Ian McMillan at the Northern SYP

Posted on June 28, 2012 in Uncategorized

First of all, another huge thank you to everyone who came to The Adelphi last night in Leeds, it was a great turn out and so exciting to see lots of new faces – as well as the lovely regulars of course!

We started our evening of poetry banter with Suzannah Evans who is studying for an MA in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. She runs writing workshops and is Poetry Editor of Cadaverine Magazine, an e-zine for writers under 30. Her work has been published in magazines including Magma, Iota and The Rialto  and she was one of the winners of the 2011 Poetry Business Book and Pamphlet competition. Suzannah treated us to some readings of her work; sometimes funny, sometimes thought provoking; often both. Her work is inherently witty, always focusing on the absurd aspects of everyday life, journeys and experiences. It was great to see such a talented young northern writer talking about the passion she has for poetry and how it is part of her daily life.

Following a quick break for some essential drinks, we gave a hearty warm welcome to the Bard of Barnsley, the one and only Ian McMillan! Ian is poet-in-residence for the English National Opera, The Academy of Urbanism and Barnsley FC. Before this he was UK Trade & Investment’s Poet, Yorkshire TV’s Investigative Poet and Humberside Police’s Beat Poet. He presents The Verb every week on BBC R3 and he’s a regular on BBC shows Pick of the Week, The Arts Show, Just A Minute, You & Yours and Have I Got News For You.  And to top it all off, he was recently castaway on Desert Island Discs!

With his amazing blend of hilarious banter, true life stories and poems crafted in broad local dialect, Ian kept us laughing, thinking and questioning for nearly an hour. He is most certainly a true spoken word artist; whilst I absolutely recommend reading his work in the numerous books and pamphlets he has been published in, I would encourage anyone who can to see him read live, it was a side-splittingly great experience, one which I hope to repeat as soon as possible.

We rounded the night off with some tasty local food and wine before heading off into the night feeling fully satisfied by an evening full of hilarity and genius: a successful night all round!

The next Northern SYP event will be Thursday August 30th, back at The Adelphi in Leeds. We will be welcoming Esme Carpenter; fantasy and science fiction novelist, as well as a couple more guests…watch out for details nearer the time!

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