“… life, literature, and the pursuit of happiness in the famous Troubadour cellar-club, London’s liveliest and best–loved poetry landmark since the 1950s …”
welcome
from Coffee-House Poetry organiser, Anne-Marie Fyfe
Dear Troubadour Fans
Great to see such a lively ongoing appetite for coffee-house disputations on the future of poetry here and in the Americas: or just to hear leading poets and poetry-world people, editors, activists, anthologists from both sides of the pond, read their own work. Thanks to almost 100 of you for braving inclement conditions once more (why does it always snow on Troubadour Mondays?) to make it to one of the most stimulating events so far this season; thanks to Molly, Roddy, Carrie and Alan for scintillating contributions, both poetic and polemical; and thanks again to the Troubadour supporter whose generosity made the event possible.
And, snow-or-no-snow, we’re expecting to be at capacity once again on Monday 8th March not just because Magma has long established its Troubadour evenings in the poetry-public imagination as an unmissable feast, but also because David Boll, who’s MC’d the legendary launches since they first came here eleven years ago with early staple-bound editions, is hosting his last launch and lots of you, I know, want to be here for that occasion.
Magma so often ends up, like so many of our events, with standing room only, so do get in as early as you can. See you there!
Anne-Marie
next event
mon 8 mar, magma 46: magazine launch with guest poets anne-marie fyfe and penelope shuttle
A major moment in the poetry season when the latest Magma rolls off the presses, but a mega-moment in Magma’s poetry-magazine history tonight as David Boll, who has MC’d hundreds of Magma contributors onto the Troubadour stage since Issue 13 in January 1999 and introduced dozens of guest poets, and well and truly launched 33 issues here, hosts his last launch as editorial committee chairman. Helping celebrate this Magma milestone will be Magma 46 editors, Jacqueline Saphra and Norbert Hirschhorn, the regular Magma team, a wide selection of Magma 46 contributors and two guest poets:
- Anne-Marie Fyfe (b. Cushendall, Co. Antrim, lives in London) who organises Coffee-House Poetry at the Troubadour readings and workshops, latest collection The Ghost Twin (Peterloo, 2005)
- and Penelope Shuttle (b. Feltham, lives in Falmouth) founder-member of the Falmouth Poetry Group – her 10th poetry collection, including a selected, is Redgrove’s Wife (Bloodaxe, 2006)
readings - spring 2010
mondays 8-10 pm, £7 (concs. £6)
- mon 11 jan, ring in the new: with sue rose, christopher reid, katrina naomi, john wedgewood clarke, maureen boyle, paul maddern, wendy french, william oxley, joyce sutphen and henry fajemirokun
- mon 25 jan, smiths knoll: michael laskey & joanna cutts introduce robert etty, emily wills, david healey, marianne burton, stephen payne, esther morgan, christopher james, catherine ormell
- mon 8 feb, seren/poetry wales: amy wack & zoë skoulding introduce pascale petit, patrick mcguinness, siobhan campbell, kathryn simmonds, james methven, samantha wynne rhydderch, meirion jordan and carol rumens
- mon 22 feb, escarmouches II: war of independence …coffee-house colloquies with alan jenkins, carrie etter, roddy lumsden and molly peacock
- mon 8 mar, magma 46: magazine launch with guest poets anne-marie fyfe and penelope shuttle
- mon 22 mar, spring fever: a seasonal end-of-season poetry party
See full details of this season’s poetry readings
classes - spring 2010
sundays 12-3.30 pm, £28 (concs. £24), advance booking only
- sun 24th jan, form and freedom: new creative-writing workshop with jo shapcott
- sun 31st jan, relishing difficulty: a c.l. dallat seminar on john ashbery, medbh mcguckian, jorie graham & others
- sun 14th feb, stranger than fiction: themed writing workshop with anne-marie fyfe
- sun 21st feb, memory and forgetting: new creative-writing workshop with mimi khalvati
- sun 21st mar, the art in the everyday: writing workshop with c.l. dallat