richard barrett

Charlie Sayzz

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A twitter haiku poem made from Iraq/Afghanistan war reportage, intercut with quotes from cult leader Charles Manson, will tweet 1st Oct onwards from: https://twitter.com/CharlieSayzz

The poem draws comparisons between psychopathology and foreign policy.

“An American nightmare, with its condensation of Holy Spirit + Charles Manson + War + haiku (a Japanese form that could recall of course another war)… Another voice among the voices, a way to explore trauma… Poetry should do this.” (Steve Giasson)

Charlie Sayzz is constructed from incorrect 18-syllable haiku, to be transmitted one per day for the next year. The haiku is a much-abused and appropriated short (17-syllable) Japanese form, often meditative and peaceful. It is chosen here for its very in-appropriateness as a vehicle for war poetry. And yet under the placid surface, haiku surely is angry, because it is now such a colonised poetry. The extra syllable in these ‘bad’ haiku is to create dissonance (in old numerology, 9 is the number of aggression; 18 syllables = 1+8 = 9).

The poem was devised by Philip Davenport and co-written by him with Richard Barrett, Steve Giasson, Tom Jenks, Michael Leong, copland smith and Steve Waling.  Tom Jenks programmed the twitter feed and shaped many of the verses as visual poems.

This project is a parallel to Davenport’s novel Charlie Says (2013)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Charlie-Says-ebook/dp/B00DDU1R6A

 

Endless / Nameless ~ Rachel Sills & Richard Barrett

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The gingerbread silhouette of my father
Is absent today I’m perspiring
Or you could say shimmering over a coastline
In a row pegged-out, colour coded
Three weeks’ worth of hearts
A Freudian couch with sponge cake perhaps?
An arrow, a narrowboat, arrowroot blot
A stair-lift stops, temperamentally
I decline to use the honesty box
But am generous for life-guards
On a good day, only on a good day
A magazine before dinner before, later, the paper
The evening smell of tobacco
‘Papa?’  I hear; to which I answer ‘yes, Nicole?’

More at The Red Ceilings.

WFN

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The next meeting of the writers’ group will be on Saturday, August 24th at Terrace bar, Edge Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, 2 – 4 pm. Bring a poem of your own and poem by someone else you like. Bring copies if possible.

HOW QUEUES WORK live event #1

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Writing the queue. The queue as constraint upon poetic practice. The inhabiting of a public space for a predetermined length of time and writing in that public space. Considering: queuing as class occupation. Queuing as primary means by which the city is experienced. The redundancy of psychogeography? The development and rules of the queue. The queue as useful autobiographical metaphor?

As the next stage of his ongoing HOW QUEUES WORK project on Saturday 20th July Richard Barrett will occupy a place in the bus queue at the stop outside the Palace Hotel, opposite Cornerhouse, Manchester for exactly one hour between the times 14.30 and 15.30. During that time he will produce a text responding to the experience of queuing taking in the sights and sounds of the city available to him from his place in the queue and considering each of the points listed in the above paragraph. At 15.30 Richard will board the number 42 bus and leave.

Guiding text of this event will be Michel de Certeau’s the Practice of Everyday Life.

To take part – turn up.

Gareth Twose, Top Ten Tyres launch

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Town Hall Tavern
Manchester
July 6th, 8.30, FREE entry

Gareth Twose is a former journalist and organiser of Writers’ Forum North.  Recent work has appeared in publications including 3am, Depart, Litter, Assent, Ink, Sweat and Tears, & Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot.   He was co-organiser of the Manchester Poets for Pussy Riot event (2012). Top Ten Tyres is his debut collection. http://www.theredceilingspress.co.uk/

Rachel Sills lives in Manchester. She has had poems published in Stand magazine, and has a PhD on Frank O’Hara’s poetry.

Richard Barrett lives in Salford. His latest chapbooks The Shangri Las and 3 are forthcoming from, respectively, erbacce press and blartbooks.

Catechism: Poems For Pussy Riot

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Tuesday, 20 November 2012, 19:30.

Thomas Restaurant & Bar, 49-51 Thomas Street, Manchester, M4 1NA.

Readers confirmed so far are

  • Richard Barrett
  • Leanne Bridgewater
  • John Calvert
  • Ursula Hurley
  • Judy Kendall
  • Anna Percy
  • Steph Pike
  • Sian S. Rathore
  • Adrian Slatcher
  • Gareth Twose
  • Steven Waling

with more readers to be added. For further information or to enquire about reading please contact barrett.richard1@googlemail.com

The ABC in Sound Ensemble for The Other Room 35: Bob Cobbing A Celebration

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THE ENSEMBLE: Tim Allen, Joanne Ashcroft, Richard Barrett, Leanne Bridgewater, Matt Dalby, Phil Davenport, James Davies, Ollie Evans, Patricia Farrell, Clive Fencott, Alan Halsey, Michael Haslam, Tom Jenks, Angela Keaton, Geraldine Monk, Maggie O’Sullivan, Holly Pester, Robert Sheppard, Adrian Slatcher, Chris Stephenson, Scott Thurston, Gareth Twose, Steven Waling, Steve Willey and Nigel Wood.

Visit Ubu at the LINK to hear letters d, p and t of the ABC in Sound.

The Other Room 35 takes place at The Castle Hotel, Oldham Street, Manchester, M2 4PD. Tuesday 23rd October 2012, 7.00 pm. FREE