Scream Blue Murmur are almost finished their run at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. We won the audience encore award which means you have two chances to see us – 7pm & 8.30pm at the Intermedia Arts Centre. You can also check out the reviews of our show:

http://www.fringefestival.org/2009/show/?id=1001

& also at:

http://www.minnesotaplaylist.com/magazine/article/2009/07/31/i-finally-saw-good-show

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/onstage/52269592.html

http://www.twincities.com/mustsee

Get your tickets for Scream Blue Murmur’s MN Fringe Festival Show – the Morning After The Summer of Love by visiting

http://www.fringefestival.org/2009/show/?id=1001

u so know u wanna come see us!!!

Aisling and two thirds of  Scream Blue Murmur will be appearing at the very first Poets Express in Bantry, Co Cork. What an interesting line up Kylyra has put together.  We’re not on the poster but are definetly appearing on the night. Get down and see what Bantry has to offer.

Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave S

Fri July 31 – 7pm
Sun Aug 2nd – 10pm
Thur Aug 6th – 7pm
Sat, Aug 8th – 1pm
Sun Aug 9th – 7pm

Five international performance poets, living in Northern Ireland, who rocked the MN Fringe Festival with their show “Pack Up Yer Troubles” in 2007 are returning with their new show tackling the legacy of ‘68, the year of civil rights, riots, revolution, sexual freedom and women’s liberation.

Touching on events which shaped modern living and influence the personal and political for every man, woman and child in the western world, then fused into sound using spoken word, chants, beats and music after being put through the Scream Blue Murmur blender, this show is hard hitting yet humorous, political yet personal.

Five poets took the subject and read, researched, got angry, sad and motivated and produced a month’s worth of material.  Many late nights followed and poems were in and out of the show. The group ate and slept ’68 for months until eventually the notebooks became performance.

They say

“It takes just as long to select the work and to put it in the right order as it does to write the material.  We want the audience to slip seamlessly from one poem to the next.  It makes the unexpected jolts all the more effective!”

Scream Blue Murmur formed in 2006.  They have toured Australasia, the USA, Asia and Ireland.  In 2007 they stunned audiences at the fringe and were the only show to receive 5 stars on every audience review.

The five poets, though all resident in N.Ireland for many years, originate from Belfast, Derry, London, New York and somewhere in the wilds of Scotland.

BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting a second series of Poetry Slam programmes in 2009. New Belfast Community Arts Initiative has been asked to host the All Ireland Regional Heat taking place on Thursday 18th June. A Poetry Slam is a knockout performance poetry competition in which poets perform their own work in front of an audience and a panel of judges, and are given scores by the judges based on content, style, delivery and level of audience response. Poetry Slamming began in the United States in the 1980s and is now thriving all around the world. There are hundreds of slams run all over Britain every year, and Radio 4 will be showcasing, through its own slam, some of the best performers in the United Kingdom. Radio 4 ran its first Poetry Slam in 2007, and this will be the second. There will be three broadcast programmes, comprising two semi-finals and a final anticipated to transmit in late September and early October 2009. To ensure a wide geographical spread, we will be running our three broadcast programmes after a series of nine regional heats, which will reflect the slam scene around the country. These will not be for broadcast, but out of them two winners from each heat will go forward to the broadcast semi-finals, making a total of nine participants in each semi-final. Three winners from each semi-final will go forward to the final. These qualifying rounds will be run in accordance with the same slam rules which will govern the broadcast semi-finals and final, so that all performers around the country will be taking part under the same conditions. Rules for performance and judging in the Radio 4 slam follow as closely as possible the generally accepted slam conventions, with a few specific points included in order to create a competition suitable for broadcast. The full rules and criteria will be available at http://www.newbelfastarts.org/news/slam09/ from Saturday 9th May 2009 If you have won a slam in the past three years and feel that you meet all other criteria as laid out in the rules (available through the above link) then please complete an application form (also available at the above link) and return it to us by Monday 1st June. In the event that eligible applications exceed number of places, NBCAI reserves the right to draw participants by lottery according to province to ensure that all regions are equally and fairly represented.

