Susie Wild's Blog: Wildlife, page 44

FForum @ Hand of Roath

I have a little gig as part of Made in Roath

You can find me doing a short set at FForum @ Hand of Roath – Queens Arcade, Cardiff at 2.20pm on Sunday 14 October 2012.

FREE ENTRY.

Autumn Gigs

Hello Folks!
I have a number of fun gigs and salons and bits and pieces coming up, which I thought I should tell you about.
I shall be performing poems and stories at:
1. National Poetry Day is on 4 October 2012. I shall be assisting Rhian Edwards in her role as Poet in Residence at John Lewis in the day, writing poems about toasters and other homeware. I shall then be heading along to the Seren First Thursday Shindig at Chapter in the eve to read a poem or three at the open mic.
2. Birkenstock at Gwdihw in Cardiff on Sunday 7 October 2012. My awesome man Meirion is playing too.
3. Mozarts @ Do Not Go Gentle. I shall be doing a few poems in support of Rhian Edwards at Mozarts between 6 and 7pm on Sat 3rd November. Come along.
I also have literary salons coming up at:
1. Cardiff Literary Salon xx special, as part of xx minifest of women's writing which I co-organise. This will be held at Chapter Arts Centre, Sat 27 October 2012, 7.30pm: https://www.facebook.com/events/438440302866635/
2. Uplands Literary Salon @ Do Not Go Gentle, Noah's Yard, Swansea, Sat 3 November 2012, 4-5pm: https://www.facebook.com/events/308728702568604/
Then I am running away with the circus, off to Zagreb for a writing residency at a circus festival called festival novog cirkusa, and I may not come back. Ever.
In other news: My poetry pamphlet will be finished this season. Fact.
Blackberries, daydreaming thoughts and leaf-stamping-walks,
Susie Q x

Bridgend Gigs-a-go-go!

I am on at 7pm, and awesome fellow poet David E. Oprava is performing 8.25 to 8.40pm.

I'll also be performing poems and stories at Arts Exchange, Bauhaus, Bridgend on Saturday 1st September. Doors at 8pm, I'm on in the first half. Do come along :)

https://www.facebook.com/ArtsExchange

Celtic WomenFest

I shall be performing poetry here on Monday 27 August 2012 at 2.45pm:

Summer Gigging

So I survived another birthday. Lovely mini holiday in West Wales with my beau, an intimate acoustic set from Patti Smith in Laugharne before I headed off to do a mini gig as part of the Jam Bones crew of Cardifferent poets at a blustery first outing of Dinefwr Literature Festival. We performed in a flappity tent on the Saturday, but many of the acts were forced indoors due to the bad weather. Still, I managed a walk in the woods and over marshes, spotting deer etc and dosed up on a fair bit of good country air. I also proved my poet credentials (bad at sport and coordination) in a game of boules with Nasty Little Press and was read a Revolting Rhyme by Mr Joe Dunthorne during a patch of sunshine. (He read this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5DS2DnsJ04). I also waved farewell to my trusted travelling companion - my starry tent - who had survived a decade of festivals, but finally snapped this weekend. Sob sob. I think I have to admit that me and camping are almost through too.

I am fairly quiet on the gig front this summer as I knuckle down to some writing instead, but you can catch me at the following...
Reading a BRAND NEW piece of microfiction at Gwdihw on Friday 13 July at Trickster Tales: Microfiction / spoken word. It starts at 12 noon, is free entry AND there will be a veggie buffet provided.Performing as one of the team of Poetry Patrons at the Celtic Womenfest 2012 at the National Botanical Gardens, Wales (August 26 & 27).  [image error]

Finally then, some congratulations are in order:

CONGRATS TO My mate Gemma Copp, who just CONGRATS TO my darling pal Rhian Edwards (pictured above), who just got married in a whirlwind trip to New York wearing a gorgeous polka dot 50s sailor dress. As such I have a life-is-all-topsy-turvy post-wedding hen do to look forward to this weekend.


33 will be a rock and roll year, I can tell you. This summer I shall also be learning to make bunting and bread, trying to not kill some plants and embarking on an ambition to make my own patchwork quilt.

Happy International Short Story Day!

