2011 Pushcart Prize Nominee
The wonderful people over at Fantastique Unfettered have nominated Green Rushes, a poem by J.S.Watts that appeared in issue 3 of Fantastique Unfettered, for this year's Pushcart Prize.
Advance Notice: Winter Into Spring - 10th February 2012
Bassingbourn Community Book Café brings you the chance to hear local writer and poet J.S.Watts read from her acclaimed poetry and to ask her about her life and writing.
J.S.Watts will be supporting the Book Café by reading from her poetry collection Cats and Other Myths, together with seasonal poems based on and around the local landscape. She will talk about the poems, her life and her writing and there will be an opportunity for members of the audience to ask their own questions.
Friday, 10th February 2012, 8 - 10pm
(Doors Open 7.30pm)
Bassingbourn Book Cafe, The Limes, High Street,
Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire. Tel: 01763 247618
Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fair: 26th - 27th November 2011
There is FREE live poetry and music at Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fair this coming weekend. Poets and musicians will be performing at the Unitarian Meeting House in Churchgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1RH during the afternoon. On Saturday 26th November J.S.Watts will be reading selected poems at approximately 2.20pm and 3.45pm. On Sunday 27th November she will be reading again at approximately 2.25pm and 3.45pm.
Allographic "Other Voices" 15th November 2011
J.S.Watts will be reading alongside Andrea Porter as one of the featured acts at Cambridge's Other Voices on Tuesday, 15th November 2011. This spoken word event includes open mic (and the entry cost is reduced for poets who are willing to stand up and perform one of their pieces).
The event is being held at The Emperor, 21 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1NW and performances kick off at 8pm.
Oxford Today Reviews "Cats and Other Myths"
Cats and Other Myths has received a brief but honourable mention in the Michaelmas Term 2011 edition of Oxford Today - "...expertly crafted poems on life and death, history and humanity..."
You can find the full review on page forty-six of the magazine.
Speakeasy Poetry Night - 26th October 2011, Peterborough
In what could well be the "chalk and cheese" poetry event of, if not the decade, the week, J.S.Watts will be supporting urbanly poetic rappers, Sanity Valve at the Speakeasy poetry night in Peterborough on Wednedsday, 26th October 2011.
J.S. will be reading poems from her recent collection Cats and Other Myths, along with some new work.
The event is being held at The Brewery Tap, 80 Westgate, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 2AA.
Entrance is £4.00 on the door. Doors open at 7.30pm for a 8.00pm start.
oakham-ales.co.uk
Luton Poetry Society Poetry Evening
J.S.Watts will be one of fifteen or so poets reading at the Luton Society Poetry Evening on Saturday 8th October starting at 6pm at Luton Library.
"Experience a lively and entertaining evening of poetry and music, in celebration of Black History month, hosted by Luton Poetry Society. So, if you want to stir your emotions and have some fun, come along to enjoy a host of talent! All are welcome!
Over twelve poets will be reading aloud from their own work and there will be a couple of musical performances too.
Poetry books will be available to purchase, why not buy your copy and get it signed?
Readings and performances from:
Mary Emeji, Alan Rainer, Myrna Loy, Isabel Casey, Elizabeth Haruna, Tony Fernandez, Ngozi Fakeye, Ruth Tiso, Chris Georgiou, Patricia J. Morris, Theresa Rhodes, Khadijat Tandoh, J.S.Watts and others."
Further details at: Luton Poetry Evening
Cats and Other Myths - Crossing The Line: Poetry Reading
Where does reality end and myth begin? Can you ever really tell?
As part of the 2011 Royston Arts Festival, J.S.Watts will be reading from her recent poetry colllection Cats and Other Myths, together with new poems based on, and influenced by, the local landscape.
Friday, 30th September 2011, 18.00 - 19.00, Royston Library, Market Hill, Royston, Hertfordshire. Admission FREE.
For further details of this event and many others, please see the website for Royston Arts Festival
At The Edinburgh Fringe
J.S.Watts, who will be reading from Cats and Other Myths, will be performing amongst a host of talented poets and performers on Saturday 6th August. See Events for further details.
5 Poetry Journal
The poetry of J.S.Watts is showcased in Issue 2 of 5 Poetry Journal.
Read five of her poems, along with the work of four other international poets: Geraldine Mitchell, Bonny Cassidy, Andy Jackson and David Kelly.
Click here to read Issue 2 of 5 Poetry Journal.
STOP PRESS! 9th July 2011
J.S.Watts is reading from Cats and Other Myths at the Peterborough Festival, tomorrow at approximately 3.50pm in the Poetry and Acoustic Tent in Central Park, Peterborough, PE1 4DZ.
J.S.Watts will be reading from "Cats and Other Myths" as part of "A Pint of Poetry" at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Check out the Events Page for further details of the event on 6th August 2011.
Soundings - Suffolk Poetry Society
J.S.Watts will be reading some of her poetry as part of the Suffolk Poetry Society Event, 'Soundings', on Saturday 25th June 2011.
The sounds of many languages can be heard in English poetry. The half-day programme explores some of these ancestral and inspirational voices.
