Had a lovely evening last night at the Redroaster in Brighton, at Pighog’s last event of the season. As well as the winners of the Moss Rich competition, we had sets from Brendan Cleary and Robert Hamberger both of which I really enjoyed, and an eventful open mic, more about which later. Brendan (who I’dRead more ⟶
Month: November 2012
Brighton Poetry Stanza – new reading group launch
The Brighton Poetry Stanza is expanding. Jo Grigg has done a fabulous job of nurturing this group over the last few years, with a diverse group of people meeting once a month to workshop their poems. There are a number of regulars and many more who come along when they can. Stanzas are regional groupsRead more ⟶
Getting published/entering competitions – tips from the experts
The weather’s terrible, I am a ‘music widow’ today and I feel the urge to reconnect with what makes poetry good, and conversely what’s BAD about the stuff I’ve had rejected lately. Yes, it’s time for some serious reading and some BIG edits! I recently came across Tim Love’s excellent LitRefs Articles blog – andRead more ⟶
Submissions ups and downs this week
Dyson vs poets
This morning I enjoyed this response to James Dyson’s dismissal of poetry… Here’s the article in Saturday’s Independent that inspired it. ‘What’s the use of poetry’ seems to be a classic left-brain-dominant response to something it can’t hope to understand. I wish people would give their right brains a little more leeway. (Image credit:Read more ⟶
Are anonymous submissions a good thing?
I came across this article recently, in Anon magazine, setting out the opinions of three writers as to whether anonymous submissions to magazines were a good idea. I rather like Kathleen Jamie‘s conclusion, that actually by creating a so-called ‘level playing field’ for all poets, regardless of reputation, a magazine like Anon (championing the causeRead more ⟶
Mimi Khalvati on vowel music and editing with form
Our last workshop of the year with Mimi Khalvati on Saturday, and the subjects of vowel sounds and form were big topics. Here’s an extract from my notes, on the things that struck home for me this month. Vowel music – paying attention to the vowel sounds of words (NB not how the sounds areRead more ⟶
A feast of first lines
First lines. Ack! It’s worse than a job interview. You have 2 seconds to make an impression. Or something like that. Do you find yourself going back to the first line and re-writing because it’s just not strong enough? And as a reader, do you ever read the first line and immediately your mind saysRead more ⟶
Good news, and a few doubts
What a great week. An excellent Bonfire Night, President Obama re-elected, and then I get an email with the subject line ‘Congratulations from Poetry News‘ and find my ‘absent’ themed poem will be in the December edition. Ah, where would we be without small victories? Because I admit I am STUPIDLY excited. It’s my firstRead more ⟶
Where were the ‘Best of British’ poems first published?
Poet friend of mine and soon-to-be-blogger Jo Grigg mentioned she had been reading The Best British Poetry 2012 so I invited her to write about it here. It is Jo’s first guest blog post on Poetgal. The second volume of this British version of a longstanding US anthology has now thundered through my letterbox. Hurrah! ItsRead more ⟶