SpokenWord Paris

Floyd Humphrey–“I started writing poems in school while I was studyig English litterature and I copied they style of Keats, Byron and Yeats. Many years later I was advised by the Liverpool poet Brian Patten to find my own voice and style, both of which are in constant evolution. I regularly do open mics in London, I have been reading at SWP for exactly one year. I recently did an open mic in Amsterdam. I have been published in many editions of Delicious Zine magazine in the UK as well as The Opiate.I write mainly about love and the problems therein, and also about social and political injustice. On 6th October, I will have been living in Paris for 29 years.”

Irish poet Judymay Murphy lives in London and performs her poetry on stages all around the world including at the annual UNICEF Galas in London and Vienna. She’s a double graduate of Trinity College Dublin’s Samuel Beckett Centre for Drama and holds a Masters in Literature. Her grandfather was the celebrated Irish scholar and author Gerard Murphy best known for his work, Early Irish Lyrics, which has been an inspiration for poets since its publication over 50 years ago. Judymay‘s first collection, Monster Proof Poetry, was published in 2020 by Black Spring Press. The second collection, The Wildling Highway is due out next year. She has always been nomadic in nature, living in several parts of the world, including Kathmandu, Hollywood, New York, Washington DC, London, and of course Paris. She claims that The Marais owes her a full year. At Spoken Word Paris on September 15th she will be debuting her epic road poem, Ride.

Alice Gretton is an award winning spoken word artist, painting tapestries with words and performance. Kent’s poet for National Poetry Day 2019. Alice has won the United Kingdom Young Artist award, received mentoring from Canterbury’s Poet Laureate Lemn Sissay, and featured on BBC Arts, BBC Radio Kent, and at events across the UK. Alice’s debut collection Fruit Salad and Rocket Ships is out now, published by Llais Newydd. 

Here are the coming themes (feel free to ignore them!) and special guest poets!

Sept 1st — Summer’s End — no guest, entirely open mic
Sept 8th — Space — Alice Gretton
Sept 15th — Roads — Judymay Murphy
Sept 22nd — Obsession — Floyd Humphrey
Sept 29th — Conversations — Tim Holm

Cheers all,

David

Unfortunately the 28th July SpokenWord has had to be cancelled due to illness.

So the summer break is starting a little earlier than planned.

SpokenWord will start up again Monday 1st September at the Chat Noir.

Cheers all,

David Barnes

Emmet O’Brien burst into the scene in March 2017, and has done more than your average 25 year old. Within the first 3 years alone he released a book, entitled “A Perspective From The Corrupt Mind Of The Youth” aswell as various videos reaching tens of thousands of views. O’Brien, is also an event organiser, starting his poetry and music event “Vybrations” in June 2017. In 2018, he opened up for Shane Koyczan. The wordsmith released his second book, entitled “Yup Ouveh” in May 2018, where copies were sold in both Ireland and the UK, aswell as copies being sold in Nigeria. O’Briens third book, entitled “The Illusion Of Perception ” released in March 2019. A play adaptation of the book was launched in March 19. In 2022, O’Brien had his latest poem “Story bud?” muralised onto the walls of temple bar in Dublin city centre. 2023 saw the poet teach in prisons around Ireland with a project called “Storytime” and the project was toured around Ireland to show inmates they can be creative. Since then, O’Brien has been inducted to the Writers in Prison list, by The Arts Council, and continues to workshop in both Mountjoy and Cloverhill prison

CYNTHIA GOOD, an award-winning poet, journalist and former TV news anchor, is the author of eight books including two poetry collections; the recently published In the Thaw of Day, and the chapbook What We Do with Our Hands. Her poems have appeared in or are forthcoming in numerous acclaimed publications including Book of Matches, Free State Review, Open: Journal of Arts & Letters, Silver Birch Press, South Shore Review, Terminus Magazine, Tupelo Quarterly and Waxing & Waning. An MFA graduate from NYU, Cynthia lives in Santa Monica and Mexico with her Havanese dog Zuni.

Skye Jackson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her work has appeared in RHINO, The Southern Review, Palette Poetry, RATTLE and elsewhere. Her poetry has been a finalist for the Iowa Review Poetry Award, the RATTLE Poetry Prize, the RHINO Founders’ Prize, and in 2021 she received the AWP Intro Journals Award. Jackson’s work was also selected by Billy Collins for inclusion in the Library of Congress Poetry 180 Project. She currently serves as a Visiting Writer & Lecturer at Xavier University Louisiana, Chairwoman of the New Orleans Poetry Festival and was appointed the Writer-in-Residence of the Jack Kerouac House for summer 2025. Her debut poetry collection, Libre, was recently published by Regalo Press. 

Alex Vellis (they/them) is a Greek-British artist specialising in poetry and installation. They hold an MA in Creative Writing and are Open School East alum. Vellis’ work questions liminality, ergodic literature, the benthic, identity, place, and presentation. Their practice focuses on the process rather than the product; pulling away from typical artistic spaces to engage with more accessible areas.  Alex has performed nationally and internationally as a poet, in cities such as Paris, London, Oxford, Valletta, and Tallinn. Their work as an artist both individually and as part of a collective has been displayed in Dunkirk, Canterbury, Margate, and Cambridge. In addition to performance and installation work, Vellis delivers lectures at universities and festivals on events production, being a working-class artist, and poetry in the larger sphere.Their next books, The Last Bird On The Balcony & Where the Flowers Grow, will be released in June 2025 through Apoetical & September 2025 through Rebel Satori Press. 

Josh Cake is a poet from Melbourne, Australia who now lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with publications including Breakwater Review, Teesta Review, Paris Lit Up, The Anti-Misogyny Club, and Cordite. Josh has won the Peseroff Poetry Prize from the University of Massachusetts, was named the Most Impactful Poet by the Australian Enterprise Awards in both 2024 and 2025, and has just been named Poet of the Year 2025 by the Livewire Global Awards. Over the past year, Josh has performed poetry features in Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Brussels, London, Edinburgh, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and New York. Following his debut album, ‘words to regret when i’m better at editing‘, Josh is currently touring a new album called ‘my poems pay taxes; my taxes buy weapons; my weapons kill poets‘. You can find Josh on Instagram at @joshcakemusic or download the albums at www.joshcake.com