Craig Ireson
Encyclopedia
Craig Ireson is a Wellington
-based, New Zealand
performance poet
, also known as The Karaoke Poet.
Ireson is the organiser of the Wellington Word Collectivehttp://dadashopping.net/artist.php?code=word_collective, a community oriented collective of Wellington poets that produced the Wellington Word Festival (2003-2005) and Newtown Spoken Word, a Wellington Fringe Festival event. The Word Collective's only regular spoken word event is "Howltearoa", a monthly open mic night at the Southern Cross Bar, off Cuba Street, Wellington
.
Ireson met Shane Hollands at the Thistle Hall, Wellington shortly before the first Word Festival in 2003 and invited Hollands back down to perform from Auckland. They found a common bond in their 'beat' styled writings and Holland's Literatti, including Miriam Barr
and Murray Haddow often travel to Wellington to perform with the Word Collective.
Ireson wrote, produced and performed in two award winning poetry shows: the Sk8Board Poets;(Best of the Fringe-Wellington Fringe Festival 2004) and Karaoke Poetry (Best Spoken Word and Best of the Fringe-Wellington Fringe Festival 2005) Karaoke Poetry was first staged at BATS Theatre
and reprised there in May 2005. A stripped back solo version was also performed at the National Library of New Zealand for their Main Trunk Lines Poetry Exhibition, July 2005.
In 2007 Ireson met the Belfast Touring Group at Howltearoa. They kept in contact and on the BGT's 2008 tour to Australia/New Zealand, Ireson and fellow Word Collective member Andy "the Pirate" Coombs opened for them at Happy bar.
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
-based, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
performance poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, also known as The Karaoke Poet.
Ireson is the organiser of the Wellington Word Collectivehttp://dadashopping.net/artist.php?code=word_collective, a community oriented collective of Wellington poets that produced the Wellington Word Festival (2003-2005) and Newtown Spoken Word, a Wellington Fringe Festival event. The Word Collective's only regular spoken word event is "Howltearoa", a monthly open mic night at the Southern Cross Bar, off Cuba Street, Wellington
Cuba Street, Wellington
Cuba Street is one of the most prominent streets in Wellington, New Zealand.-Location and origin:Named after an early settler ship to New Zealand, the Cuba, it is to the south of the CBD, but still in the inner city. Cuba Street was once the route of the Wellington trams...
.
Ireson met Shane Hollands at the Thistle Hall, Wellington shortly before the first Word Festival in 2003 and invited Hollands back down to perform from Auckland. They found a common bond in their 'beat' styled writings and Holland's Literatti, including Miriam Barr
Miriam Barr
Miriam Barr is a New Zealand page and performance poet.She is one of the original members of The Literatti, an Auckland-based performance poetry group started in 2006...
and Murray Haddow often travel to Wellington to perform with the Word Collective.
Ireson wrote, produced and performed in two award winning poetry shows: the Sk8Board Poets;(Best of the Fringe-Wellington Fringe Festival 2004) and Karaoke Poetry (Best Spoken Word and Best of the Fringe-Wellington Fringe Festival 2005) Karaoke Poetry was first staged at BATS Theatre
Bats Theatre
BATS Theatre is New Zealand's leading venue for the development of new theatre practitioners and plays. Most of the productions at Bats Theatre are New Zealand works...
and reprised there in May 2005. A stripped back solo version was also performed at the National Library of New Zealand for their Main Trunk Lines Poetry Exhibition, July 2005.
In 2007 Ireson met the Belfast Touring Group at Howltearoa. They kept in contact and on the BGT's 2008 tour to Australia/New Zealand, Ireson and fellow Word Collective member Andy "the Pirate" Coombs opened for them at Happy bar.