Scarlett's latest collection of poems, The Lock and The Key (available now), has been reviewed by the Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Today.
Take a look below and click the image for more.
Tonight I went down to The Poetry Cafe, for their regular Tuesday night open mic event. There was a really stellar selection of poets who read poems of the absurd, the surreal, poignant and political. I was one of 28 that read during the two hours, and I read my poem "Cut Up" from The Lock And The Key. I really enjoyed being back there reading and got such a buzz, a good vibe from the audience. And I just love hearing everyone else's poems. It was really well MC'd by Niall Sullivan, who treated us to one of sonnets at the end.
A fellow poet Ben Aleshire at Shakespeare and Company said he had taken part in their regular Sunday evening workshop and had enjoyed it. I decided to go. He said to take along something unpublished, I had completed a poem prior to coming to Paris, entitled "Merna" so I brought that with me.
It was well received by the group, I enjoyed hearing other writer's take on it, their positive feedback and also their take on how they might have done it. There was a really eclectic mix of prose and poetry read from the rest of the group over the course of two hours, which I really enjoyed. It was great to meet even more of the Parisian poetic community.
Tonight I had an incredible evening, I performed poems from my second collection, The Lock And The Key.
The evening was opened with music from the accomplished cellist Dom La Nena, who shared her unique, fascinating sounds. Then we heard poems from Nathan Loceff's first collection "Joys of The Capital". A young poet from San Francisco, it was a pleasure to hear him read his work which was full of character and wit, and almost entirely about his Parisian experience. After some more music, I got up to perform, we were in the downstairs of the shop, and it was full. It was with so much pride and pleasure and gratitude that I was able to perform 15 poems, some for the very first time.
The audience were so lovely and supportive and it was great to talk and meet with people afterwards and sign books for them. After we had dinner with Sylvia Whitman, David Delannet and the whole Shakespeare and Company family and my fellow performers. It was also lovely to be reunited with the poet Heather Hartley who I read with last time at Shakespeare and Company.
Walking back through the city it reflected my mood, mainly because France had just beat Germany in the Euro Cup semi finals. The sound of horns and cheering and music, in the streets that had faced such hardship in recent months, made my heart swell all the more.
My second collection The Lock And The Key is available from today
Anne-Marie Fyfe invited me to read a poem at the last event of the season at The Troubadour Coffee House Poetry night.. I picked "Cut Up" which is in The Lock And The Key. It was actually the first time I have ever performed that poem, so there was a really good energy to it and it felt really fresh. And considering it is World Refugee Day the subject matter was appropriate, so I dedicated it to them.
Scarlett will be performing at Shakespeare & Company in Paris on 7th July 2016. Read a preview from the highly-revered bookshop below...
Join us for an evening with two scintillating young poets, Scarlett Sabet, launching her new collection The Lock and the Key, and Nathan Loceff, launching his first book of poetry and flash-fiction Joys of the Capital. They will be joined by the fantastic cellist-singer-songwriter Dom La Nena. Not to be missed!
07 JULY 2016, 7:00 PM
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More from Shakespeare & Company...
Scarlett Sabet is a London based poet. Scarlett published her first volume of poems Rocking Underground in 2014, the second edition of which came out in 2016. She has performed her poetry at prestigious venues such as Shakespeare and Company in Paris, and also The Troubadour in London, and also The Poetry Society. Her second collection The Lock and the Key came out in 2016
Most events take place upstairs in the library (30 seats), on the ground level (50 seats), or outside in front of the bookshop (weather permitting). During the events, the sound from the readings and discussions is projected around the entire store. We recommend you arrive 15-30 minutes early to try and get a seat as there is limited space. All our events are free and open to all. Please note we take photos at our events which we share publicly on our website.
The Lock And The Key will be available to purchase on the 1st July 2016
Here is the contents, all the poems that you will find inside. I wrote them all over an intense period of time, pretty much since Rocking Underground was released back in November 2014. It feels like so long ago. I'm really proud of all of these poems, I'm really excited to share them with you, each one has it's own character, it's own voice. They are all waiting to be read and discovered.
Thank you all so much for your love and support I am very grateful and excited!
To celebrate 125 years since the Chelsea Arts Club was founded by Whistler, the club decided to hold a group show. I entered my poem "Ocean" to be hung in the exhibition in a silver frame. "Ocean" is from my collection The Lock And The Key. It is definitely one of my favourites, I wrote it on the morning of 15th February 2016. It's raw and visceral and I'm really proud to share it with you all and for it to be hanging in the exhibition at The Chelsea Arts Club.
Tonight I performed at the monthly South Bank Poetry magazine event. The night is run by Katherine Lockton and Peter Ebsworth, who also edit and publish the magazine. They are also both poets in their own right. I really respect their commitment and hardwork to putting such a high quality poetry night together. I got called up to read first, I did my two poems Functioning which will be in The Lock And The Key and I read Unnatural Act which was of course published in Rocking Underground. There was some beautiful phrasing from both the headline poets and the open mic poets.
The Lonely Crowd is a Welsh based magazine, and their Spring issue features my poems Functioning and Kunduz. Both of which will be in my forthcoming book The Lock And The Key. I was really pleased that The Lonely Crowd chose to publish those particular poems, due to their subject matter.
The wonderful poet Greta Bellamancina invited me to come and perform some poems at this night she was curating for The Groucho Club, six new maverick voices. I went on first with Zimon Drake, we alternated doing a poem each. I've never actually done a poetry reading in that way before but it was really dynamic it kept the energy up, particularly as our poems were so contrasting.
The four poems I performed were Shackles and Rocking Underground from my first collection Rocking Underground, and Functioning and Euphoric Kiss which will be released in my second book The Lock and The Key.
Every poet that performed had a really strong, unique voice. I was really moved by a poem Greta dedicated to the refugees in the Calais "Jungle" and also her poem 39 Weeks. Robert Montgomery and Niall McDevitt were a really strong force, and had something of Ginsberg about them. It was a pleasure to hear George Khayat's poetry and to get to see him again. He attended the first poetry reading I ever did at the Worlds End Bookshop back in 2013. There were others there last night who were there also on that night in 2013 including the artist Alice Stallard, so it felt like some what of a reunion. Overall a beautiful evening with a really powerful, surging energy.