White noise (About Tuesday)

Last thing I remember a shoe left the stage, hit the crowd. Might have been a boot actually. By crowd I mean huddle. Up there on the stage before there'd been a man, a hat, a man in a hat, a prophet of sorts, I swear. And a girl who talked tea leaves.

There was sign language. A poem, signed. And that was kind of wonderful (so thanks Richard and Fay). And, behind all the poems that night I heard a kind of white noise - white noise, the new pin drop. The silence in the poetry, the poetry in the silence.

The last Edge of Town night, the July one, the birthday one, was kind of raucous, we concede. And it's not that we don't like raucous* in its time and place. But Tuesday night was warm, spectacular, aglow. An autumn.

We had new tales from the great young Jade. Chants. Rhyme. Wit. Rhyme. Wit. Wit and rhyme.

I hope you people recognise yourselves. You know who you are.

Yep. Tuesday was how we dreamt poetry nights might somehow get to be. And I'd be curious to know how it was for you. You can click comment and tell us and the others, those who couldn't, those who didn't, what your eyes and ears saw.

And whatever it was, we hope you'll join us back there (at The Edge) next month - October 7th - 8pm. We'll fight off those early sunsets.

Amy

(*My, the word raucous looks funny when you look at it for a length of time... )

‘Cos litter is street too, yeah?

If a rose by any other
name would smell as sweet
can we make litter glitter with
a name that’s more “street”?
Rubbish, garbage and trash all sound
negative; petty.
Let’s big up our litter; call it
“Urban confetti”.

Mark Niel

Mark is the winner of this month's Ripping Pages theme thing. He wins a £10 Waterstones voucher. Next month's theme is to be phobia. The usual rules apply 1,000 words poetry or prose. Deadline: October 31st.

Next open mic night - September 2nd

The next open mic night will be taking place on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 at 8pm at The Edge of Town in Northampton.

Here's one we did earlier.

Path. Hell. Good. Intentions.

Our website is no more. So we reckon we're going to use this blog to update people from now on. I hear some of you loudly pointing out that we never updated it anyway. And you are right, very right, and we're sorry.

It's not that we don't intend to do these things because we do. Oh yes we do. We hear you back there. Path. Hell. Good. Intentions. Yes, yes.

Enough self-bashing. Future information, when it appears, will appear here.

Open mic night - Tuesday August 5th, 8pm

Our next open mic night will be taking place on Tuesday August 5th at 8pm at The Romany in Northampton. We look forward to seeing you there.


It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.
~Gerald Brenan~

Lazy (Gone Since November)

Guys. I don't even like the word guys. Why am I using the word guys? What is wrong with me? People. Yes, people. I have a confession to make - and it won't altogether be news to anybody - I'm lazy.

Caple and I don't really have set roles within this little thing we set up but if we did I'm pretty sure I would have responsibility for web and e-mail - and, as you all know, I've been, let's look for a suitable word here, crap. Sackable.

My excuse used to be - and I might have used this one on you, and there is some truth there in it - that I updated websites all day for work and was exhausted by the whole process. But that excuse is no longer valid or acceptable. So I'm going to update. I promise. At least the date, the time, the venue - necessities. Niceties may take longer. But necessities, yes.

We love you guys (What the hell is wrong with me?) Having a dozen of you turn up on the wrong night sucks. Eloquent, this morning. It's not going to happen again.

Voila. That's all.

Writers, artists, musicians, photographers, trapezists, ventriloquists...

Ripping Pages is looking for writers, artists, musicians and photographers to contribute to a series of live events in Northampton in 2008.

We wish to work with musicians, artists and photographers to create events where the boundaries between literature, music and image are merged and reinvented.

Northampton has a vibrant and developing community and therefore has a wealth of cultural diversity to share with others. Over the coming year Ripping Pages wants to celebrate this diversity in our community and diversity within art.

For further information you can call us on 07948 658656 or e-mail us at rippingpages@hotmail.co.uk.

