Sound Poetry and Sonic Literature - The Poetry Society Cafe

 

Bob T Bright

Writers Kingston
Sound Poetry and Sonic Literature at The Poetry Society Cafe
December Thursday 5th 2024

Phil Minton and Steven J Fowler
Will Rene and Emily Wood
Bob T Bright and Cameron Wade
Serena Braida and Vilde Bjerke Torset
Patrick Cosgrove
Julia Rose Lewis
Mischa Foster Poole and David Spittle

A night that celebrated the potential of the human voice and live literature - in the grand tradition of Sound Poetry, Noise Making, Mouth Music and Improvised Vocalisation - in the Poetry Society’s home in the UK, in the heart of Covent Garden, bringing Writers Kingston into central London. 

Bob T Bright is a poet, yogi and educator based in Kent, with an MA in TESOL and PGDip in Poetic Practice from RHUL. His poems have appeared in publications such as Bedford Square anthology, Vallum Magazine, Pamenar Magazine, Firmament, Permeable and the Seen as Read anthology (KUP). His debut pamphlet 'Gongfarmer, I love thee' was published in 2023 by Sampson Low. 

Steven J. Fowler or SJ Fowler (born 1983) is a contemporary English poet, writer and avant-garde artist, and the founder of European Poetry Festival. His work has become known internationally for his "innovation in the field of live literature". Concerned with the potential of liveness, as opposed to the traditional poetry reading, his repertoire spans a diverse range of experimental practices, including improvised talking performances, action painting and pugilistica.

Phil Minton

Phil Minton is a British avant-garde jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. He is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's group, Daniil Kharms and Joseph Brodsky with Simon Nabatov, and extracts from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake with his own ensemble. He is perhaps best known, however, for his completely free-form work, which involves "extended techniques" that can be as unsettling as they can be mesmerising. His vocals often include the sounds of retching, burping, screaming, and gasping, as well as childlike muttering, whining, crying and humming.

Vilde Bjerke Torset

Vilde Bjerke Torset is a Norwegian artist and poet based in London. Her publications include the poetry books Apollinaire and Other Horses (If a Leaf Falls Press, 2022), WHAT IT MEANS WHEN YOU DREAMS : A to Z (AFV press, 2021), and the artist book PAREIDOLIA - Dotremont’s Daughter (Timglaset Ltd, 2020). Her performances, including both solo works and collaborations, have taken place at a range of national (UK) and international venues, including The British Museum, The National Centre for Writing, The Poetry Society, Jorvik Viking Centre, and London Rich Mix. She is a member of Norske Billedkunstnere and Norsk Tegnerforbund. She is the founder and curator of SCRYPTH.

Serena Braida

Serena Braida is a writer, performer and academic, interested in exploring the interrelations between the materiality of language and the body. A chorister from the age of 6, she performed extensively before earning an MA in Cultural and Critical Studies from Birkbeck and subsequently an MFA in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Serena is the author of a poetry pamphlet, Blue Sheila (Dancing Girl Press, 2018), and has published poetry and prose in magazines, journals and anthologies. 

Cameron Wade 

Cameron Wade is a writer, poet and amateur astronomer working in London. He is the poetry editor of 3AM magazine and his work has been commissioned by the National Gallery. He launched his debut chapbook of poetry, I Smell Metal, in January 2023. 

Emily Wood and Will René 

Will René and Emily Wood work at the National Poetry Library in London. Will presents the Plastic Language show on NTS Radio, exploring spoken word across recorded media, spanning dub, jazz, ASMR, sound poetry & much more.

Patrick Cosgrove

Patrick Cosgrove is a London based artist. His work utilizes the body, collage, text, sound/voice, digital, moving image, paper, paint, felt tip, biro, found objects etc. His work often begins with something ready-to-hand or discarded and develops from there. In 2021 he published  SLURPS (Sampson Low) and BIROS (Hesterglock Press).

Julia Rose Lewis 

Julia Rose Lewis is a writer and teacher.  She is interested in the ways in which philosophy of science can be incorporated into poetry. She has published nine pamphlets, the most recent of which is Nearly Identical Sharks (Broken Sleep Books 2023).

Mischa Foster Poole

Mischa Foster Poole grew up in South London, and studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. He has a particular interest in the arts, history, philosophy and languages.

David Spittle

David Spittle is a poet, filmmaker and essayist. Following his pamphlet, BOX (HVTN, 2018), Spittle has published three poetry collections: Decomposing Robert (Back Herald Press, 2023), Rubbles (Broken Sleep Books, 2022), and All Particles and Waves (Black Herald Press, 2020). He runs an ongoing series of interviews with filmmakers talking-about-poetry and poets talking-about-film, the first volume Light Glyphs (Broken Sleep Books, 2021) includes interviews with John Ashbery, Guy Maddin, Andrew Kötting, Iain Sinclair, So Mayer, Lisa Samuels and many others. Spittle's films have screened in festivals and been broadcast on the BBC and, alongside filmmaking, his film criticism has appeared in Sight & Sound and as part of select Blu-ray releases. He continues independent research across film and philosophy.