Swindon Drag Kings, Cwmmy Crab and more

Dusty in here, isn’t it? Tch. Blog neglect due to a mixture of far more exciting things happening or laziness when things are not happening (and a fair bit of day job intervening, too).

I really should plug things before they happen but here are some recent highlights:

Swindon Poetry Festival’s Drag King finale event, performing with Diane Torr and poets/writers Clare Shaw, Rachael Clyne, Hannah Linden, Jill Abram, Juliet Platt and Louisa Davison. Diane has been running Man For A Day workshops since the ‘80s and her workshop was a tiring but fascinating full day. Men’s clothing (and strategic socks) was the least of our worries. As make up – mainly involving scarily convincing facial hair – went on we became someone different and then found ourselves trying to work out who we were, these almost-unfamiliar men. Most of us had time to visit the local Tesco to see how it felt, assess others’ reactions (or disinterest). Then we were on stage at the Swindon Arts Centre reading our poetry. Diane’s aikido breathing exercises had dropped my voice to a lower register – something my guests in the audience commented on afterwards. A huge thanks to everyone involved – Hilda, Diane, my co-poets, Lower Shaw Farm. A transformative weekend in so many ways.

Myfanwy Fox, Rachael Clyne, Hannah Linden at the start of Man For A Day

Here’s “Alex” Fox on stage (photo credit: Hilda Sheehan, with permission).

 

There’s an excellent account swiftly blogged by Louisa Davison HERE. Plus, be warned, I shall be on about Swindon’s Drag Kings again when the Festival-commissioned film (yes!) comes out AND there may be something in a well-known magazine soon, too.

Other stuff which I should also have plugged before it happened not after events includes reading my Cwmmy Crab as part of Ledbury Poetry Festival’s Paul Henry-led Poetry Orchard Project reading at beautiful Hellens, as part of The Big Apple, Much Marcle’s celebration of our apple harvest season.

And last Friday was the Malvern Slam, which I enjoyed from the audience (having sensibly – for once – decided I’d be too busy/tired to be any use participating). Brenda Read-Brown the deserved winner with some stunning competition on the night. Well done to everyone taking part! And well done to the ConFab Cabaret management, Amy Rainbow and Catherine Crosswell, for running it.