Place: Quaker Meeting House, St John's Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 ISJ
Date: Saturday 25th June 2011
Cost: £5.00 (£4.00 for SPS members)
To book a place please contact Anne Boileau: 01376 563714
'Two Dragons Dancing', from J.S.Watts' debut poetry collection Cats and Other Myths, has been chosen as poem of the month (June) for both Lapwing Publications and Adam Rudden (Modern Irish Poetry). See the links below:
Lapwing Publications
Adam Rudden
Live at Headstand, Cambridge
Following her poetry reading at Headstand on 25th April, J.S.Watts was featured on this Sunday night's Headstand broadcast on Cambridge 105. She read Way Lin and The Dragon, Lycanthropist, Oracles, Black Cat, Our Girl Dorothy, Losing the Easy and Moors Child, all from her new collection 'Cats And Other Myths'. Hear the radio show again here: http://headstand.podomatic.com/entry/2011-05-23T14_39_11-07_00
Cats and Other Myths is "richly alive"
In his review for Neon, Christopher Frost calls 'Cats and Other Myths' "a book packed with dense, cleverly thought-out poems...both meticulous and richly alive." "Watts has a wonderful ability to evoke both ferocity and tenderness."
Read the whole review here .
The Poetry Kit has just announced that 'Cats and Other Myths' by J.S.Watts is its new BOOK OF THE MONTH!
http://www.poetrykit.org/
'Cats and Other Myths' Reviewed on Amazon
J.S.Watts' debut poetry collection, 'Cats and Other Myths', has received very positive reviews via Amazon:
"JS Watts writes beautifully. This is a special book"
"A wonderful collection, with poems of great beauty and power"
Have you bought your copy of 'Cats and Other Myths' yet?
Live at Headstand
J.S.Watts will be reading excerpts from 'Cats and Other Myths' live at Headstand in Cambridge on Monday 25th April 2011 starting at 7.30pm.
Headstand is held at The Emperor, Hills Road, Cambridge. There is a small entry fee of £3.00.
Official Launch of Cats and Other Myths
It's 1st March -Publication day for Cats and Other Myths (ISBN 978-1907276-64-4) from Lapwing Publications: poems that find contemporary relevance in the echoes of myth and legend and the mythic in the day to day world around us. For further details see Publications
Launch of Cats and Other Myths
J.S.Watts launches her debut poetry collection Cats and Other Myths on 1st March 2011.
J.S.Watts' debut poetry collection Cats and Other Myths (ISBN 978-1907276-64-4), published by the Belfast based publisher Lapwing Publications, is being launched on 1st March 2011. It is a book that finds contemporary relevance in the echoes of myth and legend and the mythic in the day to day world around us. Its poems examine and question given truths, unapologetically holding many up to be little more than fairy tales. This is poetry of history and humanity, love and relationships, life and death and the things that lie in between. Oh, and yes, there are also cats.
As part of World Book Night Celebrations on 5th March 2011 J.S.Watts will be reading some of her poems from Cats and Other Myths at the Celebration of World Book Night. The event is being held at The Free Church, Market Square, St Ives, Cambridgeshire from 20.00 to 23.00 on Saturday 5th March 2011 and is open to the public. Copies of Cats and Other Myths will be available to buy and are also available to purchase from selected bookshops, Amazon, Google Books, Lapwing Publications and this website.
For further details about how and where to buy a copy of Cats and Other Myths check out the Publications page.
Cats and Other Myths - Announcement of Publication Date
Cats and Other Myths, the debut poetry collection by J.S.Watts, is due out from Lapwing Publications in March 2011. It contains 88 pages of poetry that finds contemporary relevance in the echoes of myth and legend and the mythic in the day to day world around us. ISBN 9781907276644. R.r.p. £10.00.
If you are interested in reserving an advance copy at a pre-publication reduced price, please email the author (see Contact page) to be sent price, purchase and payment arrangements.
Once Upon a Time in a Gallery
27th January 2011 from 6pm, O3 Gallery, Oxford Castle, Oxford, £3
Launching the international online exhibiton of the same name from eight cuts gallery.
A night of music, art and, of course, words, celebrating the fairytale in all its forms, from the comforting images of childhood memory to the darkest corners of our subconscious, and everything in between, and looking at the stories we return to again and again through the ages and make new for each generation.
Words by
Michele Brenton (Banana the Poet), Cody James, Harriet Goodchild, Dan Holloway, Svetlana Grishina, J.S.Watts, Peter Brooks
Christi Warner, Dylan Gwalia, Kevin Jenkins
SARM, Katelan Foisy, Shannon Moran
http://www.eightcuts.com/
Cats and Other Myths - Preparing for Publication II
It's a time consuming process, this preparation for publication. Everything waits upon news and more proofs from the publisher. It will be worth the wait, but.................
Advance Notice: Winter Into Spring - 10th Februar...
Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fair: 26th - 27th Novemb...
Speakeasy Poetry Night - 26th October 2011, Peterb...
Cats and Other Myths - Crossing The Line: Poetry R...
Cats and Other Myths - Announcement of Publication...
Cats and Other Myths - Preparing for Publication I...