When Sub Voicive Poetry was at _3 Cups_ near Holborn, we could seat 48
people and it was always my aim to fill all those seats. That's not to say
that there were regularly 48 people there. Far from it. Yet it was also far
from unusual to have that number, or slightly more or slightly less. We were
there about 9 years

The next venue, _Churchills_ at Mount Pleasant - all these places are within
a mile or so of each other -, there was more space and fewer chairs; and the
offer of our chairs was declined... I think we could seat 24 there and we
frequently had people sitting on the floor

At the _Day for Bob Cobbing_  was held in September, there were somewhere
between 90 and 100 during the whole 5 hour gig, but a minority of them were
there for the whole thing. We were there about 10 months

At the latest venue, _Betsey Trotwood_ on Farringdon Road, we can seat 23
people and so far this hasn't happened at the two gigs so far staged,
despite having Peter Riley and Robert Sheppard reading, both I would have
thought relative crowd pullers.

I put this down to rain and trains and cold and dark...

It takes a lot of commitment to get yourself out in the evening, or to stay
out in the evening. & it can be expensive - travel and alcohol can make a
big hole in many pockets

In addition, the series has been going a long time, 20 years, and the loyal
audience has aged with it, acquiring infirmity and responsibility; and often
those who want to come are just unable to

The age of the series affects its image. I may be young at heart, but no way
can I pass myself or most of the readers off as yoof. That is an issue
though it shouldn't be

It seems to have got harder to get people out to poets they don't know than
it once was

Having said all of which, I cannot believe that there are only a few dozens
of people in Greater London who are interested

L





----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Hamilton-Emery" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 25 November 2000 08:25
Subject: Re: Reviewing the Reviewer on 3RRR


| Since my experience of readings varies hugely (most of my experience in
the
| Provinces). I feel lucky if I get 10 non-University readers. A good-sized
| reading would be about 20 non-Uni. I'm making a distinction here between
| undergrad or postgrad machinery and a general readership. Perhaps this is
| wantonly artificial. So I've seen lots of readings with under 20.