Happy International Short Story Day! I shall be celebrating by reading short stories this morning and working on a new short story this afternoon... I hope you have a day of enjoying short stories and their writers, also. Gifts/drinks most welcome. Next week I am off to see Patti Smith play, frolick about in Laugharne for my birthday, and then hop over to Dinefwr festival to perform a few poems:



Saturday, 1.00pm Jam Bones is the brain child of Mab Jones, and is a spoken word enterprise based in Cardiff. It has organised over 50 events, including: monthly Manic Monday poetry happenings in the capital city; the popular PechaKucha Night of mini-presentations at Chapter Arts Centre; various slams, including the Welsh heat of this year’s National Team Poetry Slam; the Floralia Festival, a showcase of female creative and performance talent; the Welsh leg of Attila the Stockbroker’s 30th anniversary UK tour; and many, many more! The poets at Dinefwr include:  ‘notable bohemian’ Susie Wild; multiple-slam winner  and ‘rock ‘n’ roll poet’ Jack Pascoe; erudite poet and former crime journalist Nicholas Whitehead; lit-hop sensation Liam Johnson; John Hegley slam winner Sue Hamblen; and MC, the “hilarious” (Western Mail) Mab Jones. A diverse mix of poetic styles with one thing in common – the ability to entertain, engage, expound emotions, expand minds. Expect comedy, tragedy, satire, and substance, mixed with scintillating style!For more information on Jam Bones, please see http://jambones.webs.comPerforming Saturday 30 June.Also, this is so me: [image error]

MSLEXIA | FINAL BLOG | YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU DO

Jun12You Know More Than You Think You Do0 CommentsPosted by Susie Wild in deadlines,inspiration,writing process

I have this Anthony Burrill poster on my mood board of a wall behind my desk and it still makes me smile. I definitely think that as a writer a lot of the work we do is quietly going on behind the scenes in our unconscious. That I know more about the writing project that I have been thinking around for ages than I think I do when I sit and stare at the blank page. This is there to remind me of that fact and to prevent another procrastination bad habit of mine – over researching. To bolster me onwards.My desk says rather a lot about my state of mind and productivity. It is currently untidy, which is a good sign. I have been too immersed in writing to sort through my To Do file, or indeed file things. Instead they sit in a haphazard pile of things-that-I-am-not-doing-right-now, held in place by a paperweight and a bumper tub of iron tablets. My garrett is, itself, not too messy. I can’t work in complete disorder. Clothes have been washed and there are no piles of coffee cups and plates growing their own mould universes. It is more organised chaos. Several open notebooks, a strew of pens, loose sheets of lists,doodles and scribbles and a number of books read and half read...
Read the blog in full over at Mslexia: http://www.mslexia.co.uk/blog/2012/06/you-know-more-than-you-think-you-do/

THE STAGE | REVIEW | LA BOHEME

La BohemePublished Wednesday 6 June 2012 at 12:01 by Susie WildWelsh National Opera’s La Boheme is a feast of the senses celebrating La Belle Epoque. Choosing to revive one of their best-loved productions with the alternative version of the opera is always going to run the risk of displeasing traditionalists and avid fans of the other production, however the beautifully contemporary visual spectacle they have created is guaranteed to win them many new admirers. Annabel Arden makes an assured debut with WNO as director with great attention to the nuances of character. Stephen Brimson Lewis has designed incredible, cinematic sets incorporating multimedia to great effect as the action switches from the shadows and starlight of Parisian garrett rooftops and the exuberant bustle of bohemian cafe culture in the Madcap years to the painterly winter tableaux of Act III. Extravagant diversive rather than outrageously distracting.Anita Hartig (Mimi) and Alex Vicens (Rodolfo) in La Boheme Wales Millennium Centre, CardiffPhoto: Catherine AshmoreThis popular story is, in the main, enjoyably light-hearted and the cast are infectiously jovial when playing the scenes packed with joie de vivre and mischief - especially the musing philosopher Marcello (David Kempster) and his on-off fickle flirt of a muse Musetta (Kate Valentine), both on fine form. Rodolfo (Alex Vicens) and Mimi (Anita Hartig) are charmingly believable lead lovers while one of WNO’s long-associated conducters Carlo Rizzi arouses much warmth from the familiar score.Act II packs the stage with a flamboyant chorus of students, hawkers, shopkeepers, working girls, crossdressers and soldiers in sharp contrast with the touching, chilled quiet of Act III’s opening scenes. Then lovers are once more reconciled as a very sick Mimi dies not of mal du siecle, but consumption. Much to admire.Production informationComposer:Composer: Giacomo Puccini. Conductor: Carlo RizziManagement:Welsh National OperaCast:David Kempster, Shaun Dixon, David Soar, Gary Griffiths, Anita HarligDirector:Annabel ArdenDesign:Stephen Brimson-LewisLighting:Tim MitchellChoreography:Philippe GiraudeauProduction information can change over the run of the show.

