Francis Bickmore, Toby Mottershead and Black Diamond Express
“Like when you get a smell of something that your gran used to make, reading the poem took me back to being a kid again…”
Ryan chats with Francis Bickmore, senior editor at Canongate Books, and Toby Mottershead of Black Diamond Express about their favourite
poem, Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. Their discussion covers Nick Cave, Iron Maiden, what we expect from literature and how poetry can fit neatly into a busy schedule, among other things. Also
features the track ‘Jack’ by Black Diamond Express. Presented by Ryan van Winkle. Produced by Colin Fraser. Incidental music by Ewen Maclean. For feedback, mail splpodcast@gmail.com
It’s absolutely free and very easy to subscribe. Simply click on the icon below!
Chemical Poet Alasdair Maloney and actors Gilchrist Muir and Jamie Gordon
“I like to let the natural sounds fill my head…”
In this bumper packed edition of the SPL podcast, Ryan chats with actors Gilchrist Muir and Jamie Gordon about reciting poetry to all
and sundry at the Poetry Garden in St Andrews Square. He also discusses poetry and hip-hop with multi-talented poet and performer Alasdair Maloney whose track ‘Thunder and Sun’ with his band Sileni rounds off this week’s episode. Presented by Ryan van Winkle. Produced
by Colin Fraser. Incidental music by Ewen Maclean.
Here‘s were you can get free downloads from the entire Chemical Poets massive.
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If anyone would like to have a sit-down in the Scottish Poetry Library with me – I have my regular office hours on Tuesday the 1st of December. I’ll be in the poetry library from 4 – 6 and will be available to talk about poems, poetry, the library, milk trombones, future events, workshops, David Hasselhoff, or Daredevil.
For your diary: I’ll be in the SPL from 4 – 6 on the first Tuesday of every month — 1 December & 2 February— so feel free to come down for a chat and biscuits!
I’ll be performing at the great Glasgow night – DiScOmBoBuLaTe
where: The Arches, Glasgow
when: Tuesday, 1 December, 8pm (doors 7.30)
how much: £4/2
I was super happy to be invited to this reading as people have been telling me about it for ages. The word on the street is, the gig is super good and with folk like Alan Bissett and Jenny Soep involved, I believe The Word. Their website says, “where literature and comedy collide.” Sounds messy.
Ben Lancaster – live via satellite from snowy Canada. What, oh
what, will he wear?
music:
Forest Choir – they will unleash their full might upon you.
Jed Milroy & Hailey Beavis – New and traditional songs from
two of our best friends. Like Christmas morning all over again.
The Stormy Seas – place their brand of ‘aggressive folk’
under the GH tree. Featuring all the stuff you want — guitar, bass drums,
banjo, melodica, squeezebox, fiddle and Sea Shanties with a Punk
attitude.
And if that isn’t enough, here’s a little video treat from The Golden Hour Tour in the Highlands. Featuring: Hailey Bevis, Jed Milroy, Billy Liar and Withered Hand!
Now available for a bargainous £2 is the ninth in a series of chapbooks printed by Forest Publications: a collection of short stories entitled, Vignettes from Below by Julia Boll. The lovely cover is from Rosie Etherington.
Here’s an excerpt:
“When the fires broke out, I was so high on endorphins I didn’t even notice the overwhelming stench of smoke. We had been sleeping on the roof of a warehouse, and Sean had woken me up by crawling into my sleeping bag and pushing up my shirt, his hair still smelling of the river, of oil and amphibian nightmares. But his hands were warm and insistent, and what he said was so filthy I momentarily forgot where we were.
So, yes. While the government set fire to its capital city, I was being fucked silly on top of the bonded store, on the brick layer over five storeys of wine barrels and coffee sacks, in the small hours of a particularly cold November night. Thus, I already felt light-headed and short of breath before the carbon monoxide made me dizzy. Then, the nausea set in.” Read more!
From Tuesday the 24th of November, Fountainbridge Library will be my poetic home away from home.
Starting with a Meet Ryan Session on Tuesday, I’ll be semi-based in Fountainbridge hosting free poetic events and workshops! The month will feature reading poems aloud, going poetry writing and setting up a display with my favourite poetry books. You can come and meet your Reader in Residence and chat about the books on off on Tuesday 24 November from 14.00. It should be a brilliant month so come along to any of the events mentioned below or feel free to pop into the library and see what excellent poetry books are on offer!
