King Ink

All right? This month, we were joined by the master of memory, Aidan Clarke. Aidan treated us to poems from his collection, Poems for No One.

Following two performance skills workshops by Kirsten Luckins, our open mic performers really levelled up this month. For the podcast, we have The Bottle by Christine Fowler, Old Beetles Never Die by Steve May, Blessed by Jyoti Singh (our first erotica), and The New Age Olympics by John Edwar...

All right? This month, we were joined by the Brecht of Longbenton, Nev Clay. A folk singer, poet, and Olympic patter-smith, we’ve seen Nev perform a twenty minute set consisting of just one song, so we’re delighted to have three whole poems from him for the podcast!

Many of our open mic performers wrote about the shameful rioting in Sunderland (and elsewhere) this month. We have Nihilist’s Mirage by Just Think Phil, Sunderland’s Ri...

All right? This month, we were absolutely delighted for King Ink stalwart Pauline May to launch her first poetry book. Planets, Plants and the Taste of Salt explores Pauline’s relationship with her parents, and one of her sons, Sam, has also provided some music for this episode.

From our open mic legends this month we have The Weaver of Lydia by John Appleton, Sorrow’s Kin by Helen Rogers, A Melange of Aggregate by Hester Dowling, ...

All right? We’re on the eve of a Brave New Day, so who better than King Ink legend, Aaron Wright, to steer us through the choppy waters ahead. Aaron has consulted leading politicians and political pundits, from this century and others, to help you decide how best to waste your vote in the 2024 Election.

A popular member of the north-east poetry scene, Aaron often performs at King Ink and other spoken word nights around the region. ...

All right? Somehow managed to miss Degna Stone at Glastonbury, did you? Well, do we have a treat for you! A couple of weeks before the big festival, Degna popped along to King Ink for an unofficial Glasto Warm-up, and we've got a taste of their incredible performance here for your ears.

From our open mic heroes we have Open Mic Surgery by Aaron Wright, 80% of Your Stomach by Auburn Langley, Memorandum to Murmurations by Keith Ford,...

All right? What a night we had this month! Electric open mic (with emergency mic tech from Gary the Hat), and a proppa-scran powered headline set from Darlo's own Lizzie Lovejoy.

From the epic open mic we have Auto-Gothik by Barry Hall, A New Year by Cath Mills, A Tribute to a Tree by Emily Kitching, and Saying Sorry to the Chocolate Sex Witch by the irrepressible Carl Steabler. And from Lizzie Lovejoy's gorgeous headline set we...

All right? We were joined this month by the delightful Ann Porro, bookseller by day... performance poet by night!

The open mic was rammed again (sorry, Luke) and from them we have I Have a Plan by Christine Fowler, Letter From an Atheist by Kev Robson, Before by Milky Brookes, and Leaving the Lakes by our very own Helen Wilko. Ann shared some wonderful poems on the night, including An Arthouse Movie Vampire Takes a Walk, Ms Nightin...

All right? In March, we were visited by the eternally puckish Harry Gallagher, who read from his most recent book, There Is An England.

From our open mic poetswe have... Born of Bad Dreams by James Holbrook, Emotional Warriors by Auburn Langley, Writer's Block by Gillian Harrison, and The Dandelion Field by Jack Wallace-Hunter. And from Harry we have You Do Not Speak For Me, Youth Training (which made James cry a bit), and We Are E...

All right? In this month's episode, we're delighted to include poems recorded at the "soft launch" of Keith Ford's book, Matters of Life and Death, along with all the usual King Ink shenanigans.

From our packed open mic, we have a haiku by Auburn Langley, Holiday by Mwelwa Chilekwa, Tory Helpline by Andy Sutton, Friendshifting by Liz Dean, and Charlie Care's signature piece, A Roman Legionary Has a Vision of the Future. And from Ke...

All right? Happy 2024 and welcome to our first podcast of the year. Headlining this month was the fiery Julie Easely. Hailing from Teeside, Julie is a working-class poet, a queer ally, and let me tell you, she is angry!