Read the review in full at: http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/36394/la-boheme

MSLEXIA BLOG LINKED POST | STAGE FRIGHT

This links in with my last blog for Mslexia...


Stage Fright
I fear some of you may feel a tad shortchanged with the lack of performance advice and tips I've given out in this blog, so I have written a few bullet points on my own personal blog for you.
If you you want to develop a spoken word show speak to arts council and literature funding bodies in your area, as well as new writing theatres and the people already doing the sort of thing you want to do. They should point you in the right direction. The Apples and Snakes website resources section has advice on performing poetry, slams, marketing yourself, preparing a 20 minute set, taking a show on tour, and performing at Edinburgh.You will need a sample of your work or wannabe show in order to get money or gigs or feedback. Try open mic nights. Try making a short video and popping it up on Youtube. At the very least, put pen to paper, or have a good writing CV to show them, something to spark their interest, to impress them.Go and see other shows. Meet other spoken word artists. Get a feel for what you do and don't like, what you do and don't want to do yourself and what is possible. If your area doesn't have many, drive or get a train or a bus to somewhere that does, get out there. Personally, I don't like taking part in slams, but you might love that. Find what you love. Pursue it.Consider taking time for research and development, for rehearsal. It is probably a good idea to have a director, most of the people I spoke to who are doing good, touring spoken word shows have a director. Collaboration is also not a dirty word. Why not get another performer in. Yes it means you have to split any cash you make, but it also makes things easier. Things like shifting your set from gig to gig, and filling in dreaded funding forms. Things like helping to keep your morale up on a long, stinky tour of small venues. Things like covering up that bit where you fall over, or fluff a line or get abducted by aliens.Learn your words. I repeat, learn your words. Record them onto your phone and take them out for walks in fields or parks where no-one can hear you muttering along to the tracks, or where no-one cares. You can read new stuff from the page, especially if you are trying it out at an open mic, but in the majority of cases I find it is frowned upon if you read poems in longer sets these days.  I blame the comics, and the musicians. If you get stuck, try rhyme and refrains. Try stage movement to jog the hashtag storage of your memory. Try anything and everything until you have learnt your words ;)If, for one reason or another, performance doesn't come naturally to you -- whether down to nerves, or a need to find your voice, or a lack of self esteem and confidence -- look into workshops and courses in your area. Many theatres and new writing centres offer acting classes and voice workshops and there are various public speaking, confidence and self-esteem boosting classes available through colleges, adult learning centres and possibly even through your day job. These can often be one-on-one too. If you attend a writing class or group, why not consider clubbing together to get a good performer to come in and run a workshop with you.Quick. Watch the BBC4 Evidently John Cooper Clarke documentary on iPlayer before it goes. He is a star in my eyes, who proved that poetry could be both intelligent and fun and performed in pubs and clubs, where I still think it sounds best. Four decades on,  the legend who 'outpunked punk' is still touring. Write, write, write. Then write some more.

MSLEXIA BLOG | STARTING AGAIN

May31Starting Again0 CommentsEdit - Posted by Susie Wild in creativity,inspiration[image error]

Whenever I return to my own writing after a sizeable period of absence and neglect – or rather attempt to return to my writing – I tend to sit in front of the laptop or the blank page and feel like I am banging my head against a Mexican desert cactus, violently. It hurts and there is some destruction and much bloodshed yet very little words make it out in that time. Mainly expletives. The occasional whimper.I know this about myself but it still seems to surprise me each time, to sneak up, make me jump, and then make me cry.After this happened, again, and I got bummed out about it, again… even though I knew, as I always know, that the thing you have to do if you want to write is just write, even if you feel crappy, even if you think you have nothing to say. You write ‘I have nothing to say’ for lines and lines and pages and pages until you suddenly go ‘Hang on, this is stupid, I have lots to say’ and then you start to write different words instead, and generally, at least in my case, these words start to look like a story and I feel a lot less bummed out, and I try to keep momentum, and the pages start to head towards something that might, eventually, be publishable or performable or, best case scenario, both.Read more: http://www.mslexia.co.uk/blog/2012/05/starting-again/