Words by Ed King
On Wednesday 9th March, Howl returns for Round II at The Dark Horse in Moseley – presenting spoken word & performed poetry/prose from Casey Bailey, Heather Wastie, Sean Colletti + various open mics slots to be announced on the day.
Howl is a Sansho event, co-promoted & presented by Leon Priestnall. Doors open at 7:30pm with entry charged at £3 – for direct event info, click here.
Starting off their new monthly run at The Dark Horse in Feb this year, after having been previously fed & watered at The Sun at the Station for one turn round the sun, Howl began in pretty fine fettle. A full room, some cracking open mic spots (including a gherkin/felt tip pen/the frivolity of youth analogy… oh yes) and three different but solid headline slots – Howl once again avoided the uncomfortable self-congratulation that this genre can survive on. Genuine, funny, intelligent, endearing. Give it red hair and a piano, and I’ll walk it down the aisle.
March’s line up at Howl looks similarly eclectic, with three more headline performers who come from very different sides of the ring. For more info on each have a look at the Written Word below:
Casey Bailey / A Birmingham poet. A Birmingham rapper. Casey Bailey has a standalone, calm approach – writing and performing material about the more visceral end of the human endevour. He also teaches rap and poetry in workshops and classrooms, using his craft as a vehicle of expression for those who so badly need to express. Check out Casey Bailey delivering his personal ode to our city, performing ‘Dear Birmingham’ – click here. For more on Casey Bailey, visit http://baileysrapandpoetry.com/
Heather Wastie / Worcestershire’s Poet Laureate across 2015/16, Heather Wastie performs as a ‘poet, singer/songwriter, keyboard/accordion player, actor, humourist and facilitator.’ She promotes too, running/comparing the monthly Mouth and Music night at The Boars Head in Kidderminster – where Howl host, Leon Priestnall, performed last October. Also a published poet & oral historian, Heather Wastie has compiled four poetry collections – with her last, Weaving Yarns, regaling ‘a unique infectious cocktail of assorted snippets and stories about the carpet industry’ in Kidderminster. For more on Heather Wastie, visit http://www.wastiesspace.co.uk/
Sean Colletti / Born and raised in California (not the one near Quinton), Sean Colletti came to the UK to read Creative Writing at Birmingham University (BA) and the Universtity of East Anglia (MA). Choosing the lesser of two evils, Colletti returned to Birmingham for his PhD and to write his first novel – whilst performing ‘his first love’ at poetry events across the city. And if we’ve found the right Sean Colletti on Twitter, he also enjoys sci-fi, whiskey and losing at poker… sounds like a Friday night in to me. For more on Sean Colletti, visit https://www.facebook.com/sean.colletti
Howl feat. Casey Bailey, Heather Wastie, Sean Colletti returns to The Dark Horse on Wednesday 9th March. For direct event info, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/842848142527054/
For more from The Dark Horse, visit http://www.darkhorsemoseley.co.uk/
