Episode 420: David Morley's Launch

Did my laundry while waiting to head over to campus to meet the Ugly Cousins for David Morley's launch. Will still have to do at least another two loads tomorrow before it's all done though, especially since I'm changing the bedsheets as well. Arrived halfway-through the Ugly Cousins meeting with Dan, which more often than not, consisted of Nick Chen earnestly asking questions while everyone else in the room either laughed or buried their head in their hands. Ah, Nick Chen, what would we do without you? Anyway, the launch was at Wilde's in Leamington. The readings were inaudible at times due to the background noise generated by the other customers, an issue which resulted in some drama when one of the readers basically declared that his poetry was too good for this and refused to read. I later gathered that his beef was also to do with the fact that he felt established poets weren't replying to his e-mails properly, and that Nine Arches Press wasn't 'grassroots'. That's an odd thing to say, given that the press was started by Warwick graduates and hardly seems like a huge, impersonal publishing conglomerate. Besides, how much more grassroots can you get than a reading in a noisy pub with no PA system? There's just no pleasing some people. I almost wish he had read though, so that I could hear what a 'good' poem sounds like. A bunch of us adjourned to the Robbin's Well after the readings, which ultimately resulted in me and Dan getting the last bus back to campus, and then walking back to Earlsdon from there. At least now I know my way back, and it didn't really take as long as I thought it would...