Celebrate World Book Day at the Dylan Thomas Centre

Posted on February 26, 2010 by dylanthomascentre

The Dylan Thomas Centre celebrates World Book Day on 4 March with offers in our bookshop throughout the day, and a special, free evening event at 7pm.

Our bookshop is open from 10am to 4.30pm, and there will be thousands of second-hand books on offer at half-price, and reductions on many new books. Relax in the unique surroundings of the Dylan Thomas Centre, and browse the bookshelves while enjoying coffee and cake.

Join us at 7pm for ‘Stuff Happens’ on World Book Day. Inspired by the GPS project, and run in partnership with The Crunch poetry night at Mozarts, the Stuff Happens events bring together new and established voices from Swansea’s diverse poetry scene. To celebrate World Book Day, Stuff Happens readers will be discussing some of the authors who have influenced and inspired their own writing, and reading a poem or two. Those taking part include Nigel Jenkins, Margot Morgan, Emily Vanderploeg, Richard Jones, Alan Kellermann, Rhys Owain Williams, Liza Penn Thomas and Kelly Constanza, and the evening will be compered by Adam Sillman. There will be books and magazines for sale, dadaist poetry fun, and plenty of time to enjoy a drink and good conversation in between the readings.
Contact the Dylan Thomas Centre on 01792 463980 for more information.

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Rory Bremner kicks off our Election 10 Literature season

Posted on February 24, 2010 by Sam Dub

Southbank Centre Election 10 Series

Our Election 10 series kicked-off in style with a fiery battle between some of the UKs leading think tanks – competition was tough but the battle stayed good humoured thanks to the expert chairmanship of Rory Bremner.

The fixtures were as follows:

Bout 1: Red Toryism – Progress vs ResPublica
Bout 2: Welfare reform – Fabian Society vs Reform
Bout 3: Character or networks? Demos vs the RSA
Bout 4: The Economy: Policy Exchange vs IPPR

ResPublica, the Fabian Society, the RSA and IPPR emerged victorious but credit to all for a fantastically entertaining evening.

Using footage from the event we’ve produced a trailer for our forthcoming season of events running up the general election, take a look.

Election 10 Season Trailer

See the listings for the other events in the series at:
http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/election10

On the blogs

Hopefully the first of many such events… the atmosphere was as playful as it was political
- Jonathan Rowson, RSA

A good night for the political left, bouncing back strongly after falling a goal behind, thanks to star striker Phillip Blond relying on an assist from loan signing Will Hutton
- Sundar Katwala, the Fabian Society

Patrick Nolan and I had great fun at the sold-out Southbank Centre “Think Tank Clash” … hosted by Rory Bremner who warmed up by treating the speakers to his own take on the Chilcot Inquiry in the green room beforehand.
- Dale Bassett, Reform – conservativehome

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In Other News: A DIY Guide to Newspaper Poetry

Posted on February 23, 2010 by sophiegps

Instead of writing poetry about current affairs, why not have a go at making poetry out of them? Newspaper and magazine articles provide an abundance of words ready for poetic manipulation. Cartoonist and poet Austin Kleon crafts his Blackout Poetry by erasing words in news articles with a marker pen. Often moving and always interesting, these poems push the boundaries of the poetic form and reveal surprising snapshots of beauty in blocks of newsprint.

The practise of text alchemy has been a long standing one, with poet Tom Phillips creating visual masterpieces such as these in the 1970’s.

 

With a pair of scissors and a bit of imagination a news article can be turned into a thing of beauty. The radical Dadist movement of the 1920’s shook up the news by cutting up and rearranging its parts. Here is a word from the father of the Dadist movement on how it’s done:  

  • -Take a newspaper.
  • -Take a pair of scissors.
  • -Choose an article as long as you are planning to make your poem.
  • -Cut out the article.
  • -Then cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them in a bag.
  • -Shake it gently.
  • -Then take out the scraps one after the other in the order in which they left the bag.
  • -Copy conscientiously.
  • -The poem will be like you.
  • -And here you are a writer, infinitely original and endowed with a sensibility that is charming though beyond the understanding of the vulgar.

-Tristan Tzara

Why not pick up your local paper and make news into poetry? Upload your alchemic creations to the GPS website to put them on the global poetry map.

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

 For more newspaper poets and text alchemists, including Tom Phillips and Sam Winston, visit the poetry library website.

IN OTHER NEWS: Jane Gardam tells The Guardian about how she is taking poetry out onto the streets of Sandwich

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Wear Your Heart On Your Street

Posted on February 15, 2010 by chrisgps

‘They do not love that do not show their love’
William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen From Verona

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

With Valentine’s Day just gone, the lucky ones among us may have received a card, almost certainly adorned with a valentine’s love poem. The very lucky may have even had a poem written for them. But, of course, love poetry is not just for the 14th of February. For as long as man has been writing poetry, there have been musings on love’s joys and ecstasies, as well as its trials and tribulations.