Pooja Nansi: ‘Stiletto Scars’ – poems of love, relationships, sexual politics and cultural identity with an Singapore-Indian flavour.

Marc Daniel Nair: ‘Along the Yellow Line’ : probing and polymath poems about mixed racial identity, wide social commentary laced with Asian flavoured wit and satire.’

These three poets are the leading exponents of the performance poetry movement in Singapore and their books also show they are highly capable and satisfying writers for the page. All three poets have extensive stage experience and are full-time teachers of literature and performance in Singapore.

Resumes in Brief:

Chris Mooney-Singh (b.1956) Of Australian-Irish descent, Mooney-Singh adopted Sikhism

in 1989. He has published two poetry joint collections, two chapbooks, co-edited (with K.F.

Pearson) a poetry anthology, ‘The Penguin Book of Christmas Poems’, and has three

spoken word CDs, the latest being Living in the Land of the Durian Eaters’. His latest collection ‘The Laughing Buddha Cab Company’ was launched at the Singapore Writers Festival (2007). He is currently working on his next collection ʻThe Bearded Chameleonʼ and a verse novel ʻForeign Madam and the White Yogiʼ both due out in 2009. Mooney-Singh has also written verse plays and short 10 minute plays, two of which were produced for Short +Sweet, Singapore 2008 and 2009. He was a guest at the Austin International Poetry Festival (2003), the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival (2004) and the Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival (2007). He is also a noted performance poet and the founder of Poetry Slam in Singapore and Malaysia. He is the co-founder and director of Word Forward, a full-time literary arts company in Singapore whose poetry performances have played for more than 60,000 students and adults since 2003

Pooja Nansi was born in 1981 in Gujarat, India and came to Singapore with her parents at the age of one and a half. She was a permanent resident until 2005 when she took on citizenship. She studied in Katong Convent Secondary and has completed her Bachelor of Arts with a minor in Philosophy and an Honours in Literature at the National University of Singapore in 2004 and is currently a teacher of English Literature at a local Junior College. A regular performer and at the Singapore Poetry Slam, she has also performed at various other literary festivals and events such as the KL Literature Festival in 2007, SubTEXT as well as the National University of Singapore’s Arts Festival. Performance poetry provides her the platform to merge two of her passions – drama and writing. Her favourite poets range from W.B.Yeats, Sylvia Plath and e.e.cummings to Edward Lear and Dorothy Parker. She states her cause as “proving poetry relevant ” and thinks, like one of her favourite performance poets that “This poetry is not afraid of going in a book, still this poetry needs ears to hear it and eyes to have a look. In 2008, she was sponsored by the British Council to tour UK and perform her work alongside other Asian and British performance poets. Her second collection will be released in 2009.

Marc Daniel Nair, born in Singapore in 1981 has a BA (Honours) from the National University of Singapore and now works as a teacher at a Junior College. Although he has written poetry from an early age, he rose to prominence through the Singapore Poetry Slam™ and since 2003 he has been one of its leading figures, winning countless numbers of events. He was a guest at the 2007 Kuala Lumpur Literary Arts Festival and also won the first Singapore-Malaysia Poetry Slam™ in March 2007. He was also a guest performer at the 2007 Singapore Writers Festival. In addition, he has shared his poetry with wide-ranging audiences at The Esplanade, The Arts House and at many secondary schools where he has also facilitated poetry writing and performance workshops. His 2nd collection of poems (Light from Another Land) is due out in 2009 contains travel poems from Bali, Vietnam, India and the Philippines.

