists the full programme:
www.warwickwords.co.uk Booking is open now!

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY

31st AUGUST 2009

COUNTRY FAYRE FARM FUN DAY

HEATON HOUSE FARM

RUSHTON SPENCER

MACCLESFIELD

CHESHIRE

Mountain Bike Display Team, Falconry, Gun Dogs, Shire Horses, Clowns, Archery, Clay shoot, fly fishing,

Also including appearances by Emma Purshouse...

SOLFEST 09

28th - 30th August

AND A POETRY TENT....with an appearance by EMMA PURSHOUSE!

SOLFEST 09

28th - 30th AUGUST

BBC RADIO 4

UK PERFORMANCE POETRY SLAM

Midlands Heat

in partnership with Apples & Snakes BBC Radio 4 is organising a UK and Northern Ireland Performance Poetry Slam between 18 of the top UK performance poets representing the nine BBC regions in a verse-spilling wit-spitting live knockout poetry competition.

Each region will choose two performance poets to represent them by pitting proven local slam winners against each other in a series of high-octane verbal battles guaranteed to sort the poetic wheat from the prosaic chaff.

In Birmingham, on Thursday 2 July, at The REP, the Midlands poets get their chance for glory. The "Midlands Heat" qualifying slam gives you the opportunity to select the two champions of the spoken word in the Midlands that you think should take on representatives from Scotland, Wales, Ireland, North East England, North West England, South East England, South West England and London.

The two inter-regional semi-finals will be broadcast on Radio 4 on Thursday 24th Sept at 11.00pm and Thurs 1st Oct at 11.00pm. The Grand Final will be broadcast on Thurs 8th Oct at 11.00pm. The UK Performance Poetry Slam forms part of the BBC's multi-platform poetry series running from May to October 2009.

Compere: Giovanni "Spoz" Esposito

Line-up:

Chris Vickers

George "Poshboy" Hardwick

Emma Purshouse

Steve Rooney

Brenda Read-Brown

Simon Lee

Mark Neil

Bohdan Piaceski

Cherrie "Riddlewoman" Gillings

Sean "Evoke" Welch

Mohammed "DubLe" Shariff

Michelle "Mother" Hubbard

Rob Gee

Jude Simpson

Ash Dickinson

WHEN: Thursday 2nd July, 7.45pm

WHERE: Birmingham Rep, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP

TICKETS: £4

BOOKINGS: 0121 245 2000

Rogueplay, the new theatre company in residence at the Custard Factory Theatre present 'Rhymes', bringing Birmingham the best in Performance Poetry talent. For our first event, we have not one, but three former Birmingham Poet Laureates, as well as live music, audience participation and a top quality raffle, uw er! This months poets:

Spoz takes everyday scenarios, beats them with a blunt instrument and flushes them down the bog of spoken word.

Charlie Jordan is a radio d.j. and poet in residence at WBA .She's the same height as Michelle Obama, but hasn't yet patted the Queen....

Emma Purshouse is a quickwitted, sharp, bouncy, poignant and funny performance poet and slam winner.

Dreadlockalien is one of the hardest working artists in the West Midlands. His urban hip dub flo verse pushes the boundaries of live literature.

M.C Lorna Meehan. Moaning about celebrities and ranting about the state of the world for your audio delight.

The Custard Factory. Digbeth, Birmingham - 28th May. 7.30pm. Come and get poetical!

THE 9th AUDLEM FESTIVAL

22-25 MAY 2009
Live bands
Solo artists
Folk sessions
Textiles exhibition
Carnival
Live band karaoke
Chili night
Theatre
ALL MUSIC IS TOTALLY FREE
We invite you...
to the 9th Audlem Festival. This
year is a credit crunch busting
special - so all the music is FREE.
Festival favourites are joined by
some great new musicians from
near and far. Singing sensation
ʻChloeʼ, motown heros ʻHigh
Societyʼ and Heidi Emma Peach
Browne to name but a few.
info@audlemfestival.com
01270 812125

Emma Purshouse will be performing poetry as part of the festival. Check her out at the festival Chilli Night - The Lord Combermere, Audlem @ 8.00pm on

Monday 25th May

Bantock House and Park (in Wolverhampton) are putting on 'The Professor Vyle Show' as part of their 'Museums Night'.

MUSEUMS NIGHT - SATURDAY 16th MAY 2009
Bantock House will be open between 7pm and 9pm on Saturday 16th May. It is an opportunity to explore the house and its new displays in an atmospheric evening setting. Free admission to the house, drop-in.

There will also be chance to see the touring exhibition 'CARRY ON PUNCH & JUDY'. Discover the history of Mr.Punch in this 'have-a-go" exhibition funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and delivered by Puppetlink and the Museum of Cannock chase. Free entry. The exhibition runs from Saturday 2nd May - Sunday 7th June 2009.

THE PROFESSOR VYLE SHOW - Written and performed by EMMA PURSHOUSE
SATURDAY 16th MAY 2009 7pm - 8pm
An adult take on a traditional theme - Punch and Judy meets daytime TV!
£3 per person - booking essential.

Also during May a Lunchtime Talk: 'That's The Way To Do It' a talk about Mr.Punch by Punch and Judy 'professor' , Derek Peasley. 5th May, 12.30pm. Free admission, drop-in.

To make reservations:-
01902 552195
BANTOCK HOUSE & PARK
Finchfield Road
Wolverhampton
WV3 9LQ

Big Bilston Love Slam 2!

Saturday 7th February 2009

Imperial Banqueting Suite, Lichfield Street, Bilston, WV14 0AJ

• 8pm

• £10/£9 concs.

Ticket price includes a curry!

Tickets available from

Big Deal Music

128 Salop Street

Wolverhampton

01902 423567

Treat your Valentine to romance, rhythm and rhyme! It’s the time of year when love is well and truly in the air, so follow the pheromones and check out the competition as a medley of Valentine versifiers declare their most passionate poetry in a cut and thrust contest to win the hearts and woo the hearing parts of the audience.

The first round is on the theme of romance – after that, anything goes…Partners in rhyme Sara-Jane Arbury and Marcus Moore will compère thee to a slammer’s way, while random judges rate the writing, measure the performances and find the wordster with the X-factor. Who will be the reddest rose or bluest violet? Make it a date at Bilston’s premier poetic love-in and show your adoration for the talent on show!

Up-and-coming poets who fancy taking part in a bid to seduce the applaudience, please contact Marcus on 01285 640470 or email info@spiel.wanadoo.co.uk.