In November we lost one of our longest-standing community members, when Pauline May passed away. We all miss Pauline a great deal, and at the top of this episode, we wanted to commemorate her by sharing one of the poems from her pamphlet, Planets, Plants, and the Taste of Salt.

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The remainder of the episode is the same poetry shenanigans you'll be used to by now. From a lively open mic, we have Capitalist King by Auburn Langley, The Distance by Aaron Wright, Shouting Geronimo by Cath Mills, Apocalypse and Verdant by Barry Hall, Our Home by Rachel Emmott, and an early version of The Failing Leaders' Club by Aidan Clarke.

Thanks, as always, to Pop Recs for hosting us, to all of our many contributors, and to everyone who came out to pay their respects. At times like this, it is both humbling and a great comfort to be part of such an incredible community.

Until next time, toodle-oo!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

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All right? This month, we launched the first issue of the King Ink Collection, a celebration of our diverse, talented and raucous open mic regulars.

Some of the poems in this episode feature in the collection (available to buy from our Etsy store); some were from people who just wanted to celebrate the launch with us.

For your listening pleasure, we have Nil Desperandum by Helen Wilko, Tell Me, Physician by AJ McKenna, The After-Lifeguard by Ann Porro, The List by David Farn / Owen Brecon (Wales' Greatest Nature Poet, 1984), Rat With Wings by Helen Rogers, Grow by Laker Turner, and The Dahlias of St Beuno's by Mel McAvoy.

Thank you so much to all of our contributors (both to the collection and to the launch night itself) and to our glorious hosts, Pop Recs. We love you all!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

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All right? From May to October last year, you might have bumped into some of King Ink at Seventeen Nineteen, where we were artists-in-residence. We ran writing workshops and drop-ins, produced a poetry collection and a celebratory spoken word night, and we met some wonderful people.

We also had the privilege of collaborating with fellow artists-in-residence, Dead Good. Dead Good is an environmentally conscious social enterprise supporting people with death, dying and grief, which became a focus of the work people created during our own residency.

We’ll hear from some of those people in this episode, along with a few poems inspired by the time we spent at Seventeen Nineteen.

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This special podcast episode was made possible by the Seventeen Nineteen project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Sunderland City Council, Benefact Trust, and The Churches Conservation Trust.

The King Ink podcast is produced by James Whitman, and this episode included contributions from Posy Jowett, Bill Dove, Pat Bell, Katy Vigurs, Sharon Milley, Odette Johnson, Lee Van Roth, and Laker Turner. The cover art for this episode is by the glorious Kathryn Robertson.

All right? This month, we were joined by the master of memory, Aidan Clarke. Aidan treated us to poems from his collection, Poems for No One.

Following two performance skills workshops by Kirsten Luckins, our open mic performers really levelled up this month. For the podcast, we have The Bottle by Christine Fowler, Old Beetles Never Die by Steve May, Blessed by Jyoti Singh (our first erotica), and The New Age Olympics by John Edwards. And from Aidan we have The History Restaurant, Queue, and Window on the World.

Thanks, as ever, to Pop Recs for hosting our growing community of poets, to Aidan for blowing us away with his headline set, and to all our many, many contributors. We love you all!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

All right? This month, we were joined by the Brecht of Longbenton, Nev Clay. A folk singer, poet, and Olympic patter-smith, we’ve seen Nev perform a twenty minute set consisting of just one song, so we’re delighted to have three whole poems from him for the podcast!

Many of our open mic performers wrote about the shameful rioting in Sunderland (and elsewhere) this month. We have Nihilist’s Mirage by Just Think Phil, Sunderland’s Riots by Emily Kitching, A Bear From a Decade Ago by Jay Sykes, and Sunderland by Karima. And from Nev we have TWOC, Son, and Alien.

Thanks again to Pop Recs for hosting us every month. And thanks to Nev for his wonderful headline set. But most of all this month, thanks to everyone who was able to make it along on the night, despite anxiety about the potential for further violence in the city. Sunderland united, we will not be divided!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

All right? This month, we were absolutely delighted for King Ink stalwart Pauline May to launch her first poetry book. Planets, Plants and the Taste of Salt explores Pauline’s relationship with her parents, and one of her sons, Sam, has also provided some music for this episode.

From our open mic legends this month we have The Weaver of Lydia by John Appleton, Sorrow’s Kin by Helen Rogers, A Melange of Aggregate by Hester Dowling, and A Hollow Underside by Jack Wallace-Hunter. And from Pauline’s book we have Grinding the Lens, Reasons for Bending, and Dirty Hands.

Thanks, as ever, to Pop Recs for hosting us, to Pauline for launching her book at our event, and to our heroic hordes of contributors. Toodle-oo!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

All right? We’re on the eve of a Brave New Day, so who better than King Ink legend, Aaron Wright, to steer us through the choppy waters ahead. Aaron has consulted leading politicians and political pundits, from this century and others, to help you decide how best to waste your vote in the 2024 Election.

A popular member of the north-east poetry scene, Aaron often performs at King Ink and other spoken word nights around the region. This year he released a collection entitled Poetry of the Slug with his manager and writing partner, Dr. Erasmus Croc.

Huge thanks to Aaron, who recorded this special way back at the end of 2023, and to Pop Recs for allowing us to record upstairs.

King Ink is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.

All right? Somehow managed to miss Degna Stone at Glastonbury, did you? Well, do we have a treat for you! A couple of weeks before the big festival, Degna popped along to King Ink for an unofficial Glasto Warm-up, and we've got a taste of their incredible performance here for your ears.

From our open mic heroes we have Open Mic Surgery by Aaron Wright, 80% of Your Stomach by Auburn Langley, Memorandum to Murmurations by Keith Ford, and Barbican Garden by AJ McKenna. And from Degna's moving headline set we have Love, Red Light, and A Manifesto of Tiny Commitments.

Thanks once again to our hosts, Pop Recs, to Degna for their headline performance, and to our legions of contributors. Toodle-oo!

King Ink's podcast is hosted by Helen Wilko and produced by James Whitman.