Quirky Poetry

As part of the Independence Celebrations, there was a poetry hour at the Globe on Saturday afternoon, featuring poets from Quirk magazine, and hosted by Chris Bradshaw and Wayland Boulanger, who produce the magazine (there should be a new one coming out in time for Hay Festival).
They're a varied (and talented) bunch.
I particularly liked Chris Bradshaw's poem about Taliesin as the Big Bang and creative scientific force of the Universe. When I spoke to him later, though, he said he didn't have any plans to include it in Quirk, because it's 4 pages long, and he wants to make room for as many different poems as possible.
A young man called Hugh read several poems (from his phone, the only performer using modern technology!), and gave a disclaimer that he didn't only write poems about older women, after his hilarious ode to Mary Berry and the Great British Bake-Off!
Tracy Thursfield read a poem about a mermaid diving for a pearl, which a member of the audience later compared to Edward Lear - and someone else said she was an "intellectual Pam Ayres"! She also read a poem which should be appearing in the next issue of Quirk.
Simon brought a rather grim note to the proceedings with a poem called Walk Like an Egyptian, which was about someone who was tortured by the Egyptian police.
Wayland, and Adrian Crick, also read some of their poems - and Wayland also read out a poem for a woman who couldn't be there, about getting dressed up for a night out, and now I can imagine him rocking four inch stiletto heels!

As the poets gradually wound down at about ten past three, the Bookstagrammers were beginning to arrive for their event at 3.30pm, a panel discussion entitled Meet The Boys! Bookstagramming is not Just for Girls! about what it's like to be a minority in a mostly girls' world.