SPOUTERS
Welcome To ‘Spouters!’
We are a group of performing poets running out of The Spring but consisting of people from all over the place!
We meet twice monthly, on a Thursday Night to share and have our work exposed and critiqued in a fun and positive way.
Check out our Church Calendar for the dates and times of these meetings at http://whisperingword.ccbchurch.com
Typically an evening at Spouters will look like:
- A group of poets getting together over a few drinks and Nibbles
- A Chair being Selected (whose rule is law!)
- Then each poet being selected in turn to *perform their piece
- The Poet will be allowed a 30 seconds intro and no more! (These word smiths can’t half go on)
- Then they will perform their piece lasting no more than 4 minutes
- The Poet then sits back – keeps their mouth shut and ears open and listens to the *conversation about their piece
- Yup, for about 5 minutes with *hearers will talk about the poem without any reference to the listening performer whatsoever
- After this- Poet gets a couple of minutes to explain the piece before performing for a second and final time!
I tell you, it is great fun and a most encouraging and positive experience. I guarantee that you will make some of the best of friends at Spouters.
In addition to all the above, we take over Costa Coffee at the last Saturday of each month and have an open Mic session for all comers. We usually put up a trophy and prizes and again, it’s great fun!
Robert has performed several times in the Brighton Festival, as well as venues in Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. In addition to this he performed and taught Poetry in schools both in the UK and the USA. He and His wife Bridget have started three successful Poetry groups and he has several books of poetry published and available on line. www.whisperingword.com
*Perform? Yup, we believe that poetry is more for the stage than the page, so if you’re a bit a drama queen you’ll fit in well. If you’re not, well don’t worry, we’ll sort you out in that department!
*Conversation? Actually this is ALWAYS illuminating. It’s like firing a shell and then observing the explosion and consequences of your words. Their misuse, their misunderstood meanderings as well as seeing when you have hit the bulls eye! For me, this is the best part, you know, hearing how other people receive my words and more importantly the heart of my words.
*Hearers? Yes, you are welcome to come along to Spouters even if you are not a performing poet yourself. We need good hearers to join in the productive conversation and help drink the wine!
