In Other Words 2017 - a flavour

Last weekend, 16th - 18th June, saw the second ever In Other Words alternative literary fringe festival take place across Cambridge. 20 events (15 shows, 5 workshops), 5 venues, 3 days, 40+ performers and workshop leaders... all sharing some of the best poetry, storytelling, and all manner of spoken word delivered by some of the best artists you might not have heard of... yet... Plus there was the selection of the second Bard of Cambridge.

I was there: I performed, I listened and I photographed (along with the super-talented poet and photographer Nikki Marrone, I was one of two official photographers for the event). In fact, I took well over 1000 photographs across the three days. You can see our joint photographic efforts by following the links below, but I recognise that there are an awful lot of photographs lurking behind these links.


Friday 16th June - In Other Words

Saturday 17th June - In Other Words

Sunday 18th June - In Other Words and Cambridge Bard

For this blog, I want to provide a digestible flavour of this complex and joyous three day event, but with so many photographs to choose from it's difficult. So here's what I have done...

Below, you will find:

• photos that haven't been published in the In Other Word Albums because they are "arty" and a wee bit abstract
• photos that I instantly liked the moment I saw them out of the camera
• photos that leapt out at me as I thumbed through the 1000+ photos at fast pace
• photos that, for me, tell part of the In Other Words 2017 story

They may not be the most technically perfect or the most artistically put together images, but they spoke to me for one reason or another. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the festival.

The Bardic Chair

Marion Leeper, Bard of Cambridge  2016-2017

Emma Ormond

Nikki Marrone

Fay Roberts

Justine De Mierre

Charley Genever

Hannah Jane Walker

David Tonge, Yarnsmith of Norwich

Uppahar Subba

Amy Acre

James McKay

Hel Robin Gurney

Hannah Chutzpah

Elaine Ewart and Leanne Moden

Elaine Ewart

Leanne Moden

Myriam San Marco

Nathan Smith

Stewart Carswell

Mark McGivern

Sophia Blackwell

Paul Eccentric from The Antipoet

The Antipoet

Ian Newman from The Antipoet

Glenys Newton, Bard of Cambridge 2017-2018

And then there was me on the other side of the camera...

J.S.Watts performing "Songs of Steelyard Sue" (photo courtesy of Nikki Marrone)

J.S.Watts as photographer (photo courtesy of Nikki Marrone)

J.S.Watts as photographer (photo courtesy of Marion Leeper)