A big thanks to everyone who came down to the opening night of Words Aloud!
The first night on Wednesday 15 November at Runaway Girl pulled in 80-100 punters on a blustery autumn Wednesday night in Sheffield. There was an eclectic mix of people, ages and interests – from old hands to first-timers. We even had [...]

We thought it was a fitting start to the very first Words Aloud. Click the video to play.

He seemed so genuine,
Although I only met him once on the bus,
I hope I didn’t make a fuss, I just wanted to discuss
The Bible.
Perhaps he’d come to my workshop, and discuss
The Bible.
Such a nice man.
Sometimes, on the tram,
I call home, and talk to the machine,
And loudly I talk about
The Bible.

Dear Mr Barnum, I wish to apply
for a post with your organization. Although
now having worked in the industry before,
I feel that I’m well qualified.I’ve had plenty of experience of going round
in circles and of dealing with clowns;
clearing up huge smelly heaps left by others
has been one of my regular tasks.

I was feeling very strange. My fantasy meats had only led me further off into the distances. I went out and sat on the wall around the veranda and listened to the sounds of night.
“Sit back and let the evening go,
Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely, Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely,
Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band”
Someone sat down beside me [...]

When you’re 34 and three quarters
You sack off vinyl for CDs
Start listening to gardener’s question time
Stop trying so hard to please
When you’re 34 and three quarters
You can’t do two nights on the trot
A pair of slippers and the property guide
An ovaltine, that’s your lot
You’re loving storage solutions
Go to B&Q because you can
Squirrel bags inside of [...]

Smiling is infectious,
you catch it like the flu.
When someone smiled at me today
I started smiling too.
I passed around the corner
and someone saw my grin.
When he smiled, I realised
I’d passed it on to him.
I thought about my smile and then
I realised its worth.
A single smile like mine could travel
right around the earth.
If you feel a smile [...]

It’s 8.44 p.m. on this still and empty stage. There isn’t much air in here and the little that there is, is saturated with the stale smell of cigarette smoke and sugary ale. I can taste it on the back of my coated tongue. My throat and eyes are so dry that they itch. I [...]

Orchard Park boy, posh wanking in your parents’ king
to contraband pornos of southern descent, so that
you might rent from your mind those pockmarked slides
of you and that older girl – the Heron cashier – doing it,
you fifteen only and her pushing thirty.
(No wonder she thought you heaven-sent)
And that randy couple in Baltimore,
With its milkbottle-empty streets, [...]

this manic platitude constrains my
soul with whispered screams
and dreams of scenes of consternation
and little girls emulating their mothers,
writing christmas cards to vague
acquaintances and visiting quaint
bric-a-brac shops for burlap sacks
adorned with flowers and crosses,
filled with flip-flops, Tupperware and potpourri,
eating panini bread and drinking a latte
they fashion themselves
after the cherry blossom flattened

To Connemara I will go
And repatriate my mojo.

Sat nav lady takes control
Faithful to her knowledge
I’m losing my direction
Turning me left
Left me thinking
Left me hoping
Left me turning
Into a driveway
Into a roundabout
Into a slow and lazy decline
Sat nav lady’s
Superior
Condescending
Tone
Has left me wanting to get lost.