And on Global Poetry System it is evident that poetry and love are still walking hand in hand. There are heart felt stencils on brick walls, messages of advice on faulty bus-stop signs, and even love sick pebbles on beaches. You can see them all in our featured poems section. But of course, there’s plenty more love out there to be shared around. So why not upload some of your own findings onto the Global Poetry System?

And if you still have a hankering for love poetry after Valentine’s Day, then be sure to check out the fantastic collection of love poetry in the Poetry Library here at Southbank Centre. There’s plenty to chose from, including rather unusual anthologies such as, Bleeding hearts: love poems for the nervous & highly strung, and Cowboy love poetry: verses from the heart of the west.

GPS
Find it, Map it, Share it

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Imagine Children’s Festival on Global Poetry System

Posted on February 9, 2010 by chrisgps

 ’Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.’
Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince 

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

This week sees the launch of the Imagine Children’s Festival here at Southbank Centre, which promises to be full of wonderful readings, storytelling and poetry featuring some of today’s leading children’s writers, as well as comedy, visual arts, magic and music. 

To celebrate the launch of the festival, we’ve picked out Laura Dockrill’s reading of The Pig by Roald Dahl, John Hegley’s reading of Tarantella by Hilaire Belloc, and Francesca Beard’s reading of Cargoes by John Masefield as this week’s featured poems. We’ve also picked out an incredibly moving poem written on a small pebble, by a six year old on the Lune Estuary. 

Childhood is a time of great excitement and awe, and as Goethe writes, ‘If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses.’ So throughout the Imagine festival, why not try and get back in touch with your inner child, and tell us your favourite poem or nursery rhyme from childhood. Post it as a video, photo, audio recording, or text, and place it on our map. Maybe you’ll choose to place it where you first heard the poem as a child, or maybe you’ll place it where you are now. Or maybe the poem can be a bridge between those two places?

And if all this talk of nursery rhymes and children’s poetry has whetted your appetite, then be sure to check out the wonderful collection of children’s poetry in the Poetry Library here at Southbank Centre. Among the poems you know, you may find a few new favorites in some of our more unusual anthologies, such as, Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes, or Coin Opera; a wonderful micro-anthology that takes computer games as its theme.  

GPS
Find it, Map it, Share it

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Join in our Election 10 series and debate the issues that matter to you

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Trish Thomas

Art makes a difference to our lives and the world, and our Election 10 series invites you to participate in a people’s forum of debates, spoken word performance, comedy, music and new documentary theatre. Discover, debate and decide the issues that matter to you.

The series kicks off on February 9th with Think-Tank Clash which promises to be a lively panel debate chaired by political scoffer Rory Bremner and forthcoming events and debates with deliberate civil liberties, gay rights, the city and the environment.

Series highlights include leading Scientist James Lovelock sounding a final warning from Gaia and the world premiere of Waiting, a groundbreaking work of music theatre depicting the impact of the War on Terror on the real lives of refugee women.

Wiki on the Gaia Hypothesis

Election 10 series info/book tickets

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There’s Something Missing

Posted on February 2, 2010 by chrisgps

“Well, they are gone, and here must I remain”

Coleridge, This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison

Global Poetry System is a user generated world map of poetry found at www.southbankcentre.co.uk/gps

We tend to think of loss as a bad thing, as a thing to be avoided. No one wants to lose a game, or lose touch with a friend. But loss doesn’t always have to be a cause for woe. In fact, loss can be a source of amazing creativity, and from the loss, we can all gain. The best thing is, this creative process is happening all around us.

The GPS team have collected together some of the poems uploaded to our global poetry map that have found inspiration in “Loss”. From friendly greetings on bridges, to angry messages on the underground, it’s amazing how the loss of a single letter can transform a sign or message. Check out this week’s featured poems to see some of our favourites.

They’re just some examples of the creative word play that we’ve mapped so far. But there’s so much more out there, and we need you to help us put it on the map. Poetry is all around us, so don’t lose out. See what you can gain by having a closer look.

And if you like some of our featured poems, why not check out some of the following fantastic published works, which similarly create through absence:

Sam Winston’s A Dictionary Story

Ronald Johnson’s Radi Os

Janet Holmes’ The Ms Of My Kin

Sarah Riggs’ Chain Of Minuscule Decisions In The Form Of A Feeling
All of which are available in the Poetry Library at Southbank Centre.

 

GPS

Find it, Map it, Share it.

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