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| UPDATED
EVERY FRIDAY
Last Update:
Friday 27th May, 2005 |
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| All
content © New Journal Enterprises, 2005. |
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| Protest over ‘noisy’ poets |
A CLUB where poetry enthusiasts
gather to swap their favourite verses is one of the last places
you would expect to annoy neighbours.
But residents living near The Poetry Café in Betterton
Street, Holborn, claim poetry lovers at the bohemian nightspot
are giving them sleepless nights.
One upset resident, who has written to Camden Council in a
bid to stop the Café from varying the terms of its
licence, even claims that a group of “readers”
threatened her with violence.
Elizabeth Bax, whose family lives next door to the Café,
said: “I am very surprised at the disturbance caused
by The Poetry Café. It was very unexpected… On
one occasion I was threatened with physical harm by one group
of ‘Poetry Readers’.”
Councillors will decide tonight (Thursday) whether the Café
will be allowed to renew its licence and change its membership
structure so readers can join on their first visit.
Ms Bax’s letter is part of the evidence they will consider
before making their decision.
She said: “On a number of occasions guests from the
Poetry Reading evenings leave the building up to midnight
and then congregate outside the café, talking loudly,
smoking and drinking.
“I have, on a number of occasions, approached these
groups and explained that this is a residential area and we
are trying to sleep. Sometimes they move and sometimes they
refuse.”
The Poetry Café – run by The Poetry Society –
has become a cult venue.
Comedy writer Ben Elton and pop star Bjork are both rumoured
to have been visitors.
But James Hawthorne, another protester who lives nearby, wants
the council to block any changes to membership rules, which
currently state that prospective members should wait two days
before gaining entry to the Café.
In his protest letter, Mr Hawthorne said the point of a 48-hour
membership process was to stop “non-poetry” people
getting access to the bar.
But Poetry Café manager Jessica York has defended the
venue’s track record.
In her application for licence renewal, she said: “The
nature of the poetry world in which we operate means that
crime and disorder play very little part in our activities.
“A mixed membership of all ages come to hear poetry,
which means they do not drink throughout the evening but only
before or after the reading. We know most of our customers
and have rarely had problems with them.
“We once banned one regular for anti-social behaviour
and he has never been back. Bar staff will call police if
required. It has happened twice in seven years.” |
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