D & W PUBLISHING - BOOKS, PAMPHLETS AND POEMS
  • Dempsey & Windle
  • SUBMISSIONS
  • Events
  • Authors' pages A-B
    • Veronica Aaronson
    • Derek Adams
    • Timothy Adès
    • Gary Allen
    • Moira Andrew
    • David Ashbee
    • Wanda Barford
    • Ranald Barnicot
    • Kevin Bailey
    • William Bedford
    • Philip Bentall
    • Marc Brightside
    • Trisha Broomfield
  • Authors' Pages C – G
    • Fiona Cartwright
    • Ian Caws
    • Ian Clarke
    • Stephen Claughton
    • Claudia Court
    • David Cooke
    • Alexandra Davis
    • Donall Dempsey
    • Ray Diamond
    • Scott Elder
    • Roger Elkin
    • Wendy Falla
    • Bert Flitcroft
    • Robbie Frazer
    • Dawn Gorman
  • Authors' Pages H - -O
    • Charlotte Harker
    • Richard Hawtree
    • Georgia Hilton
    • Paul Jeffcutt
    • Margaret Jennings
    • Peter W Keeble
    • Wendy Klein
    • Janet Loverseed
    • Jeremy Loynes
    • Valerie Lynch
    • Aiison Mace
    • Kyle McHale
    • Ayelet McKenzie
    • Heather Moulson
    • M.E.Muir
    • Ian Mullins
    • Patrick B Osada
  • Authors' Pages P – S
    • Linda Rose Parkes
    • Mark G Pennington
    • Nicky Phillips
    • Jenna Plewes
    • Ray Pool
    • Harriet Proudfoot
    • Polly Roberts
    • Imogen Russell Williams
    • Julie Sampson
    • Carla Scarano D'Antonio
    • Susan Jane Sims
    • Fiona Sinclair
    • Belinda Singleton & Kathryn Southworth
    • Kathryn Southworth
    • Kathleen Strafford
    • Paul Sutherland
  • Authors' Pages T – Z
    • Laura Theis
    • Brad Walker
    • Sue Wallace-Shaddad
    • J S Watts
    • Poul Webb
    • John Wheeler
    • Richard Williams
    • Simon Williams
    • Geoffrey Winch
    • Lynn Woollacott
    • Richard Woolmer
    • Mantz Yorke
    • Damon Young
  • Anthologies
  • COMPETITION
  • Reviews of our books
  • Notes
  • Contact Us
Picture
Notes

Happy Birthday Pop up Poetry

18/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
We’re celebrating the first anniversary of Pop Up Poetry at the Bar des Arts in Guildford (GU1 3YA) in February. We’ve been running this spoken word and music evening for a year now.  It’s a free night with open mic opportunities and each month four or five guest artists come to perform, read or play their words or music.

The series takes its name from an idea by a friend, Susie Campbell, who in 2011 organised some spoken word events in previously poem-free places – one in a hairdressers (“On Beauty”), one in a cake-shop (“On Food”) and one in the Bar des Arts ("On Art") which Dónall hosted.

It was after the success of “On Art” that we began to hold Pop Up Poetry open mic sessions on irregular monthly Tuesday evenings at the Bar des Arts. Now Dónall hosts the nights on the third Tuesday of each month (except in April 2013 when it will be the fourth Tuesday).

We‘ve had a wonderful year of entertainment from a wide range of poets and musicians, both from the London circuit and from the local and provincial areas, and made a great many new friends in the last year.  The recent emergence of a student group from Surrey University (Tom V and Friends) and the discovery of local talents like Eddie C, Rodney Wood, Daniel Smith, Wizzi Seaton and Thomas Thurman has made the year particularly rewarding.

People have asked us why we don’t charge entry to Pop Up Poetry. It’s a good question - we’ve been inviting friends with whom we’d often read and performed gratis, in London venues, and they have generously trained down to Guildford to join in as guest features, at their own expense, from London, Oxford, Kent, Addlestone, Farnborough and other far-flung places.

