Above SUSSED as usual.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 8pm, the Green Room returns.

Celebrating Seren's Free Verse’, in honour of RICHARD PRICE born 300 years ago. With PHIL COPE & others.

Also we remember Alan Perry.

Cover painting by Kevin Sinnott

The Green Room above SUSSED returns with new work from various writers and creators.

Supporting Sustainable Wales

Friday, September 23, 2022

• 8:00 PM 10:00 PM

• fundraising for Sustainable Wales (map) - free with donations welcome.

Delighted to be featuring Peter Finch

Hosted by Robert Minhinnick

At the Green Room above SUSSED, during the Elvis Festival.

The Green Room returns surrounded by Porthcawl’s Elvis Festival.

Plus open mic

Delighted to announce the return of Green Room veterans in June: Zoë Brigley, Kristian Evans and Robert Minhinnick reading from new works at the Green Room on Friday, 8pm, 24 June 2022 - above SUSSED as usual.

The Green Room returns above SUSSED with mix of poetry, literature, film and the popular open mic. Hosted by Robert Minhinnick. Fundraising for Sustainable Wales (free entry but donations are welcome).

Hosted by Robert Minhinnick - with the regular poetry Open Mic. Free with donations to Sustainable Wales always welcome.

Find out more on the Sustainable Wales site

Sustainable Wales’s cultural showcase returns on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, at 8pm, featuring writing and film about Elvis Presley and the Extinction Rebellion mass movement.

Organiser, Robert Minhinnick says: ‘This will be a lively occasion with lots of new writing and film. 

The evening will include poetry that links the visionary writer, William Blake, with Cowbridge’s own troubled mystic, Iolo Morgannwg. 

 “And yes, Elvis Presley will somehow be fitted into the mix. A unique night is in store.”

Everyone welcome, Croeso Cynnes i bawb. 

£4.

A Story of Saint Non

with Tracy Evans

An evening of stories, histories and reflections inspired by St. Non, the mother of St. David, and the Pembrokeshire cliffs where she gave birth. 

GREEN ROOM RETURNS

WITH ELVIS-THEMED NIGHT - Above SUSSED

Sustainable Wales, 5, James St., Porthcawl CF36 3BG

“A little satire will add to the fun”.

After a summer break, Sustainable Wales’s ‘Green Room’ performance space recommences with a series of events.

Friday, SEPTEMBER 28, at 8pm, we celebrate the Elvis festival in Porthcawl, with a welcome satirical look at ‘the King’.

There will be Elvis Presley-themed films, and readings from Wales’s finest performance poet, Peter Finch.

Peter will also be speaking about his recent book, ‘The Roots of Rock’ (Seren), in which Elvis, of course, is featured.

Leading Cardiff academic, Dr Daniel Evans, will discuss the ‘class’ element of the Elvis festival.

Co-ordinator of Sustainable Wales, Margaret Minhinnick, says: “The Elvis festival weekend is now well-established. This extraordinary eisteddfod is unignorable in the town, so our charity is making a contribution to the fun.

“ Peter Finch will be sharp! And our popular Open Mike will include film and photographs, drawn from the history of Elvis in Porthcawl.

“Giving a local perspective will be writer Robert Minhinnick, photographer Peter Morgan, musician Gerry Rae and film-maker Paul Woodford.”

Everyone welcome! Croeso cynnes i bawb!

£4 entrance.

Sat 26th May above SUSSED

The drama of the ‘Porthcawl hurricane’ to be relived at the ‘Green Room’.

‘Josephine’s Rain’ is a thirty minute evocation of a storm that damaged Porthcawl in 1995.

Tropical storm ‘Josephine’ was close to hurricane status, sinking boats and destroying part of the seafront.

The video performance promises a musical and poetic dramatisation of an incident in recent history.

The original ‘Josephine’s Rain’ featured Robert Minhinnick, Peter Morgan and Richard Thomas. This new version is remixed by Peter Morgan, whose images will be shown during the performance.

There will also be an Open Mic for readings and short films.

An evening in English and Welsh to celebrate the publication of ‘Bondo’ by Menna Elfyn, from Bloodaxe. The title means ‘eaves’ in Welsh, referring to poetry and language as a ‘sanctuary’. Readers are Robert Minhinnick in English and Carys Evans in Welsh. Plus Open Mic.   

Entrance: £4. 

Everyone welcome. Croeso cynnes i bawb.

An evening of readings, live music and images from Gerry Rae.

Poetry Open Mic afterwards.

• Friday, March 31, 2017
• 8:00pm  10:00pm

A welcome return for Rhian Edwards to the Green Room. 

Brood is the new pamphlet from poet Rhian Edwards. Winner of all three categories of Wales Book of the Year in 2013 for her debut poetry collection, Clueless Dogs, Bridgend-born and based Edwards is known for her dazzling performance style and her vivid, often acutely personal poems.

The new pamphlet opens with ‘Birds of Rhiannon’ introducing us (via a nod to the famous medieval Mabinogion story where magic birds, said to bring people back from the dead, console the heartbroken Celtic princess Rhiannon) to a darkly resonant tone that echoes from the myth:

Before I was mortal, I was haloed

in feathers, my trinity of familiars;

whose birdsong was legend, serenading

the dead from their dreams,

lullabying the living to torpor…

The centre of this new pamphlet is a ten-part poem, ‘Pied Margot’ based on the mnemonic rhyme for groups of magpies ‘One for Sorrow, Two for Joy…’. This long poem charts the progression of a troubling relationship from infatuation to disillusionment, alongside the birth of a much-loved daughter.

