JULY'S DIARY
Wednesday 2nd@ 8pm - Dead Good Poets Society Open Floor. 24 performance slots of 5 minutes for you to perform your own poetry. Come early to book a slot. Compered by Nick Payne. The 3rd Room, Everyman Bistro, Hope Street, Liverpool 1. £2 /£1.

Friday 4th: 6pm-8pm - Amanda's Couch. Listen to readings from your local authors (including poets) and talks about their work and influences. Bring your old books for our book exchange. Buy a signed copy of a new book directly from an author. The Mocha Lounge, 20 Sir Thomas Street, Liverpool L1 6BW. For details email seraphrenology.books@yahoo.co.uk

Monday 7th July @ 8pm- Hebden Bridge Fringe Poetry Slam. Nutclough Studio, 6-8 Nutclough Hebden Bridge HX7 8HA (Tel 01422 845990). Cash prizes. For more information or to register as a Slammer, please go to www.writeoutloud.net

Monday 7th@ 8pm - Come Strut Your Stuff. Poetry and music open mic hosted by Graham and Nick, with Stan the Harper. The Egg Cafe, Newington, Liverpool (down the side of Rapid Hardware). Free.

Thursday 10th @ 8.30pm Write Out Loud - Open Mic at Tudor House Hotel, New Market St. Come and read a poem or two with us. All welcome. Beginner-friendly. The Tudor is next to the bus station, 5 mins walk rail stations: info@writeoutloud.net

Sunday 13th:7.30pm-9pm - Fadia Faqir and Sulaiman S.M.Y. Addonia. Two fascinating authors with Arabic backgrounds read from and discuss their writing. Fadia Faqir is a Jordanian/British novelist and human rights activist. Addonia was born in Eritrea and spent his early life in a refugee camp in Sudan before arriving in the U.K. the Performance Space, the Bluecoat, School Lane Liverpool. Tickets £5 /£3 Tel: 0151 702 5324

Monday 14th: 7.30pm-9.30pm Liverpool Poetry Cafe: Alice Lenkiewicz & Jeff Cottrill. Alice lives in Toxteth. She is an artist and poet and edits the experimental Poetry/Art Magazine, Neon Highway. 'Maxine', a novella, containing prose, poems and illustrations was published by Bluechrome Publishing. She has just completed her first full collection of poems. Her most recent poems are a reflection upon and include drawings and thoughts based around the myths and ghosts of Liverpool. Jeff Cottrill is a satirical writer and spoken-word performer from Toronto. He has authored three chapbooks of fiction and prose-poetry and also recorded a CD. He is on his second UK tour. He has performed in numerous venues all over Canada and the US. Costa Coffee, Bold St, Liverpool. Free. All welcome!

Monday 14th @ 8.30pm - The Bards of New Brighton poetry group is open to all. It meets on the second Monday of each month (including bank holidays) in the folk music room at the Magazine pub (Òthe MagsÓ) in Magazine Brow, New Brighton. Contact is Steve Regan. Phone: 07764 615069.
Email: stvregan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://steveregan.merseyblogs.co.uk/

Wednesday 16th @ 8pm: Dead Good Poets Society Guest Night: Martin Daws & Cathy Roberts. The 3rd Room, Everyman Bistro, Hope St, Liverpool 1. £3 / £2 pay on the door.
Martin Daws is a performance poet who truly embraces the sounds of the words as a complex music of meaning. He uses spoken word to connect with the world on a deeper level and has developed a style of poetry that is essentially a music of speaking. Martin lives in Gwynedd & works as a professional workshop facilitator in music and writing. He uses 'intense rhythmic patterns and compacted rhyme sequences, drawn from hip hop and jazz influences, counter pointed to fluid lyrical passages of poetry written in more literate forms.' Last weekend he came second in the Poetry Slam at Glastonbury - so please welcome him back to Liverpool!
Cathy Roberts, a former winner of the Nothing Rhymes With Poets competition, uses humour to create poetic dramatic monologues. She has recently restored a boat and sailed it from the East coast, around the top of Scotland and is docked in Liverpool, so expect some salty words!

Thursday 17th: 9-11pm - The Wirral Ode Show. Poetry Open Mic at The Stork Hotel, Price Street, Birkenhead. For details contact jasonrichardson69@hotmail.com

Friday 18th July: 7.30-9.30pm - Manky Poets presents Alicia Stubbersfield reading from her poetry collection 'Joking Apart'. Chorlton Library, Manchester Road, Chorlton, M21 9PN. All welcome £2/ £1

Sunday 20th @8pm - Write Out Loud's Read Around. Friendly and relaxed open mic at the Howcroft Inn, Bolton. £1 donation. For directions www.writeoutloud.net

Thursday 24th: 7.30-9.30pm Liverpool Poetry Cafe - presents two poets:
Rebecca Goss is a Liverpool poet whose pamphlet collection was published by Slow Dancer Press; her poems have appeared in many magazines and anthologies including Ambit, Stand, Magma, Smiths Knoll, Mslexia, The Interpreter's House, Seam, The Reader and Orbis.
Karen Sands-O'Connor and Jennifer Ryan teach poetry at Buffalo State College in New York. Karen has been published in Orbis and in the Journal of Caribbean Literature, and Jennifer in Pudding Magazine and in Solo Cafe.
Costa Coffee, Bold Street, Liverpool. Free event.

