I think inspirations might be a better word than influences; They include Leonard Cohen, R.D Laing, fellow North East writers and speakers and battlers against silence, rhymers and rhyme dodgers, existentialists and those whose brains are wired up strangely, plus those who find them interesting. Love is a late-arriving inspiration, following hard on the heels of strangled speech. Musical comedians and tricksters are also exciting.
Sounds Like
A Northern Pam Ayres on drugs, a happier, English, unmetaphorical Sylvia Plath; i.e, not like Sylvia Plath at all.
"has a voice even more melodic than Chorlton and the Wheelies' happy dragon. Providing a strong start to the show, her poetry is incisive and particularly popular with anyone who ever left the house with their knicker label poking out of their jeans"
Manchester City Life magazine Comedy Editor
"her poetry is laugh out loud funny"
BBC Tees
"Thanks again for your contribution to Magma and for your terrific reading at the launch. Your intro and delivery were hilarious and several people commented how good you were, including the more serious side to your work"
Mark McGuinness, Editor, Magma 34.
Bradford-born Fox enjoys playing with the poetry of ordinary speech
The core of (her) half of the book is a brilliant and painful sequence about her natural father
Andy Croft review of "We are not Stone" in the "Morning Star"
Current Projects;
I'm a writer, satirist, poet and stand up performer based in the North East of England.
Sometimes I'm funny, sometimes I'm not. I find humour interesting. In fact, it's a serious interest. I'm not as humorously interested in seriousness except when I'm being ironic. I like the sea.
I am currently a Poet in Residence on Radio 4's Saturday Live show. (Presented by Fi Glover from 9-10 am every Saturday). I'm a guest every four or five weeks, producing two satirical poems at short notice. This makes me feel very nervous, Northern and adrenalinised in a good way. In October I was commissioned to do a poem about Gordon Brown's first hundred days in power and did it on the telly for BBC2's Daily Politics show.
I run lots of projects in schools, colleges, prisons and places like that, on various aspects of writing for performance. Eg; for Creative Partnerships I've recently got kids making radio programmes, doing rap battles, pretending they're on a poetry version of the X Factor and other innovative, energising stuff.
I'm also working on a family memoir which is currently in the hands of a good agent. Fingers crossed...
1."We are not Stone" Recently published pamphlet from Ek Zuban Press. This is a collaboration with Finnish poet Jenni Haukio and includes ten each of our poems.
2."Hyperlexic"First gig under this project banner took place at Northern Stage in Newcastle on April 17th and was a night of stand up poetry. It sold out! Future Hyperlexic projects will involve me looking at ways that words cross boundaries. eg; poetry and comedy or poetry and theatre or stand up and knitting or something. Next Hyperlexic is a Poetry Slam at 6pm on May 5th 2008 at Queens Hall in Hexham as part of the Hexham Book Festival
3. "Killers", a collection of poems about serial killers, stand up comedians and dysfunctional families. I've been awarded Arts Council funding and the Andrew Waterhouse award from New Writing North to help me work on it. Sometimes this is a spur, sometimes a pressure.
4. Big Voice Training Me and my friend Julia who works at Tyne Tees telly run media and presentation training workshops. In an uncorporate manner. Check us out at www.bigvoicetraining.com
I also run performance and writing workshops and projects.
Radio was my day job for most of my twenties. I read and wrote bulletins for commercial stations. This involved juxtaposing two line summaries of the war in Iraq and Brad and Angelina's love life. Mostly I enjoyed it. For two years I co directed New Word Order, spoken word project in Newcastle which ran monthly gigs and workshops. We got good audiences, Arts Council funding and knackered towards the end. I've also run spoken word workshops for; the Orange Young Writers Festival, Northumbria University, Frankland Prison, Styal Prison, Gateshead Libraries and many more.
About the songs; Small Girlfriends is one of my comic poems that people remember and comment on most. Whether they be a small girlfriend, or a fan of the breed. It has been turned into a song by Simma who can be found in my friends links and at www.simma.co.uk. The song at the end of "Heirloom", one of my most commented on non-comic poems is his "Blue Eyed Baby" and can be found on the album that accompanies my book "Why I" (published by Zebra Publishing and orderable via www.northernpublishers.co.uk) or Simma's album "Trouble Sleeping", available through his site.
Recently I've been booked to gig at;
South Bank Centre London, Bristol Poetry Festival,Hammer and Tongue in Brighton and Oxford, The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh,Cheltenham Literature Festival, Express Excess in London, Shortfuse in London supporting John Hegley and Martin White, the Poetry Shack, the Poetry Cellar, Spitalfields Literary Festival for Apples and Snakes, Seconds Out for Apples and Snakes in Manchester, the Open Stanza in Amsterdam, the Writers Cafe in Stockton and many more. I've also recently reached the final of the UK National Slam Championships at Theatre Royal, Stratford East and the City of Culture Slam in Belfast. I have won two of Shortfuse's Poetry Idol competitions and the Cheltenham Science Festival Slam 2007. I was runner up in the final of Radio 4's Poetry Slam 2007, missing out on the championship by 0.1 point. Bookings are good. Feel free to give them to me. Chocolate is good too. And Dr Who.
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on myspace...
Poem 162 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (please see my blog): TEES TO TYNE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS - SUMMER 2001
Where traditions are not so rare; Sea, country and works scent the air; A multitude of monuments, Planted tubs and patterned pavements.
The longish pedestrian malls; The remnants of defensive walls; Historic buildings are a gauge Of the respect for heritage.
Wheat, rape and pines in the fields; Estuaries guarded by shields; Long sandy beaches and wide scenes; Romantic-ruin go-betweens.
Rivers in parts licked by trees, Or fringed by boat clubs, wharfs, gantries, And crossed by practical delights - Varied spans, forming pleasing sights.
Fine churches headed at Durham; Football kits ad infinitum; Kept castles - one for study; Masonry behind masonry.
And, with moulding-works out that way, It’s somewhere for a longer stay..?
After you've finished here, you may like to hear this poem sung on myspace...
Poem 2 of 230, WalkaboutsVerse (please see my blog): WALKABOUT WITH MY PEN
Once drove an old sedan, up north, From a place in Sydney to Cairns; Then to Kuranda I went forth, By train, to look without set plans.
I browsed through the trendy market, With fresh fruits of tropical kind; Walked to the creek through lush thicket - Nature’s hand giving peace of mind.
I dined in a scenic cafe; Then, outside, as I wrote for yen, Some passing Kooris called-out: “Hey, You go walkabout with your pen.”
Request or question, I don’t know - Assured voices, elderly men. That’s now several years ago, And I’ve seen the world - with my pen.
This years festival is headlined by Billy Bragg (Friday), Seth Lakeman (Sunday) and Peatbog Faeries (Saturday) with many more top artists also performing incl the award winning The Demon Barbers.
Many, many congratulations on your engagement...and the fact that very soon you will probably also be commissioned to do a poem on Gordon Brown's 'Last 100 days.' Love kyla and wendy xx
I've kept meaning to message but forgetting! Wanted to say how nice its been driving past your house on the way to and from work and seeing your hearts-a-hanging in the window! Nice Valentines touch x
What lovely comments from your sister underneath and what a beautiful niece and nephew too--Well done you and well done to your sister to for acknowledging your achievements :) x
jef just sent me a video of you on the news doing your gordon brown poem. I can not re-iterate enough how impressed i am of you, and proud to say the least. The accomplishments that you have made are amazing. You have accomplished all of this by your self and are way more self sufficent than i could ever hope to be.
I am proud to call you my sister. That's right, everyone who is reading this KATE FOX IS MY SISTER.
