SWOON SPOKEN WORD FESTIVAL
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SWOON SPOKEN WORD FESTIVAL
An
electrifying collaboration between poets and storytellers around the
theme of the PHOENIX denoting fire and rebirth. It's a gathering of the
pioneers and rising stars of the spoken scene who, as D. H. Lawrence
says, speak their words hot when genuine passion moves them.
poet NIALL O'SULLIVAN
poet JEREMY REED
storyteller
NELL PHOENIX
storyteller RAPHAEL
RODAN
storyteller TOM BLAND
host CHRIS HADFIELD
Tickets £25
(Early bird booking
£18)
SAT 24TH MARCH 2012
1:00 pm to 10:00 pm
(with a
dinner break between 5:00 - 7:30)
POETRY CAFE
22 Betterton Street,
Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9BX
For
more info please contact Tom Bland at inward_email.com
Phoenix
The theme of the festival is inspired by D. H. Lawrence’s
poem:
PHOENIX
Are you willing to be sponged out, erased,
cancelled,
made nothing?
Are you willing to be made
nothing?
dipped into
oblivion?
If not, you will never really change.
The phoenix renews
her youth
only when she is burnt,
burnt alive, burnt down
to hot and
flocculent ash.
Then the small
stirring of a new small bub in the nest
with strands of down like floating ash
shows that she is renewing her youth like the
eagle,
immortal bird.
Lawrence describes poetry as:
The essential quality of poetry is that it
makes a new effort of attention, and ‘discovers' a new world within the
known world. Man, and the animals, and the flower, all live within a
strange and forever surging chaos. The chaos which we have got used to,
we call a cosmos. The unspeakable inner chaos of which we are composed
we call consciousness, and mind, and even civilization. But it is,
ultimately, chaos, lit up by visions.
The first picture is the phoenix from Lawrence’s
headstone.
Niall
O'Sullivan THE MUNDANE COMEDY
NIALL O'SULLIVAN
Last
year Niall started a project of writing a poem a day, cheekily naming
it, The Mundane Comedy, affectionately alluding to Dante's epic. He
details big current events, intimate everyday happenings and the tired
rope bridge of opinion that naturally forms between the two. While most
of the poems deal with the expectant arrival of his first child, others
are political, philosophical, deep, shallow, scientific, spiritual or
perhaps a bit daft.
Niall O'Sullivan
was an art school drop out and gardener before performing poetry full
time since 1997. He hosts Poetry Unplugged and teaches at the Poetry
School. His three poetry collections, you’re not
singing anymore (2005),
Ventriloquism for Monkeys (2007),
and Sonnet Hack (2010) are
published by Flipped Eye. His poem, 'The Father in Law,' was highly
commended by the Forward Prize. His website is
www.niallosullivan.co.uk
Niall O'Sullivan _ Book Slam
(2011) Tom Bland FLASHES OF FIRE
TOM BLAND
My
performance explores London as a phoenix city whose streets burn with
fleshly intensity. My focus is on soul, which James Hillman says,
'turns events into experiences.' London is full of images that ignite,
burn and rise again from perfumed ashes. We too are images with
sunlight behind the eyes illuminating the concrete places of this
metropolis.
Tom Bland is a storyteller
and poet who resides in London. He describes his craft as image making
through words and physicality. He is the founder of both the SWOON
Festival and The Quest for Vision conference on storytelling as a
healing art. He can be contacted at inward_email.com
Jeremy Reed
PHOENIX UNDER THE STREET
JEREMY REED
In December
2011 my friend Maurice Huggett the manager of the Phoenix Theatre Bar,
under the street off Charing Cross Road, died in a hospice, and as I
wrote so many books in his under the street bar lit by blue, red and
green light fixtures, and came back to the light with my creativity -
the phoenix is my chosen symbol for transitioning and regenerative
creativity.
Jeremy Reed was born in
Jersey, Channel Islands, and read for his PhD at the University of
Essex. He is one of the most imaginatively gifted poets of his
generation. Bjork says his work is the 'most beautiful, outrageously
brilliant poetry in the world.' His latest poetry collection
is Piccadilly Bingo
including a CD by pop icon Marc Almond (Enitharmon 2010) and
his latest novel is Here Comes Mr Nice
(Chomu 2011). His website is
www.jeremyreed.co.uk
Jeremy Reed 'on Blake's Steps' reading 'A
Thief's Poem' 20 February 2011
Nell Phoenix
RELISH A RESURRECTION
NELL
PHOENIX
Stories ask us to pause for an
instant after the drama of the blaze. Here is a moment of doubt and
fear; we face the void or risk being alive. We are asked to look
closely. Is there a stirring in the ashes, a breath in the stone or
life-signs in the husk of a leaf? And are we brave enough to
trust?
Find a beating heart trapped in
a salty tear
Drink the salty tear for a
healing sip
For re-awaking, drink deep from
both the Water of Life and the Water of Death
Relish a Resurrection Cocktail
Nell Phoenix is a storyteller who passionately promotes
storytelling as a contemporary performance art. She is artistic
director and host of StoryNight at Torriano and at The Emporium Pudding
Club, North London’'s much-loved storytelling clubs for adults. She
tells stories in schools, at festivals and on NTS radio. Xanthe Gresham
says Nell 'tells with wit, humour and theatrical skill.' Her website
is
www.nellphoenix.co.uk
Raphael Rodan
TWO CORPSES GO DANCING
RAPHAEL RODAN
Is the power
of Resurrection only given by God? The medieval books of the Kabbalah
say the devil can infuse a corpse with the breath of life...
With two short stories by Isaac
Bashevis Singer, storyteller Raphael Rodan and the audience dance their
way into the darker colours of the human soul where superstitions,
apparitions and demonic forces are constantly at work within the lives
of rich and poor, sinners and pious alike.
Raphael Rodan is a storyteller who was born in the ancient land
of the Galilee. His artistic quest ventures into the shadow of our
inner self. Raphael runs storytelling workshops and performs all over
Europe. He is the founder of Jiser El Adam
, an international storytelling project for peace in
Israel. His website is www.raphaelrodan.com
When Abel met Cain - Trailer
Chris
Hadfield HOST OF THE FESTIVAL
CHRIS HADFIELD
Chris
Hadfield rocks between his strange portfolio of integrative arts
psychotherapy, acting, coaching, hosting events, creative facilitation
in organisations, charities and communities and trying to get lawyers
and bankers to connect to their human side, a thankless task, so he
also works with clowns,
poets and
storytellers. His website is
www.centre4change.com
Tickets
Ticket
TICKET
FOR SWOON SPOKEN WORD FESTIVAL SAT 24TH MARCH 2012 POETRY CAFE, 22
BETTERTON ST, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON, WC2H 9BX
£18
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Phoenix Niall
O'Sullivan Tom Bland
Jeremy Reed Nell
Phoenix Raphael Rodan
Chris Hadfield
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2023 no animals were harmed in the making
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As
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WHY WE STARTED SWOON FESTIVAL
Some
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Fall in love again as you jive along to the following musicians:
The Love Affairs
Saving Andy
Walking in Minnesota
Orange Monkeys
5 of Hearts
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