Emerging from a pandemic

I think it's fair to say that COVID-19 has not gone away! However, most of the legal restrictions have disappeared and it is technically easier to hold events, classes and performances, and to travel to them. We are still all feeling our way around this and trying to dodge (re)infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 or any other nasty that might come along. Rest assured I am accepting all NHS vaccines/boosters as soon as they are offered to me and being as sensible as ever. I invite organisers to contact me about specific arrangements they may have/require for safety and contingency.

One result of my contracting coronavirus back in February was the obligatory growing of and playing about with facial hair. I attach evidence of recent looks that have tickled my fancy. If any of these appeal, you may have to get your job offers in quick before the tickle loses its novelty. I am open to requests...

Model citizen

After posing for photography and burlesque promo work, I started modelling professionally in autumn 2010 at the Glasgow School of Art. Since then, I have worked for the University of Strathclyde, East Renfrewshire Council, and various artists and art groups.

I was always rather fidgety as a child. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that modelling gives me a sense of achievement. I like to keep my body toned and supple for its own sake but it has spin-off benefits in the type of poses I can create and sustain in what often amounts to 'long-distance yoga'.

I have now started adding more photographs of artwork to my model page. More to follow.

 © Marion Knox (2019)

Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Strathclyde

© Frank Boyle (23/04/2019)

© Peter Thomason (28/03/2011)

Scottish Slam Championships

It's tomorrow. How did that happen? Yes, tomorrow (Saturday 13 February) is the Scottish National Slam Championships. Poetry slam, that is. So, if you fancy coming along to the Tron Theatre in Glasgow for 7.45pm to see (some of) the best of Scotland's performance poets, do. You can buy your ticket and choose your seat at www.tron.co.uk/event/scottish-slam-championships -- cheap at half the price. Want to see whether your favourite poet has qualified? Here is a possibly-not-totally-up-to-date list. BUT I HAVE QUALIFIED AND THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS.

#IamLoud

THIS IS NEARLY HERE:

Thursday 17 December, 7.30 for 8pm
Broadcast

427 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3LG Glasgow, United Kingdom

"We here at Loud Poets are excited to bring you another night of spoken word brilliance, our last before the new year (cue pantomime gasps).

It'll be a night so good Alanis Morissette might even call it ironic!

Doors 7:30, show at 8.
Tickets: £4

OUR FABULOUS LINEUP:
KJ Kelly
Jess Smith Poetry
Iona Lee
Chris Young Entertains
David Forrest - Writer
Anna Crow - Green politics and poetry
Doug Garry - Loud Poet

Plus music from Glasgow band Jack and The Bird!

#IamLoud #IronicPoets"

10 weeks, 3 prizes, 1 apology

Long time, no post (again). In my defence, getting my 1 apology in first, I've not been on top form physically and have been busy with all sorts of things on the domestic, political and academic fronts. Which makes my 3 prizes both surprising and especially gratifying.

It started on Monday 18 May with the annual Words & Music at Sammy Dow's Mayfest poetry competition. After several occasions as runner-up, I finally got my name added to the Hugh Healy Trophy. (The venue has now become Lebowski's — more on this later.)

Next up was the Faith and Unbelief poetry slam (sponsored by Hillhead Baptist Church) as part of the West End Festival on Saturday 27 June. No photographs were taken of this event so I reproduce the winning poem below.

Fix  

Jimmy Savile took my virginity.
It was 1979.  I was five years old.
But my hopes were big and my hand was bold
when I wrote to that white-haired divinity.
I worshipped this being with his benevolent banter.
There was nothing that couldn't be fixed by Jim.
My prose was a prayer to be heard by Him
who was up there with Jesus and Santa.   

It was my first proper letter on Basildon Bond.
I waited two years for the man to respond
and to wave his cigar like a fat magic wand.  

I was faithful and fond for this fantasy father.
Switched on to his presence, I clung to the dream
that my clumsy request would be read out on screen
and that, somehow or other,
I would see myself instantly there on the telly,
with my best friend Luke, having been granted – for one day –
superhero powers, which we used in our play
to turn hard men to jelly.  

I waited two years for the man to respond:
the Superman mantle would never be donned.
I grew wise – but not quite to how much I'd been conned.   

Back then, I was blond, small and innocent-seeming.
I was eager for adults to talk to and trust.
In those days, so much was just never discussed,
could be likened to dreaming.
I was told I could stay as the toy shop was shutting
by a man we all knew as the kindest of sorts.
Decades on, I recall the descent of my shorts.
At the time, I said nothing.  