Critics comments on the authors’ books:

The Laughing Buddha Cab Company

Chris Mooney-Singh’s collection represents an important contribution to the growing corpus of literature written by those we might describe as Singapore’s new residents. As a whole the many poems here collected reveal a sensibility rich in its allusions and vital in its capacity to engage readers. I am deeply moved by the sheer intimacy of the last section and impressed by the energy of the entire volume – Chris Mooney-Singh’s is a voice to be heard and engaged with…

Poet, Author and Professor Kirpal Singh, Singapore Management University

From original vantage-points (for example a cab, a cabman), overseas travel and his apartment, these poems construct personas that empower Mooney-Singh to fuse the personal and the social with insight, humour and poignance. Technically skilful, he deftly varies his line length to suit his varied material. A substantial, satisfying collection.

Robert Yeo, Singapore Poet and Playwright

As a frequent cab rider myself in New York, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., I can recognize in Chris Mooney-Singh’s poems the extraordinary range of personalities of taxi drivers. With rare insight and sensitivity he has created an entertaining and enlightening collection which is sure to delight his readers.

Christopher T. George, Editor, Loch Raven Review (USA)

Chris Mooney-Singh comes from an ancient line of jokester poets. He match-makes laughter with the getting of wisdom, and he sways us with exotic song.

K.F. Pearson, Poet and Publisher, Black Pepper (Australia)

‘Stiletto Scars’

“There aren’t enough poets like Pooja Nansi – smart, sexy and unashamed, she brings a much-needed shot of passion into Singapore literature.”

Ng Yi-Sheng

“At their best, Nansi’s poems are steely, smart-mouthed, and shot straight from the heart.”

Cyril Wong

‘Along the Yellow Line’:

Marc Daniel Nair’s ‘Along the Yellow Line does indeed walk right down the middle of the road between identity and society, faith and science, and love and fear. His acute eye for details and a polygot’s ear evokes people and places -from his native Singapore, to Bali to Vietnam and back. He does not shy away from addressing timely themes of ethnicity, war and the nature of god with an immediacy that “sears the miracle of metaphor in the brain.” Nair is constantly in transit down the late-night streets into the uncharted psyches of fellow travellers, himself included. He helps “find answers for the map folded in our hearts.’ Heed his directions, enjoy the journey.”

Ray McNiece author of 6 poetry collections and editor of American Zen: a gathering of poets.

Marc Daniel Nair presents a multi-faceted first collection.  Through his poems “we all become travellers”, navigating the boundries and divisions between countries, between national identities, between humour and poignant observation; between page poetics – experiments in form – and poems that demand to be voiced aloud.

Jacob.Sam La Rose, Poet and literature-in-education consultant (UK)

Scream Blue Murmur are hosting another one of their secret guerrilla gigs. In Derry on Saturday 15th November ……at a secret location obviously! But fear not you can email screambluemurmur@hotmail.co.uk for details of where to turn up to catch the show! Isn’t it handy I’m keeping you in the know!

Biddy Mulligans, Hamilton

Scream Blue Murmur – the name of the group says a lot. There is passion, combined with unexpected tenderness and delightful wit. Theirs is an engaging mix served up by an exquisite blend of voices, complimenting and contrasting with each other. The voices are a blend that rhythmically builds from individually whispered confession to melodic trios to a kind of full force, blast furnace acapella – the poem in question Sun Brown King performed without actual song, or actual music and yes you have to participate.

The poetry is sublime. Some phrases still stay with me – the poets were “a few syllables too late” for 1968, but their show brought 1968 to 2008, so we “won’t be too late for the next one.”

“I have a nightmare I have a nightmare I have a nightmare” is repeated throughout one of the three poems that respond to Martin Luther King’s life and death. Richly, the three poems respond in three different ways: despair, hope and stirring determination — “There’s a certain kind of fire no water can put out”.

So, go hear the music in the voices of the poetry of this group. You’ll be entertained, moved and inspired and you may just be fighting for weeks to get the tune of Sun Brown King out of your head.

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Tribune, Palmerston North

Five world-class poets – Scream Blue Murmur (previously known as Belfast Poets Touring Group) – brightened our lives at a PNRA public meeting in the Council Chamber on a rainy Sunday afternoon last month. These young people performed their poems on the theme of the year of 1968 with energy and humour, making the audience part of the act.

