You can perform poetry and prose, mostly in pubs, if you go to open mike (open microphone) nights in the UK. You are not guaranteed a chance to read. You might find there are more keen readers than slots available and the early evening slots go to the regulars or well known people.
On a writers holiday or writers summer school if you go on a writing course or have work created on previous occasions you may be given an opportunity to persorm. This year, 2019, I missed out on both the Poetry Reading and the acting in Page to Stage. On the other hand, I made a point of sitting in the front row and volunteering, so I was on stage with a magician, as well as performing in the prose evening.
At Writers' Summer School I recited this biographical story:
The Excitement Of Reading And Writing
I always wanted to be a writer from the day I learned to write my first three letter word in primary school. I can still recall, relive and revive my excitement at the discovery that you could look at the word bed and it looked like a bed.
The word bed was like a traditional grand bed, the sort in granny's house, and stately homes, with a headboard and a footboard. The b started with an upright line like a tree, cut into a piece of wood to make the headboard. The base of the b was a circle like a pillow. The D was a similar sound but written as a mirror image of the letter b. The e in the middle was like me curled up in bed with my thumb in my mouth or my arm folded back over my face or eyes.
My next exhilaration came from learning to read a whole sentence. 'The cat sat on the mat.' The c for cat was like a curly cat. The s sound was like a snake hissing, the s curled like a snake. The m nowadays you could learn from the M in a McDonalds arch.
I remember the first story: The letters c and s and M. The vowel a. All difficult until I heard the sentence, The cat sat on the mat. Add y for ee sound at the end. Revelation.
The cat sat on the mat. The cat sat on the bed. Mummy was angry. "Dirty cat!". The cat sat on the mat.
Learning Numbers
Later I learned numbers. The one was a line. 1. Like the letter l in letter. 2 Two was a curl with two points ending with a neat line underneath. 3 Three had three points. 4 Four was an upright, a horizontal and it continued crossing the upright line to make two halves, a total of four. Five was like the letter F with a curl, a semi-circle. 5. If you ate five biscuits you would get fat. Six was like a circle 6. 8 was two circles. Two, two more than 6. Nine is like six upside down. 9. Ten is one with a zero, one in a hurry because you have so many.
I watch people at airports and on planes doing crosswords and playing word games such as Scrabble. I watch children playing noughts and crosses and chess. I see adults engrossed in number games such as Soduku. (For Soduku you try to complete a box of nine squares with the numbers one to nine but sets of boxes create lines of numbers where numbers must not be repeated.
Soduku author Tim Stellmach in Wikipedia article on Soduku.
I am now a writer and love meeting other aspiring writers and best-selling writers
The joys of writing and reading and learning from others has never left me. I have just returned from the excitement of the annual Writers' Summer School in Hayes, Swanwick, Derbyshire, England.
Performing Prose
At Writers' Summer School for the Prose Performance Reading I performed the above story about the joy of learning to write in the voice of a five year old. The next day people came up and congratulated me on my in-character performance, as well as the originality. I bet that in years to come they will still remember it and my wide-eyed excitement.
Learning New Languages
I still get the same joy from learning languages to visit new countries. I love Duolingo, learning new words or a new language in five minutes a day, small chunks of time and effort which add up over the year. When I am travelling, on a train underground, or waiting at an airport, I can never be bored. I always get a sense of achievement.
On the train you can see people watching films which are adapted from books and reading books.
The heroes and heroines of the past, ancestor worship, live on in stories. Whether they were real or fiction, whether their achievements were real or wonderful fictions, their dreams and conflicts with family, friends and enemies, their conquering of doubts and fears 'though I walk in the valley of death I will fear no evil' still bring hope and stir us thousands of years later.
I remember as a child watching a stone thrown into a pond creating a ripple. May I and you create ripples of joy with our words today and every day.
Useful Websites
To Learn Languages, especially English and Spanish but many more, free online:
DUOLINGO
duolingo.com
To Learn to Write Fact and Fiction
Writers Summer School is one of several annual writing events
To Learn Public Speaking (clubs worldwide)
Toastmasters International find a club
Many clubs hold meetings which are free for guests to attend
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is the author of twenty books, more in preparation. Take a look at my books and profiles.
Books you can buy through Amazon:
Wedding Speeches & Toasts.
Etiquette for Every Occasion.
Books you can buy through Lulu:
Quick Quotations.
Who Said What When. (A quotation or two or three for every day of the year, created when I was President of a Speakers' club.)
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