There are exactly four months left till the end of the year. Scary how time flies right? It is about this time you find yourself pulling out the ‘to do list’ you wrote back in January... who doesn’t want to look at it? hands? anyone?
The Formula: 3 News Items / Smthn frm YouTube:
THE 14th TALE // THE MIDNIGHT RUN //
LOVERS LIARS CONJURERS AND THIEVES//
YOUTUBE: JOHN KEATS!
THE 14th TALE: EDINBURGH FRINGE //
So So... It begins, the tour. As I write this, I am three days deep into a week long rehearsal for the 14th Tale. Next Monday I jet off to the Edinburgh Fringe Fest to run the show for 10 days as part of the British Council Showcase... pressure? YES. News is spreading... I think this is the last day to get a copy, but if you go a good newsagent, look for a magazine called ‘The Stage’ - theatre/entertainment news, and yours sincerely adorns the front cover with a tribe of other young Edinburgh performers. After that, next, week my face will be on the front cover of FEST - ‘The Ultimate Independent Festival Guide’ - (festmag.co.uk) as well. If you know anyone who is at the Fringe, please send ‘em my way, wish me luck.
Details: 14th Tale at The Edinburgh Fringe Fest.
August 19 - 29th (excluding 23) // Time: 2pm // Cost: £10/£7.50
Pleasance Courtyard, Venue 33 // Tickets: www.plesance.cou.uk
Box Office Call: 0131 556 6550 // Utube: http://moourl.com/e0hqw
Download Desktop bkg: http://www.phaze05.com/The14thTale.zip
THE MIDNIGHT RUN //
Last month, I talked about the August MNR, 12 hours walking through the streets of London. I promised fun and brilliance and if I were you, I would’ve listened to me because I was right! The MNR was breathtaking, it was gust stealing, I mean breeze robbing-ly magnificent... you should have been there. We had no business indulging in such harmless good natured fun, especially when the world would have us believe that everything is on the brink of collapse. Everything ran smoothly, even the unplanned happenings seemed planned. We started with 13 runners at 6p.m - but at the end, when Big Ben struck 6a.m. there were 26 Midnighters cheering.
The Nighter of the Run Award goes to one of the featured artists: Rory Broadfoot, who spent the first half of that Saturday hugging a toilet bowl after feasting on bad lobster, yet stayed the entire 12 hour duration, walking, writing, and planting with the best of us... Stay tuned for the Full Report. Other MNRs for the year: Manchester: 26th Sept, and two possibles I shan’t speak of yet.
Report of MNR '07 here - http://moourl.com/hp5u6 //
Mini May Run '09 here - http://moourl.com/lsshh //
Want to know more? mail me - themidnightrun@gmail.com
LOVERS LIARS CONJURERS AND THIEVES//
I won a poetry competition. Imagine. The prize was a reading at Latitude Festival, and a t-shirt with my post code printed on it. The poem took two years to write; from when I was first inspired, to its completion and final fullstop. I was pushed to finished in time for a publication called ‘AT NIGHT I’; A conceptual artist and dear friend of mine, Ana Laura Lopez de la Torre, ran a year long project about Southwark (borough of London) at Night. During the project, I was one of the few creatives invited to her salon, to talk about a project at night and I did so about the Midnight Run. She asked for a contribution to her book et voilà: Lovers, Liars, Conjurers and Thieves. The poem traces my favorite journey home, from London’s Southbank Center, through Elephant & Castle, Camberwell, Peckham to right here, in front of my laptop.
The Artist Book: ‘AT NIGHT’, I is a limited edition run of just 1000 copies, and roughly 800 have already been snapped up, some will be distributed through the borough, but some are for sale at £10.00 a pop. Fancy attending the book Launch? (I’ll be doing a short set there) I got you. It is completely free, and ANYONE can come.
Date: Wed 9 Sept ‘09 // Time: 6.00pm - 8.00pm
Venue: Camberwell Space, Camberwell College of Arts
Peckham Road, London SE5 8UF // T: 0207 514 6402
*Read poem? click here: http://moourl.com/q2nzg
YOUTUBE: JOHN KEATS!//
I have oft described myself as the love child of John Keats and Mos Def. And Mos has enough videos on the tube that I can easily spend a full day watching and gawking at his rhymes... (he says, ‘put down your blinds, your shade don’t out my shine’) but there is nothing of Keats to watch, not performances... or so I thought. I stumbled into this and almost wet myself with excitement, sit back and watch HIM READ one of his finest poems.
