Back in the driving seat for 2011. It occurs to me that, much as I’ve been doing a fair amount of work on the site, pushing it a new shade of minimal, I haven’t updated the “feature” post for a while. So. January’s gone down well. Kicked off the year in fine style with performances at One Year On, and Patrick Neate’s Book SLAM, and as I type this, I’m mentally preparing for a set at Rich Mix’s Tongue Fu – poetry and improvised music. I’ve been before, the band’s hot (Like fire? -ed.) and I’m looking forward to the challenge. There are rhythms I’ve grown familiar with for every poem I read, and I’m curious to see how those rhythms and dynamics will have to shift in order to work with the music – not simply to run through poems with a live backing track, but to engage in real dialogue with the musicians I’ll be playing with. Last year’s commissioned work with composer Luke Styles is unveiled this weekend. The Barbican Poets project is ticking along nicely – with the young up-and-comings working towards an April showcase. Other than that, I’ve got my head down, working on the next collection. Time off for good behaviour? Maybe.
Oh, and a quick note: the recent update on the site is still a work in progress. Working on it. If anything doesn’t look like it should, it’s probably already on my to-do list, but do feel free to holler.