Month: August 2016

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Individual poems v collections – still on the learning curve

poems for pamphlet

Putting together a collection of poems is proving to be harder than I ever expected. For a while now I’ve had a number of poems on a theme, which originally I dared to call ‘a pamphlet.’ I tried it on a few pamphlet comps: a couple of long-listings came of it, but basically nothing much.

So I looked very hard at the poems. Some were definitely stronger than others. Some I ditched entirely, some I took to workshops, some I worked on, and continue to do so. I sent them out as individual poems to a few places and it took a while but eventually a few of them have now been taken by magazines. But no-one has taken more than one, even though I’m now sending several as a ‘sequence’, or at least calling them ‘part of a sequence.’ I still believe very strongly in the sequence (or pamphlet, if that’s how it ends up) and perhaps I have more poems to write which may find their way in. But only a few of them ‘stand alone’ out of context. On the other hand, if I cut some poems and settle for a sequence, little else that I’ve written sits logically with it to make even a pamphlet. I feel like I have a lot of individual poems, but they have nothing in common with each other.

Showing groups of poems to various people in recent months has been difficult and nerve-wracking – feedback is mixed, and I feel knocked back, much more so than the feeling you get when a magazine submission is rejected, which I’m quite used to now. I’m very grateful for the feedback, especially if it’s offered as a favour, but asking someone to critique a collection of poems is very different from workshopping an individual poem. I find it impossible to link general comments to what’s not working in specific poems. I’ve also finally come to the conclusion that I struggle with written criticism, particularly if I’ve not actually met the person. You have no chance to interrogate the issue, get to the bottom of it – no dialogue, no chance to say ‘oh yes I see what you mean, so this doesn’t work because….if I do this, then…’ This has been an issue for me when I’ve taken part in online courses, for example.

I’ve thought for a long time what I need is a mentor, but as a poet friend pointed out to me recently, that may just be a cop-out. No-one has the magic answer to all this, or can tell me ‘what to do’ – or rather, they can, but is there ever ‘right’ advice? I need to work more on my writing, read more closely, and figure it out for myself.

I suppose I am learning though – for example, I’m learning which poems I feel strongly about, and which I can let go. Also, by looking endlessly at ways of ordering or re-ordering poems, and looking for possible links, I’ve actually identified a Key Poem – one which I used to think was nothing special, almost lightweight, fun in performance but no big deal. It’s a poem I’ve always struggled to explain to people but I can see now that it introduces overarching themes, and although it was OK as a standalone poem it can contribute more, has more to say, as part of a sequence.

I’m very interested to hear how others have tackled these kinds of issues, and any ideas of how to move forward, what’s worked for you. Do share, if you feel able to. Thanks.

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Seven Questions for Poets #4 – Hilda Sheehan

My fourth guest in this series is poet and poetpreneur-extraordinary, Hilda Sheehan.  I have a vivid memory of seeing Hilda read at a Kent & Sussex Poetry meeting and she seemed to lift everyone out of their seats (and comfort zones, I suspect!) with her warmth and often bonkers humour. Hilda is forever associated in my mind with Swindon – Poetry Swindon and in particular its annual Poetry Festival, an event which seems to be always growing in stature without losing its friendliness and charm. She’s also written two full collections and masterminded countless other creative projects. All this and five children. I’m exhausted just writing it.

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

Andra Simons – The Joshua Tales – took my breath away, totally original, exciting, shocking and tender. I read it in one wonderful event of not being able to put it down and then booked him to read at the Poetry Festival. His performances are as breathtaking as his page words – an outstanding poet who I hope more people will come to appreciate. He’ll be at the Poetry Swindon Festival on Sunday 9th October.

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

This is indeed happening to me now – I think writing lots and publishing less is a good thing. I stick 80% in the drawer and then consider a few to send out into the world.

3 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat? 

The London Dungeon after hours.

4 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

No … only if I want to support the organisation. I’m not sure my work is suited to winning competitions – too scrappy and out-of-control.

5 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

I generally point people to the ‘Staying Alive’ anthology by Bloodaxe Books. I love the range of poems, and it still feels fresh to me. The Poetry Magazine Podcast is a friendly way to hear about poetry and why we love it.

6 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

Keep it clean.

7 – Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

People love a bit of rhyme, and cliche! It makes us feel safe and it can have good comic effect. Although, I think sound and rhythm could be as effective : )

QUICK PLUG: Hilda is the Creative Director and founder of Poetry Swindon Festival. This year it will be held at the picturesque Coate Water Country Park, the birthplace of one of the world’s greatest nature writers, Richard Jefferies. The festival is renowned for creating warm and welcoming poetry events, providing great poetry with enjoyment at its heart. The Big Poetry Weekend features dozens of poets and takes place between 6th to 9th October 2016 with Andrew McMillan and Kim Moore as poets in residence. Click here for details and tickets, including accommodation packages.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram
#3 – Antony Mair

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Seven Questions for Poets #3 – Antony Mair

Today’s poet in the spotlight is Antony Mair. Antony has been a brilliant poet friend of mine for some years, firstly as a supporter of the Brighton Stanza and member of the ‘loose committee’ when I was the rep, and latterly as the founder and chief corraller-of-poets at Hastings Stanza. He has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster, and is widely published in magazines including Acumen, Agenda, Ink, Sweat & Tears and Poetry Salzburg. Antony recently won the Rottingdean Writers National Poetry Competition.