Meet Your Reader in Residence
Tuesday, 24 November 14.00 – 16.00
Ryan Van Winkle is Reader in Residence at the Scottish Poetry Library and Edinburgh City Libraries. He is also a working poet who’s work has appeared in Northwords Now, New Writing Scotland and The American Poetry Review.
Do you have a favourite poem? Do you love hearing poems read aloud? Come to our poems aloud session where we’ll be sharing the poems we carry with us, in our hearts and even in our pockets. Bring any poem you’d like to hear and share and we’ll read a few from our roving poetry collection.
Nothing But the Poem
Monday, 14 December 18.30
Fancy a poetry chat? Nothing But The Poem is a relaxed and informal way to meet and discuss poems. Moderated by ECL / SPL Reader-in-Residence Ryan Van Winkle. * We read a poem * We discuss the poem * Only the poem we’ve read. * No Jargon * No experience needed * Nothing to fear * Nothing but the poem.
Poetry Workshop – Forms
Wednesday, 6 January 18.30
A special Nothing but the Poem with a creative writing slant. We’ll be looking at a few poetic forms (and non-forms) and doing a few writing exercises to get the words flowing.
Chatterbooks
Thurs. 14 January 15.45 pm
A poetry afternoon for kids with writing games and activities!
What is it?
* We read a poem
* We discuss the poem
* Only the poem we’ve read.
* No Jargon
* No experience needed
* Nothing to fear
* Nothing but the poem.
There’s a little sample of what a NBTP session is like here.
One of the nicest things about hosting, performing and touring with the Golden Hour is that I occasionally get to collaborate with great musicians. So, on this podcast I share with you one of my favourites – Jed Milroy and I performing Bluegrass. In the podcast I explain a bit about where the poem comes from but here are some more interesting facts.
* I recorded the vocal part sitting in Jed Milroy’s loo.
* I never lived with anyone named Tuna. The name is an oblique reference to the horrendous Johnny Depp film, Blow. At some point the overweight character named Tuna wanders into the ocean as a solemn Johnny Depp says, “Nobody knows where Tuna went” or something like that. At the time, we found it very funny and it managed to sneak into the poem.
* The poem wouldn’t have been written if I didn’t live with an amazing bunch of people in a huge house in Ithaca during the Summer of 2001. This experiment in communal living was revolutionary but not in the naive way we all expected. Hammocks and skinny-dipping in waterfalls, table football, music and artistic endeavours were all around us. Living closely with a dozen artists and activists changed my life and, in a way, has guided me to this day. We made some mistakes, and we were young enough to believe we could change the world in some way. Then 9/11 happened, the house broke up and the world really did change. This is what we looked like:
* The poem wouldn’t have been written if Jed Milroy, Jack Richold, Andy McKay, and Ian Stoddart didn’t play magnificent bluegrass music every week for a while at The Jazz Bar on Chambers Street. Hearing songs like Wagon Wheel and Loudon Wainwright’s Swimming Song brought me back to America and returned me to the friends I lived with. Thank you Greenman Bluegrass Boys!
Anyway, that’s all a lot of preamble. Here’s the blurb from the SPL site. Let us know how you enjoy the podcast.
Emily Ballou & Bluegrass
“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain…”
Ryan catches up with American/Australian poet Emily Ballou just before her event at the SPL. They discuss what it’s like to be a poet abroad, the influences on her work and her recent collection, The Darwin Poems. We’re also treated to ‘Bluegrass’, a poem by Ryan, with musical accompaniment by Jed Milroy.
Based on the presumption that you are still not yet sick of my voice – we offer you another free poetry podcast. Please subscribe via i-tunes or rss, give us a rating if you have the time, or just drop Colin and I a line to say “knock it off” or “keep it up.” Thanks again to everyone who has been writing in.You know who you are and, yes, your gifts are in the post.
“There are a few poets I carry with me in my head. Poetic DNA, I suppose…”
In this week’s episode Ryan tells us about the Global Poetry System project he’s been helping organise and how you can take part in it. He
also catches up with poet Andrew Philip who discusses the poem that he carries with him, his views on poetry and reads us a poem from his recent collection The Ambulance Box.
Making his debut in front of the microphone, Colin speaks with another Salt Publishing poet, Julia Bird, and discusses her live literature tour “You Are Here” that takes poetry into theatres in England. Presented by Ryan van Winkle.
Produced by Colin Fraser. Incidental music by Ewen Maclean. For feedback, mail splpodcast@gmail.com
