BN1 LITERARY EVENTS DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012

Welcome to a new feature for us at BN1 designed to tease and tantalize a few of you into going to the huge and wide-ranging array of literary events our city has to offer every month and during these harsh economic times you’ll be pleased to hear that many of them are free!  Some have been going for years, some are relatively new but all of these events are ultimately fun and interesting for all interested in contemporary literature.  So let’s crack on!

Probably the biggest poetry night in town is Hammer & Tongue (Thursday 1st, Komedia Studio, £5/4 entry) is already legendary and attracts poets from not just all over the UK but often from Europe and occasionally even further afield.  This month promises to be even better than regular because it’s the Grand Final of the 2011 Open Slam competition featuring amongst many others local Brighton favourites Lou Ice, Robin Lawley and Spliff Richard both of whom are pretty damn good.  They will be joined by a veritable host of other great poets and MCs as well as some very special guest headliner who this month is south-east London poet of the moment Kate Tempest who in amongst her lyrical realisms has been known to quote William Blake no less!

Other long-term regular poetry nights in town include the monthly meeting of the Brighton Poetry Society (possibly December 26^th but definitely January 30th, Victory Inn, £3 suggested donation) which is a great night for those seeking an introduction into the live poetry circuit.  It mixes occasional legends, obscure published writers and complete novices and is always a fun, interesting night and is hosted by the very enigmatic and charismatic Robin Lawley and his hysterical anecdotes and great poems.  Horseplay (29^th December and 26^th January, Black Dove) is always free and always a fun night.  Hosted by Ashlee French it is a rag-tag mix of music, poetry and spoken word and what’s more it’s in one of the best new bars in town.  Get along, drink some lovely Brooklyn beer and have a great night!

Other irregular nights, both in when they are and what they offer, this month include the great series of events over at the best hotel bar in Brighton with Ace Stories (December 11^th, Pelirocco Hotel, £3 from 6pm) which this month offers the chance to meet semi-legendary chanteuse Sandy Dillon who will be performing songs from her new album as part of a night based around the theme of ‘Way-faring’.  There will also be a chance to lock horns intellectually with a Doctor of American Literature from Sussex University on the subject of Jack London’s classic novel ‘The Sea-Wolf’ as well as hear some words from that woman Lou Ice again. A great night is sure to be rounded out by the music of Rhinestoned Immaculates, the music project of Australian actor and Brighton local Noah Taylor and absolutely one of the best bands in Brighton.

Lastly, but by no means least, over in Hove is Saturday Night Live which rather bizarrely this month is on a Thursday, the December 24^th at The Alibi) presents a great mixture of live music, mainly acoustic, and poetry, including on a regular basis one of Brighton’s best Kiersty Boon who is simply great – funny, sexy and yet very smart if you really listen to what it is she is talking about and very possibly your reporter.  Again, its free entry so get over to a whole new postcode for this great night!

Grit Lit (December 9^th at Red Roaster Coffehouse) have been putting on great shows in town for over a year now and this one promises to be a real treat with a whole host of great local writers performing, a great way to round of their first year in town.

So there you go, get along to one of these and open your mind to what are some of the best nights out in Brighton and Hove and who knows you may learn or discover something as well as having a great amount of fun.  Until next month then, enjoy!