The Writer, November 2024 - Magazine - Page 5
November saw myself (Jason Disley)make my debut at
Pickled Poets in Newton Abbot. The evening was held
at The Plot Deli in Newton Abbot, a cosey and
inviting Deli/ cafe. In front of an appreciative audience
I had been invited to headline the evening. Enna Michaels, a local
poet and amiable host introduced the supporting poets John Yabsley,
Chris Gibson and Bill Brearley, who are all Pickled Poets regulars.
Each poet shared wonderful work that I really enjoyed Pickled poets at
the Plot Deli, is a regular monthly event -be sure to check them out for further events .
My set was quite a long one for a Spoken Word gig, and I had forty minutes
to fill. Luckily I had enough poetry up my sleeve to share. I read some
words from my recent collection A Destination of Dreams (Beatnpress, 2024)
and then included some pieces that included music, so that the set did
retain the interest of my audience. This I felt worked, as forty minutes of
serious poems may have felt dull to some of the audience. One of the
pieces I did was a poem called Breathless, which was backed by a
piece of music by Rick Blackman of The Cavendish Set. The music is
evocative of French Cinema in the 1960s, and lends its self well to both
the English version I performed and the French version recorded by
Gabriela Gicoman of Parisian band French Boutik. Her version is available
via most streaming platforms, and appears on my album Speakeasy. To lighten
the mood at the end of my set I decided to do a comedic improv piece. I have a
trumpet, which I can blow -but perhaps, not play very well. Instead of playing an
intricate tune like Flight of the Bumble Bee - I told a story about a fly -and did
something I call Flight of the Bluebottle. Needless to say the audience were amused, which
was a relief!
As I stated some of the poems I performed were from my recent book. which is currently
available from Beatnpress, Amazon, Blackwells and www.gamaclothing.co.uk amongst
others. My own next personal project is a novella called Searching. This is a continuation
of my surreal novel The Lost Notes by Diz. I hope this will be available late 2025. The other
members of the Modernist Beat Collective have various projects on the horizon. 2025
looks exciting! JD.