They shook me to the bone and I’m sure they did the same to the others present. It was a good informative and entertaining afternoon. The Belfast Poets have winged their way out of New Zealand but the words they spoke remain: I quote, “So someone please explain to me what’s wrong with loving where you live and thinking that for all we take its only right that we should give. Can someone please point out to me what’s wrong with love for fellow man and wanting them to have the best life they possibly can”.

It was great to see the council chamber used other than for boring speeches by councillors. I’ll end this item with a few words from ‘Phatbob’; “Or stand up next to history’s best. Cash, Brown, Luther- King; invest in something for a time to come… Ideals as bright as searing suns… That treachery we stand and face, silence betrays this Human race”.

Peter Wheeler PNCC Councillor & Chairperson of the PN Residents Association NZ

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

WEDNESDAY 23rd July
1.30-2.50 pm
lecture room Atrium AT2 University of Albany

Every time I teach the Creative Writing paper here at Massey Auckland, I like to try something a little bit different – I guess for my own sake as much as yours. Keeping it fresh, I suppose. This year it was Scream Blue Murmur (aka the Belfast Poets Touring Group). What I had in mind was that they could help to shock fledgling poetry students out of the notion that poetry is something locked down on a page, rather than something that happens when you let a lot of ideas fight it out among themselves.

The theme for the show they were touring, 1968, was an excellent chance for these young Irish poets to show their mettle. In poetry duets, quartets, quintets and solos they played a series of intricate variations on the undercurrents of that turbulent year, and the strange ways in which it rhymes with our own disordered present (I was particularly amused by PhatBob’s invocation of the musicians releasing albums in 1968: Van Morrison, the Beatles, the Stones – followed by the list for 2008: “Girls Aloud”?)

Sexual politics, Civil Rights, the student insurrection in Paris (“Sous les pavés, la plage!” [under the paving-stones, the beach]) – the main points were all there. I guess my one criticism would have to be that the show ended too soon. I’d have liked poems about Mayor Daley’s “white riot” at the Democratic convention in Chicago, the Prague Spring, the summer of love in San Francisco … The fact that I could start to imagine these add-ons shows just how much I got caught up in the spirit of the carnival.

The problem now is, what can we possibly find as good for next year’s class?

A brilliant respite from the Desert Road

Scream Blue Murmur, the performance poetry ensemble once known as the Belfast Poets Touring Group supplied a Wellington audience with an evening of poetry to remember at the Happy Bar on Monday night.

Today was officially the Best Day Ever! Bob and I were booked in to do the Auckland Skywalk. Oh my God it was the bravest I’ve been in a long time. In 2006 when we were in Sydney I climbed the Harbour Bridge which was brilliant and terrifying and fantastic but this Skywalk takes the biscuit. To fully appreciate it you’ll need to check out www.skywalk.co.nz cos my description will not do it justice. But as most of you know I’m terrified of heights and so the fact that I did this is a miracle at all. It is bloody high up and the views are spectacular and I am so chuffed that I was able to drag myself around without freezing in fear. When you are out on the ledge there are no handrails, nothing to hold on to apart from the rope, absolutely nothing. I had joked with Bob beforehand that he would find it very hard to walk around dragging me attached to his lower leg in fear but we were both relieved that I was a big brave girl and was able to walk by myself! We got some cracking pics too and my favourite is the shot taken where you have to lean out over the ledge cos I actually managed to do it after only a wee bit of prompting from Wayne our guide. I wasn’t able to do the on where you lean out face forward (I was already working at the limit of my manageable fear) but Bob did it and he said it was terrifying.

After that we had a well deserved drink and a Mexican meal and then went to see The Dark Knight in the Imax. What a brill film! Heath Ledger is fantastic in it and I can see why so many people are disappointed he won’t be around to do another one.

When it was over we went to meet Shane, Christian, Hado and Miriam from the Literati in the Wine Cellar for a drink or two. You may think that I am easily pleased but hell I don’t care – today was The Best Day Ever!