There are unflinching descriptions of arduous pregnancy, as well as miscarriage, that remind us that this stage of a woman’s life can be as risky as a battlefield. Also, any parent will recognise the irritated joy of ‘Kiss’ where a child becomes an expert at ‘delaying the damnation of bedtime.’

Meanwhile, birds are at all times present: hovering, chattering, casting their shadows, they are both tricksters and familiars in these hypnotic, spell-like poems. Welsh artist Paul Edwards has provided some beautiful charcoal drawings of magpies inspired by this atmospheric sequence, which feature throughout the pamphlet.

Other poems feature Gulls, Red Kites and ‘The Universal Doodle’ of a murmuration cloud of starlings. This pamphlet Brood is an apt follow-up to Clueless Dogs and leaves us eager for the poet’s next full collection.

The pop up Café returns with delicious home made food and fair trade coffee, teas etc.

GREEN ROOM RETURNS WITH LOCAL WRITING

Charity, Sustainable Wales welcomes all local writers to its GREEN ROOM, 5, JAMES ST. PORTHCAWL CF36 3BG on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, at 8pm for a celebration of ‘new writing’.

Entirely devoted to the ‘open mic’, the event will feature Robert Minhinnick, Gerald Webber and a variety of other prose and poetry writers.

Entrance £4.

More information: Sustainable Wales 01656 773627

PORTHCAWL ARTS, CRAFTS AND CULTURE TRAIL 

Public meeting on Monday 9th March @ 7pm in The Green Room above SUSSED 4-5 James Street, Porthcawl CF36 3BG - Here's the open letter from Siobhan Grice, organising the event:

Hello,

I am writing to you to invite you to get involved in a project being run by Sustainable Wales.  We are looking for artists and creative people based in Porthcawl and the surrounding areas who would be interested in taking part in an Arts, Crafts and Culture Trail.

As a member of the newly formed Town Centre Partnership, Sustainable Wales (sister organisation to SUSSED) has been commissioned by Bridgend County Borough Council (via a Welsh Assembly grant) to research the possibility and costs of creating an Arts, Craft & Culture Trail in Porthcawl. Local support from both contributors and supporters is essential and we need to gauge that in advance.

We believe that an Arts Craft & Culture Trail (ACCT) is a wonderful opportunity to create a vibrant weekend of events celebrating the talented people living in Porthcawl. It will bring local people together, profile arts, crafts and culture, and attract visitors to the town.

An ACC Trail is an event whereby visual artists, performers, writers, musicians, crafts and creative people share their talents with the public in informal and intimate settings, i.e. their own homes or studios.

The locations are made available to the public through the design of a map and programme.  We would also like to use galleries, cafes, pubs, parks, community centres, schools, church halls, garages, etc.

By taking part in a cultural trail, artists receive exposure for their work, have an opportunity to sell artworks, objects, jewellery, or perform etc, and to share their passion and knowledge of an artform and their own skills.  Meanwhile the public has a chance to have a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at how art or craft work is made.

A good example of this is ‘Made In Roath’ in Cardiff, organized for October every year. There are many arts and crafts trails in Britain, which you can view via the links below. 

Would you like to be involved in making this happen?  Do you wish to be a part of raising the cultural profile of our town?  Can you join us and share ideas to create Porthcawl’s first Arts, Culture and Crafts Trail?

We will hold a public meeting on Monday 9th March @ 7pm in The Green Room above SUSSED 4-5 James Street, Porthcawl, CF36 3BG.

We wish to hear about what you might offer. We also want to hear your ideas on how a Culture Trail might work best in our town. We are eager create something unique in Porthcawl, and will be delighted if you might be part of it.

Whether you are a visual artist, a crafter, a performer, a musician, a singer, a writer, a chef with flair, a creative historian, a gardener with imagination, a creative entrepreneur, would love to see you there.

You are welcome to invite friends and colleagues if you think they will be interested.  If possible RSVP so we can organize enough seating. 

Contact: Siobhan Grice

 Email: freshstart.grice@gmail.com

Significance follows the consequences of her decision.

Jo Mazelis has been a graphic designer and photographer as well as a writer, working on magazines in London. She lives and writes in her hometown, Swansea.

Jo’s reading will be followed by questions, opportunities to purchase her books, and the popular Green Room Open Mic for others to perform their work.

More details: 01656 773627

Further reading:

http://www.literaturewales.org/writers-of-wales/i/129743/desc/mazelis-jo/

Novelist, poet, photographer, essayist and short story writer, Jo Mazelis

 was born in the middle of a summer storm on the edge of the Gower Peninsula. She grew up in Swansea, later living in Aberystwyth and London for over 14 years before returning to her hometown. She worked as a graphic designer back when magazines were put together with scalpels and wax, occasionally undertaking portrait assignments to photograph writers such as P.D. James, Patricia Highsmith and Kathy Acker, artists Paula Rego and Nan Goldin, and actors Miranda Richardson and Tilda Swinton amongst others.

She has won a prize in the Rhys Davies Short story award five times, was longlisted for the Asham Award and her first collection of short storiesDiving Girls was shortlisted for both Wales Book of the Year and Commonwealth Best First Book. Her work has appeared in New Welsh Review, Spare Rib, Poetry Wales, Raconteur, Cambrensis, Nth Position, the Big Issue, Corridor, The Ottawa Citizen, Everywoman, Tears in the Fence and Lampeter Review amongst others. Several of her stories have also been broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

She has exhibited her artwork at Camerawork, London, The Camera Club, London, The Dylan Thomas Centre, Pontardawe Arts Centre and the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and has recently begun exploring filmmaking as a means of exploring identity and memory.

twitter

Green Room (new account for events):

@1thegreeneroom

@suswales

Jo Mazelis:

https://twitter.com/jomazelis