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The one that’s given me most pleasure recently has been ‘Cradle Song’ by Andrea Samuelson, who’s a member of the Hastings Stanza group. It gives a voice to her great-grandmother, who was confined to a mental hospital in Sweden from her early twenties to her death some fifty years later, and whom Andrea identified with as a result of suffering from severe post-natal depression herself. Andrea’s been working on a novel since this collection, but I want her to give us some more poems!

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

I wish it were that simple.  There’s the usual cycle of completing a poem, thinking it’s a masterpiece, leaving it for a month or so and then seeing it’s a turkey.  Even when I’ve done something I’m pleased with it may not survive an editor’s scrutiny.  If Larkin or Abse were to come back from the dead and consider half a dozen of my efforts ‘decent’ I’d be delighted.

3 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat?

An apartment in the old town of Nice would do quite nicely for a week – preferably when something’s on at the opera house!

4 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

Yes, though I’ve wised up quite a lot over the past few years, and can see that even my swans may be geese compared with other’s offerings. It’s a bit of a lottery, but everyone enjoys a flutter.

5 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

By reading Lifelines – my edition is New and Collected, from Town House, Dublin.  The project involved asking numerous people, eminent in a wide variety of fields, to nominate their favourite poem and explain why.  The result is an anthology with a considerable plus.

6. Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

Hearing poetry is difficult.  We’re out of the habit of it.  Rhyme helps to anchor the attention by giving us a sense of structure.  When it comes to contemporary magazines, rhyme is simply out of fashion – I don’t think there’s an easy explanation for that.  Contemporary poets who use rhyme well, such as Gjertrud Schnackenberg in the USA, can achieve effects that are sometimes quietly miraculous.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

How about a ‘jabber’?  I was going to suggest a ‘parnassus’, but fear it sounds a little too like ‘up-our-asses’ which is of course a million miles from the truth.

QUICK PLUG:  Antony Mair is one of four poets who have been commissioned to write a poem inspired by the Bayeaux Tapestry. The poems have been set to music by Orlando Gough and will be performed at Clash! a special event in Hastings on 24th September. It’s all part of the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Full details here.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best
#2 – Jill Abram

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Seven Questions for Poets #2 – Jill Abram

My second poet under ‘seven questions’ interrogation is Jill Abram. Jill is widely published in the magazines and is both the Director of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen – a collective of writers who focus on craft, community and development – and a Tideway Poet. She’s really active on the poetry scene, especially around London – not only in giving readings and staging events, but supporting others too. I’ve met her at various places including Richard Skinner’s Vanguard Readings and Anne-Marie Fyfe’s Troubadour nights. Here are Jill’s answers…

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The Immigration Handbook by Caroline Smith (Seren) – I’m still reading it as the poems are so powerful, you have to take them in small doses and savour each one.

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

Well, I think that everything that I write is a work of genius but others may beg to differ. I’d like to think I write more than one or two decent poems a year, but I can’t present evidence that anyone else thinks so too…

3 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

I won the very first competition I entered but have yet to repeat that success.  I’m focusing on magazine submissions at the moment, and have had three accepted recently (Under the Radar, Cake and The Rialto).  I have entered some pamphlet competitions so fingers crossed!

4 – What would be your ideal place for a writing retreat? 

Somewhere with a good view, good catering and internet access.

5 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

At last!

6 – Can you remember the first poem you wrote – what was it about?

That would have been when I was a child and I can’t remember it. It was probably funny and rhyming – I was brought up on Edward Lear and the like.  Then there would have been the teen angst poems, which I wrote in my twenties (late developer). These were mostly about my parents not understanding me, but also included an anti-Thatcher rant!  I started writing more seriously and consistently on an Arvon course in 2007 – those poems are probably best forgotten too!  Except to mark the start of something.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

I don’t know but I work as a studio manager and our collective noun is a ‘whinge’, as that’s what we do when we get together!

QUICK PLUG:  Jill Abram is curating a series of readings called ‘Stablemates’ at Waterstones Piccadilly on the last Thursday of the month, starting in September. Each will feature three poets from one publisher. The first are Penned in the Margins, Nine Arches and Seren. Details will be on the events page of Waterstones website and on Jill’s site.

Previous ‘Seven Questions for Poets’:
#1 – Clare Best

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Submissions windows open & poetry competition deadlines

view from the ship

Windows

Just checking which magazines have re-opened their windows (must’ve been hot in there) and have found the following:

The Stinging Fly is open until Aug 31st (postal submissions) or Sept 4 (via Submittable).