17th July – The Dogs Bollix

The thing that made the gig at the Dogs Bollix so good was Angel the soundman. He was a gem and set up the audio & visual things with no probs. It was the first time that we’d been able to use our visuals and it was a real treat for us to see how the show would look if all the venues had been as well equiped as the Dogs Bollix. It seems silly to be really loving the fact that we all had our own mic and that the music and visuals were working but it was a real light in the dark tunnel of touring in difficult circumstances.

There was a small crowd there but they seemed to genuinely like what we did. Len & Elliot were there working the door and it was great that we didn’t have to worry bout that side of it. Shane (from the Literati) came down and ripped into some new pieces that he’s chosen to fit in with our show. All in all a good night.

After the gig there was socialising to be done. Bob, Elliot, Shane, Ellen, Gordon & I went on a mini pub crawl …..mini cos every bar we tried to get into was closing (early). Elliot had the bright idea of going to meet his friends in the Albian which was a 24 hour bar and we needed no further encouragement. My feet were walked off me and I was dying of drooth. We got into the bar ordered pizza & beers, played pool with Elliot’s mates. I managed to hit one cracking shot (accidently) in the whole game, which I was chuffed by!

18th July – Hamilton Central Library / Biddy Mulligans

So an early start for us today. We had to be in Auckland city centre at 9am to be filmed for TVNZ, which is the national TV station. They were interested in our show and 68 and so did a performance and interview. It was kinda cool – we haven’t even been on telly at home yet and we come away to NZ and we’re on national TV, Maori TV and Alt TV. I guess that says something.

The gig at the library was good, despite us arriving to discover there had been a plumbing malfunction where we were supposed to be performing! They had moved us upstairs into a lovely space right beside the windows and we were delighted to see a crowd already forming to see us. Once we started more and more people came to have a nosey at what all this chanting/singing/poetry racket was and we were delighted to see them stick around and enjoy the show.

In the evening we had a show at Biddy Mulligans. To be honest I thought it was going to be a disaster, especially when the owner of the bar asked if we wanted the tables moved out of the dance floor cos people would be wanting to dance………to our music?! I mean what the fck?? I thought it was going to be yet another case of a gig where Grant hadn’t informed people what was going on. I felt sick to my stomach. We were due to start at half eight. At twenty-five past there were four people in the bar and I was for calling it quits and hitting the road! But bang on half eight – Bam! People! We ended up with a jam packed crowd and playing to an audience who got what we were doing and laughed and oohed in all the right places – always a good sign!

19th July – The Butter Factory, Whangarei

The drive to Whangarei is beautiful. So stunning and my only complaint is that we were on such a tight schedule that we didn’t have time to stop and admire the view and take photographs. It was the first time I felt I had seen New Zealand on this trip and I wasn’t disappointed. The Butter Factory is an unusual venue, lots of rugs and heaters, little stage and big open barn doors. We felt right at home. When we got up to do our set, Gordon introduced us and we got a roar of applause welcoming us. Well, things could only get better from that. It was the first time that we’d felt that people were genuinely knew who we were, were interested in our show and what we were doing and so it was a pleasure to perform. The people we met were lovely and we stayed around and chatted to loads of local characters. There was an open mic after our gig and it was lovely to hear local poets strutting their stuff, including Vaughan (who organised the gig) who did a couple of great pieces.

We were staying in a beach house batch and so Roger dropped us off there after the gig. We were looked after so well by Lisa and to wake up in the morning to that stunning view was such a treat. After seeing nothing but the grey of Onehunga I was almost blinded by the beauty of the place. I would certainly love to visit again but I doubt I’ll get the chance. All too soon it was time to say goodbye to the beach house, Lisa and her fantastic record collection and make the trip to Kerikeri.

