South West
Select this link for Apples & Snakes events in the South West
Hi, I am Gina, Apples and Snakes regional coordinator for the South West.
South West is the biggest region in England, the size of Portugal apparently and within the region Devon is the largest of Counties and where we are based.
We have two regular events that take place either end of Devon, both have been successfully running for several years now and audiences just keep growing.
Forked in Plymouth, is a bi monthly cabaret style spoken word night where almost anything goes amongst velvet curtains and Thai noodles. Studio@QT and Gallery Sessions events in Barnstaple showcase spoken word theatre/ music shows and diverse performance poetry. Quality is integral to all my programming in the South West and audiences respond with loyalty and rapturous applause, disgust or the occasional click!
Programming is made so very easy due to the fantastic talented artists I have the honour to work with. You only need to check out the poet’s database to see many faces from across the South West including Cornwall, Devon, Bristol, Bath, Bournemouth and Somerset. I make it a key part of my job to find opportunities for professional poets in the South West to perform often giving first paid sets to talented newcomers. We like to share our poets and I connect regional artist with my fellow Apples and Snakes programmers, helping them to establish National connections. I also programme artists from across the UK and internationally at times too.
Poets at every stage of their career are important to me and over the past 2 and half years many different development schemes have been set up. Kindle for example was launched for local writers to expand into the realm of performance over a number of intensive weeks. There have been lots of exciting workshops focusing on everything from Slam Techniques, Improvisation space in Performance Poetry or Using Found Text. Most recently we have been exploring ongoing projects in Somerset and Plymouth that will work with young people (14-25) and those with disenfranchised voices.
We have established some fantastic partnerships here in the South West and this helps to keep us alive and on the pulse of what spoken word artists and audiences want and need. I am always looking at ways to develop our offer and reach new audiences.
That’s why I urge you to sign up to my mailing list as we have lots of one off events all around the region, from events at Exeter Poetry Festival ( now in year 3) to cross regional slams in Bournemouth.
You never know what might happen next!
On the following links, you can find information about:
- Spoken word events in the South West
- Venues in the South West
- Relevant organisations, foundations & networks
- Funding advice for the South West
- Listing your work
- Writing groups and publishers in the South West
- Poetry and literature festivals in the South West
Select this link for Apples & Snakes events in the South West
