Hey friends.
In the dark clouds of covid and lockdown we couldn't have live performance in the same way, but one silver lining in that dark cloud was that I (Harry Baker) started a podcast, which I don't think anybody else in the world thought to do in that time. Each week a different guest would join and we would share something old, something new, Something Borrowed, and something blue. Sometimes it was poems, sometimes it was music, mostly it made us all feel a little less alone.
One glorious UK Tour later and I realised the thing I want to do most in the world is have a monthly night in Margate so we're back baby! After the first three events sold out in less than 24 hours we are back at the one and only Forts with a bang(er) in the form of Special Guest Gemma Barnett!
As well as some chat and performance from me and Gemma, there will be an open mic where you are welcome to come and perform a poem or song (either your own or Something Borrowed (!) from someone else), and if we're lucky a cracking sunset.
Harry Baker is the World Poetry Slam Champion and champion of the people. His TED Talks have been watched by millions of people and translated into over 20 different languages. He has two books published with Burning Eye and the latest, Unashamed, was accompanied by an Edinburgh fringe show and 40-date tour of the UK. He is the only person to have sold out the Tom Thumb Theatre three nights in a row and he is yet to find anywhere that does a better French Toast than Forts.
Gemma Barnett won the 2021 ‘Poetry for Good’ prize judged by Rachel Long and was featured on BBC Woman’s Hour. She was a winning finalist of BBC Words First in 2021 with ‘i killed them when they came for my kid’. Her poem ‘My Abortion was Funny’ was selected and published in the Verve Poetry Festival Anthology on Protest 2023 and commended for the Out-Spoken Poetry Prize 2023. Her debut short film ‘Bridge’ premieres next month at BAFTA/BIFA qualifying Norwich Film Festival. She was commended for the Poetry Kit Spring Competition and was longlisted for the AUB International Poetry Prize. She's developing her next show thanks to a commission from Camden People's Theatre.
Forts opened its big glass doors during lockdown and opened our hearts shortly after. Run by dream team Will Pits and Chris Rye, Everything is delicious and everyone is lovely. If this goes well we can do it monthly, then the logical progression is obviously to make it fortnightly, then Forts, nightly.
You are wonderful and if you've read this far you are absolutely my kind of person, so I would love to see you there. As with all my shows there is an option for a free ticket if you can't afford to pay for one in this moment, no questions asked. There are only 25 seats available so make sure you book early!