The Writers of Wales Database

PAUL, CRIS

Mobile: 07813 148723
Email chrischarliepaul@gmail.com

Cris was born in Abergaveny and grew up in Gwent. He graduated with upper second class honours from Dartington College of Arts having studied Performance Writing. He is a writer and collaborative artist.

With a strong emphasis on performance his work is deeply indebted and something of a progression of the British Poetry Revival (click here to visit the Wikipedia entry).  
 
He has been published in numerous small press publications. His first book Mantras For the City From the City was published by Writers Forum (the radical small press started by the late Bob Cobbing who published the likes of Alan Ginsberg, PJ O Rourke, Bryon Gysin, and John Cage as well as a pantheon of innovative British poets). His work has featured in AND magazines number 11 and 12 (edited by Adrian Clarke and Bob Cobbing) Skald magazine (edited by current Poetry Wales editor Zoe Skoulding and Ian Davidson), and the radical journal of translation Reception (edited by Piers Hugill).
 
Online his adaption of Joyce was auspicious on the Guardian website, and his work features on www.onedit.net (edited by Tim Atkins), www.greatworks.org.uk (edited by Peter Philpott), and also featured on an interactive project run by www.openned.com (edited by Steve Willey and Alex Davies).
 
As a solo performer he represented Writers Forum at two successive small publishers bookfairs and read at the Royal Festival Hall Poetry Library and Conway Hall. He has twice read at Crossing the Line (organised by Jeff Hilson, David Miller, and Sean Bonney) at the Poetry Cafe Covent Garden.  He also read as part of the Subvoicive readings series (organised by Goldsmiths’ Research Fellow Lawrence Upton) and Esemplastic Tuesdays at the Royal College of Art (organised by Ben Watson). His overseas readings include a presitigious turn at the Cafe Literario Santiago De Chile where he helped launch Chilean poet Martin Bakero’s book Pneumatika. He has read at numerous fringe events and small press book launches in venues such as the Bookart Bookshop, The Foundry, The Klinker, and Boat-Ting.
 
As a collaborative artist and member of the now disbanded artists collective London Under Construction, LUC, he performed at venues including Taxi Gallery (organised by Cris Cheek and Kirsten Lavers), Paper Cuts Theatre Festival  (organised by Chris Goode), an international web performance Tribute to Allen Ginsberg featuring Amara Bakara, and the Allen Fisher Poetry Buzz (organised by Rob Holloway).  
 
He has organised events such as the Dirty Mic 1 and 2 that saw poets like Sean Bonney, Mike Weller,and Harry Gilonis read alongside indie music acts such as Buzfuz and Matt Dolphin and jazz improv maestros such as Lol Coxhill. He also helped facilitate the Poetry from The Americas readings recently held at Birkbeck University and the London tour of the Chilean Foro De Escritores poets in 2005.  Cris has recently been a writer in residence for the BBC Wales Adam Walton Show and made several contributions to Poetry Wales magazine. 
 
He is currently based in Newport after returing from Latin American shores where he hopes to finally contribute to literary development and literature in his native South Wales. He lives with his Uruguayan partner Silvana Leverrier.

Selected Publications:
Mantras For the City From the City (Writers Forum)
Stenia Cultus Handbook (Veer Books) 

Eligible Writer on Tour subjects offered:

1. Writing and improvisation [age 15-adult]; writing and other disciplines
2. Writing and perfomance [age 11-adult]. Voice, movement, space and performance techniques
3. Writing character and the self [15+]. Biography, fiction, performance & poetry
4. Escaping the metre: experimental and alternative literatures; cut-up, associative writing, psycho-geography, sound poetry, prose poetry [15+]
5. Sensory and kinetic alphabet and storytelling [for children and young adults with learning difficulties] 

AGE RANGE: As noted above
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: Venues to be accessible by public transport. Overnight accommodation when necessary