Category / Blog

by Carol J Forrester

Monthly Poetry Events In The North West & Midlands Area

These are just the events that I know of – so if you have any that would fit on this list please do leave the details in the comments and I will update.

Monthly Open Mics:

Natter Bolton – run by Romina Ramos and Stuart Beveridge in Bolton.

Shrewsbury Poetry – runs the first Thursday of each month, alternating between in-person and zoom. Details can be found on Facebook for each in-person event. The next zoom is Thursday 02/03/2023 and the person to contact about details is Jean Atkins.

Poems & Pints – Macclesfield – runs the first Wednesday of each month at The Button Warehouse in Macclesfield – events are listed on Facebook

Nantwich & Crewe Writers – meets once a month at Hopes & Beams in Crewe.

Poetry Whitchurch – runs the third Monday of each month, alternating between in-person and zoom. The March meeting will be a zoom meeting and log in details can be obtained by containing the charity through the Facebook page.

Northern Poets Society – Follow the Northern Poets Society on twitter or Instagram (@northerpoetssociety) for the exact dates on this monthly open mic. It runs virtually through zoom once a month, with in-person events throughout the year at various places such as the Manchester Art Gallery, and Clitheroe Castle.

Cirque-du-Artswarm – this is a bi-monthly event and not limited to poetry. The next night is Saturday 20th May in the Wistaston Memorial Hall in Crewe. Run by Mark Sheeky.

Word Stafford – Next open mic is Monday 3rd April due to the poetry slam taking place in March.

Wordcraft – currently on hiatus – but events are hybrid!

Stone Scratch Night – Second Thursday of each month at the Wren in Stone.

Malpass Poetry – Second Friday of each month at Magpie bookshop in Malpass, Shropshire.

Image of an empty theatre with two figures walking offstage in the top right corner
by Carol J Forrester

Clothes and Poetry – Self Confidence As A Performing Poet

Black and white stock image of a narrow street in Shrewsbury, Shropshire

The Shrewsbury Poetry night will always be one of my favourite poetry events. It’s where I first got on stage to do an open mic slot, and it runs every month. After moving to Cheshire, I couldn’t attend as often as I liked, and sporadic attendance turned into complete absence. The lockdown helped here as it was one of the events that moved online. What had previously involved an hour and a half drive either way, suddenly dropped to the time it took to open my laptop and click on a zoom link. I got to see old friends, and read in a familiar setting, even if we weren’t technically in the same room. I was able to wear anything I wanted to, including pyjamas and a blanket. You can wear pretty much whatever you want to a poetry event. The limitations come less from a dress code and more from the venue. Cafes and pubs don’t pose much of an issue no matter the season, while events in community halls can be a little chilly if the heating isn’t on and it’s the middle of winter. If you find yourself in an old church, or a market hall, the heating might not cut it even if it’s switched on.

Since restrictions were lifted, Shrewsbury Poetry has gone hybrid. One month in person, one month online, alternating as the months go. This February was the second in-person event since Covid struck the UK, and I was finally home. Back in a room watching poets with the people who had given me the courage to pursue poetry beyond scribbling in journals, and posting a few bits online. I was thrilled.

I was also freezing.

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by Carol J Forrester

Writerly Rejections And Cheesy Cheer Ups

Building a career as a writer is always going to involve rejection and I’m no stranger to it. About mid-way through 2020 I decided I was going to start submitting properly to literary journals and websites which is a guarantee that I’d quickly find myself very well acquainted with ‘thanks, but no thanks’ emails. I’d sent off work before 2020 (as you can see by my pre-2020 publications), but this was the point I started keeping track of where, and what I was writing in a spreadsheet. 

I was lucky. The first poem on my spreadsheet (Credit Card Gal) was published by The Fieldstone Review, the Daily Drunk then accepted ‘When Medusa Goes Shopping’, and my short story ‘For The Love of Jellyfish’ ranked as a finalist in the London Independent Story Prize. In total, I sent out 14 submissions to journals, prizes, and competitions, and got back three publications. 

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by Carol J Forrester

Time For A Change – Social Media Misery and Overhauling Writing & Works

Part of being a modern poet; is social media but as I said in my last blog, I’m crap at blogging on a regular schedule. This failing extends to my social media accounts (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter). Over the past year, I’ve slowly got my head around what I’m supposed to do with Instagram. I’ve even gotten past the initial terror of filming myself for TikTok. While my focus has shifted to those platforms, I’ve wondered what to do with this site. Part of me is keen on the whole, hit delete and start again– except that would be twelve years of work down the drain and not particularly fair on the followers who keep coming back each time my lazy arse remembers to put together something to post.

An overhaul is overdue.

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by Carol J Forrester

Writing Update: Two Months Of Forgetting To Blog

I’m terrible at blogging. Really, really terrible.

This morning when I checked the date on my last proper ‘blog”, (we exclude poems for the sake of clarity), I realised two months had somehow flown past me. We’re now creeping into Autumn, the heatwaves are showing signs of dissipating, and the dryer is in use because business as usual has resumed regarding English weather and rain.

The results for the first round of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Challenge arrived and ‘Once Upon A Time There Was A Quest’ ranked 13th in its group. The groups normally have around 35 individuals in them, and 13th place earns two points towards moving forward into the second round. For the second round of challenge one (I hope you’re keeping up with this) I was tasked with writing a romantic comedy, set on a hot air balloon, including an alarm clock. Attempting to follow the feedback from the judges on my first story, I tried to keep my flash to just two characters, and minimal scene breaks. I say minimal, there are still two scene changes but not quite as dramatic as the ones in ‘Once Upon A Time There Was A Quest’.

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