Podcast: Des Mannay

On this episode Newport poet Des Mannay looks back on an amazing year in which he has been placed in three competitions and had poems in numerous publications. He shares some of his poetry and offers tips on boosting your chances of success in competitions.
He challenges listeners to write a poem about your final message when you have three minutes left to live and offers a couple of pieces of work for inspiration: And Death Shall Have No Dominion by Dylan Thomas and Galliano - 57th minute of the 23rd hour. Share your responses in the comments or to info@patrickwiddess.co.uk. 
You can hear poems by myself and Des in response to John Eliot's baby's shoes prompt from the last podcast and a poem by Clive Oseman.
You can read more of Des's poems via the following links: 

I Am Not A Silent Poet - https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/tag/des-mannay/ 
Proletarian Poetry - http://proletarianpoetry.com/2015/09/21/and-the-dead-shall-rise-by-des-mannay/ The 'Rethinkyourmind' shop - https://rethinkyourmind.co.uk/our-shop/ 
The 2015 Creative Future Literary Awards Anthology - http://www.cfliteraryawards.org.uk/2015-clfa-anthology-impossible-things-out-now/ 
Disability Arts Cymru Poetry Competition Free Download Anthology - http://www.disabilityartscymru.co.uk/literature/dac-poetry-competition-ibook/

Music by Suhov and Zyxz 

Des Mannay by Headstand on Mixcloud

Ian Keteku and Wordfest

Hammer and Tongue is back this week with headliner Ian Keteku all the way from Canada. Ian has played Hammer and Tongue in Cambridge before and it's great to have him back. Tristram Fane Saunders will also be performing and of course there's the slam. I can exclusively reveal that slammers will include recent Headstand guest Rychard Carrington. His performances are infrequent but always surprising and memorable. If you fancy slamming yourself be sure to book in advance as it's been a full slam the last couple of months. Full details here.

On Thursday head down to CB2 for an hour of comedy plays by Paul Richards. There appear to be two performances in the evening and the shows touring various other parts of the country. details and tickets here.

Finally next weekend is wordfest. Whether you like poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction of whatever genre there's bound to be an event for you as some of the best known contemporary writers come to Cambridge for this leading literary event. Head over to the website: www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk.