Storytelling Poets - Kingston Curzon

Sinnead Singson

An event celebrating the Writing Cultures’ Festival of Storytelling in the Cafe space of the Kingston Curzon Cinema (The Bentall Centre).

30th January 2025

Eleanor Wilders,
David Spittle,
SJ Fowler,
Marcia Knight Latter,
Simon Tyrrell,
Cameron Wade,
Matt Sokulsky,
Danica Ignacio,
Bob T Bright,
Bella Weerasinghe,
Julia Rose Lewis,
Sinnead Singson

Eleanor Wilders

It was a night of performances that explored the many ways we can tell a story, how we might turn a tale, be it tall or short, into a journey and sometimes a destination. The Café at the Curzon Cinema in Kingston-upon-Thames provided free popcorn for the audience at the Writer's Kingston poetry night, and it proved to be a huge success. Eleanor Wilders kicked off proceedings by launching her dazzling debut poetry pamphlet Offal, from Sampson Low Ltd, buy a copy at sampsonlow.co/2025/01/29/offal-eleanor-wilders/

The night was part of Writing Cultures’ Festival of Storytelling, which continues to run until the March 14th 2025, with events at The National Gallery, workshops and happenings across Kingston University, as well as an exhibition. The performance of the night belonged to Sinnead Singson with her sheep in wolf's clothing tale, which ended with the dynamic poet walking out into the wilds of the Bentall's Centre. She will be launching her debut pamphlet ‘hot milky’, at the The Poetry Society Cafe on February Thursday 27th 2025 (7pm start, Free event).

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. His story was an macabre estate agents' eye view of an apartment painted in tins of blood, leper coloured paint, and a menagerie of pests and creepy crawlies. 

Bob T Bright

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. 

Simon Tyrrell

Simon Tyrrell has participated in exhibitions and performances at the Poetry Society Café, Westminster Reference Library, Rich Mix, Willesden Gallery, and at The Museum of Futures with Writers’ Centre Kingston. He published his debut poetry collection 'Presently' in 2022. He is part of the PoPoGrou collective and last year published the critically acclaimed 'Proceedings of the Remediators' alongside Jane Partner, Sarah Messerschmidt, and Sylee Gore. 

Steven J. Fowler 

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.

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.

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).

Marcia Knight-Latter 

Marcia Knight-Latter is a poet and writer, who studied Creative Writing with Psychology at Kingston University. She published a chapbook with Sampson Low titled ‘Ramblings External’ in 2019, and has performed her poetry at venues such as Rich Mix, Rose Theatre and The Museum of Futures.

Matthew J. Sokulsky

Matthew J. Sokulsky studied creative writing as an undergraduate at Kingston University, London, and in March of 2023 was commissioned by The National Gallery for his literary work. A selection of his poetry has also been published under the banner of Sampson Low Publishers, London.

Danica Ignacio is a Filipino writer currently studying at Kingston University. In January 2024, her work was commissioned by the National Gallery and can also be found on @eventualantiques on Instagram & danicaignacio.substack.com. Her writing often explores themes of anthropomorphism as well as other sorts of fantastical concepts that enhance less fantastical realities through poetry & prose.

Bella Weerasinghe

One of the most exciting new poets on the Kingston University creative block, Bella Weerasinghe has already chalked up an impressive list of performances, most recently at the National Gallery in January 2025.

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.

Austrian Poetry Celebration - European Poetry Festival

Fabian Faltin and SJ Fowler

A brilliant event celebrating contemporary Austrian poetry through three of its most dynamic and exciting practitioners, visiting London to present brand new collaborations, made for the night, with British counterparts. A full house witnessed the 5th Austrian celebration at the European Poetry Festival, and as before this event shared remarkable cross-genre and cross-lingual literature of the most original kind. https://www.europeanpoetryfestival.com/

Han Smith and Hannah Bründl

The event also saw the launch of a new publication in the Occasions series - an anthology documenting the collaborations that make up the history of the EPF and the ACF, published by Sampson Low.

David Spittle and Max Höfler

The European Poetry Festival celebrates, in the UK and beyond, the grand resurgence in avant-garde and literary poetry that has marked the 21st century in Europe. It aims to not only innovate what a live poetry experience might be, but to inculcate community and engagement between poets across the continent, as well as between new audiences and complex poetries. 

Lavinia Singer and Jessica Sequeira

The Austrian Cultural Forum London promotes cultural contacts between the UK and Austria by organising events and supporting artists and projects in the fields of music, performing arts, visual arts, literature, film and science. We provide a venue in central London for recitals, lectures, readings, film screenings, conferences and exhibitions, while also cooperating with various partners throughout the UK.

Waltraud Dennhardt-Herzog

The ACF London is the Cultural Section of the Austrian Embassy in London and offers free admission to all of its events, which are organised in cooperation with Austrian and Austrian-based artists. The ACF London arranges, initiates, facilitates and supports about 150 events per year, half of which take place at the ACF’s own premises at 28 Rutland Gate, in the heart of Knightsbridge.

Ollie Evans

Stephen Watts