This was a great evening of interesting performances - if you missed it I'll post the You tube link in a moment. First I want to give you the biographies of the performers - all fantastic! All professionals with great track records of performing :
Hilaire grew up in Melbourne but moved to London half a lifetime ago. Triptych
Poets: Issue One (Blemish Books, Australia, 2010) features a selection of
her poems, and her novel Hearts on Ice was published by Serpent's
Tail in 2000. She is poet-in-residence at Thrive Battersea Herb Garden for this
year’s Open Garden Squares weekend. Quirky, unique and unusual poetry style. http://hilaireinlondon.wordpress.com
Arup
Chowdhury is a singer/ musician who plays classical-based Bengali folk
songs, some combined with English folk tunes. He may be joined by a female
Bengali singer. He was born and raised in Bangladesh, played Harmonium when
young but also learned guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. He has two master’s
degrees from London Universities. Beautiful voice and who knew Bangladeshi folk songs could be so uplifting!Steve Turner was born and raised in the Midlands but has lived in London all his adult life. His poetry collections include Nice And Nasty and The King Of Twist. He has written five books of poems for children, one of which is the bestselling The Day I Fell Down The Toilet. He is the author of biographies of Johnny Cash, Jack Kerouac, Van Morrison and Marvin Gaye among others. His next book, to be published later this year in America by HarperCollins, is Beatles ’66. His poetry is provocative and thought provoking yet always accessible.
Anna Meryt has had numerous single poems published in anthologies and magazines. She’s part of Highgate Poets (www.highgatepoets.com). In 2011 she won first prize in the Lupus International poetry competition for her poem ‘Bulawayo’ – about her birth place. Two poetry collections – Heartbroke (2013) and Dolly Mix (2014) and a memoir (set in South Africa in the 1970s) titled A Hippopotamus at The Table. Her blog is at www.ameryt.com
Greg Mayston sings and plays Folk, Blues and Americana on fine vintage and modern guitars of steel and wood, and is branching out into the five-string banjo. He regularly performs with his trio in and around Reading and joins us for a solo performance. He’s a truly virtuoso guitar player and has performed at the Festival previously. Greg's playing and singing goes from strength to strength, I could listen to him for hours.
HERE'S THE LINK: Filmed by the writer and co-producer of Gold Dust Literary Magazine - David Gardiner
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We were missing (she was going to come, but was ill at the last moment)Shanta Acharya Born and educated in India, went to Worcester College, Oxford (one of the first women) there (D.Phil).The author of ten books, her publications range from poetry, literary criticism and fiction to finance. Shanta founded Poetry in the House (1996) and hosted a series of monthly poetry readings at Lauderdale House, Highgate. Shanta has served twice on the board of trustees of the Poetry Society in the UK. Shanta Acharya received an award at the House of Lords on 22/6/16 for a ‘lifetime of service to poetry’. Her blog is at www.shantaacharya.com
