Poetry Live November 10th

With guest poet Stephanie Johnson

& guest musician Joanne Chester

Open Mic!

Koha entry

MC Miriam

Stephanie Johnson began her writing career as a poet. She remembers the riotous poetry nights at the Globe in Wakefield Street. Among her other books she has published two volumes of poetry, most recently "Moody Bitch". Stephanie's poems are sometimes political, sometimes personal, and often rude and funny.

Throughout her primary school years Joanne Chester didn't miss an opportunity to learn an instrument and by the age of 12, was a master at violin, recorder, piano, clarinet, trumpet and pacman. At High School, Joanne spent more time in the music department than she spent sleeping, eating and hunting put together (not that she ever went hunting). In August 2007, Joanne joined Queen City Big Band and immediately started touring around the whole of Grey Lynn with the band, both playing trumpet and singing. In spring 2008, she recorded her first acoustic album in a friend's home studio. She has just started recording in a studio in Parnell.

THE POETRY LIVE WEBSITE IS....LIVE!!!!!

www.poetrylive.co.nz

Visit, have a look around, check out some stuff, post us a comment.

NOTE: If you had a poem accepted for Live Lines, please make sure you have emailed an electronic copy of the accepted pieces to us at poetrylive@gmail.com.

Also - launch of Side Stream #22 - last one for the year.

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Follow Poetry Live at www.poetrylivelines.blogspot.com

Poetry Live October 13th - Madness

Poetry Live October 13th @ Thirsty Dog

Guest musicians Fats White

&

Guest poet Simone Kaho

Open Mic!

MC: Miriam

Fats White are an awesome band and have brought chaos to Poetry Live before. From NZ Musician Oct/Nov 2005: "Fats White ... is refreshingly unlike most music available - satirical punk rockabilly comes close to an apt description. Often accompanied simply by a fat sounding acoustic guitar. Fats White assumes the role of social observer and renovator of words. Apart from the obligatory guitar, bass, and drums - horns, washboards, and even a carpenter's saw are employed. If you enjoy back to basics, thought provoking music with a twist..." then come to Poetry Live on Tuesday.

Simone has been an underground poet for most of her life. That is, she kept her notebooks and folders of poetry mostly to herself while developing an alter ego with a Communications Studies Degree and career in advertising. That changed when she fell in love with a musician and was inspired her to let her own inner artist out. She ventured onto the poetry live stage in 2007 and has since become a regular performer. Her poetry is dark, humorous and sometimes romantic, wistfully flavored with her Pacific Island roots. She is inspired by poetry from Bob Orr, Tusiata Avia, Albert Wendt and Vincent O’Sullivan (among others).

Live Lines Update: Submissions have now been collected for Live Lines #3 our next anthology, which will be launched in March 2010. We will accept last minute late submissions from anyone who forgot (we know how it is) up until Tuesday night. So bring along your 3-5 poems in hardcopy, or if you really can't get there, then post them to Poetry Live, 16 Millais Street, Grey Lynn (make sure to include a contact email address). Particularly those of you who have been guest poets in the past year, we especially want you. We have not received any visual art submissions this year, so we are still looking for a cover image. Thank you to all of those people who sent in submissions - I've already had a sneak peak at them and it is shaping up to be another stellar anthology.

Submissions for Side Stream 22 are also open at the moment and close on October 15th. Email short poems tosidestreamnz@gmail.com

Bring your creative hats, we're doing another collab' poem!

Last Tuesday was a wicked night - despite a noisy crowd - Christian got Mark McGill Smith to improvise music during open mic. Very cool. I vote we do that again.

Poetry Live September 8th @ Thirsty Dog

with guest musician Joanne Chester

and guest poet Michael Botur

Open mic!

Koha entry

MC Miriam

Michael Botur (pronounced BOATER) started out a poetry buff while he was an English student at Otago University, but now majors in fiction writing. He has had poetry and fiction published in Takahe, JAAM, Bravado, The Lumiere Reader, Prima Storia, Deep South, Catalyst, Sidestream, Insight, Subject, Blindswimmer, A3, Critic, Potroast, Debate and F*nk, Canada's The Med and NiL, has had short stories and poetry broadcast on The Dirty Wordz Show and has won Her magazine’s short story competition. He has just got himself a Masters in Creative Writing from AUT and wants to release a collection of short stories and a novel in 2010.