From the open mic this month we have Imagine a River by Philip E. Cassidy, Chalice Well by Rebecca Kime, Smile by Kevin Robson, and This Gift by Helen Rogers. And from Julie's headline set we have Let Them Eat Ch...

All right? For our last event of the year, we wanted to celebrate the pamphlet launch of popular King Ink regular, Gary the Hat. From his first readings in 2022 to headlining across the region and releasing his first pamphlet, Gary is an inspiration to any aspiring poet.

From this month's open mic we have Some Presents from Auntie Barb (deceased) at a Night of Mediumship by Liz Dean, All Beset the Phobics by Just Think Phil, Endles...

All right? Another month, another packed Pop Recs. This month we had a whopping 35 open mic performers, and we were visited by Teeside's finest, Bob Beagrie.

From the open mic we have To a Friend by RW Thorne, Raise the Dead by Cara Brooke, Times That Cannot Be Reversed by Folasade Fasoyiro, and the long-awaited Dad Dancing by Keith Ford. And from the brilliantly bearded Bob Beargie we have It's Like..., Spell, and Kite Over Morton...

All right? Well! What a month October was! We had one of the most heart-warming moments in King Ink history on stage (if you were there, you know). And we had a headline set from Kate Fox!

From the King Ink Irregulars, we have The Stricken Oak by David Farn, Songbird by Helen Rogers, Invisible by Karima, and an untitled poem by Jay Sykes. And from Kate Fox we have Lots of Planets Have a North, Opposite Sides of the Wall, and ...

All right? We've got a bumper episode for you this month, befitting the busiest night we've had since King Ink returned last year. Our headliner, Nasim Rebecca Asl brought her Washy posse, and she was kind enough to record three poems for us.

From the King Ink Irregulars, we have The Village by Just Think Phil Wardle, The Sea Sings by Sharon Milley, The Ouija Board by John Appleton, and Breadcrumbs of Your Love by Lian Maltas. A...

All right? We're trying something a little different with this bonus episode. Gary the Hat, one of our regular King Inkers, has written a sequence of poems about alcohol, and we thought it would be cool to collect them in one recording.

Gary has been coming to King Ink since February 2022, when he read his poetry for the first time. He has developed so much in that time, and it has been mint seeing him grow as a performer.

Massive ...

All right? We had a mega King Ink sesh this month, with two fabulous headliners. First, we had Master of the Goth Arts, Steve Urwin; then for second breakfast, we had Mistress of the... Purple Arts, Jenni Pascoe.

Steve opens the podcast this month with three of his Tiny Tales. From the King Ink Irregulars, we have Salt of the Earth by Lian Maltas, The Shock of the Old by Barry Hall, Poem for Tim by Keith Ford, Sunset, Nearly by Li...

All right? Our headliner this month was the Door-to-Door poet himself, Rowan McCabe. He treated us to poems about deer in license plate shops, Azuma trains, and all the usual unusual stuff.

From our open mic poets, we have The Timekeeper by King Ink debutant Amy Grainger, The Lines by Stephen McGowan (BA), and Hooliganism by another debutant, Olya Bowers. And from Rowan we have two poems: Surface and My Least Favourite Things.

As a...

All right? Our headliner this month was the wonderful Emma Conally-Barklem. Her poems cover a range of topics, and include the word "mithered", so you know she's a good 'un.

From our irregulars, we have Yes, I Am Me by Karima Lynn, The Alphabet Poem by Gary the Hat, Firsts by Anne Loadman, and Letter to my Parents by Innocent and an untitled poem by Nicole Stevenson. From Emma we have three poems: Best Thing Past Their Best, Bad Li...

All right? We've got otter based shenanigans for you this month, courtesy of our fabulous headliner, Kirsten Luckins!

From our irregulars, we have Doing Bird by Malcolm Barnes, Managing the English Department Budget in a Secondary School in the North East of England in 2023 by Helen Wilko, Sing a New Song for 1955 by Chris Hodgson, and The Forgotten Place by José Maria Covas Lima. Then we have two poems from Kirsten: Dear Sophie...