20th July – The Venue, Kerikeri

On arriving at Kerikeri I declared that I was never leaving. The Venue is set in a subtropical garden (which is beautiful) and it is run by Mark and Tanya (two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet) The Venue was a lovely open space, with three of Marks huge textured paintings hung on the wall behind. The crowd were small but attentive and we really enjoyed meeting them. After the gig came the best part – Tanya showed us to our bungalows were we would be staying. OhMyGod, there were so beautiful and I really was determined not to leave. One look out the deck to the beautiful garden and I would have happily stayed there for life. Never mind the fact that I would be sleeping in a bed for the first time in three weeks, the bungalow also had officially the Worlds Greatest Shower. I think I died and went to holiday heaven. I took great delight in having a shower and then sitting in my towel in the heat, drinking a beer and revelling in the fact that I wasn’t freezing or damp in our semi squat in Onehunga. We went up to Tanya and Marks for dinner, made friends with Matai the dog and had a really lovely night.

In the morning we went over to Bob and Gordons bungalow for tour breakfast of scrambled eggs, which I was trying to enjoy out on the deck until one of the garden chickens made his way up onto the deck. I had to go inside cos I was eating eggs and just looking at the chook made me feel wile! But still it was terrible to have to eat your brekkie inside in front of the telly instead of enjoying it in the fresh air. Honestly I didn’t want to leave but all too soon Roger was rounding us up to take us back to Whangarei. I was delighted to find out that they are thinking of starting artist residency programme in the future and I told Tanya to expect an application from me. If you are ever in Kerikeri I strongly urge you to check out the Wharepuke Print Gallery, meet Mark and Tanya, chill out and recharge your soul. Tell them Scream Blue Murmur sent ya! Details can be found here.

21st July – Whangarei Central Library

WOW! Thats all I really want to say though it wouldn’t be much help to you unless I explained why WOW! In fact it would be a kinda rubbish blog…..so here goes. Firstly the library had put a lot into advertising the event, thats always a good sign. Secondly even though there were some scheduling conflicts and we thought we were going to have to cancel the gig, we were actually able to make it there.

We arrive to a lovely space with chairs set out for 60 people. There are already people there and suddenly the floodgates open and more and more start to arrive. Vaughan who had organised us in the Butter Factory brought his students down and Chris who had seen us at KeriKeri brought his students down (they both work at the Polytechnic) There were people squeezed in everywhere, sitting on the floor, perched up on table tops. standing squeezed in at the back, where they couldn’t see us but could hear. It was jammed and we were revved up and raring to go. We performed a twenty minute set and then stopped for questions and answers. The first question someone asked was “Do you have a CD I can buy?” and we were delighted to answer yes! Someone else asked how we fund the trip and we were able to explain that we don’t get (and never have got) any support from our Arts Council, this lead to a murmur (!) of disapproval from the crowd. Most people were shocked that we couldn’t get support and that we had come all that way basically cos we love performing. At the end of the gig we announced that there were CD’s for sale, Vaughan piped up and said he had a bucket for Koha (donations) at the door and he urged people to donate heavily. And they sure did. People swarmed to buy CDs and have them signed. We were touched by how many people liked what we did and spent a long time chatting and sharing stories. As Gordon would say there was a lot of love in the room. I was particularly touched by one little incident. An older lady wanted to buy a CD and asked if we took cheques. I explained that we were unable to do that cos we didn’t have an NZ bank account. A Maori lady who was behind her in the queue gave her the $10 to pay for her CD, then bought two for herself and threw in $40 leaving the rest as Koha. The two ladies hugged and we saw a wee moment of the genuine kindness of strangers. The Maori lady said she was touched by our words and that this was the only way to change the state of the world, by speaking passionately about things.

Another class moment for me was when a French girl came up to praise my French in the poem Sous Le Pave La Plage. This is a poem that Gordon had written about the struggle in France during 68. One of the teachers at my school translated it for me and then her and the French assistant taught me how to say it. When the French girl came up I thought she was going to say “Terrible French!” but she said that her English wasn’t great and that she didn’t understand a lot of the gig but that she was delighted to hear my beautiful French. Well that just put a spring in my step!

We also met Dougie who told us about the carved posts outside the library. He was responsible for a group of teenagers working on them, and that the heads at the top of the post were facing round to Belfast. Auckland is on a level with Belfast, which is something I didn’t know. So we got some really cracking pictures taken there and he is going to do a follow up article for the New Zealand Herald and the Belfast Telegraph.

