With Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists (PPP) I put on a lot of events, work with a lot of poets and therefore am always on the lookout for people that will be a good fit for the things that we do. We also suggest acts to organisations and festivals we work with (usually the ones we can’t afford to put on ourselves, but would like to see perform where we live ☺). So a good festival, with lots going on in one place, is always attractive. And my goodness, Morecambe is a good festival. It’s the second year that PPP have been in attendance.
I got there on the Thursday evening for the opening event, a low-key event in a brewery tap house. It was a chance to catch up with familiar faces and listen to Sarah L Dixon read from her new collection, based on a music fan’s experience of growing up in an indie music scene. We’re delighted that Sarah will be joining us as ’Alf Ender for our Christmas online Yes, We Cant. We haven’t announced our headliner for that evening as yet…but we’re very excited about who it is…suffice to say it’ll be a belter.
Friday daytime I attended a symposium on spoken word. It’s always useful to find out how people from other parts of the country are dealing with similar things to you. It seems the post-pandemic scene is not as it was in the before times, in part it’s due to lack of money, getting free accessible venues etc. There was agreement that lack of money to book headliners was impoverishing the scene and that though open mics are wonderful and necessary, so are events where people get to see established or emerging artists and are opened up to a wider understanding of what spoken word can be. The increasing costs of rail travel – and the unreliability of said travel – is prohibitive to getting headliners in when nights only have a small budget. How do we address that? Answers on a postcard, please.
Next up was Rowan McCabe, who performed his Door-to-Door Poet show. It was exceptional. I loved it from start to finish. It was upbeat and funny, moving too. Rowan is a fantastic performer and a very likeable character. It’s definitely a show/performer that PPP would like to book somewhere down the line.
In the evening, I watched Mike Harding in The Winter Gardens. This was a good event, very enjoyable, in an incredible venue which is in the process of being restored. The Friday night shenanigans carried on with Henry Normal and then Attila the Stockbroker in the Kings Arms, where the party went on until 2am.
Like most festivals, it’s hard to do everything you want to. There aren’t clashes as such, just wall to wall poetry, so I recommend scheduling breaks, and picking and choosing what you’re going to see – even if you’re a complete poetry party animal.
Saturday started at noon with an open mic. Another chance to see new faces, folk who are just starting out, and I’m always on the lookout for someone who’ll be the perfect fit for something we’re planning. Open mic finished, next up was Robin Ince. He was absolutely great. Which is a relief, as PPP have booked Robin for Wolves Lit Fest Fringe Room in 2025 (February 1st – put the date in your diary!)
One of our roles at Morecambe was to bring Midlands poets to the festival. We were delighted to give a platform to Kenton Samuels, Gracie Bee, and Priyanka Joshi. Three very different poets with very different styles, who were all brilliant. The audience was very receptive, there was a bit of dancing (courtesy of Gracey!), and there were whoops and cheers at the end of the hour. All three poets are featured in Offa’s Press ‘New Voices’ anthology, and the books sold out.
After that excitement I had a bit of a wander around – there are some lovely views and fantastic sculptures along the seafront – and got some food. It’s great to walk out of a venue and have Morecambe Bay to marvel at. Then it was back into the poetry fray once more…
I watched Donna Ashworth, currently the best-selling poet in the UK. Her brand of popular poetry took off on social media over lockdown. She was warm, consummately professional, held the audience in the Winter Gardens, and – judging by the queue of people buying books – Donna will have been very popular with her publishers since she appeared on the scene.
Next it was the turn of Alistair McGowan. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. What I got was a massively entertaining mix of impressions, anecdotes, and bloody good poetry. There was a sort of contemporary Betjeman quality to the work. He’d be on my wish list to book…although I imagine we’d need to whisper into the ears of festival directors to make that one happen. But you know…nothing ventured and all that.
Then I watched Raymond Antrobus over at the King’s Arms before heading back to the B&B. I’d never seen him before but had heard a lot about him. The room was rapt.
Sunday. Another open mic start to the day, which I enjoyed. But I was really there for Helen Ivory and Martin Figura. Martin is one of my favourite poets. I’ve seen him perform three times now, twice in person and once online (for Yes, We Cant). He was even better than I remembered. On fire, he was.
Helen read from her new book ‘Constructing a Witch’ published by Bloodaxe. The poems are beautifully crafted. They’re the kind of poems that you need to hear more than once. I bought one of the pre-launch copies, and I’ve been reading it ever since. It’s very, very good. Layers. Lots to think about. A very unique style.
I watched a few more poets during the afternoon, with a range of varied styles. It’s the great thing about a festival. There’s something for everyone. Kate Fox’s show was really interesting…so much to take in. I really, really want to see it again. Notes were made in the PPP notebook.
I’d also been looking forward to seeing Big Charlie Poet, who’d got a new book out. He was struggling with a cold. Not that you’d have known. He did a lovely, warm reading. PPP like Charlie’s work, so much so we’ve booked him…he’s on at this evening’s Yes, We Cant (checks watch…in approximately 20 minutes at time of writing!). Told you we’re always on the lookout.
By the time Pam Ayres was on at the Winter Gardens I was flagging, but she is utterly brilliant and soon I was feeling energised again. A natural, gracious, entertaining raconteur. I don’t know how she does it, but you feel like a friend is nattering to you over a table rather than that you’re sitting thirty rows back in a theatre. She just draws you in. Funny and fun. And again, watching the queue for books and selfies (which she was wonderfully game for), she’s probably pleasing her publishers as well as her fans.
I sloped off knackered after that. But the poetry party continued, and this year’s festival wound up with the Manky Mates’ tribute to the rare talent that was Jackie Hagan (RIP), who had performed so wonderfully at the festival last year supporting Roger McGough.
I had a few games of pool before going to bed. I hadn’t played since before the pandemic and the sight of a pool table was too much of a draw not to. Poetry and pool, two of my favourite things. And Morecambe did not disappoint.
Emma Purshouse
5th November 2024