Ladies and dudes: John KEATS: http://moourl.com/5cbuh
That's all Folks.Xx
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News July 09
2009-07-01
Haaaaaaaaa... Hope all is well fellas, It's been productive since my last mail, stayed for a week in Scotland, secluded and isolated, kicking out a script, poems and lots of other fun whatnots... perfect to clear my brain as the next six months of madness comes. Madness, what madness you ask? Hold, I shall reveal all...
The Formula: 4 News Items / Smthn frm YouTube:
FRESH OFF THE PAGE // THE MIDNIGHT RUN
THE 14TH TALE TOUR // OPEN NOTEBOOKS
YOUTUBE: MICHAEL JACKSON
FRESH OFF THE PAGE//
Urgent! Last minute.comness, I know but click here and read on: http://moourl.com/ge02c // Cool photo right? (thnx Kim) Last year, I curated a live Word & Graphic installation under the banner 'Fresh of the Page' for the Southbank's Lit Fest. This year, I return to host and perform at an event - Mashing the Classics - FREE Entry - where writers/performers remix classic stories. Also on the bill: Nikesh Shukla, Rachel Rose Reid, Maxwell Golden, Kayo Chingonyi, Dzifa Benson & Naomi Woddis, and musicians Dylan Howe & Will Butterworth.
Time: 4.30 - 6.00 // Entry: FREE
Venue: Queen Elizabeth Hall // SouthBank Centre //
Web: http://moourl.com/ge02c //
THE MIDNIGHT RUN //
Flashback summer to '05, bored of waiting for a bus, a friend and I decided to walk the bus route. We deviated a bit. After 6 hours of wondering through the night, through the deserted city streets, we had covered huge chunks of London by foot, and were not tired. I titled the excursion 'The Midnight Run' and since 06' there's been a run every year; I invite a bunch of folks, mostly strangers to themselves, and from 6pm - 6am, in summer, when it's hot enough to rock t-shirst, we walk, eat, talk, dance and make merry from sunset to sunrise. The runs are truly magical, I have stories for days... but the movement is growing. This September, there'll be a Manchester MNR, talks are underway for a Glasgow Run, and whispers of Oxford. And exciting news, The MNR is now sponsored by Blacks the Outdoor specialists.
Read more? Download a write up of MNR '07 here - http://moourl.com/hp5u6 //and the Most recent, the Mini May Run '09 here - http://moourl.com/lsshh // The Next Run is on the 8th of August, want to know more? just mail me -
themidnightrun@gmail.com
THE 14th TALE: EDINBURGH FRINGE //
The play is back! After the 3 sell out dates at the Arcola Theatre in London early this year, my first theatrical outing, The 14th Tale will be touring right through the autumn. A total of 32 dazzling dates, including the Contact Theatre in Manchester, ARC Theatre in Stockton, Ustinov in Bath, Norden Farm in Maiden Head, 2 weeks at the Battersea Arts Centre, The Albany Theatre in Deptford and the Croydon Clocktower.
However, the first place it'll play is The Edinburgh Fringe Fest. For ten days it will be part of the British Council Showcase, at the prestigious Pleasance Courtyard, Venue 33. Please spread the word and come. I'll be publishing the complete dates on my website soon, but leave with this:
OPEN NOTEBOOKS//
Over at http://opennotebooks.co.uk something special is going on. Created and curated by Karen McCarthy, it asks the question: 'Can we use blogs and web platforms as interactive, multi-media notebooks, and if so does it change the end result?' Four poets have been commissioned to create one poem online, and blog about the process. I am one of the fellas and until the 22nd of July, I will be uncloaking my creative process, showing bits of my sketch book, and from my notebook. Please stop by and follow the journey. When you arrive on the site, look to the right and click 'Inua Ellams' and my posts will come up.
YOUTUBE: MICHAEL JACKSON
There is nothing I can say that hasn't been already, no sentiment I can express that hasn't be played out on television. Perhaps the most curious complex character to have ever lived on screen has left. He battled his parents, his childhood, his sexuality, his gender and his race. As much as he was worshipped and recognised, he was ridiculed and taunted. So celebrating Mike J in his prime, sit and watch this legendary performance: Billie Jean / Motown 25.
SweetXx
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Foyle's Young Poets Compeitition
2009-06-27
The Poetry Society has just created its first ever viral video! The video is being used to promote the Foyle Young Poets of the Year competition which closes for entries on 31st July 2009. The Poetry Society is celebrating its centenary this year and hopes that in 2009 as many young people as possible will get involved with the UK’s leading poetry competition.
