Meeting with Amy

How great to meet with Amy at London Bridge. Been to Intaglio Printmakers and to the Hays Galleria. Also the first Foulkestone rehearsal of 2012. Excellent.

Welcome to the white house

On Saturday I rolled up at a little white house balancing on a rocky finger which points into the Atlantic towards America. I had come to this walker's paradise at the kind invitation of Kylyra Ameringer, performance poet extraordinaire and very generous host. Ky is amazing. Her hair is a beautiful and vibrant mixture of blonde and red, she is a beautiful woman and her voice is velvety, deep and rich. She and her brother are from Canada, I believe, but have settled in the sheep-munched farming rocks of West Cork, where she brings poets from different parts of Ireland and the UK together once a year for a delightful event, Poets Express.

On Saturday night we performed in the Bay View pub in the centre of town. I was in the acoustic room, playing my uke and singing alongside other musicians and poets. It was a great atmosphere ... thoughtful, reflective poems were read alongside the bawdy and in-yer-face songs of Dublin band the Lonely Schizophrenic whose tales about panda porn and STDs were well received. Eric the Anchorite, a locally based American poet, played host, organising the room, videoing the performers and elegantly kept the evening in order. He is himself a compelling poet, with a very composed delivery.

Back at Ky's house next day, her brother Tor efficiently set up a recording system in the lounge for the group of writers to make a podcast, some of which might be partially broadcast on County Sound, West Cork radio. It was part discussion, part performance. Poets talked about poetry and read pieces, I sang a couple of songs from Doodlebug Alley.

It must have been a lot of work to organise this event in such a remote location - so it's hats off and thank yous to our friends from Kilcrohane.