March 2023
Monday 6th March 2023 – an Imbolc special, hosted by Mik Artistik. Themed around diaspora and the Irish literary tradition, we’ll be hearing from Adam Connors, L C North, Deirde Shanahan, Eamon Somers, Tony White, Dennis the Poet, BadZelda, Rose Servitova, with music by Alex and the Wonderland.
SET 1
Mik Artistik is a poet, performer, artist and comedian, and he’ll be presenting the show this evening. Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip travel Britain, frightening and delighting adults and children with their special brand of joyous madness. They’ve played Glastonbury for the last twelve years, and are loved by all/some, including Iggy Pop who named their song “Sweet Leaf of the North” as ‘Song of the Decade’. www.mikartistik.com | @mikartistik
Rose Servitova is an Irish historical fiction writer. Woman’s Way magazine called her debut novel, The Longbourn Letters, “a literary triumph”. Her second novel, The Watsons won Bronze at the International SPR Book Awards 2019 and was a finalist in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition 2022. Rose’s most recent publication is a completion of Jane Austen’s Sanditon called ‘A Season at Sanditon’Set in ‘The Big House’, Rose is now writing a novel (Íde) about a forbidden love, between two girls, in oppressive 1930s Ireland. www.roseservitova.com | @roseservitova
Maybe it’s because he’s Irish that Eamon Somers loves writing stories with unreliable narrators. He says they often reveal more about of life’s truths than their more respectable cousin narrators. His debut novel Dolly Considine’s Hotel clearly shows that regarding lies and exaggeration Eamon has form. Eamon grew up in inner-city Dublin – Was spokesperson for Ireland’s fledgling LGBTQ+ movement in the early 80’s. The mid-80s recession sent him to London where he spent two years (during the anti-Clause 28 campaign) working in Haringey’s Lesbian and Gay Unit. He then joined the charity housing sector where he worked until retirement. www.eamonsomers.com | @mustbeeamon
Dierdre Shanahan’s stories appear in a number of anthologies including, The Best of British Short Stories edited by Nicholas Royle from Salt. Her stories have won several awards including the Wasafiri International Fiction Prize, the London Writing Awards and the Goldsmiths Writing Prize. In 2020 Splice books published her collection, ‘Carrying Fire and Water, and her first novel ‘Caravan of the Lost and Left Behind,’ was published by Bluemoose Books in 2019. deirdreshanahan.com
Intermission
Alex and the Wonderland are a genre-bending, Indietronica Rave-Rock trio, often infusing elements of Dub & Psychedelia, who have lit the festival fields and popped the London dance floors, sharing the stage with local heroes – Alabama 3, amongst others. Their latest single release “Electric on the Way” has garnered radio airplay support from 104.9 Radio X in London and Madchester, and is available on all streaming sites.
Set 2
London author Tony White’s latest novel The Fountain in the Forest is published by Faber and Faber. He is the author of five previous novels including Foxy-T, as well as numerous short stories published in journals, exhibition catalogues, and anthologies. His recent short story ‘Plain Speaking’ is included in Best British Short Stories 2022, edited by Nicholas Royle (Salt Publishing). A former writer in residence at the Science Museum, White founded the artists book project Piece of Paper Press in 1994. pieceofpaperpress.com | @tony_white_
Adam Connors is a former physicist and former child who likes writing stories and building unlikely, poorly thought through gadgets with his sons. He started his career as a physicist, building part of the Large Hadron Collider in CERN. He has also sold encyclopaedias in Chicago, worked for an investment bank, taught physics in Sudan, fitted emergency Wi-Fi in the refugee camps in Greece, and now works as an engineering manager in the Google Research team. He lives in Hertfordshire with his partner, two sons, and a dog named Rosie. aconnors.com | twitter: @aconnors_writes | insta: @a_connors_writes
Dennis (Just Dennis) is a performance poet and author. His New Labour: a Lyrical Legacy follows politics, wars, environmental, sexism, racism and religious and monetary issues since 1997. He was Bard of Brixton in 2003, England’s no 1 football poet/BBC5 Live resident poet. 2005/6 and winner of the All Ireland runner up poetry slam 2008. He has performed and MC’d with Alabama 3, Blockheads and Ruts and is currently working on a new book.
Zelda Rhiando lives in South London, and is one of the founders of the Brixton BookJam. She is the author of three novels, Caposcripti, Fukushima Dreams, and Night Shift, and is currently investigating the curious history of her murderous Irish ancestors. When not writing she can be found child-wrangling and making digital products. @badzelda | http://www.badzelda.com
With special thanks to our DJ / Andy Carstairs
Brixton BookJam is at Hootananny Brixton (95 Effra Road, London SW2 1DF) – a large pub with a performance space that can hold 600 people. It also provides cooked food. The closest tube station is Brixton (Victoria line) and buses 2, 3, 415, 432 and 196 will transport you very near to the venue.