DATE: Wednesday 18th March
TIME: 7pm - 9pm
LOCATION: East Quay Kitchen
This is a FREE event

Its time for this month's Spoken Word! Our next open mic is Wednesday 18th March at 7pm, in the East Quay Kitchen. This month's guest speaker will be Elle Dillon-Reams. The invitational theme is Mother Nature and The Quiet Revolution of Joy.

Mother Nature has many names: Mother Gaia (Earth), The (Grand)Mother, and Mother Universe. She is the goddess or personification of nature's birth and earth itself. All things come from her, return to her, and are her. Studies have shown that women are often more concerned than men about climate change, making up a large proportion of protesters on environmental justice. Yet women’s activism is not just concerned with reversing the harm that is being done to the environment; it’s often about reforming the patriarchal systems that allow it. In celebration of International Women's Day, might we consider the importance and history of Mother Nature? What changes do we wish to birth into the world? What does a joyful celebration of the natural world look like? Can joy be revolutionary?

Poetry Prompt:

I love to imagine the pep talk butterflies give to depressed caterpillars

(after Andrea Gibson)

The growing pains of a bud begging

For an unfurl of new petals as beautiful as expectation

You keep worrying you're taking up too much space

Blossom showers covering the ground in colour

Mourning their parts end

Whilst encouraging the fruits to step forward in fullness

Whose juices blush under the surface of piercable skin

We cannot make room for the new without shedding the old

The chemicals of fear are the same as excitement

Shakes of hands and knees

Quakes of voice happen on rollercoasters and dancefloors

Just as much as in the doorways to daring  

And even in the darkest storm of solitude

Staring into the abyss

Sure noone before has experienced this

same loneliness

This same perceived hopelessness

Bones creak in familiarity

Skeletons strong born so that they can withstand all this

Spring kisses freckles back onto your middle of the face

Knows

As if to say

                 See

                       The sun will come up again

The sun is always present if only behind clouds

A performer hiding behind curtains velvet

It's always a more dramatic entrance if we don't expect it

But don't loose faith

Trust

Hope is here

Change is inevitable

Growth is not a rescue mission

Growth is a trust of timing

Growth is a privilege

What if your rebellion is to fall in love with life again

The darkest cocoons have given birth to the most glorious wings

I bet you didn't even know you could fly 🦋

Introducing Elle:

Elle Dillon-Reams is a neurodiverse, queer artist from Brighton. A multi-award winner of Poetry Slams across the UK, her debut poetry collection 'Maladaptive' was published by Verve Poetry Press. Elle was part of the BBC6 Music Poetry class of 2023, featuring on BBC6 Music, and has since had several commissions from the BBC.

Her debut solo show 'HoneyBEE' sold out and received rave reviews, winning her the Three Week's Editor's award for performance and Best Newcomer from The Scotsman in Edinburgh 2019.  Elle took HoneyBEE and her second solo show MEAT to Edinburgh in 2023, and recently toured both shows across the UK, receiving five-star reviews, sellouts, and an Offie Nomination.

She returns to The Omnibus Theatre in March this year after selling out in December for another run of MEAT for International Women's Day.

How the evening works:

· Open Mic Sign Up opens from 6:45pm for a 7pm start.

· MC Introduction and Guest Set

· Open Mic - 2 poems each (but bring a 3rd in case we have time for more)

· Please give trigger warnings for any topics that listeners may find upsetting.

· I shall close the evening and tell you what’s happening next month!

Got an idea for a guest poet you’d love to see perform? I'd love to hear it!

Get in touch via my email or social media channels.

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