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Belfast’s premier open mic poetry night, Purely Poetry, returns to the Crescent Arts Centre on Friday 3rd July at 9.30pm.
Purely Poetry has been running for nearly four years at the Crescent, providing a platform for poets of all styles and experiences to share their work. It fosters an open, laid back and encouraging atmosphere, for people to read and listen in comfort. If you've never been before, we welcome you will open arms, open ears and open minds. To take part, the process is simple: TURN UP - SIGN UP - SPEAK UP TURN UP. You'll need a ticket in that case. Tickets are £4, with all proceeds going to the Crescent. Just buy on the night or pre-order through the Crescent box office online at http://www.crescentarts.org/ The event is B.Y.O.B. SIGN UP. Registration for readers will be open before we start. Just get your name in the hat. Names are then pulled out at random throughout the night. SPEAK UP. Once you're name is out of the hat, then's your chance to take the mic! Each reader has seven mins max to read, so that everyone has equal time, and that as many readers as possible can be fitted into the night. You can read your own work, share a favourite, share just one poem or as many as you can fit into 420 seconds! Join the Facebook event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/848381445253966/  What a night we had at the Crescent Arts Centre! Poets galore and a packed house, all seeing who would walk away with the title of Belfast Book Festival Slam Champion 2015!
First of all, we want to thank and honour all our entrants for sharing their work and threading the boards. Altogether, competing in the first round, we had: Joan Jewel, Patricia Devlin-Hill, Ray Givans, Tanya Hanna, Jessica Radermacher, Ross Thompson, William Donnelly, Jason Ashford, Mary Glover, Emma Mckervey, David Davies, Yvonne Boyle, Andrew Ward, Lara Sunday, Denise McGeown, Lesley Johnston, Jenny Cleland, David Braziel, Peter Francis Fahy, Elizabeth McGeown, Stephen Hall and Joy McKay. Of those 22 entrants, the 8 that got through to the second round were: Ray Givans, Tanya Hanna, Ross Thompson, William Donnelly, Jason Ashford, Jenny Cleland, David Braziel and Peter Francis Fahy. And competing in the final, our four poets were: In four place, Jenny Cleland; In third place, Ray Givans, In second place, Ross Thompson; ...which means, amazingly, defending his title successfully and becoming our 2015 Slam Champion, our winner is DAVID BRAZIEL! Well done and congratulations to David, all the finalists, and indeed all the wonderful poets that took parts. Our judges (Judith Lowans Thurley, Geraldine O'Kane, Mark Cooper and David Smylie) commented that the standard was incredibly high throughout and that the scoring was very close. Thank you to our judges, to the staff and volunteers at the Crescent and the hard-working festival team, and most of all, to everyone who came along last night, clapped and cheered, and supported live poetry in Belfast. We're blessed to have you at our event. Our next open mic night is on Friday 3rd July at 9.30pm in the Crescent, we hope to see you there! The big night is almost upon us... it's the Belfast Book Festival Poetry Slam, 9.30pm at Crescent Arts Centre.
Some last minute advice, news and updates: Remember we don't require you to have memorised your poem, you can read from the page, just do remember not to hold the page right in front of your face so no one can see you, and to look up at the audience every once in a while! Make sure to get down on time, and sign-up is on a strictly first-come, first-served basis, and we only have a limited number of spots available. We've also lined some prizes for the winner and runners-up! Loads of books, including signed copies of Deirdre Cartmill's 'Midnight Solo' and 'The Return of the Buffalo' poetry collections (both from Lagan Press), volumes from Irish Pages, The Stinging Fly, The Poetry Bus, tickets to an event at The John Hewitt Society Summer School, and six months free entry to our Purely Poetry open mic night. Good luck to all that are entering, and here's to a great night's poetry ahead.  It's June, it's the Belfast Book Festival, which means it's time once again for our annual Purely Poetry Slam!
Open to all poets, we invite you to share your work in front of a live and lively audience. We welcome readers of all styles, backgrounds and experiences. to read in an open, friendly and encouraging atmosphere, and to listen in comfort. Please note that there is no regular open mic on the first Friday in June as normal. Instead, the slam with take place on Saturday 13th June at 21.30. SO, WHAT IS A SLAM? Think of a slam like a live poetry competition. In each round, you have three minutes maximum in which to read. A panel of judges will be scoring on how well the poem is written, and how well is spoken. You should prepare three separate poems if you are going to enter, as there are three rounds in total. The top eight scorers go through to the next round, with the top four from round two advancing to the final, to compete for a chance to be declared Belfast Book festival Slam Champion 2015! HOW TO ENTER To enter, just register at the start of the night; names will be drawn out at random, with each poet invited onstage to read by our resident emcee. Please note: places are strictly limited for round one. Sign up will be on a first come, first served basis. RULES We're pretty easy going at Purely Poetry, but we do have to have a few ground rules: All poems must be the poet's own work (no collaboratives or joint / group performances); No props or musical accompaniment / backing tracks; Poets will be disqualified if their poem exceeds the three minute time limit (we will have a countdown clock you can see from the stage to keep an eye on the time)' No hate speech in any poems please! (should go without saying) HOW TO BOOK Entry is £4, pay at the door or pre-book via: http://crescentarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873532739/events This event is BYOB |
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