Poetry

Poetry Café CELEBRATING THE CITY This year, two evenings each month, Costa Café at the bottom of Bold Street will become Costa Liverpool Poetry Café. 2nd Monday and 4th Thursday each month from 7.00 -9.30pm. Admission normally free, some events ticketed. Monday 10th @ 7-9.30pm Costa Liverpool Poetry Café. John Redmond & Deryn Rees-Jones A chance to hear two fantastic award-winning poets. Costa Coffee, bottom of Bold St, Liverpool. Free. Details: 724-2777 or alexss@liv.ac.uk

May

Wed 7th - Dead Good Poets Society open mic 3rd Room, Everyman Bistro, Liverpool. DGPS Open Floor. 8.00pm (but come earlier to ensure you get one of our 24 'slots'). £1 /£2 sarah@deadgoodpoetssociety.co.uk

Saturday 10th 2pm-4pm Dead Good Poets Society Poetry Reading Group Two hours in which to discuss and debate poems! This month we're asking you to bring poems you remember from school or other significant moments in your life. The Hornby Room, Liverpool Central Library. Refreshments provided. Free.

Sunday 11th 2pm - 3.15pm Cafe Society at Oxton Secret Gardens, Oxton (Birkenhead). Poets take to the streets... er... gardens as part of day-long annual festival which sees 30 private gardens open to the public. Look out for Adam Khan, Clare Kirwan, Caroline Edwards, Holly Green (Wirral's Young Poet Laureate) and John Gorman.

Monday 12th @ 8pm: Come Strut your Stuff - Poetry & acoustic music night hosted by Graham & Nick, with Stan the Harper. The Egg Café, Newington, between Bold St & Renshaw Street, Liverpool. Come early to book an open mic slot. Free

Monday 12th @ 8pm: Zest! - Popular poetry open mic at Alexanders Jazz Bar, Chester. £3

Monday 12th: 7.30pm-9.30pm Liverpool Poetry Cafe: featuring the launch of Between Fields and Stars by the late and much missed Edmund Cusick, with readings by his friends, colleagues and students. Costa Coffee, Bold St, Liverpool. All welcome!

Tuesday 13th : 6.30pm – 8.30pm Poetry Pool Launch. This celebration for the launch of Poetry Pool 4 is open to all. The event will be a mixture of readings from the anthology by new voices and well-known poets from across the UK. Published by Headland and the LJMU Centre for Writing. The Bluecoat, School Lane, Liverpool, L1 3BX. Free

Friday 16th: 7.30pm - 9.30pm Manky Poets presents Janet Fisher reading from her collections Women Who Dye Their Hair and Listening to Dancing. Janet, along with Peter Sansom, established The Poetry Business in Huddersfield. There will also be an Open Mic. Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, Chorlton M21 9PN. £2 / £1

Saturday 17th 11am-1pm Dead Good Poets Society Poetry Reading Group, meets at Bebington Library, Wirral. More good natured poetical debate hosted by Janine Pinion. If you would like to receive copies of the poems in advance, please telephone Sarah on 0151 709 5221. Free. Refreshments provided.

Saturday 17th - Readers' Day at the Brindley Arts Centre - talks, discussions and workshops with writers, editors & poets including Rebecca Goss, Chris Routledge, Ella Jolly, Jane Davis, Caroline Smailes and more! Tickets £20 (£15 concessions/£12 income support and leisure card) and can be booked via the Brindley Box Office on 0151 907 8360.

Saturday 17th @ 8pm: John Cooper Clarke & Attila the Stockbroker Two legendary names equals one brilliant event! John Cooper Clarke, aka the Bard of Salford, and Attila the Stockbroker, rock ‘n’ roll rebel poet, will come together to bring you one night of sharp-tongued, hard-hitting, full-voltage, stand-up poetry. Stanley Theatre, Liverpool Uni, Students Guild,160 Mount Pleasant, L69 7BR Tickets £10/£8 available from The Base, Students Guild Mon – Fri 9am till 5pm Tel: 0151 974 6868 or at www.lgos.org

Sunday 18th @8pm - Write Out Loud's Read Around. Friendly and relaxed open mic. at the Howcroft Inn, Bolton. £1 donation. For directions www.writeoutloud.net

Tuesday 20th May @ 7.30 pm: In the Red 6 Poetry Magazine Launch The editors of In the Red invite you to the launch of the 6th edition of the JMU literary magazine with a night of live readings of poetry and prose. The Magnet, 45 Hardman Street, L1 9AS. Free

Wed 21st @ 8pm. Dead Good Poets Society Guest Night: Gerry Potter creator of Chloe Poems dresses down and appears as himself. His new body of work unveils a more autobiographical voice. Journeying through an extraordinary life and experiences, very different in tone and presentation to his gingham alter ego, Gerry uses his Scouse voice to conjure the spirit of a very real Liverpool and argues that it has always been a city of culture. Supported by Sophie McKeand. The 3rd Room, Everyman Bistro, Hope St, Liverpool 1. £3 / £2/ £1 pay on the door.

Thursday 22nd: 7.30pm - 9.30pm Liverpool Poetry Cafe: Patience Agbabi & Seni Seneviratne. In 2004, Patience Agbabi was one of the Poetry Society’s ‘next generation’ poets. Her first collection won the Excelle Literary Award. Her work isinfluenced by rap rhythms and wordplay and draws inspiration from popular forms of music. Seni Seneviratne is a writer/singer and her performance is a delicate mix of spoken word and folk/jazz song that creates a poetic landscape of family, love, loss and memory. £5 / £3 concs pay on the door.

Thursday 22nd@ 7pm Absurd poetry and acoustic music night with Martin Daws, Sophie McKeand, Slammer Sophia, Andy Jones and Laura-Leigh, plus limited open mic. Y Delwyn Wine Bar, 3 King St., Mold, Wales CH7 1LA. Donations. Free tapas from 7pm.

Tuesday 27th @ 7.30pm - Wirral Words Mal Saunders presents a new open mic. Free admission. The Scouse House, 3 Oliver Street, Birkenhead. 647 6427 malpoet@hotmail.co.uk

Friday 30th May @ 7pm: Grime, Big Beats & Rhyme with Liverpool Young Writers, Sway, Skinnyman and Young KOF, hosted by Nikki Blaze. Liverpool Young Authors & Poets perform alongside UK hip-hop and grime artists. The New Picket, 61 Jordon Street, L1 OBW. £6 on the door or £5 in advance from the Philharmonic Hall box office, Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BP. Tel: 0151 709 3789. All ages welcome.

Saturday 31st May @ 7.30pm: Pub Crawl with Niall Griffiths. Real Liverpool could leave your head reeling! Writer Niall Griffiths (Grits, Kelly & Victor, Stump) launches his latest book, Real Liverpool, and leads a cast of writers, playwrights and actors taking you on a tour de force journey through literature, laughter and lager (or bitter, if you prefer). Five pubs, ten performers, and a couple of pints along the way: not to be missed…hic! Meet 7.30pm at Peter Kavanagh’s, Egerton Street, L8 7LY £6/£4 To book a place call WoW on 0151 703 0020.

Saturday 31st May @ 8pm Funny Women contest at the Bluecoat - local female comedians - including Clare Kirwan (if she doesn't bottle out) battle it out to win a place in the national final.www.funnywomen.com