Fat mums, drugged-up horses and ex-revolutionaries can only mean one thing: a poetry reading.
Tales of the above and more will be among the readings at Hallucinated Horse, an event that takes its name from a bilingual book of Latin American poetry that Brighton based Pighog is publishing.
Poems from the collection will be read by poets who are part of the growing grassroots cartonera publishing culture (via video message), with translations read live by Pighog assistant editor Tom Slingsby.
Slingsby, whose wife is Mexican, came across many of the writers when he decided to spend some time living in Latin America.
He will present the often startling, always passionate tales at the free event, at Metrodeco café, in Upper St James’s Street, at 6pm on Tuesday, May 22.
The show is one from the Pighog On The Fringe season, programmed to celebrate the publisher’s tenth anniversary.
Pighog editor, John Davies, says Halluncinated Horse will open up a new world for Brighton audiences to discover.
His own show, The Shed Show, which charts his travels around Britain with a shed, has been running as long as Pighog and will celebrate its own anniversary with a short run at Bali Brasserie, in First Avenue, Hove.
Irishman Ciaran O’Driscoll will launch Pighog’s first foray into novel publishing with his latest book, A Year’s Midnight, about a man’s quest to centre himself.
The former monk is a member of Ireland’s elite Aosdána (limited to 250 living artists who have produced a distinguished body of work).
“As he says about Aosdána,” explains Davies, “it is a way of getting a pension, but then he always plays things down.
“He is self-mocking because it is quite an honour to be a member. He is well known in Ireland and his poetry always has an ironic tinge, always undermines any heavy-handed seriousness.”
Davies is a huge O’Driscoll fan. When he wrote to him in 2000 about his work he had the trepidation of an aficionado contacting a hero.
Now the pair are friends and Davies is over the moon that the Irishman has re-learnt many of his poems to perform them live.
“Another thing about Ciaran is he realised in his late 50s what is the point in being a poet if you can’t remember poetry and perform?
“He retaught himself to be a performance poet and went on to win poetry slams aged 60.
“He’s gone from being a poet on the page and classical poet to a performance poet, so he covers all the bases.”
O’Driscoll, whose memoirs were called A Runner Among Falling Leaves, will talk about his life as well as work.
“His father was a violent man, as many in the 1930s were in both Ireland and England, but he became a monk and obviously felt a strong calling to join the Church.
“He has the sense of transcendence in his work but when he decided he wanted to leave, it would have brought shame on his family.
“Being a monk in Ireland was like being a doctor now, so he was effectively exiled to England.”
Venues across Brighton, until May 26
Pighog has been shortlisted for the 2012 Michael Marks Publishers’ Award and a pamphlet by Charlotte Gann, which Pighog published last year, has been shortlisted for the 2012 Michael Marks Pamphlet Award To celebrate, Pighog has made tickets for all Fringe shows £5 or £3 concessions.
For more information and tickets, visit www.pighog.co.uk
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