July marks the second birthday of Poetry Café – Refreshed, held on the third Wednesday of every month at Smokey Joe’s in Cheltenham. We are looking forward to celebrating our continuing run of fine poetry from gifted poets – welcoming David J Costello as our guest poet on Wednesday 19 July.
For the record, here is our roll of honour – our guest poets – during our first 2 years, from August 2015 until July 2017:
John Alwyine-Mosely – August 2015
Tom Sastry – September 2015
Nina Lewis – October 2015
Avril Staple – November 2015
Brenda Read-Brown- December 2015
David Clarke – January 2016
Sue Johnson, Bob Woodroofe, Joy Thomas – February 2016
Paul Harris – March 2016
Matt Duggan – April 2016
Rachael Clyne – May 2016
Lesley Ingram – June 2016
Ben Banyard – July 2016
Patrick Osada – August 2016
Deborah Harvey – September 2016
Kathy Gee – October 2016
Claire Walker – November 2016
Anna Saunders – December 2016
David Calcutt – January 2017
Stephen Daniels – February 2017
Jennie Farley – March 2017
Sam Loveless – April 2017
Michael W Thomas – May 2017
Stuart Nunn – June 2017
David J Costello – July 2017
And we are looking forward to welcoming more talented poets in future months!
Jeff and Dan Phelps – August 2017
Angela Topping – September 2017
(October and November – being confirmed)
Ann Drysdale – December 2017
Here are some random photographs of guest poets’ posters and performances!
Poetry Café Refreshed at Smokey Joe’s, Cheltenham
John Alwyine-Mosely – our first guest poet, August 2015
Tom Sastry – September 2015
Tom Sastry
Smokey Joe’s – unique venue!
Smokey Joe’s – a great venue
Patrick Osada
Strong performances at the open mic
Avril Staple
David Clarke
David Clarke
Nina Lewis
Ben Banyard
Ben Banyard
Deborah Harvey
Miki Byrne at the open mic
Sue Johnson
Bob Woodroofe
Joy Thomas
Sue Johnson, Bob Woodroofe, Joy Thomas
Matt Duggan
Lesley Ingram
Rachael Clyne
Sharon at the open mic
Brenda Read-Brown
Paul Canon Harris
Brenda Read-Brown
David Calcutt
Patrick Osada
Kathy Gee
Claire Walker
Anna Saunders
Jennie Farley
Stephen Daniels
Sharon, deputising for Roger as host
Michael W Thomas
Stuart Nunn
David J Costello
We look forward to another great year of Poetry Café Refreshed!
On 10 August 2016, Poetry Café – Refreshed celebrated its first birthday. We were delighted to welcome Patrick Osada, who is on the management board of South magazine, as the guest poet on this special occasion.
Poetry Café – Refreshed, a monthly event, hosted by Roger Turner and organized by Sharon Larkin (yours truly), is held in the unique surroundings of Smokey Joes in Bennington St, Cheltenham – a café with an informal and relaxed atmosphere, an American diner-inspired décor given a British twist … and offering an irresistible menu.
Smokey Joes – a relaxed, informal atmosphere
We’ve been enjoying some superb poetry. Over the past year, we’ve had a succession of exciting guest poets come to read and perform for us:
John Alwyine-Mosely – August 2015
Tom Sastry – September 2015
Nina Lewis – October 2015
Avril Staple – November 2015
Brenda Reid-Brown – December 2015
David Clarke – January 2016
Sue Johnson, Bob Woodroofe and Joy Thomas – February 2016
Paul Harris – March 2016
Matt Duggan – April 2016
Rachael Clyne – May 2016
Lesley Ingram – June 2016
Ben Banyard – July 2016
Patrick Osada – August 2016
… and the quality of the poetry from the open mic poets has been high too!
At the ‘anniversary edition’ of Poetry Cafe – Refreshed on 10 August 2016, at the open mic we had: David Ashbee, David Clarke, Miki Byrne, Annie Ellis, Jennie Farley, Robin Gilbert, Sharon Larkin, Michael Newman, Stuart Nunn, Belinda Rimmer, Roger Turner, Gill Wyatt.
We’ve had many more poets join us at the open mic over the past year, including Kathy Gee, Sarah Bryson, Polly Stretton, Judi Marsh, Holly McGill, Anna Saunders, Howard Timms, Marilyn Timms, Kev Alway, Courtney Hulbert, Briony Smith, Chris Hemingway, Aled Thomas, Gill Garrett, Elizabeth Chanter, Michael Skaife d’Ingerthorpe, Samantha Pearse … and on one memorable occasion Dom Joly.
We look forward to the next year of Refreshed. Guest poets for the next three months are:
21 September 2016 – Deborah Harvey
19 October 2016 – Kathy Gee
16 November – Claire Walker
Please make a note of 16 November and 14 December, the last two Poetry Café – Refreshed events for 2016 … and we already have a number of exciting guest poets lined up for 2017!
We’re most grateful to Vickie Godding and the staff at Smokey Joes for being so welcoming and accommodating towards us. We love your waffles!
And thanks to TL for taking photos at Poetry Café – Refreshed.
Some photographs from our first year:
John Alwyine-Mosely, guest poet August 2-15
Tom Sastry, guest poet, October 2015Nina Lewis, guest poet, October 2015Christmas SpecialGuest Poet, Brenda-Read Brown, December 2015
David Clarke – guest poet, January 2016
Sue Johnson, guest poet with Bob Woodroofe and Joy Thomas, February 2016Bob Woodroofe, guest poet with Sue Johnson and Joy Thomas, February 2016Joy Thomas – guest poet with Sue Johnson and Bob Woodroofe, February 2016Paul Canon Harris – guest poet for March 2016
Matt Duggan, guest poet, April 2016Dom Joly (uninvited guest, April 2016)Rachael Clyne, guest poet, May 2016Lesley Ingram, guest poet, June 2016Ben Banyard, guest poet, July 2016Patrick B Osada, guest poet, August 2016Deborah Harvey, will be guest poet in September 2016Roger Turner, host of Poetry Café – RefreshedSharon Larkin, organizer, at the open mic
Coming up with the Words 