Hinemoana Baker and the Poets Six at Howltearoa

From the Word Collective:

Another Howltearoa will be happening this coming Monday the 3rd of November at 7:30 at the Southern Cross.

This month we have the special pleasure of Hinemoana Baker and the Poets Six as our guests! We will also be having our usual open mic, which is free to poets, story-tellers, free-stylers, singers and of course yodellers.

Southern Cross is on the Corner of Abel Smith & Cuba streets.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Poetry week in Wellington

Phew! You could spend almost all your waking hours going to poetry things in Wellington this week.

Monday 1 September

1 pm to 2 pm

Writers on Monday – 2008 Randall Cottage fellow Jennifer Compton in conversation with Mary McCallum. National Library Auditorium, Molesworth Street.

7.30 pm – whenever

Howltearoa, with special guests The Gracious Deviants, ‘a two-piece acoustic act who have been performing together for several years now and are well known for their deft lyrics and brilliant harmonies’. Starts with open mike (poetry, spoken word, acoustic music). Southern Cross, Abel Smith Street.

Wednesday 3 September

7 pm

The final of this Winter Reading series, featuring Michael O’Leary, Marilyn Duckworth and Bill Dacker. City Gallery, Civic Square.

8 pm

If you rush from the Winter Reading, you will only be a bit late to a poetry performance/fundraising event featuring members of Wellington’s Word Collective, and Auckland’s Litteratti. They’re raising money to finish a digital feature film Godspell: www.godspell-movie.com. That’s at Happy.

Friday 5 September

My book launch! (For my new poetry book, My Iron Spine.) If you’d like to come, flick me an email and I’ll send you an invitation (helen.rickerbyATparadise.net.nz).

Howltearoa, Monday 7 July

From the Word Collective:

This is another announcement to inform you that HOWLTEAROA will again be taking place at Southern Cross this Monday the 7th of July from 7:30pm.

Brave the winter night and warm your soul with some of Wellington's finest poetry and spoken word.

All are welcome to contribute, be it with verse, song, limerick or doggerel, your own or a favourite author.

7:30 start. It would be splendid to see you there.

Nga mihi nui

June Howltearoa - tomorrow

From the Word Collective:

I would like to announce another evening of Howltearoa this coming Monday, 2nd of June, at the Southern Cross, at 7:30

As with all Howltearoa events it will be stacked with poets, rhymers, singer/songsters, fans of doggerel and high verse. We would love to see you there to be a part of or simply listen and enjoy.

To accompany this open mic set will be a performance of work from local artist/filmaker and poet Dra McKay.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Howltearoa news from the Word Collective

This from the Word Collective about Howltearoa. I intend to actually make it this month, all going well.

Kia ora koutou!!

Howltearoa continues this year, with our second open mic nght on Monday the 5th of May at 7:30pm, at the Southern Cross.

The first Howl of the year, held in April, was really successful with a good turnout, heaps of people keen to contribute to the open mic session and a great set from our special guest and long-time Howltearoa contributor Andy Coombes.

Howltearoa this Monday is an opportunity for anyone wishing to contribute, be it with their own poetry or something by a favourite poet or writer. There will be no special guest this month, so there will be plenty of time for all who turn up wanting to perform.

Howltearoa will continue to be held on the first Monday of each month for the rest of this year. Poetry begins at 7:30pm. Come along and experience and contribute to the best of local poetry and spoken word in Wellington.

Howltearoa returns

From the Word Collective:

Hello my dear Howlers

It is true, Howltearoa is back for another year, starting this Monday the 7th of April!

Howltearoa
7:30pm
Monday 7th of April
The Southern Cross Bar
Abel Smith Street
open mic and special guest Andy Coombes

In keeping with our tradition, we will have an open mic session as well as a guest: Mr Andy Coombes. A poet of numerous talents and vices, Andy will keep you all well entertained with poetry that features sardonic wit, savage attacks on any misdimeanors by our elected representatives and narratives that may or may not have actually taken place in our fair city of Wellington.

Howltearoa will be on the first monday of each month this year, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Howling at Howltearoa

So last night I finally made it down to Howltearoa, at the Southern Cross. And indeed, there was actual howling to be heard.

It was lots of fun and lots of variety in both performers and performances. There were a lot of keen people in the open mike section. While it was mostly poetry, there was also prose, song and mixtures of all three. Pieces ranged from funny to intense to political to love poems to limericks to Mike Tights reading a poem using some device to make his voice sound like a robot (which unfortunately also made it impossible to make out any words, except ‘Can you hear me?’)

My own contribution was to read my poem ‘Handicrafts with Minnie Dean’, wherein I knit baby clothes with the notorious murderess.

Highlights included Matiu’s intense song, Andy’s poem about the corpse of Saddam Hussein (really it is much better than it sounds from that description) and Hamish’s piece about Jack who wrote secrets on his shoes.

If there was a prize for best use of the Shortland Street theme song in a spoken-word performance, it would have to go to Craig Ireson (Karaoke Poet, Word Collective stalwart and co-MC for the night), who introduced ‘Is it you or is it me? Lately I’ve been lost it seems. I think a change is what I need’ into his opening and welcoming ‘address’. (Which also included him singing the familiar ‘Come aboard, we’re expecting you’.)

My previous experience of the Word Collective is of a group that is welcoming and encouraging, and last night was more of the same. Howltearoa is taking a break until March or April next year, but I’ll be back.

In other news: today I went to L’s graduation (finally!) Congratulations.

Howltearoa

If you're in Wellington and you like a bit of spoken word/performance poetry, you might like to pop down to Howltearoa. Howltearoa is a monthly event, which I haven't managed to make it to so far, but have very good intentions to go this time.

Howltearoa is run by the Word Collective, who have also run the Word Festival, which I did manage to make it to once. The thing that struck me most about the open reading at the Word Festival was what a cosy, supportive and non-judgemental atmosphere there was, and I'm told (by a reliable source) that Howltearoa is the same.

There will be an open mike and a guest reader. They say:

This year's final guest is Markus McIntyre: a stale wart of the Word Collective and all round kiwi renaissance man reminscent of Crumpie mixed with Curnow. This man catches his dinner on the South Coast of Wgtn then composes homages to Kina and Paua in his beaut little batch- catch him whilst you can my little rose buds.

Howltearoa December 2007
Monday 10th
8pm
Southern Cross Bar and Restaurant
Abel Smith St
Free entry