A poetry first

On Thursday I went to a poetry evening which consisted of two lovely poets, Geraldine Monk and Alan Halsey. It had been a beautiful summery day. I was in high spirits. I sat down and prepared myself to be inspired. Needless to say, I was. In our first term at DMU we spent it looking at and writing poetry. To be completely honest, poetry has never been my favourite subject but hearing these two read out their work so passionately and proudly inspired me to take more of an interest.

First reading was Alan Halsey. He started off quietly, setting the atmosphere. I enjoyed the poetry but at times I felt quite young -there were definitely more than a few jokes I didn't understand, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Following Halsey came Geraldine Monk. Her writing style was distinctive and fun and so was her reading. She read a few poems from the Lost and Found series she's written and I really enjoyed them. The readings were dramatic and she engaged with the audience.

Overall I really enjoyed my first experience of a poetry evening. In some ways it reminded me of being read to when I was a child, relaxing.


C.Mackie

Surprised by poetry

On Thursday evening I attended a poetry evening with Geraldine Monk and Alan Halsey. I must admit I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. I’m not a big fan of poetry but we were encouraged to book Cultural eXchanges events we wouldn’t normally attend so I decided to pick this as one of mine.

I was pleasantly surprised when the poets started reading their work. First up was Alan Halsey and although I didn’t understand some of the references and some of the humour went straight over my head, I still found his work enjoyable. Even better was Geraldine’s work. I liked the way in which she read it out; the sounds and rhythm of her work was emphasised by her expression.

I have never attended a poetry evening before and I think that having the actual poet read work out to you makes it much more entertaining than sitting reading it from a book. I would recommend anyone who isn’t a massive fan of poetry to attend an event like this, maybe one at next year’s Cultural eXchanges. I'd certainly love to be there.

It was like the Marie Celeste except we weren't at sea and no-one was missing

Pitt and Aniston. Pitt and Jolie. Cameron and Clegg.

On 1st March 2012 DMU will host another power couple when Geraldine Monk and Alan Halsey arrive for the Leicester launch of their new works.

Monk presents her Lobe Scarps & Finials, which its "attractively irreverent wit” (The Guardian) whilst Halsey’s reads from Even if Only Out Of, which includes a symposium on Blake’s erotica and some helpful tips in these times of recession.

Does married bliss lead to literary harmony? Book here and find out.


Ed Jamoché

So, this is the deal ...

Right, here's the deal. DMU has something big going on next week, the highly-anticipated Cultural eXchanges Festival. This event has been taking place for the past 10 years and more 4000 people attend annually to enjoy the talent that Leicester has to offer. So why don't you become part of it this year? Yeah you, I'm looking at YOU!

One event we are going to is on Thursday, a poetry evening with Geraldine Monk and Alan Halsey, two very innovative poets. They will be reading some of their work and whether you enjoy poetry or not, it's a great (FREE) event to attend.





Another talk will be given by Steve North, the Head of Dave TV. Sooo basically, he's super cool, he runs a channel for flips sake! So check him out!

Catriona and Holly

Cultural eXchanges returns

De Montfort University's Cultural eXchanges festival returns. It runs from Monday, 27 February - Friday, 2 March and the majority of events are still free. Highlights include a poetry evening with Geraldine Monk and Alan Halsey, a Q&A session with actor and director Adrian Lester, and visits from choreographers Matthew Bourne and Sonia Sabri.

You can learn more from the website - and booking goes live on Monday, 13 February.

You may also be interested in the return of States of Independence, the independent publishers' day, which takes place at De Montfort's Clephan Building on Saturday, 17 March. Once more there will be stalls from booksellers and publishers as well as a choice of panels, talks and performances to attend. Admission to all talks remains free - a bargain in this age of austerity.

Drooling over Words

Should I take my 7 year old daughter Sarah to the poetry readings by Sean Bonney and Maggie O'Sullivan at this year's Cultural eXchange event at DMU? I feared the content might be too adult but the argument of exposing her to culture won.

I love language and word play. At a recent poetry reading by Geraldine Monk, again, at DMU, I agreed with Geraldine's approach when she said she drools over words. I also listen with a mixture of interest, horror and amusement to the evolution of Sarah's own language stye. Recently, the use of 'like' has entered our household, either as a discourse particle: "Mummy, I'm like, really hungry" or a quotative: "I was like, Amber, I saw the Justin Bieber film before you did."

Back to word bandits, Bonney and Sullivan. I needn't have worried about Sarah. We, and the whole audience, were mesmerised by the urgent delivery of Sean's passionate, punky poems, his delivery fuelled by some sort of lexicial power surge. Sarah wrote words she found interesting in her notebook. The one expletive she recognised was written down, complete with exclamation marks and a box to mark it out from the others. What a rebel.

Maggie's poems were, as promised, an event in language, with the focus on sound patterning: assonance, consonance, sibilance, alliteration. I loved the concrete references to base elements and metals, anatomy and nature.

I'm glad we went. We both feasted on language. Sarah commented later on how many 'wow' words she had heard. Indeed - and no further words are necessary from me.


Sally Jack