Commonword Blogs

I finally got round to uploading my 'Bullets' poem on myspace, still very much a work in progress, with music by Matt from Atomic Hooligan. Let me know what you think.

At the end of my last post I mentioned an Apples & Snakes project I'd recently got involved with, which has resulted in the first finished piece of writing I've accomplished in months, so it's probably worth a mention. 

A few months ago a guy called Martin approached me about doing some spoken word/MCing for a new band he was forming. Provisionally titled Juggernaut due to the sheer number of musicians - about 15, including strings, brass, guitars, drums, bass and twiddly laptop/keyboard things - the band play a rich mix of jazz, funk, and hip hop with the odd Jewish folk or 50s surf influence thrown in for good measure. And it sounded cool so I said yes.

Well, I knew it was at least a couple of weeks since I'd last (and first) posted on this blog, but said post is dated 2nd of July! Surely it's not been over a month since I wrote something here? No, fortunately it's just a technical glitch, which I don't know how to rectify, making me look slacker than I am. As if I need any help. But yes, it has been a few weeks since I wrote, well, anything really.

Welcome to my new blog that I have been asked to write as part of my residency at Commonword, which was my prize for winning the Dike Omeje Slam Poetry Award 2008.
I'm going to use the blog to share new work, discuss goings on in the poetry world and generally muse about the strange process of thinking words in your head, putting them on paper, memorising them and/or reading them out in public, and trying to get people to give you money for doing so.