News Archive

Academi and BBC Radio 4 Poetry Slam

Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea
17 May 2007, 7.30pm
FREE ENTRY

BBC Radio 4 is running a national poetry slam this summer. But before the excitement of the finals, there will be nine preliminary heats taking place in nine geographical areas across Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.

The Academi are working with the BBC to organise the Welsh heat of the competition. All the competitors have proven themselves worthy in past competitions, so it will be a slam to remember. Why not come along and see for yourself who will represent Wales in the finals. There is no charge for this event but you can reserve your free tickets by calling Academi on 029 2047 2266 or email post@academi.org. 

Your MC for the night will be Goff Morgan:
                                                                                                                                                     
Goff Morgan was born in Newport, and trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama as an actor. Upon completion of his studies in 1983 he started work as a freelance tutor in Drama and Voice & Speech in Newport Drama Studio. Having written since the age of sixteen, and written for performance whilst in college, Goff started writing and performing the stage pieces for which he is best known - the Tales from the Broken Arms one-man-shows. In 1988 he was the one and only ever winner of the HTV Best of The Swansea Fringe. During this period he also wrote the storytelling show Fables from a Lost Land.

During the 1990’s Goff moved onto radio. For two years he was a regular guest on the Mal Pope show on BBC Radio Wales, and wrote Broken Arms stories for BBC Radio Gwent and Red Dragon Radio. In 1992 he won the One Voice Monologue competition in the Swansea Grand Theatre. In the late nineties he started producing the short stories in the Chronicles of Maesgarw Newtown series for readings, and co-wrote Dai Namik Superhero, a 16 episode comedy serial for BBC Radio Wales. In 1997 Goff was named Newport Town Poet, the only official town poet in Wales.

He was also a member of Arts Focus for twelve years (the voluntary arts umbrella organisation in Newport), and was Chair for the last two.

Goff continues to broadcast regularly on BBC Radio Wales, particularly on Something Else, the Nicola Heywood Thomas programme, and Good Evening Wales. He also crops up on Radio Five Live, and once on Radio Four.

We also have equally impressive judges for the night. Dave Woolley, Ifor Thomas and Jasmine Donahaye will be listening intensively to the competitors before deciding their fate.

Dave Woolley
Writer and literature organiser. He is Literature Officer for Swansea Council and is responsible for the programme of events at the Dylan Thomas Centre.

Ifor Thomas
Performance poet. Born in Pembrokeshire - he now lives in Cardiff. Founder member of many performance-based writing groups. He has won the John Tripp Award for spoken poetry and has been a prize-winner in the Cardiff International Poetry Competition. His latest collection of poems, Body Beautiful, was on the Wales Book of the Year 2006 Short List.

Jasmine Donahaye
Jasmine Donahaye’s poetry collection Misappropriations was shortlisted for the Jerwood Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. She is editor for Parthian, and is editing the Richard Burton diaries for the University of Wales, Swansea. Her critical writing and poetry have appeared in the UK and the US. She lives in Ceredigion.

For more information and to reserve your FREE ticket contact Academi on:
029 2047 2266 or post@academi.org