And finally, on Saturday 4 July, I got to perform in Paisley (around the corner from where I used to write adverts and play a recurring comedy character on 96.3Qfm, or Q96 as most people remember it, when it was based in Lady Lane). I was competing at the inaugural Sma' Shot Bigshot Poetry Slam as part of Paisley's Sma' Shot Day celebrations (commemorating a milestone in industrial action and workers' solidarity). The slam was even mentioned in a motion to the Scottish Parliament. Chuffed. :)

Make RAUM for some poetry tonight

Tonight sees the launch of the first issue of RAUM, a new Glasgow-based poetry magazine. Come along to The Poetry Club to celebrate and see some very fine poets doing their thing. Readings from 8.30pm - 10pm, music and drinks afterwards. The theme of the first edition is "Ephemera" - it will be over before you know it.

POETRY FROM:
Carly Brown, Anthony Daly, Leonie Dunlop, Jim Ferguson, David Ross Linklater, Donald Marshall, Ashby McGowan, Calum Rodger, Elodie Amandine Roy, J A Sutherland, Stephen Watt, Chris Young

Thursday 11 June, 8-11pm
FREE - all welcome
The Poetry Club, SWG3, 100 Eastvale Place, Glasgow G3 8QG

https://www.facebook.com/RAUMpoetry
http://raumpoetry.com/

On the streets and between the sheets

After a long break (dominated by studying, politics and dodgy health), I have two exciting pieces of poetry-related news!

1. This Sunday (3 May), I will be performing on the streets of Glasgow as part of Hidden Sexology. Organised by ConFAB, in collaboration with a small team of sexologists, this is a walking tour complete with powerful poetry (you have been warned). 

SUNDAY 3 MAY, 14.00, 15.00 AND 16.00 

VENUE: MEET OUTSIDE THE ARCHES, ARGYLE ST ENTRANCE

TICKETS: Free

(booking recommended: admin@confab.org.uk, 07811 394 058) 

An animated walk through Glasgow’s familiar sights and hidden sites, with poetry that evokes smells, atmospheres, heritage, memories from the traces of sexual encounters among forgotten people. Inspired by sexology themes, six acclaimed poets perform at six sites of romance, sex and violence.

Poets: Anita Govan, Donna Campbell, Agnes Torok, Chris Young, Robert Anderson, Mark McG. 

Walks last approximately one hour. Please dress for the weather and contact in advance if you have access requirements.

Part of the Sexology Season: http://wellcomecollection.org/sexologyseason

2. Greetings from Glasgow, published by Red Squirrel Press, has been shortlisted for the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. I will be reading at the National Library of Scotland at the award ceremony, when the winner will be announced, on 14 May.

I wish to propose...

Hurrah! Today it has been announced that the first same-sex marriage ceremonies in Scotland will be held this Hogmanay, with conversions from civil partnership available from 16 December. Now all I need is a partner...

I wrote the following poem almost exactly 22 years ago. Though supremely on-topic, it is now no longer what one might consider "topical". Hurrah!

I wish to propose...

I wish to propose
that we spend a few days,
a few nights,
a few years
together.

I wish to propose
that we live in a haze,
in a fog,
in a mist
together.

I wish to propose
that we save for a ring,
for a rock,
for a home
together.

I wish to propose...
but I can only do that:
propose what we cannot achieve.
Let them see us; let them believe
I wish to propose.

Positively No

This looks set to be my last poetic offering before the polls open in the referendum. Should Scotland be an independent country?

Positively No

No is a powerful word.
It stood alongside my grandfather and fought the fascists
as opportunistic nationalism swept through Europe.
It did not appease; it did not acquiesce.
No knew that the right answer is not always yes,
no matter how convinced and optimistic other people are.

No is defiant word.
Not afraid to make waves,
it teaches us to swim against the current to reach surer conclusions.
No knows that going with the flow exposes us to greater danger downstream,
obstacles, turbulence and passing predators,
where the banks become less secure
and our footing can be readily washed away
at the mercy of rapid fluctuations.
No is prepared to direct its energies upwards
towards broader channels and temperate pools.

No is often a kind word.
Gifted in an embrace, it holds the hand of those we hold dear
when it would be cruel to stand aside.
It does not idly scaremonger
but it alarms when there are real risks too important to ignore.
No has the strength and composure to resist initial resistance
and insist that facts should be checked,
that assertions should be challenged,
that consequences should be considered.
It does not deny choice
but it does not desert its duty of care.
No is not about scoring points.
It seeks to avoid “I told you so” so long as any friendship remains.
If it is not believed,
and it turns out our loved ones have been deceived,
it will at least make it easier to sleep while we grieve.

