Some of the LL team in action at Broadway. Photo James Walker.
As part of the Hockley Hustle – a charity event which raises money for the NSPCC and Oxfam – LeftLion took over the Broadway cinema and put on a variety of bands. The event went really well apart from one change at the last minute. One of our bands Hhymn was replaced by some American band who happened to be touring the region and so were deemed more important. This made me sick to the stomach as Hhymn are a local band, make great music and have supported LeftLion by appearing on the WriteLion podcasts. Having said that, there wasn’t really much we could do about it but it did reveal the uglier side of the fame industry. Of course none of this really concerns me as I was organising our spoken word event upstairs in the Mezz Bar.
The event was themed around murder, mystery and fantasy because the 25th October is officially the last day of summer and Halloween is imminent. It had nothing to do with a night-out in Strelley. Working to a theme worked well and meant thinking a little bit more about who to choose and where to place them. Out of all of the acts, the best event by far was that held by Damien Walter and Mark Charan Newton, which was an informal chat about speculative fiction – the genre which dare not speak its name. They discussed reasons for its growing popularity which in turn opened up a heated debate among the audience. They were then followed by James Johnson, the author of Erth Chronicles, who we interviewed in the current magazine. He used visuals to illustrate his talk and was an engaging insight into how collaboration can help perpetuate your career and creativity.
There doesn’t seem to be much etiquette in the literary world. A lot of performers legged it the minute they had finished. I can understand this with more established writers but for those cutting their teeth, it was a wasted opportunity to do a bit of self-promotion and to watch how things should (could?) be done. I understand why writers loathe public appearances as it is antithetical to the actual act of writing itself e.g. locking yourself away from humanity with only the electrical pulse from your computer to keep you warm. But sometimes doing things you don’t like helps. Didn’t every mother drum that into their kids? The ears are the only part of the body that keeps growing and consequently, using them to gauge a little advice now and then is good.
For example one of our performers, King Henry, has written a book that should be in the Guinness Book of Records for containing the most expletives. D H Lawrence is a pussycat in comparison. But Henry writes well, like P G Wodehouse with turrets. Given the nature of his work he has found it hard to get readings, hence why we stepped in to support him. But he politely made his excuses and left before making the necessary contacts that could help him with his career. Such a wasted opportunity! But I have no right to preach having avoided all public readings of my own work. Prior to that I have legged it out of every book launch before my complimentary glass of wine has hit the gut. Retrospective wisdom is a marvellous thing.
Overall the event went well but organising spoken word is still a new game to me and I’ve a lot to learn. There are things that I need to work on such as stricter time slots so that authors don’t over run. The danger of this is the public become restless when they have to go through the hassle of having to listen to someone they aren’t really interested in. It’s not like TV that you can switch over or fast forward. This resulted in a few sighs, one large fart and the texting of inspid status updates that I can barely begin to imagine. Better guidance for first-time performers is also needed. Audiences – no matter how wordy – look bored when an author reads for twenty minutes (particularly in the context of a four hour event) and so in future, capping reading times may help. This isn’t dumbing down. It’s being realistic. This can be achieved by thoroughly going through their proposed work beforehand and mixing in a Q&A session or background to each extract.
In a massive venue like Broadway, there needs to be more information sign posting people to the event as ours was tucked away in the corner of the Mezz bar and so quite a few people will have missed it. My mistake was believing that this would be done. I’m 36 years old. If there is one thing I know better than anything it’s do everything yourself to be safe. As Eartha Kitt once said ‘I am learning all the time. My tombstone will be my diploma.’
Overall I really enjoyed the event, particularly the heated debate at the end of Al Needham’s set. A young woman dared question his content and was leapt on by his adoring followers. Irrespective of how misguided her criticisms were (and they were), I found some of the reactions most aggressive. It was like being in the Trent End and discovering someone wearing a Derby scarf. I’ve never seen such passion at a reading. With such a strong following as this and given the tremendous (and completely deserved) receptions he has received at our last two events, he may quite possibly have a best seller on his hands if he cracks on and finishes it. And I’ll tell you what for nowt duckey, it cudnt happen ta a nicer chap.
For more info on the event please see
