Echoes: Words and Music for a Renewed Charlton House

Echoes, a fundraiser for Charlton House, London, featured Booker Prize winner and Woolwich native Bernardine Evaristo reading from her new memoir Manifesto, alongside poets and spoken word artists Steve Tasane, Mark ‘Mr T’ Thompson, and Isabel White. These remarkable artists united to help Greenwich Heritage in its work to conserve Charlton House for future generations. Supported by musicians Joanne Girdlestone and Malcolm McWatt, over 50 books were sold on the night.

Highlights of the decade so far

Poetry is at the heart of what we do - off the page, performed, interpreted in music, film, animation, sound, art or dance. Alarms & Excursions is proud to break new ground in poetry and spoken word, either by performing our own work or by championing those for whom we have the greatest respect. We prefer to go our own way, especially into uncharted territory. Take a look at our work over the last four years ...

2025

This year got off to a good start with Isabel hosting a training session on the intricacies of rhyme, meter, alliteration, metaphor and simile in poetry. She will shortly be hosting another session on poetry performance, the two sessions to be combined in a new training programme for fledgling poets.

She also appeared with a host of poets and musician friends at the Redgrave Theatre in Bristol in February. This was followed by a multilingual project in collaboration with New Writing North, precursor to a regular new performance event for poets writing in languages other than English.

Our American trip generated over 50 poems for Isabel’s next collection, Usonia - An American Peculiar, now avaialble for £10 incl P & P in the UK.

See publications page.

One of the poems in the collection, ‘Sonata for Remington and Alliteration’ has been animated by the phenomenal artist Anna Hewitt-Rakthanee. It is being submitted to a number of film competitions across the globe.

Our Motown competition (in partnership with Clevedon LitFest) generated an excellent response, with entries from all over the UK, the USA, France, Ireland and South Africa. Guest celebrity judge Adam White has chosen his finalists, overall winner of the £1,000 first prize was Dennis Johnstone of Insch, Aberdeenshire; runner up was former Bristol stalwart Tom ‘T.S. Idiot’ Stockley, and best poem by a local author was Ruth Davies. Further publicity for the competition on Adam’s West Grand Blog also promoted the competition results in Australia, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan and Poland. The poems chosen by Adam will shortly be posted on the Clevedon LitFest website here. Isabel is already working with Clevedon LitFest on an anthology of the winning and shortlisted poems to be released later this summer. The competition was the fourth element of a five part project - A fact finding visit to Chicago and Detroit, creation of the motorcitysixty poetry competition, Anna’s wonderful animated film, and Isabel’s latest collection. Part five is yet to come, watch this space!

The Clevedon team of Colin Dick, Steve Selby and Isabel appeared again in this year’s Lyra Festival Four Towns slam (we didn’t win!). Isabel has booked herself a slot in the slam at this year's Frome festival, where she hoped to redeem herself and the reputation of the North Somerset poets. Alas, it was not to be!

2024

A busy summer festival, working with Liz Berry and Jo Shepherd was followed by a trip to Morecambe Poetry Festival, to renew acquaintances old and new. October brought us performances for Riot Act! at the Mount Without,  Bristol, and a Kertecz Press showcase.  BBC Bristol hosted a 20 minute interview with Isabel early November. In December we completed our four seasonal music and poetry extravaganzas, partnering storyteller Michael Loader, wonderful musician Rosemary Yung making a rare visit to the West Country, the inimitable Tom Stockley (aka T.S. Idiot), sharing some of the work from his latest publication Back to the Fuchsia, and with a little help from Melanie Branton. Isabel's poetry is published in the Morecambe festival anthology. The late spring trip to America which began phase one of the four phase American project, has begun to bear fruit. We launched our motorcitysixty poetry competition, due to close in April '25. In December, we were delighted to welcome founder member Cassie Matthews, mounting a concert for Clevedon Music Society.

2023

In the spring, Isabel came third in the Nailsworth slam, hosted by the ever wonderful Sara-Jane Arbury and Elvis McGonagall. She also won third prize in the Wolves Litfest competition. The first fruits of Isabel's collaboration with photographer Jo Shepherd at the Square Club, Bristol in July

Isabel's work continues to be widely published, in the anthology from the very topical Hot Poets team - Liv Torc and Chris Redmond, for the 7th time in Jerry Jazz Musician, and featured on classical music FM station WMNR Fine Arts Radio, a major station in Connecticut, USA.In June, Isabel hosted BBC Wondermentalist Matt Harvey, and former canal laureate Jo Bell with MATT & JO’S SATURDAY NIGHT FLAVAS. Supporting Matt and Jo we featured Bristol based legend Tom (T.S. Idiot) Stockley and Ukrainian poet Jenya ‘Jen’ Korotynska.Choreographer Mel Simpson brought us 'Write, Paint and Draw, a live iteration of Mel's regular online event which brightened our days during lockdown.

2022

As part of Clevedon Literary Festival, on Saturday 11^th June we hosted Mark Mr T. Thompson, Steve Tasane and the wonderful and much missed Cynthia Hamilton. Our headliner was Elvis McGonagall, Gie’ing it Laldy as only Elvis can! Isabel won the Rhyme Against the Tide slam in January 2022 and has headlined this year in Wells, Great Yarmouth, Charlton (S E London) and performed in slams in Cheltenham, Ledbury and Stroud. Her work has been published a second time in the Dhaka Review. Mark Thompson published his second collection - More Mixed Messages; he also appeared on prime time television in September. New recordings are out for Davide Stramaglia who wowed audiences recently on Italian television; James Hodgson has been building a studio at Graceland Dagenham while curating Sydenham Arts; Emma O’Rourke had a one woman show in North London; Patricia Hammond has posted that “she is making an appearance in a major film which (she) cannot talk about yet, that is set to be out later this year or early next (all I’ll say is I’m wearing green feathers)” and Sabina Virtosu is soaring to new heights, having qualifed to fly Airbuses as well as small planes.

“I am lost for words in a way that you are clearly not. I feel like I’m opening a box of handcrafted chocolates every time I open your poems. They are exquisite and delicious.”

Residencies and Workshops

A key component of Flotsam were the workshops run by Will and Steve, the fruits of which were demonstrated at our main event in the Turner Contemporary in Margate. 2018 brought us a chance to build on the workshops we ran the previous year at Sydenham School, Sydenham High School, The New Generation Leisure Centre and the Riverhouse Arts Centre in Walton on Thames. Isabel ran the first of this year's programmes as part of the Spring Margate Bookie Festival, working with a dozen young people at the Turner Contemporary in Margate. (More workshops followed in Sydenham in 2019).

Previous residencies include:

First Stop Darlington, a charity supporting young people who were homeless, substance abusers or with mental health problems. We worked with the service users and local photographer Helen Shannon on a major exhibition to mark the 10^th anniversary of the charity.

Brendoncare, an old people’s charity based in the western home counties. We ran workshops and readings encouraging residents to tell their stories using poetry, spoken word and storytelling.

We have also run short residencies for the St Bride Foundation (2013), Urban Photofest (2015), Sydenham Arts (2017), St Leonards Festival (2016/17) and Platform 7 (2009 to date in Margate, Brockley, Catford, City of London...)