Poetry Idol
Shortfuse's contest for up and coming poets, performers and writers
| Poetry Idol general information |
| Current Poetry Idol Contest |
| Submissions |
| Winners |
| Previous Contests |
| Poetry Idol Rival Idols |
| Guestbook |
| Archives |
| Contacts |
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| About |
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| SHORTFUSE home page |
| Poetry Idol host : Nathan Penlington |
| Poetry Idol Myspace |
| Shortfuse Myspace |
| Nathan Penlington Myspace |
| Invisible Ink Show Myspace |
Based in London SHORTFUSE is a spokenword night that has been presenting a weekly fusion of stand-up poetry, performance comedy and music since April 2000. We actively promote up and coming writers and performers alongside established acts such as John Hegley, Rob Newman, Stewart Lee, and Simon Munnery to only name a few, and we have gained a reputation for giving space to performers to stretch the boundaries of what they do. We have also been giving the oportunity for new poets and spokenword performers to present their work to an audience, and to help make the transition from open mic nights to wider exposure and paid performances, with a night we have named: "I went to a poetry reading at a local pub where over a hundred people, all young, were crammed into a smoky upstairs room, cheering and booing and seemingly enjoying themselves, which is not the norm for poetry readings. The enthusiasm was unnerving..." Hugo Williams, TLS. What? We make the initial selection of six performers that meet our criteria from all submissions recieved before the closing date for the current contest. The six performers are then invited to perform at SHORTFUSE for 10 minutes each, and then the audience will vote for their favourite. The winning two acts are both given a full length paid set later in the year, and automatically entered into the POETRY IDOL RIVAL IDOL contest. 'Poetry idols give five-star performance', a review of POETRY IDOL 4 in the Ham & High (10/12/2004) said: "Each gave blazing performances in their 10 minutes in the limelight and all six were different in style and tone, sometimes weird and wonderful but never boring. The SHORTFUSE event lived up to its branding 'Putting the spark back into the spokenword', and the paying punters were treated to a creative fireworks display of talent". How are the winners decided? Although SHORTFUSE make the initial selection of six performers, based on a variety of criteria - POETRY IDOL is not a Poetry Slam! Each POETRY IDOL night is run as a contest with the winners are decided by a democratic vote by the audience - each audience member is given a ballot paper to vote for their top three acts of the night. The two acts with the highest amount of points are declared the winners and are booked to perform a full length 20 minute set later in the year. In previous contests the standard of performances have been so high that runner-ups have also been booked to perform at regular SHORTFUSE events. The SHORTFUSE POETRY IDOL CONTEST runs three times a year. Please see the Submissions and Current Contest sections for full details of closing dates for submissions and how to send your work to us. The POETRY IDOL CONTEST's are held at the SHORTFUSE nights which are hosted by: + discs of danceness spun by DJ DAVID BUSH Doors: 8.30pm. Admission: £5 waged / £3 concessions. SOME SHOWS DO SELL OUT - so, if there is a show you really don't want to miss our advice is to reserve tickets with us in advance. Just email your full name, the number of tickets you require, and a contact telephone number to: tickets@shortfuse.co.uk. We will hold them for you on the date of the show, they will be available for collection upon payment at the door between 8pm and 8.30pm.
The SHORTFUSE POETRY IDOL CONTESTS are held two to three times a year and feature poets, writers and performers new to SHORTFUSE.
Since wining the previous POETRY IDOL CONTESTS; Liz Bently, Rhian Edwards, Sarah Kobrinsky, Project Adorno, SP Howarth, Gareth Jones, Ritchie Scurvey, Richard Johnson, Suzanne Andrade, Paul Marshall, Kate Fox and Wayne Smith have had full length sets in various other spokenword venues including Express Excess and Apples & Snakes, plus 5 star Edinburgh Fringe shows.
When is it?
NATHAN PENLINGTON- "An act truly worthy of praise! His section is a smooth blend of comedy, storytelling and poetry. His writing and stage presence are both enjoyable and understated" - Three Weeks
Every Thursday @ The Camden Head, Camden Walk, Islington, London, N1
Tube: Angel. or click here for details of bus routes.
10.3.05 09:59