Whoops nearly forgot my regular post on Pighog, this one certainly ‘hit the spot’, bringing three talented poets together to perform at the Redroaster Coffee House last week.
However, we had John O’Donoghue, a Pighog Press favourite bringing his own brand of comment and low key good humour to his reading. One of his reviewers said ‘This pamphlet is his tribute to a group of friends who embody the wonderful energy of Brighton, a town that’s always changing and still seems new to old friends who have been here for years.’
Deborah Tyler-Bennet from Smokestack Press had travelled from the north just to appear at this event. We were glad of her company as she gave us a a fantastic reading from her book ‘Pavilion’. ‘West Pier serenade’ and ‘Glitter, gun and gangsters’ inspired by Graham Green’s ‘Brighton Rock.’
Her very funny presentation included a lovely story of the man who knocked on doors and said “Can I share the fire?” If the answer was “yes” the next response was “Can I bring my horse?.” So she wrote a poem about it. Deborah was keen on Max Miller and he came to life into another of her poems.
Linda Black – Shearman and Hearing Eye -read from her new book about Hans Christian Anderson. Not one word were hers, she was at pains to explain. His life and pre-occupations were lovingly worked together by Linda’s own amazing command of language. An unusual project that should get a good following.
A resident DJ 
for musical interludes and all this compered by the amazing Michaela Ridgeway 
who entertained us with three ‘jokes for poets’ and introduced everyone else including the brave souls doing the open mic. Unusually she finished the proceedings with a poem or two of her own.
Only one left in this Pighog Special series. Next month they will also have the runners up and winner of the pamphlet competition so plenty more excitement to come.
Now I confess I did enter this comp myself, but my poetry got absolutely nowhere, which all goes to show…er… something or other. More than likely far too many much more talented scribes out there and all just what the judges were looking for!
Never mind won’t stop me writing, although the old cliche ‘better luck next time’ becomes even more ‘wishful thinking’ when one gets to a certain age I guess. This leads me to the thought, are poets like ‘painters born or made?’
Whatever the answer, there are plenty more Pighoggy poets yet to come, readers, writers and those who like decent coffee for goodness sake don’t miss the next one.
Ann Perrin 