No can be a positive word.
It can look your partner in the eye and see a way forward through the tears.
It does not write off three hundred years
of give and take
in favour of giving up and taking umbrage.
Neither does it condemn irreconciled parties to a closed sentence –
rather, it invites a new conjunction: no, but...; no, and....
It is not the end of the story
but the turning point.

To turn to the question at hand, do we want to erect invisible barriers
that change partners into neighbours, neighbours into strangers,
strangers into rivals, rivals into enemies?
Do we want to abandon our place on the world stage
and leave our diminished commonwealth to be scavenged by big business?
I choose not to “make a difference” by withdrawal.
Subtraction is a negative operation.
No is a positive answer.

The New Religion

I performed an edited version of this yesterday evening, between 6.30pm and 7pm, on BBC Radio 5 Live. You can hear (and see!) the abbreviated poem here. The full text is below.

The New Religion

Is unpleasant reality getting you down?
Do you feel that your life’s in a terrible mess?
Well, hey!  There’s a new religion in town:
whatever the question, the answer is yes!

Independence, dear flock, is the way and the truth:
there’s a book full of words with the weight to impress.
It is self-evidential; there’s no need for proof.
If you will but believe, then the answer is yes!

We must hope with our heart and not fear with our head,
with uncritical fervour our credo profess.
For doubt is offensive to those who want led
into absolute certainty.  Good folk vote yes.

Because they love their children.  I ask you: do you?
Do you care about all your successors’ success?
Are you not on “Team Scotland”?  I’ll give you a clue:
unless you’re a traitor, the answer is yes.

We are not anti-English, except when we are.
Northern Ireland and Wales?  Where are they?  I digress.
We’ll cooperate fully – la-la-la-la-lah –
I can’t hear what you’re saying while I’m shouting yes.

We must stay in Europe!  So that’s why we’ll leave.
For our rebates and opt-outs we won’t have to press.
They will wave us back in with one rule-waiving heave.
Spain will toast us in Catalan Cava, oh yes!

If our allies say no, they don’t mean what they say.
If we can’t hear them scream, it means foes acquiesce.
We know what’s in their interests far better than they.
They will crumble like Jericho if we trumpet yes.

We will keep Scotland’s pound – you can bank on my word
(though I have a plan B that I’ll leave you to guess).
Need our own central bank?  Why, the notion’s absurd.
Independence is about freedom, not responsibility.  Vote yes!

We’ll stay culturally British – although we are not.
Institutions won’t change; though they will, I must stress.
Why should Scotland pay in to the BBC pot
to get Radio 5?  That’s no loss!  Just vote yes.

Though I’ve led Scotland well, I’ve no real power at all
over devolved matters like courts, crime, police, NHS,
education, arts, transport, local government.  My stall
is that we can’t do our jobs properly so you have to vote yes.

All this British austerity’s evil, we’ve learned.
Let us borrow our way out of debt!  More for less!
Failing that, who needs liquidity when there’s oil to be burned?
All our weather will be warmer if we choose to vote yes.

If you’re normally socialist, liberal, green
or right-wing, you’re in luck – for our hopes coalesce.
Every vote that you cast hereinafter will mean
that you get what you want.  Hipsters, bigots, vote yes!

To vote yes or be wrong is for you to decide
in this positive debate on how righteousness should progress.
We’ll build national consensus by civil divide
into goats who vote no and the sheep who vote yes.

True believer or not, you must follow the band
and proceed in whatever direction we go
to spend wilderness years in an overpromised land.
There’ll be time to worry later – unless you vote no.

Fresh poetry with fresh people

Edinburgh University Literature Society and Soap Box together, tonight, present the Freshers Poetry Slam from 7.30pm at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar. I will be among the competitors. This year I shall feel slightly less of an interloper, having recently collected my own student card, albeit at a different university. Now, how topical do I want to be...?

I am genuinely worried

Lots of my poetry and arty chums are passionately pro-independence. The basic concepts of freedom and change are noble, attractive, seductive, and it can be tempting to see ourselves as following directly from Robert Burns in his more idealistic moments, as if the intervening centuries had not occurred. However, as Burns himself noted, the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley — and the Scottish Government's plans for negotiating a post-Yes settlement do not seem to me to be particularly well-laid. I know of other poets who have been keeping their heads down for fear, ironically, of being branded "scaremongering" for raising genuine concerns. The following poem (recorded last night at Sammy Dow's) — which is probably not my best work and certainly not my shortest — is a small attempt to balance the argument. (Please excuse the audio; I have provided CC/subtitles should you wish to activate them.)

