December 2005
On Sunday 4th December The Blue Room enjoyed a Christmas Party Night, when we had music and readings from:
Beccy Owen . Back at the Blue Room by popular demand. Beccy is a musical phenomenon; a singer/songwriter of considerable note. Those who came along were re-invigorated by her sheer energy and talent.
Cynthia Fuller gave a warm and assured reading. Cynthia has been in the North East since 1979. She lives in Esh Winning and teaches creative writing at Newcastle University. She has worked with lots of different groups in the community. Flambard Press have published three collections of her poetry, the most recent, Only A Small Boat . She co-edited The Poetry Cure with Julia Darling, and has recently completed a fourth collection of her work.
Linda Leatherbarrow. It was a delight to hear one of Linda's short stories read in her understated yet confident style. Linda is three times 1st Prize Winner of the London Writers Competition. She has won a Bridport Prize and an Asham Award and recently been awarded an Arts Council grant. Her short stories are published in her collection Essential Kit The Maia Press . October 2004). They have also been widely published in magazines including Ambit , Cosmopolitan and Mslexia , and in anthologies such as Even the Ants Have Names, Harlot Red, The Nerve, Sleeping Rough and the British Council's New Writing 8 . They have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She teaches at Middlesex University and The City Lit, London.
Yvette Hawkins is currently studying Fine Art at Newcastle University and is constantly trying to find ways of blurring the edges of visual art and writing. She has always written poetry and has recently been awarded a bursary by New Writing North to attend an Arvon course. she has been published in several small anthologies. Yvette delivered her poems for the Blue Room with vibrance. A young up and coming performer to watch out for.
Tara Bergin was born in Dublin in 1974. Publications include Logos Magazine (2003) Northern Review (2004) and Poetry Review (2005). Tara captivated the Blue Room audience with a reading from her first collection of short stories Russian Conversations which has just been published by Mudfog. Tara is currently studying at Newcastle University.
The cash prize quiz was scooped up by a friend of Beccy's who was celebrating his birthday. What luck!
