Lunatic Fringe

We’ve almost made it to the end of the Mental Health Festival... just two more days to go!

But, meanwhile, the events just keep on coming...

Tonight we were back at The Brink for our ‘Lunatic Fringe’ poetry slam, with our host for the night, Pad Hughes.

Pad hosts Liverpool’s monthly poetry/spoken word open mic night, ‘A Lovely Word’, and he’s thoroughly fab. Here he is relaxing after the event and, in the Extra picture, kicking the night off with one of his own poems.

A total of 14 poets performed their work on the theme of mental health and they were all brilliant, and brave! Such a range of styles, too. Some of the subject matter was pretty heavy, as you might expect, but there was also some humour and some joy. And, as ever, the warmth and support in the room was palpable.

A hearty “Thanks!” to Pad and to all the poets.

Today’s song is by Liverpool’s own Kathryn Williams, whose 2015 album, ‘Hypoxia’, was inspired by Sylvia Plath’s book ‘The Bell Jar’. This is ‘Cuckoo’... www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTKt5rjkBsc

And, as a bonus, here’s some poetry, and writing advice, from the poet Yrsa Daley-Ward www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEOiohOLAak