Gigs
Martin is at home on stage at Stanza International Poetry Festival, Latitude, Book Slam, Bang Said the Gun, a pub, a Tank Festival!, compering Cafe Writers, touring India for the British Council or at a conference for Looked-After Children.
He often double-bills with his wife, the talented Bloodaxe Poet Helen Ivory.
Eleanor Hooker, Dromineer Literary Festival
Poetry Cafe | Hampton Hill Theatre, Noel Coward Suite | 24 August 2024 | tbc |
Poetry Alight, Lichfield with Helen Ivory | Duke of York Lichfield, 23/25 Greenhill,Lichfield, | 17 September 2024 | 7.30 pm |
Under Red Guitar, Bristol with Helen Ivory | El Rincon, the Spanish Bar | 18 September 2024 | 7.30pm tbc |
Morecambe Poetry Festival with Helen Ivory | tbc | 22 September 2024 | 1pm |
Uncut Poets, Exeter with Helen Ivory | Exeter Phoenix Bradninch Place Gandy Street Exeter EX4 3LS | 24 September 2024 | 7.30pm |
Word Cafe, Totnes with Helen Ivory | The Barrel House, Totnes | 25 September 2024 | 7.30pm |
Tangerine Cafe and Poetry Space, Beaminster, with Helen Ivory & Rosie Jackson | Tangerine Cafe and Poetry Space, Beaminster, Dorset. | 26 September 2024 | tbc |
Gloucester Poetry Festival | Tiger’s Eye Gloucester | 28 September 2024 | 2pm |
Tiger Bay Poetry, Cardiff with Helen Ivory | Carruthers Room, Coal Exchange, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff | 30 September 2024 | 7.30pm |
Wirral Poetry Festival with Helen Ivory | Bridge Hotel, Port Sunlight | 06 October 2024 | 7.30pm |
Bury St Edmunds Poetry Festival | TBC | 11 October 2024 | tbc |
Forest Arts Centre with Helen Ivory | Forest Arts Centre | 22 October 2024 | tbc |
Red Door Poets with Helen Ivory | Zoom | 27 October 2024 | 7.30pm |
Ouse Muse, Bedford with Helen Ivory | Eagle Bookshop, MK40 2NN, | 05 November 2024 | 7.45pm |
A Lovely Word, Liverpool with Helen Ivory | The Everyman Bistro | 07 November 2024 | 8pm |
Buzzwords, Cheltenham with Helen Ivory | tbc | 10 November 2024 | tbc |
Winchester Poetry with Helen Ivory | tbc | 11 November 2024 | tbc |
Milton Keynes Literary Festival – Movember Event | Zoom | 12 November 2024 | tba |
Poetry Breakfast | Zoom (Much Wenlock) | 14 November 2024 | 9am |
Verbose | Kings Arms, Salford | 18 November 2024 | 7.30pm |
Wivenhoe Poetry with Helen Ivory | The Old Grocery, Wivenhoe | 21 November 2024 | 7.30 tbc |
Medway River Lit Festival with Helen Ivory | tbc | 22 November 2024 | tbc |
Wymondham Literature Festival | tbc | 23 November 2024 | tbc |
Enfield Poets with Helen Ivory | FORTY HALL, FORTY HILL, ENFIELD, EN2 9HA | 04 December 2024 | 7-9pm |
Ware Poets with Helen Ivory | Southern Maltings, Kibes Lane, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 7BS | 13 December 2024 | 8pm |
Satellite of Love Bristol with Helen Ivory | John Sebastian Lightship, Cabot Cruising Club, Bathurst Basin, Redcliffe, Bristol BS1 6SG | 26 February 2025 | 7pm |
Utter, Luton with Helen Ivory | The Hat Factory | 06 March 2025 | 7.30pm tbc |
Shrewsbury Poetry with Helen Ivory | tbc | 08 May 2025 | tbc |
Poets’ Café, Reading with Helen Ivory | Poets' Café, South Street, Reading | 09 May 2025 | 8pm |
Reviews
“a revelation – funny, sharp and on top form.”
Robert McCrum, The Observer
“Martin Figura’s luminous reading made the audience hold their breath as he read from a new collection rich in warmth and pathos. Strongly recommended.”
Caroline Gilfillan – Poetry-next-the-Sea
“Martin Figura’s poems are sharp and funny. One of the best performing poets on the circuit. Has never disappointed when I’ve booked him for festivals and club gigs.”
Luke Wright
“I didn’t think old people could be funny, you were really really funny.”
Ten-year-old boy Port Eliot Festival 2017
“Pitch perfect, he knows his lines and knows how to deliver them. You will be entertained and moved in equal measure.”
Patience Agbabi
“Martin is a word-storming, crowd-warming, poetry-performing delight. He’s an engaging act, with witty and poignant poems interlinked by charming chat. Martin brings a positive and lively energy to the stage, with his work readily connecting to an audience that he brings on-board in his own personable style. Fantastic.”
Dan Simpson
“How brilliant was Martin Figura at BANG tonight? He was one zillion out of ten brilliant and we loved it. “
Matt Abbott
“I can see why you gave up photography”
Martin Parr
“Thank you for a marvelous reading. My feeling that you should read last was exactly right!”
Anne-Marie Fyfe, Coffee-House Poetry at the Troubadour