Poetry Chicks

...present poetry in a fresh way that celebrates its adaptability, giving it a community driven edge, combining it with visual images and musical soundtrack that represent the lives of women

...stimulate debate around every day issues that affect women

...inform and give a better understanding on the diversity of issues that women encounter

...provide a mouthpiece by which real women’s issues can be communicated; in particular to encourage more teenagers from the Northwest (of Ireland) to take part in the workshops and performance evenings, helping them understand, through the medium of poetry, that they are not alone in their challenges

...bring their poetry to all sizes of venues – none too small and none too large (as long as there is somewhere to go for a smoke outside)

****

" AlphabeTitudeZ is a beautiful show, slickly choreographed and with not a dull moment in sight. The verse is interesting, funny and extremely moving at times"

Eileen Walsh - Daily Ireland (Sept 2006)

"Mind-blowing!"

Sean Kelly - Director of the Cathedral Arts Festival, Belfast (Nov 2006)

"The crowd is invited into a beautifully crafted linguistic world, one with a distinctly Northern Irish flavour. The Chicks examine the similarly difficult issues of racism, domestic abuse and prostitution in what the audience quickly realises is an unflinching manner, tinged with gallows humour… [and] for an hour, at least, they really did rule"

Maeve Davey – culture northern ireland.org (Jan 2007)

"The Poetry Chicks are fast becoming the beat in the poetry heart of Northern Ireland. if you want to be moved by words and the gifted voices of three superb poets open your minds to Abby Oliveira, Jenni Doherty & Pamela Brown, your world will be different for the experience"

John G.Hall - Editor of Citizen32 Literary Magazine (Feb 2007)

"The Derry based Poetry Chicks did what they do best informing with both great pathos and humour... I adore you ladies. They truly are the Rock Follies of verse"

Chloe Poems - Performance Poet, Manchester (May 2007)

"...really spirited and totally professional..."

Clem Cairns & Lorraine Bacchus, Festival Directors - West Cork Literary Festival, Bantry (July 2007)

"...witty & weighty..."

"Two of the Poetry Chicks from Derry Abby Oliveira and Jenni Doherty did Naked Lunch last night and "banbha", "eriu" and "fodhla" were birthed, if only in my mind. The Poetry Chicks were red hot, in a room the fullest ever, 60 punters eager for the craic and this was the night it was born... Certainly the most exciting poetry to have come out of Derry since the "mossbawn magus", in my humble opinion. There is a vitality in their work which is unlike any other female poets writing today on the island. These three women will be a major force for good here and really shake things up, usher in the new generation of reciters who have been working away live for the last few years, and now this force of orality, like any skill, takes time to perfect, is starting to distill on the page in a very exciting way"
Desmond Swords , Performance Poet & Poetry Director of Monster Trunk Gallery, Dublin (Sept 2007)

"...great and I really enjoyed it. The feedback from all others was also that you were great and that it was a bit of 'fresh air' and not just the usual affair"

Peter McGuire, Hostelling International Northern Ireland (October 2007)

"I think the Chicks are the biz"

Two-time Man Booker nominee & Best-selling Irish Author Patrick McCabe from The Butcher Boy fame; Clones Film Festival (October 2007)

"The Poetry Chicks had great energy and were very entertaining..."

"Mary" Clones Film Festival (October 2007)

"The high-energy pace of The Poetry Chicks’ 'AlphabeTitudeZ' collective performance riveted the Cork audience with its hard-hitting themes and lyrical interludes ...A brilliant buzz and loaded with inspiration"
Paul Casey , Ó Bhéal Open Mic, Cork (Nov 2007)
****

The "Poetry Chicks first met in September 2005 following a series of performance poetry workshops facilitated by Performance Poet Kat Francois from London and were further brought together through their participation in the EVE Project inspired by the energy and power of the experience, the Poetry Chicks were born; encompassing three very unique oral voices and creative styles of varying experience, skill and attitude.

Based in Derry , in the North of Ireland, they have already established a reputation as both performance poets and published writers, and have performed and/or given workshops, either as individuals or as a collective group, throughout the island of Ireland; England; Scotland; Holland; Toronto, Canada and Literary Festivals throughout Australia since 2005.

****

Their first collection of poems, AlphabeTitudeZ: Loose Letters Guildhall Press Publishers , is available to buy for £5.

They are also partners of ACE: Artists In Creative Enterprise - Promoting the Written & Verbal Arts Worldwide.

Email: [email protected]