We don’t charge entry because we believe that listening to, reading and performing oral poetry should be accessible to everyone. We are not charged for the venue, nor do we receive anything from it other than the opportunity to fill it with words and music on a Tuesday night. To pay the expenses of four or five guests we would have to charge audience and open mic performers at least £4 - £5, even with a full house, because we would also have to pay the venue a share.

We believe this expense would exclude the students and young poets, and the (often unwaged) poets who come to our nights despite their own high travelling expenses. We believe this would be counterproductive.

We have been very lucky to find so many brilliant artists and performers who are willing to make the trip to Guildford occasionally and share their work with our appreciative audiences, without fees. We salute our friends and look forward to a happy and creative new year. 



You can find our Facebook page at http://facebook.com/PopUpPoets and see our schedule of events there.


Picture

Wizzi Seaton
Guildford singer-songwriter



Picture


Steve Pottinger
Oxford poet
guest feature

Picture
Picture

Laurie Bolger
London Poet guest feature

Picture

Rodney Wood
Farnborough poet

Picture

Cathy Flower
London poet and performer
guest feature

Thomas Thurman
Chertsey poet

Picture

Will Hames
London poet
Guest feature

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Dempsey
    &
    Windle

    Janice and Dónall Dempsey are based in Guildford, Surrey, UK. As Dempsey & Windle we publish collections and pamphlets by poets whose work we've heard or read and liked.

    The Brian Dempsey Memorial Prize competition is held in the Spring.

    We are open to submissions by email to janice@dempseyandwindle.co.uk.

    Archives

    January 2019
    April 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    November 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    June 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    August 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Guildford Festival Fringe
    Keystone Slam
    Pop Up Poetry

    RSS Feed

Picture
  • Dempsey & Windle
  • SUBMISSIONS
  • Events
  • Authors' pages A-B
    • Veronica Aaronson
    • Derek Adams
    • Timothy Adès
    • Gary Allen
    • Moira Andrew
    • David Ashbee
    • Wanda Barford
    • Ranald Barnicot
    • Kevin Bailey
    • William Bedford
    • Philip Bentall
    • Marc Brightside
    • Trisha Broomfield
  • Authors' Pages C – G
    • Fiona Cartwright
    • Ian Caws
    • Ian Clarke
    • Stephen Claughton
    • Claudia Court
    • David Cooke
    • Alexandra Davis
    • Donall Dempsey
    • Ray Diamond
    • Scott Elder
    • Roger Elkin
    • Wendy Falla
    • Bert Flitcroft
    • Robbie Frazer
    • Dawn Gorman
  • Authors' Pages H - -O
    • Charlotte Harker
    • Richard Hawtree
    • Georgia Hilton
    • Paul Jeffcutt
    • Margaret Jennings
    • Peter W Keeble
    • Wendy Klein
    • Janet Loverseed
    • Jeremy Loynes
    • Valerie Lynch
    • Aiison Mace
    • Kyle McHale
    • Ayelet McKenzie
    • Heather Moulson
    • M.E.Muir
    • Ian Mullins
    • Patrick B Osada
  • Authors' Pages P – S
    • Linda Rose Parkes
    • Mark G Pennington
    • Nicky Phillips
    • Jenna Plewes
    • Ray Pool
    • Harriet Proudfoot
    • Polly Roberts
    • Imogen Russell Williams
    • Julie Sampson
    • Carla Scarano D'Antonio
    • Susan Jane Sims
    • Fiona Sinclair
    • Belinda Singleton & Kathryn Southworth
    • Kathryn Southworth
    • Kathleen Strafford
    • Paul Sutherland
  • Authors' Pages T – Z
    • Laura Theis
    • Brad Walker
    • Sue Wallace-Shaddad
    • J S Watts
    • Poul Webb
    • John Wheeler
    • Richard Williams
    • Simon Williams
    • Geoffrey Winch
    • Lynn Woollacott
    • Richard Woolmer
    • Mantz Yorke
    • Damon Young
  • Anthologies
  • COMPETITION
  • Reviews of our books
  • Notes
  • Contact Us