Joanne Chester has been a musician since shortly after her birth. She left school at age 18 to pursue a Bachelor of Music Education, where she fronted bands such as “The Music Education Band” and other such bands with no names. At uni, she also had the revelation that she still couldn’t play enough instruments so jumped at the opportunity to study jazz bass intensively for a year and took her guitar to an entirely new level. In August 2007, Joanne joined Queen City Big Band and immediately started touring around the whole of Grey Lynn with the band, both playing trumpet and singing. Among other things, singing with Queen City has given Jo the opportunity to sing along side Ray Woolf and she has also gotten to lead several thousand people in their favourite Christmas ditties at Carols by Candlelight at Potters Park Christmas 2007 and 2008. Throughout this time, Jo has also been writing her own songs and performing solo and duo at restaurants, private functions and youth events. In spring 2008, she recorded her first acoustic album in a friend’s home studio. She has just started recording her second album in a studio in Parnell.

Side Stream 21 launch - come along and get a copy.

Submissions for Live Lines #3 are open until the end of the month. Post hard copies to Poetry Live, 16 Millais St, Grey Lynn, Auckland 1021. Or bring them along to Poetry Live one Tuesday night and hand them to any of the MCs - Christian, me, Murray or Renee.

Copies of Live Lines #2 are available from Parsons bookshop and from Poetry Live every Tuesday - they're $15 and they're awesome and they fund Live Lines #3. Buy one. Buy eight. They'd be good Chrissy presents too.

Last night at Poetry Live

We had Sea Train along as guest musicians last night (9/June/09)... and they were Orsum, with a capital OH! 

Sea Train are four piece jazz-funk-(some-may-say-ambient)-wikid band and they have an EP coming out next month.  

Visit lead singer/songerwriter Catherine Walker's Facebook group or myspace page for more info:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=518099476&v=feed&story_fbid=87568149603#/pages/Catherine-Walker/26095342738?ref=ts

www.myspace.com/cathwalker

Tim Heath delivered a stunning guest poetry set, perfect mixture of each of the different shades of human emotion.  

We had Ya-Wen along with at-cost copies of the 2nd edition of Potroast - a brand new interdisciplinary zine.  Submissions (poetry, comics, stories, art) for issue #3 close on July 18th and can be sent to potroast@gmail.com.  

Open mic gave us a couple of on-the-fly duets from Kiri & Lee, and Kiri & Anna, which were fantastic to see. There was of course that one person who doesn't want to give up the mic once they've got it, there's always one.   But mainly just lots of cool poetry and even a couple of newbies who may have been converted - always nice.  

Thanks to Rachael for MCing the end of the night for me.  I had to attend to a bit of a family emergency.  

Poetry Live June 9th

Poetry Live June 9th @ Thirsty Dog

8 pm till late.

With guest musicians Sea Train and guest poet Tim Heath.

Open mic. Koha entry.

MC: Miriam Barr

With a live show that incorporates elements of jazz, pop, and funk Sea train are members Catherine Walker, Eli Moore, Adam Tobeck and friends. Catherine Walker the key songwriter for the group is inspired by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Enya, Bjork, Bic Runga and Norah Jones.

Tim Heath is a teacher/grandparent/student who has, in the last few years allowed a life long desire to write have free rein. He has had stories read on Radio NZ, won some short story competitions, had a few poems published here and there, and been an also- ran in a number of poetry slams. Last year he did the Masters of Creative Writing course at AUT and managed to finish a novel, which is still to see the light of day, but is at least finished…sort of.

Also our beloved ex-MC Ila is running a great monthly, poetry gig out in Titirangi called Rhythm & Verse. In her 3 years (at least) of running Poetry Live, Ila would have organised you all 33 Poetry Live events. If you have enjoyed any of them, might be a nice idea to rock up and contribute to keeping Rhythm & Verse happening. Tit for tat and all that people! See below for details.

AND - the latest issue of Black Mail Press (#24 - Secrets) will be launched very, very, very soon. So check out www.blackmailpress.com in a couple of days to read the Secrets issue as soon as it's live. The issue includes Jessica Le Bas, Elizabeth Smithers, Catherine Fitchett, Jenny Argante, Michael Morrissey, Karlo Mila, Mark Pirie, Iain Britton, Helen Rickerby and heaps more, all on the topic of secrets. 'Tis juicy.

Catch you all on Tuesday anyway.

Thursday 18th June at 7.30pm Rhythm and Verse
Join us on the Top Floor of Lopdell House for our third evening of words and music with some of New Zealand’s best poets and local musicians. With featured musicians Fiona McEwen and Steve Terry, followed by Anna Rugis. Guest poets include Dr Jack Ross, from Massey University, David Eggleton, the writer-in-residence at the Michael King Centre in Devonport, the flamboyant Raewyn Alexander from Grey Lynn and the lovely Rachael Naomi Heimann from Kingsland. Entry $15 or $10 for Friends of Lopdell House Gallery.