In Conversation with Kylyra - page 4
Table of Contents - page 1, 2, 3, 4
Setting Sun:
I know also Kids Express has also started from This and come under the same umbrella? Can You tell us a little bit about this too also?
Kylyra:
Kids Express is a children's poetry competition I held in conjunction with Poets Express. I wanted to get school aged kids involved in this, and interested in performance poetry.
Poetry is a school subject here, but I heard from plenty of parents how it's very dry, and losing the interest of most children. So I hoped to draw some kids into the event by holding a competition. We had two age groups, 8-12 and 13-17.
I announced the competition a bit late, but despite that we received entries from all over Ireland, the UK, and India! One of our local sponsors, McCarthy Sports, donated two beautifully engraved trophies for the winners, and the top poet in each age group walked away with a trophy plus a special gift from New Street Jewellery and a special winners certificate.
They were also able to perform their winning entries on stage at Poets Express.
Our winner for the 8-12 year olds, Ruby Sullivan, was a real performer. I think her poetry stunned the judges (made up from a panel of my guest poets), but her performance blew everyone away. I've never seen someone that young be so poised and composed. Her delivery was flawless, and I hope to hear much, much more from her in the future.
Erin Barclay was our winner in the 13-17 year old category. Erin couldn't be there on the night, but her mom got up to deliver her poem - now THERE was a woman with nerves of steel! If Erin takes after her mom, we've got yet another up and coming performer to watch, in my opinion.
Of all the great things that have come out of hosting Poets Express, running Kids Express was perhaps the very best. I loved reading the material that came in; we had an amazing variety of styles.
The maturity of the subjects from some of these kids was awe-inspiring for me. I couldn't help but compare my own work from when I was that age, and let me tell you, mine fell well short of some of what I read.
Setting Sun:
Last of the main questions, I have heard a rumor You are now involved with the excellent almost Literally Johnny Cash meets Nine Inch Nails band Shawky Dawg.. How did your involvement with This lot?
Kylyra:
Yes, I'm working with Shaky Dawg! It all began in the studio (as do most things for me). The band wanted some female backing vocals; I was there and able to fill the position. No one was thinking I'd go out and gig live with them; my schedule is too crazy as it is. But when Shaky Dawg opened for Poets Express, well, seeing them up there just looked like too much fun to pass up on. So I told them I'd love to gig live, and away we went! It's a pretty easy show for me, I'm just doing the back-up vocals. But I was right, it's loads of fun to play with the guys. A few days after Poets Express we got a call requesting Shaky Dawg to open up for Nik Turner (vocalist from Hawkwind), and of course we snapped at it.
I only had 2 rehearsals with the guys, but all went smoothly....Nik even gave us a standing ovation after one of our numbers! We've got some gigs lined up for August and October already, and we seem to get offers to do more on a weekly basis. The guys are up in the studio writing new material between everything, so the band is terribly busy - and we love it!
Setting Sun:
What's next for yourself (apart from sleep)?
Kylyra:
Sleep time is over, at the moment I'm playing with some special recordings I got of a few of my guests from Poets Express. I'm adding music and ambience to the back of each poem and producing them separately, then plan on a large montage poem using lines and words from each performance mixed into something new! Keep watching our pages on Facebook and MySpace for links and updates! Next in line - videos from Poets Express!!
