Author: Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists

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Walsall MakerFest Fringe Festival

In September, Walsall MakerFest Fringe Festival will be running an exciting project which will see the words of people who live and work in Walsall projected onto a building in the town centre at the end of the year.

from 1-30 September, we are collecting haiku or ‘one-breath poems’ on the themes of ‘My Favourite Thing About Walsall’ or ‘What I Would Like To See In Walsall’. For info on what a haiku is, click here. Your three-line poems might look something like this:

My favourite place?
Dead easy. It’s got to be
the Arboretum.

Selected poems will be displayed on a building in the town centre in late November, and we want contributions from as many Walsall folk as possible. It’s a great opportunity to be part of a celebration of all that’s good about our town.

Rules:

  • email us a maximum of two poems between September 1-30.
  • send them to WordUpWalsall@gmail.com 
  • remember the theme!

note: we can’t promise that all submitted poems will be selected for display, but we will let you know if one of yours is to be included. Selected poems will appear with the first name of the poet alongside them. If you can give us one word to describe yourself – nurse/pensioner/footballer/dreamer/busdriver etc – then we’ll try and include that, too.

helpful hint: for the ‘My Favourite Thing About Walsall’ theme, be as specific as you can. Is it the conversation with a woman at the bus stop each morning? The sandwich from a particular shop? The way the light strikes Sister Dora’s statue? A building you love? Tell us!

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Yes We Cant – June 2025

Last Sunday we were back at the Great Western for the third Yes We Cant since we returned to in-person events. It’s starting to feel like home, as we work out how to best make use of the space, and our audience reacquaint themselves with our very special poetry night. The room was packed – and so was the Zoom room, because this is a hybrid event – and it was a pleasure to see faces both familiar and new, because Yes We Cant is a social event just as much as a poetry one. Thank you all for coming.

Our headliners – yes, we had two this month – were Martin Figura and Helen Ivory, who’ve been busy criss-crossing the UK, and joined us fresh from a gig in Leeds and on their way to a reading in Worcester on Monday. After five of our open-mic poets had shared their work – and how wonderful it was to hear such a range of voices – Helen led up to our half-time interval by reading from her latest book ‘Constructing a Witch’ which explores the monstering and scapegoating of women through the ages. Compelling stuff, and highly recommended.

A break for half-time oranges, or half-time cobs, or even a half-time pint, and we were back for the second half. Another five open-mic poets covering everything from the seasons to self-empowerment to a rapper’s guide to gardening, and then it was time for Martin Figura to take to the mic. He started with tales of growing up in foster care, and took it from there, leading us through a spell-binding performance.

Both Martin’s and Helen’s books are available (for those of you who didn’t manage to snaffle one on the night) here. Us? We’ll be back at the Great Western on Sunday July 6th. Put the date in your diaries, and join us to enjoy more top-notch poetry!

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PPP Events Will Remain Trans-Friendly and Trans-Inclusive

Over the last few days we have taken time to reflect on last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court in Scotland, and we want to be clear to anyone who comes to one of our nights or supports us in any way: PPP is an organisation based on inclusion. And we always will be. We know trans people, we have trans friends, and we support trans rights. Ever since we first set up as a collective, we have tried to ensure that our events are safe spaces for everyone, that they are places where a wide range of voices can be heard. We will continue to do so, and that means our events will remain – as they always have been – trans-friendly, and trans-inclusive.

It would be naive not to recognise the right-wing pressure which seeks to roll back the progressive gains made over the past fifty years, and the role it plays in caricaturing trans people as a threat. The smears now are a carbon copy of the anti-gay ones used at the time of Section 28, and are just as contemptible. History tells us that an attack on one minority is only the precursor to attacks on others, and we recognise how vitally important it is for people to stand together and oppose it. It’s 2025. Saying there should be room for all of us to live as we please should not be a radical take. But here we are. Let’s all do what we can to look out for each other and make the world a little better than it might otherwise be.

Thank you.

An image of the trans rights flag.