Awen Publications

Today we’re reblogging from Kevan Manwaring’s Bardic Academic blog. This is about The Bard of Hawkwood – a recent bardic competition promoting literary skill and live performance. “3 years ago I set up the Bard of Hawkwood contest to promote community creativity. This, along with Stroud Out Loud! – the monthly spoken word showcase I founded – offers a way for budding bards to hone their fledgling talents in an inclusive, supportive way. It is not the only way of doing things

By Dawn Gorman It was a packed and dynamic evening last Thursday at Words & Ears, when Susan Utting and Rishi Dastidar took up the guest poet challenge, both reading from their brand new collections, Half the Human Race and Ticker-tape. Huge thanks to them, and to guest MC Sam Loveless, who had things masterfully under control in his lovely relaxed and entertaining way. The first half was, everyone was quick to tell me in the interval, ‘absolutely brilliant’ (really sorry I m

Bradford on Avon’s reading series, Words & Ears continues to offer a popular combination of open mic and strong guest poets, this month featuring Charles Lauder Jr and Jennifer McGowan, plus, for the first time, a guest MC. The event, on Thursday March 30th, will be hosted by poet Stephen Payne, whose latest collection Pattern Beyond Chance from HappenStance Press has been enthusiastically received by reviewers (see, for instance, Alison Hill’s review in Booksmoke, here http: