Burning Eye Podcast

Burning Eye Podcast

By Burning Eye BooksArtsBooks
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Burning Eye Podcast episodes

  • Jonathan Kinsman [Interview]

    Bridget discusses religion, theology and trans rights with 'witness' author Jonathan Kinsman. This episode explores the nature and function of the Christain church, comparisons between the UK and US. We touch on the idea of kindess/anger as a powerful tool of protest and Jonathan treats us to two poems from the collection.

    http://burningeye.co.uk

    https://burningeye.bigcartel.com/product/witness-by-jonathan-kinsman

    38 min
  • Erin Bolens [Interview]

    This week we kick back with some biscuits and Erin Bolens to talk about her new book Alternate Endings. 

    “Erin’s poetry is nourishment for the soul. Being able to sit down with this collection was an absolute joy. Always heartwarming, often heartbreaking, these poems have made me laugh out loud and brought tears to my eyes. I felt like I was glowing the whole way through.” - Harry Baker


    https://burningeye.bigcartel.com/product/alternate-endings-by-erin-bolens

    erinbolens.com


    34 min
  • James McDermott [Interview]

    This week we celebrate the release of MANATOMY - the debut collection from award-winning playwright James McDermott.

    ‘Simply magnificent. You don’t have to have grown up gay to appreciate this poetry but it will have a special charge, beauty and meaning for those of us who have’ - STEPHEN FRY

    https://burningeye.bigcartel.com/product/manatomy-by-james-mcdermott

    https://jamesmcdermottwriter.weebly.com

    56 min
  • Leanne Moden [Interview]

    Leanne Moden joins us to celebrate the release of her new collection Get Over Yourself! We talk editing, poetry in Nottingham and all things DIY.

    www.leannemoden,com

    burningeye.co.uk

    48 min
  • Mary Dickins [Interview]

    This episode Mary Dickins talks us through the poems and inspiration behind her debut pamphlet Happiness FM.

    Buy the book: marydickins.wixsite.com/pragmaticpoet

    burningeye.co.uk

    35 min
  • Afshan D'souza-Lodhi [Interview]

    Co-editor Bridget catches up with Afshan D'souza-Lodhi on the release her of debut poetry collection re:desire. We discuss garlic crushers, mangos and writing sensual poetry. 

    ‘This is an evocative collection of painful and beautiful multilingual poems in which silences are broken, sexuality is uncertain, and love is a bloody mess.’ - Dean Atta

    afshandl.com

    burningeye.co.uk 

    45 min
  • Molly Naylor [Interview]

    Molly Naylor chats to us about her new collection Stop Trying to be Fantastic. We discuss editing, those performance-only pieces and producing new work in lockdown. Plus a little chat about queer film nights and unlearning Pretty Woman. 

    https://burningeye.bigcartel.com/product/stop-trying-to-be-fantastic-by-molly-naylor

    www.mollynaylor.com


    40 min
  • Katie Grant a.k.a Isadora Vibes

    Our poem this week is from Katie Grant a.k.a Isadora Vibes who's debut poetry collection 'soak' is a visual exploration of pain, passion and the human state.

    --

    Wheelbarrows


    There are two

    Propped against the wall

    Left by builders

    I so wish to take them

    Right now in this silence

    And grab a stranger

    Ask them to race

    Down to the square

    With no cares

    Or fears to lose face

    Let us play

    Set out a course

    To run and run

    See who can maintain

    The equilbrium

    Of metal against stone

    Break free from our homes

    Remembering festivals

    And times in the sun

    Where all that we sought

    Was a space to peg and pitch

    In any old field or ditch

    Our home of canvas

    Was a castle

    Impenetrable by elements

    Or fears of a virus

    Ignorant in our bliss

    Yearning for a pilled up

    Face fucked kiss

    And this is what I miss

    Freedom to run

    Push my body to limits

    Previously unknown


    Now there are only curfews

    And lost weeks, months, years

    When will we meet to say cheers

    Cramped together

    Knees touching

    With no apparent fears

    No never I say.

    Not this year

    --


    https://burningeyebooks.wordpress.com/2018/09/18/soak-isadora-vibes/

    https://burningeye.bigcartel.com/product/soak-by-isadora-vibes

    2 min
  • Robert Garnham

    Welcome back, our poem this week is from the Professor of Whimsy himself - Robert Garnham!

    --
    To the car full of girls who shouted 'Poof!' at me as they drove past

    Of course it might have been a lucky guess.

    Though I held high in the Scottish drizzle
    A RAINBOW UNICORN UMBRELLA
    Which even I concede was a little camp.
    Or maybe my pink feather boa was
    Poking out from my Tesco's bag for life.
    Or maybe they were just nasty bastards.

    It wasn't like I was gawping at a fit bloke,

    Or wearing my I Like Cock tshirt,
    Or logging into Grindr and shouting,
    Where are you, FunkyLoveMuffin,
    Cooooooeeeeee!
    I was on the way to buy a steak and Kidney pie
    And you can't get any straighter than that.

    As the car sped away

    I felt the loving embrace of the generations who couldn't.
    But did anyway.
    Souls whose crime was to love
    But loved fiercely and with passion.
    This thought, and my RAINBOW UNICORN UMBRELLA
    Added some glitz to a drizzly Tuesday morning.

    What was it that gave the game away?

    Did I flounce did I strut did I sashay
    Did I mince,
    Does it matter?
    No glitter in the drizzle no secret street sequins
    I've been out and proud
    Since before you were born,
    Gayer than the gayest gay that ever did gay,
    Though I do occasionally wear an anorak.

    Like phantoms they come, Alan Turing,

    Oscar Wilde, Freddie Mercury, Frank O'Hara,
    Marcel Proust, Noel Cowerd, Quentin Crisp,
    Their ghosts swirling along the Edinburgh cobbles,
    Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street,
    And the anonymous lovers of old
    Proudly flying the flag before it even existed,
    Beating down the fear and marching brave,
    Stonewall freedom fighters, Harvey Milk, a fist raised
    Triumphant in the oneness of a gay new world
    That those for whom biology had different ideas
    Might walk unmolested in the conscience
    Of public acceptance.

    And I, oh,

    I might rise before you!
    You will cower and tremble,
    I, mighty gay overlord,
    Will crush thy Fiat Panda betwixt my
    Powerful thighs
    For it is I, prince of rainbows,
    Puncher of preconceptions,
    The Pink Avenger,
    Exacting my just and fearful revenge
    In the name of blessed queerdom!

    But then,

    I just sigh,
    And I say to myself,
    Some people
    Are just tossers.
    --

    More from Robert Garnham available from our web store:

    burningeye.bigcartel.com/artist/robert-garnham

    burningeye.co.uk

    5 min

About Burning Eye Podcast

From the publisher's feed

The Burning Eye Podcast is brought to you by indie poetry publisher Burning Eye Books, the largest publisher of performance/ spoken word/ slam/ stand up poetry in the UK.