Is Folkestone the true birthplace of television?
My new article has just been published in the Folkestone Foghorn, about the invention of television and the early links to my hometown of Folkestone. The print edition is free, and available to pick up in many shops and restaurants around Folkestone.
You can also read an expanded version of the article at Kent Online.
I'm so excited to reveal that I'm the Picturehouse Cinema Ambassador for October!
This is spooky season, so perfect for me. I adore horror cinema, and this month I'll be attending screenings at Picturehouse cinemas, and sharing what happens when I watch the latest releases, along with some classics of the genre.
Follow my posts via my Facebook page: Ben Barton - poet and filmmaker
My film Stella Erratica is showing on Sky television in the UK on The Short Film Show.
Promising “the best short films from around the world” this was a real honour to have my film chosen for broadcast.
You can also stream the series on Amazon Prime. It’s shown in Season 2, Episode 8.
Book launch at the Folkestone Book Festival
I’m delighted that my book The Hospital was launched at the Steep Street Coffee House in Folkestone.
I edited and wrote some of the book at this beautiful venue, so couldn’t think of a better place for my first reading and signing.
It was held as part of the Folkestone Book Festival.
My book is out now!
Order my poetry collection published by Cultured Llama.
In The Hospital, Ben Barton offers slow observations of hospital life. A dead man’s phone rings; a slug encroaches through a gap in the window; a glimpse of the outside world is viewed through an X-ray held up to the light. In amongst the daily humiliations and the public spectacle of the sick and the dying, there are sparks of hope: a nip of whisky from another patient’s hip flask, the cries of a newborn from down the corridor, and one last meal, jab, swab before leaving.
“This collection brims with curiously sensitive glances at those who society would rather have us forget or ignore, shifting seamlessly between the bleak and restorative.”
Anthony Anaxagorou, poet and artistic director of Out-Spoken
ISBN 978-1-9164128-2-8. Cultured Llama.
Paperback. 64 pages. £10 plus postage.
Click here to purchase direct from the publisher, or use the details above to order from any bookshop.
From morning to night, I live and breathe cinema.
Working on vintage super-8 film cameras, I shoot, edit & screen 'little' movies, creating everything by hand. It’s the same way my Dad made films, and now my own son has appeared in mine.
I want these analogue works to transport you to a world of fairytales, old-school horror & music, from outer space to lost home movies filmed beside the British seaside.
Most of my films aren't online. Because I love the experience of cinema, I prefer to show them at film festivals, art galleries & movie nights, so you can watch them projected onto a screen; live and in person. My latest, a sci-fi short called Stella Erratica, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
I also work in the creative industry as an advertising, travel, copy writer & poet, publishing my work in newspapers, anthologies, online & in small-press magazines. My new poetry book, The Hospital, has just been published by Cultured Llama and is now available to buy.
STELLA ERRATICA
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, this short film uses props from Blackstar, David Bowie's penultimate music video. His production team also funded the film.
The Camera Obscura Cycle
I have a cycle of twelve super-8 short films, which I screen together under the title Camera Obscura as a feature-length film show. All are scratchy, vintage & imperfect, a bit like me.
Travel & Journalism
I love travel, especially seeing the world by cruise ship, and I've published articles in the Telegraph, Cruise International, World of Crusing & many others under my married name, Ben Gibson. I'm the Lead Copywriter for Saga Cruises, but am also available for freelance writing assignments...
ABOUT ME
I am a proud Man of Kent, born & bred in the Garden of England. I live in Folkestone with my husband & son, close to the English Channel.
poeTRY & SMALL-PRESS PUBLISHING
I've been writing all my life, and have published over a hundred poems in magazines & anthologies around the world. I've also released three full poetry collections.
Curating Film Events
I'm also a passionate film curator, and hold regular Kent Kino events for the Strangelove Festival, screening the best short films from Kent-based directors. I have previously curated film events for the Canterbury Festival, Folkestone Triennial & Whitstable Biennale.