Agenda appears to have been open since June 1st – the website says it’s still open, so jump in quickly!

Ambit has been open for poetry submissions from August 1st, window closes October 1st.

Under the Radar will be re-opening Sept 14th and closing October 30th. (This is a change to what I reported previously).

For a list of some UK magazines which are open to submissions all year, see my April post.

Competition deadlines coming up

Attention all compers: there are some opportunities to look at here – click on the relevant link to go to the page with more info. All details are provided in good faith, but I can’t guarantee I’ve got them all correct – please go to the competition page to check and to read the rules, cut off dates etc.

Cornwall Contemporary Poetry Festival  (a new one on me) – judge Alison Brackenbury, first prize is £600. Entry fee £5 for the first poem, £3 thereafter. Deadline 3rd September.

Primers Vol 2 – publication & mentoring is the prize on offer to 3 poets. Final long and shortlists are decided by Jane Commane & Jacob Sam La Rose after initial sifting. £15 entry for 6 poems. I was ‘long listed’ for this last year, so may have another stab at it. Deadline 4th September.

The Poetry Society’s Stanza Competition – open to Poetry Society members who are also members of a PS Stanza. Judged by Ros Barber, the theme is ‘Silence’. There’s no dough on offer here but plenty of kudos. I was thrilled to bag it in 2014. Yes, comps CAN be won! Deadline 12th September.

Live Canon Poetry Competition – judge Lorraine Mariner, first prize £1,000. Entry fee £6 for a single poem, £15 for three. Deadline 12th September.

The Manchester Poetry Prize – judges Sarah Howe, Helen Mort & Adam O’Riordan. £10,000 prize for the best portfolio of three to five poems (maximum combined length: 120 lines) Entry fee £17.50. This is one of the big prizes and (dare I say it) a tad prestigious. Go for it. Deadline 23rd September.

If you enter any of these comps and win – remember we all want to know about it here! 

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Seven Questions for Poets #1 – Clare Best

A new series begins here. I thought I’d have a fun Q & A with some of my poet friends, throwing them each seven thorny questions and seeing what comes back. Huge thanks to everyone for playing the game. Stand by for some interesting answers!

First up – Clare Best. Clare is author of Treasure Ground  (HappenStance 2009),  Excisions (Waterloo Press 2011),  Breastless (Pighog 2011) and Cell (Frogmore Press 2015). She’s based in Lewes, which is really how I met her. I’ve had the privilege of taking part in workshops with Clare and also helping out at the Needlewriters, the writers’ collective she co-founded. Clare has a great sense of fun and was quick to rise to the seven question challenge!

1 – What was the last poetry book you read, that you would recommend?

The Long Haul by Alan Buckley (HappenStance 2016) – a beautiful, tightly-worked pamphlet. Very skilled, heartfelt, complete poems, and slow-cooked. Thoroughly recommended. I’m always reading Raymond Carver’s A New Path to the Waterfall and find more in it at each sitting – I’m a big fan of Carver.

2  – Philip Larkin and Dannie Abse are both alleged to have said they only wrote one or two decent poems a year. How is it for you?

The problem is you don’t really know what is likely to be at all decent until quite a while down the line! Probably one to three a year that I feel content with – enough to leave them alone. Lots get chucked out early on, most are just abandoned at some point. There’s a lot of starting…

3 – Do you enter poetry competitions?

From time to time, not often. I prefer sending to mags and journals on the whole, it feels less impersonal.

4 – If someone has never read any poetry, where would you suggest they start?

I think I’d point them towards the Bloodaxe anthologies: Staying Alive; Being Alive; Being Human and Anthony Wilson’s Lifesaving Poems. All are excellent. Oh, and Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience.

5 – You’re asked to give a reading at the Royal Festival Hall, to thousands of people. What goes through your mind?

Honestly: at first, well, sheer delight – the fear etc will come later. Then, What the hell am I going to wear?

6 Why is end-rhyme considered a good thing in performance poetry, but rarely found in contemporary magazines?

Good question. There are quite a few odd differences in taste and fashion between the various presentations of poetry. I think if you see end-rhymed poetry on the page first, the end-rhyme sticks out but if you hear it first and read it afterwards you remember the sounds as pleasurable. We probably need clear sound-patterning more in poetry we first encounter through our ears.

7 – A murmuration of starlings, a murder of crows etc – what would you call a group of poets?

Depends on the group of poets. 😉  But how about a ‘plunder’ of poets?

QUICK PLUG:  Clare Best is reading in Edinburgh this Wednesday 17th August, at the Fruitmarket Gallery, alongside Tessa Berring, Isobel Dixon, Alan Gillis, Eliza Kentridge and Rob A. Mackenzie. The reading will include poems responding to the gallery’s current exhibition by Mexican artist Damian Ortega. Doors 7pm – drinks, exhibition. Readings 7.30pm. FREE EVENT! Bar, art, poetry and the special Fruitmarket Gallery festival atmosphere.