Ducking?

I have succumbed to peer pressure (from the world of politics) and passed it on via Macmillan's #IceBucketChallenge to friends (at least they were friends). Bonus points for identifying the verse form used. :)

Ducking?

This challenge I received from Robert Brown:
To hold aloft a bucket filled with ice
And ice-cold water then, within a trice,
To pour the frigid contents on my crown.

Though fearful lest I freeze, or maybe drown,
I’ll suffer this ordeal so far from nice –
To duck the ducking stunt incurs a price
To compensate for absent trickle-down.

The pain endured, the trouble I must share
And nominate three friends to undergo
To help support Macmillan’s cancer care:
Text ICE to seven-zero-five-five-o
To give three pounds, within two days, and dare;
Or dodge by texting FINE (ten pounds will flow).

The deed is done.  I’ll dry off soon and text.
To David, Erin, James – it’s your turn next.

1 September at Sammy's

That was an enjoyable Fringe! (Only one point away from reaching the final of the BBC Poetry Slam. Maybe next year, if I can win a few more competitions/slams over the coming months...) As a punter (taking notes for devising my own show(s) next year), I didn't quite wear myself out but still didn't get to see half of what I wanted to.

But now, back to Glasgow. On Monday 1 September, I shall be featured writer at Words and Music @ Sammy Dow's (The Samuel Dow, 69 Nithsdale Road, Strathbungo G41 2AJ). It's also an open mic (without the mic) — sign up from 7.30pm, poetry starts 8pm, featured writer about 9pm, followed by featured musician then more open spots.

Last month, stalwart poet/musician Andy Fleming took some photographs of me, one of which you can see below to remind you what a serious poet looks like.

A trail of two cities

Edinburgh yesterday, Glasgow tonight, Edinburgh tomorrow...

Fresh/drained from last night's heat of the BBC poetry slam (which went well - not sure yet whether I'll be in the final on Saturday), I will be performing in Glasgow tonight. The fun starts at 7.30pm at Inn Deep (445 Great Western Road, G12 8HH) where Sam Small and his merry band will be launching The High Flight magazine. And it's all FREE!

But don't worry, Edinburgh - you will get more of me. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will be guesting at another FREE show: Well It's Woody, 9-10pm, Fingers (61a Frederick Street, EH2 1LH).

Double-slammy!

On Monday 11th August, I will be competing in not one but two poetry slams. At 5pm (BST), voting closes (HINT! HINT!) on the best recorded poetry performance in the StAnza Digital Slam. From 8.15pm I will be performing live in the first heat of the BBC Poetry Slam at the Edinburgh Fringe. Entry is free. The competition will be tough (see video below) but maybe with enough audience response I will find my way into the final on Saturday...

StAnza Digital Slam - third time lucky?

For the third year in a row, I have made the shortlist of the StAnza Digital Slam. Hoorah! So, if you fancy popping over to vote, you could make me even happier.

Is That You?

It's voting time again! Silverburn shopping centre in SW Glasgow recently announced their "Supersonnet" competition. Despite the name, they were not looking for sonnets (which exceeded the requested character length!), so I produced the short piece below. If you like it, and enough people vote for it here by 7 March, you can walk all over it when it is set into the new floor of the winter garden.

Is That You?

Is that you in the doorway with the short, dark hair?
Is that you looking round while I try not to to stare?
Is the face on my phone, here, now in the flesh there?
Is that you?

I've been waiting for someone, my mug in my hand,
To heat up my warmth and to sweeten my bland,
To stir what's been brewing and long left to stand.
Is that you?

Choose Me!

Yes, choose me! Or rather, please view the ten finalists and vote for your favourite performance poetry video in the StAnza Digital Slam. Voting closes at 5pm on Sunday. Here is video number 10 (thanks again to the Edinburgh University Literature Society) - but don't let me sway you too much. ;)

Umbrellas

Here comes summer! It's been remarkably sunny (he said, jinxing it), though I did nearly lose an eye on several occasions the other day at the Merchant City Festival thanks to the scourge of our time - umbrellas. The poem that follows, as recorded at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar by the Edinburgh University Literature Society at one of their poetry slams, records my loathing of these contraptions.

And, don't worry! I have been doing things, and writing things. I will shortly be redesigning this website, and adding more lovely content, so watch this space...