Winner of the Saboteur Award for Best Spoken Word Show + Shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award"Martin Figuras riveting sequence of poems about his childhood, his father killing his mother, and the consequences of that upon the whole family is remarkable for the story he doesnt tell, as much as for the story he does. Exercising a humanising restraint, delicately balanced, these poems are an attempt to excise memory, to fill in some of the missing gaps, but the sense one is left with most of all is absence and loss. Moving, brave unsentimental, Whistle doesnt blow the whistle on the family. Instead it rather heartbreakingly tries to piece together the fragments of a life, shattered by murder. Sometimes lyrical, rarely angry, often tender, Figuras soul mate throughout is the understanding and watchful eye of the camera: One day I shall hold them with white gloves,/carefully brush away the dust and look/through their shadows and fingerprints." -- Jackie Kay br<>"Martin Figura has a strong stage presence. His subject matter is so challenging it makes the audience gasp. In spite of this, he engages the listener with warmth and humour. Pitch perfect, he knows his lines and knows how to deliver them. You will be entertained and moved in equal measure." -- Patience Agbabi "Martins one man show promises that quality of being at once profoundly honest and at the same time joyfully entertaining. His subject matter is dark and dramatic, a personal journey into family tragedy, against a backdrop of history and politics. But Martins stage-presence, his humour and his warmth makes this a shockingly enjoyable journey. His skilful blend of anecdotal story-telling and poetry help to build up powerful emotion without ever becoming manipulative and his use of still image (hes a photographer as well as a poet) give the show a visual poetry." - Francesca Beard About the AuthorMartin Figura has won the Poetry Society s 2010 Hamish Canham Prize. His most recent publications are<>i Shed (Gatehouse Press) and Dr Zeeman s Catastrophe Machine (Cinnamon Press) both published in 2016. He was runner up in the 2017