We spent the rest of the day in Whangarei and keep getting stopped by people in the street who’d been to the gig and really enjoyed it. We were supposed to be leaving that afternoon to go to Rotura to visit Elliots eco farm, but as he only could get one car to take us down, and I didn’t fancy spending four hours wedged into the back of a car without a seatbelt, I said I was going to stay in Whangarei. Bob & Chelley also decided to stay. We got our kit out of the van and headed off into the unknown. Gordon and Ellen were going to head back with Roger to go to Roturua. As we were standing on the street saying our goodbye’s a lady called Den passed us, who had been at the gig, she stopped and chatted and when she found out we were planning on staying but hadn’t organised anywhere to stay yet, she offered us her house. Thats what I mean about the kindness of strangers here. We didn’t end up staying there but the fact that she offered meant such a lot to us.

We had hoped that Whangarei would be a little bit more lively than Onehunga but we were sorely disappointed. Most bars (most everything) in NZ closes quite early and I am beginning to wonder what people do for fun. We played a comedy game of pool at the Backpackers where Bob gave us two shots for every one of his and he still managed to kick our ass. We found a bar that was open and after having a comedy photograph taken with a giant bottle of champers we settled down for a few drinks. A lovely Hoegarden, a melontini and vodka & coke later and I was well on the way to the jollies! Chelley had a few Benedictines which I thought tasted vile, much to her amusement. Bob had a NZ local bourbon which I thought also tasted vile, though in that case Bob agreed with me! After the bar had closed we ended up sitting in our room in the Backpackers, ’til four in the morning with Bobs bottle of Whiskey, which I thought was vile to start with but then became less vile the more of it I drank, strangely enough. I’m such a wuss though, it was watered down that much that I think it was just water with a hint of Whiskey. The most comedy part of the night was a trip to the toilet later on when we decided that we had to forward roll Ninja style down the hallway ….. not big and not clever I know but boy it made me laugh so much.

23rd July – Albany University

Today we were guest lecturers at Albany University, for a creative writing class. It’s kinda cool you can search for it online and find us!! The uni is absolutely beautiful, puts our Coleraine campus to shame. I think I’d like learning in a place like that.

Anyways we were to do our show to “Shake the students up a bit” in the words of the lecturer Jack Ross and he wasn’t disappointed. There were about 120 students in the lecture hall in total and we ripped into our show and did our thing. Thats one thing that I’m enjoying about this tour  – discovering that no matter the situation / performance venue / stress / audience type we can always give a good show. Gordon decided to really go the whole hog and leave the performance area and walk up the stairs into the crowd during Sun Brown King and really encourage/terrify them into singing along! I laughed so hard I think I did damage.

It was lovely afterwards to talk to the students, they were all really interested in our writing process. We even made a woman cry (in a good way) She said she found our Martin Luthor King trilogy piece so moving and powerful. I was really chuffed by that. Bob, Chelley and I had written three pieces about MLK and we only decided whilst on tour to put them together into one performance piece and its always good to know it works. Chelleys piece is about the aftermath of his death, Bobs piece is about today and how far we’ve fallen from the mark that King set us (as he says in his introduction) and my piece deals with some sense of hope for the future.

Our introductions to poems have been making me laugh over the last wee wile. I don’t know whether its because we’ve heard the same thing over and over again but I’m giggling more and more during intros. I never do much introduction to my poems cos I kinda think that if I have to explain it then the poem hasn’t really done its job but with this 68 show we all need to explain a wee bit more cos so many people are unaware of the issues that we’re writing about. There’s always a word or phrase of the day that needs to make its way into the intro. Gordon has started to introduce Sun Brown King and the audience participation section as something to “clean out the pipes” Bob has worked a different animal into one of his, so rather than “flogging a dead horse” it has become “kicking a dead pig” “skinning a dead cat” etc. I really do look forward to the next one!