Spoke - in the Lamp
SpokeScreen

 

During lockdown restrictions, while unable to continue hosting a live event at Brownhills, Al Barz and Martin Hughes set about creating an alternative which we named SpokeScreen.

The idea was to offer a video project to bring poetry performances to a video anthology, with pieces from the many excellent poets that we’ve loved to watch at paused events. This was our attempt to add to the innovation that cropped up to keep poetry performance going.

Those with poetry pieces they’d like to share, and a way of recording them, were asked to join a closed Facebook group ‘SpokeScreenings’, and submit their own short video clips. Al then used some new video editing skills to create a complete show of the best dozen works sent in under the SpokeScreen banner. This was broadcast to the world on YouTube as a SpokeScreen Video Poetry Anthology. 

The three best poetry video clips as voted for by the audience were given prizes funded by a crowdfund website.

R M Francis was chosen as a video headliner and provided three video clips of his readings from his novel called Bella, and several other poetry pieces were edited in as a ‘first half’.

The project was started in March of 2021 and completed and posted onto Vimeo and YouTube in May.

SpokeScreen Final Video - with winners

 

Spoke - in the Lamp
History


The first seven events of Spoke - in the Lamp, in 2019, took place monthly except for giving way to Walsall Poetry Fest which claimed the building during July of that year. In September we started to invite feature poets as headliners. During the great coronavirus pandemic lockdowns were introduced and during 2020 and 2021 there were several cancellations to due those government restrictions placed on all public activities.

Here are all the events for Spoke up to March of 2022 and the headline performers.

2019 - 16 January, 13 February, 13 March, 10 April, 8 May, 12 June, 14 August - Open mic

  • 11 September - Alan ‘Kurly’ McGeachie : Kurly is a Spoken Word Poet and a Hip Hop artist who works in schools and the community to help build literacy confidence. Has been shortlisted for Birmingham Poet Laureate and recently performed at the Royal Albert Hall.
  • 9 October - Clive Oseman : A proud Brummie based in Swindon in Wiltshire. A multi-slam winner who came 6th in the Farrago UK slam finals in London. He writes a combination of serious and humorous material, much more comedy at  present as the world seems to disintegrate around our ears.

    He has featured/headlined at events in many Towns and Cities and adds Brownhills to his list of victims. Clive’s third collection "It could be worse..." is out early in 2020, following Happy (2016). He also runs performance poetry workshops and co-hosts events under the Oooh Beehive banner

  • 13 November - Billy Spakemon
  • 11 December - Heather Wastie

2020

  • 29 January - Brendan Hawthorne
  • 26 February - Dan Webber
  • March - July Lockdown 1
  • 26 August - Emily Rose Galvin
  • 30 September - Open mic due to Kuli Kohli caught in Wolverhampton restrictions 
  • 28 October - Richard Archer
  • November - June 2021 - Lockdown 2

2021

  • 28 July - Kuli Kohli
  • 25 August - Chris Fewings
  • September - Lockdown 3
  • 27 October - Willis the Poet
  • 24 November - Roy McFarlane
  • December - Christmas cancellation 

2022 - starting bi-monthly sessions

  • 26 January - Spoz - this was held as a ‘Zoom hybrid’ event with some open mic contributions from homes via internet video links
  • 30 March - Pandemonialists (Emma Purshouse, Steve Pottinger, Dave Pitt
  • 18 May - Gary Longden
  • 27 July - David Calcutt
  • 28 September - Scarlett Ward Bennett
  • 30 November - Bert Flitcroft

2023 - details to be confirmed

  • 25 January - Mel Wardle Woodend
  • 29 March - Rob Francis
  • 31 May - Gary Carr
  • 19 July - Dawn Jutton
  • 27 September - Tom Allsopp
  • 29 November - Gerald Kells

2024 - the final three Spokes

  • 31 January - Ann Atkins
  • 27 March - Paul Elwell
  • 29 May - last of the Spoke-he-cans - open mic only

 

Spoke - in the Lamp
Beginnings

 

After a two spells in hospital for an operation, and having let go of a previous monthly event, Purple Penumbra, which he used to run, Al looked around his local area for a suitable venue to start a new event. Two places presented themselves as suitable; the Station pub in Pelsall, where the event turned out to be a damp squib; and the Lamp theatre space at Brownhills Community Centre.

A meeting was held in November of 2018 with Janet Davies who runs the centre, Nigel Anderson who deals with technical issues there (as well as many other rôles, and Martin Hughes who also had a desire to set up a poetry event there. Martin, being a dab hand at producing superb graphical artistry, created some artwork far exceeding the quality of Al’s attempts, and so Spoke - in the Lamp was born.

The first of many monthly Spoke events took place on 16th January, 2019.