OPPERTUNITIES
Kudos, formerly Competitions Bulletin lists umpteen competitions, local, national and international. Everybody always remembers that amazing moment they actually won a prize, but writers can always come out on top - because entering competitions encourages motivation, organisation, and inspiration. Contact now for a free sample back issue, emailed as a pdf file Every issue, around 200 competitions, some with free entry; at least 50 for poetry, around 40 for short stories. Plus collections, anthologies, playwriting, non fiction, books etc, home and abroad Details of around £250,000 in prize money. Only £2.50 per issue. £15 pa for six; £20 Overseas For further details of how to subscribe go to www.kudoswriting.wordpress.com

Cinnamon Press has got some great deals on poetry books this summer. 3 for 2 on sets of books by Welsh, Irish and Scottish poets. Check out their website for more details: www.cinnamonpress.com

Poetry Tutorial Leaders Wanted - The Poetry School are looking for poets to run individual tutorial sessions with writers, via email, postally and / or face to face. They pay £65 for a 1,000 word critique on 200 lines of poetry; or for one hourÕs preparation and a one hour face-to-face session. Tutorials take place at times and locations convenient to both tutors and students. If you are a published writer with experience of teaching, and would be interested in running tutorials through the Poetry School, please email Will Carr director@poetryschool.com with a covering letter and a CV. Include details of your published work, experience of teaching, and which particular areas of poetry you are interested in. Where possible, please include details of a referee. deadline 11th July. To find out more about the Poetry School and its work, visit www.poetryschool.com

Iota poetry journal is looking for reviewers specifically for the Live Poetry Scene. If you are interested in reviewing please send a copy of your CV and two examples of your review writing to Kate North, Reviews Editor, at Iota, Room QU214, Francis Close Hall, University of Gloucestershire, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, GL50 4AZ. If you'd like to review a regular Open Mic night in your area, or any other Slam/Spoken Word events, please send the event/review details to Sonia Hendy-Isaac at Soniahendy@gmail.com. They are also interested in articles: please send abstracts and a CV to Sonia Hendy-Isaac, Performance Scene and Articles Editor, at Soniahendy@gmail.com Deadline 31st July.

Competitions
Havant Literary Festival Open Poetry Competition 2008 Closing Date: 18-Jul-08 Details: For poems of up to 20 lines. First prize £250, second prize £100, third prize £50. Judge: John Haynes. One entry only. Entry Fee: £3 Contact: The Poetry Competition Secretary Denise Bennett, HLFS, 11 The Pallant, Havant, Hants., PO9 1BD

Wells Festival of Literature Poetry and Short Story Competitions 2008Closing Date: 31-Jul-08 Details: For poems of up to 40 lines, and for short stories between 1800 and 2000 words in length. Prizes include a first prize £500, and a Wyvern Prize for those living in the BA, BS and TA post-code districts of England. Entry Fee: £4 for each poem or short story Contact: Poetry Competition, 6 Bedford Road, Wells, Somerset BA5 3NH Website: www.wlitf.co.uk

Foyle Young Poets 2008 Closing Date: 31-Jul-08 Details: Competition run by the Poetry Society for 11-18 year olds. Judges: Ian McMillan and Sophie Hannah. Entry Fee: £0 Contact: FYP 2008 (PL), The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX Website: www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/competitions/fyp/

Tenth Scintilla Open Poetry CompetitionClosing Date: 31-Jul-08 Details: For short poems of 50 lines or under, or long poems or sequences of over 50 lines. £200, £100, £50 in each of the two categories. Also five commendeds in each category. And publication for prize-winning and commended poems in the following issue, Scintilla 13. Judges: Anne Cluysenaar and Hilary Llewellyn-Williams. Entry Fee: £5 for long poems, £3 for short poems Contact: Anne Cluysenaar, Little Wentwood Farm, Llantrisand, Usk, Mon. NP15 1ND Email: anne.cluysenaar@googlemail.com

Manchester Poetry Prize 2008Closing Date: 01-Aug-08 Details:£10,000 for the best portfolio of poems submitted. A bursary for study at MMU will be awarded to the best entrant aged 18-25. For portfolios of three to five poems, not exceeding 120 lines. Entry Fee: £15 per portfolio of poems Contact: James Draper, Project Manager : Writing School, Department of English, Manchester Metropolitan University
Email: j.draper@mmu.ac.uk
Website: www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk

Arvon International Poetry Competition 2008Closing Date: 15-Aug-08 Details: £11,000 worth of prizes including Ted Hughes Environmental Poetry Prize of £1,000 plus special Ted Hughes publications, for the best poem that deals with the environment. Judges: Andrew Motion, Alice Oswald and Moniza Alvi Entry Fee: £6 Contact: You can enter your poems online at www.arvonfoundation.org/poetry or ring +44 (0)20 7931 7611 for an entry form

Torbay Open Poetry CompetitionClosing Date: 15-Aug-08 Details: For poems of up to 50 lines. First prize £700, second prize £300, third prize £150. 14-18 years' prizes: £200, £100, £75. Judges: Sheenagh Pugh, 14-18 years' prize: Helen Mort. Entry Fee: £4 per poems or 3 poems for £10, 6 poems for £20. £2 a poem for 14-18 years or 3 poems for £5 Contact: The Administrator, c/o The Mount, Brixham, South Devon TQ5 8QY