Come join us. Do.

I made a mistake. Our next event is on October 9th at 8pm, not October 2nd as was once mentioned here and elsewhere. So October 9th, 8pm, Romany, Northampton. Come join us. Do.

We are still looking for 1,000 words about the sea and its paraphenelia. September 30th deadline. E-mail text to rippingpages@hotmail.co.uk.

The way the candles make the room glow

We have wonderful pictures. Thank you Andy (I have got that right, haven't I?)

They talk about the September 4th night far better than I could.

I will say one thing though. My favourite thing about Ripping Pages - poetry, prose and people aside - is the way the candles make the room glow. Can you tell I grew up on 'The Little Matchgirl'?

The rest of the photos (fifteen - and more on file) are available here.

The next event is on October 9th at The Romany in Northampton. Hope to see you there.

Amy

And as you read the sea is turning its dark pages, turning its dark pages

I am SO excited. I just mailed out a draft of our first review, a collection of seven pieces on the subject of paint and painting. The work we picked is evocative and thoughtful. The words came from Northampton, Kettering, Rugby and Scotland and they were beautiful, and passionate.

So this is something we want to do every month, on a different theme, with the same writers or different writers, or different and the same writers. This month will be The Sea. We would like your short stories and prose - no more than 1,000 words again, please - on the subject of the sea. Just because, really. Because, we're too far away from it. Please send your submissions, via our website submissions slot, or to rippingpages@hotmail.co.uk by September 30th.

"And as you read the sea is turning its dark pages, turning its dark pages."
Denise Levertov

Fickle

I have a confession. I've been blogging on our My Space too.

Ripping Pages Writers - giving Northampton's literature a kind and loving home

Where, indeed?

I'm reading a collection of short stories by Gina Ochsner called People I Wanted to Be. One character asks: "Where do our words go once they've been spoken?"



Where indeed do they go? Answers on a...





Amy

Using and abusing the great and good

I've just dropped the now redundant sunflowers in a vase, from which they'll duly topple, poured a cup of tea, placated the howling cat and got the wax off the office saucers which I always borrow for Ripping Pages events. I can say always now, after two events, can't I? (That just reminded me of the temporary / permanent discussion we had, Jayne!)

It was another sweet candlelit night full of words, which I think is what we always wanted it to be, how we pictured it might be, could be, would be, should be. There were new faces, new eyes, new ears, new words. Words, yes.

I struggle with adjectives. I find it hard to say how much I like something. I use and abuse the great and good. The adjectives, that is, not the people. I know that this is not something terribly - here I go again - great to confess to, but I do. I struggle. I want to say that tonight was wonderful, brilliant and fantastic - but I'll just play it down and say it was good.

They all say show not tell anyway. What good would it be for me to tell you it was wonderful when we could show you? Literally, thanks to photographer Johanna, who spent a good part of the evening behind a tripod. Thank you.

So, what next, then? Other than September 4th at The Romany in Northampton. Well, hopefully, you'll guide us. Do we want a book club type thing? Do we want to go down the workshop route? Do we want neither of these but something else?

I think, for our part, we're happy to have more vitriol, more laughter and more tearjerkers, for a start, whether they are read out to us at events, or submitted to us online.

Amy

Paint, or our first submission theme

So, the conversation went something like this. Let's get some writing in now, let's do a submissions thingy, let's just make up a theme. What could the theme be? Silence as we look around respective rooms and views from upstairs windows. Er Chimneys. Erm. Not chimneys, no. Can anybody even spell chimneys? I think not. More silence. Er. Erm. Paint. The idea is inspired by a greeting card, a design by Chris Chun - 36 different colours, laid out like a paint palette but actually representing foods. Paint, yes. Paint. Let's say paint. What? Just paint? Well, we'll word it a bit better than that. OK, yes, paint. And that was that.

Amy

What beautiful plans

Oh, what beautiful plans we have for these pages...