Month: March 2020

As the world moves online

Wow, things are changing so quickly it’s hard to believe – for example, how people are getting themselves online – to teach, to meet, to try new things, but mostly I think to keep relationships going with family, friends, customers… when the going gets tough, the tough get tooled-up on tech. This coming week our esteemed Hastings Stanza rep Antony Mair has arranged for us to hold our monthly workshop via Zoom, which is clearly the conferencing app du jour. And last week my dear husband actually started a blog, to keep in touch with all his choirs, and had 92 followers within hours. Whaaaa?! He’ll be writing poetry next.

And so to the lockdown. I’ve begun reading Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light which is highly absorbing, and another book which I was tempted into buying, called Timeless Simplicity – Creative living in a consumer society by John Lane, a book which I thought would suit current circumstances. But unfortunately it’s nearly twenty years old and as such rather dated in its information about mass leisure, work and consumption. There’s some food for thought though. I’ve started recalling books about plagues and sieges. I remember being much moved by Helen Dunmore’s The Siege. Years ago in school I read Albert Camus’s La Peste (aka The Plague – although we had to read it in French for A level – pah!). It’s clearly enjoying a renaissance at the moment – The Guardian reports that Penguin Classics are struggling to keep up with orders. And then there’s Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year. I had a feeling I still had a copy, and lo – there it was on the bookshelf…

Daniel Defoe a Journal of the Plague Year

I can’t wait to get stuck into this, in fact I may to read it in parallel with the Mantel, something I never do with novels.

On the poetry front I am loving Sharon Olds’ Arias. It’s firing up my writing too. I’ve no idea what the effect is of the pandemic on poetry magazines, whether editors have too much on their plates dealing with the exigencies of life under lockdown to be thinking about the publishing schedule, or reading submissions or what have you. No doubt they’ll be inundated with poems now that we all have more time to write. And plenty on the subject of you-know-what. I wonder how much ‘pestilence poetry’ we can all take for the next few years as the theme filters through to publication?

I can report there was a mad rash of cleaning in our house last week. The kitchen was scrubbed so well I had a sore shoulder for days. I’ve also been cleaning old garden pots and potting on seedlings. We’re taking our exercise in the form of walks or runs, and last week had a lovely walk up to Beachy Head where sat well away from the path and ate a picnic. Very few people about. We’re so fortunate to have this sort of countryside on our doorstep and I do hope we won’t be prevented in the future from walking though it. Fresh air, access to nature and the ability to be outside are certainly crucial to my own mental health and I’m sure I’m not alone. Wherever we walk about here it’s very quiet. I was more worried on my one visit to Sainsbury’s, even though they are limiting the numbers in the shop. (I’d like to say how good the staff were at our local store in Hamden Park, Eastbourne – friendly, upbeat, entertaining the queue – shop staff are doing difficult jobs and I’ve no doubt they take a lot of flak.) And Katya in our local shop is doing a marvellous job of keeping open, with fresh produce available every day.

Eastbourne from beachy head
Looking back to Eastbourne from the Beachy Head peninsula

I’ve loved reading other people’s blogs and seeing photos of Spring. Last week I was thrilled to discover Jean Tubridy was back blogging. Jean’s blog Social Bridge was one of the first I used to follow. Warmly recommended. Another lovely post that caught my eye last week was Ann Perrin’s tribute to her mother – what an extraordinary life she had, and Ann tells her story with such generosity and ease. Do take a look.

PS I’m 6-4 ahead in the Scrabble Challenge…

At least Spring isn’t cancelled

There’s something about the sun coming out that puts a positive spin on everything. I’ve even taken to going for a bit of a jog on the seafront. With gym and swim off the agenda we are still fortunate to be able to get up and run/walk. Thank goodness that’s still allowed. I have a friend who lives alone and we’ve pledged to meet once a week for a speed walk on the seafront, keeping our distance of course (but we both talk loudly so that’s not really an issue – just can’t gossip as much!) Yes, the sky really is this blue at the moment (but the restaurant is now shut of course).

Eastbourne seafront

Last week Nick spotted frogspawn in the pond  – our first ever batch. I caught one of the goldfish red-handed, nibbling on it, but most of it’s still there. Will we get any frogs at the end of it? The saga begins.

Frogspawn

I’ve been sowing seeds like crazy this last month, and various things are coming up: courgettes, tomatoes, chillis, peas, nasturtiums, sweet peas, basil, coriander. A bit of warmer weather would help. I’ve got two small propagators on south-facing window sills which is sunny but can get very hot, so I seem to yo-yo between pulling down the blinds (“Quick! They’re gonna fry!”) and turning on the warmth overnight so they don’t expire from cold.

My favourite place at the moment is the potting shed, or ‘pottery’ as we call it, because it’s easier to say (?). There’s a heated mat to get things going, and a poetry wall to keep me entertained in between mixing up seed compost…

Seedlings in the potting shed

Seedlings and poetry wall

Meanwhile, every evening there’s the Scrabble challenge. I believe I’m currently ahead 4 -2. When he’s not trying to beat me at Scrabble, N has taken to reading the odd TOME or two… although sometimes he gets distracted…

N starts War&Peace

What make me laugh most is the cover – ‘A MAJOR BBC DRAMA’!

I’ve just finished Ragnarok, a reworking of Norse myths by A S Byatt, rather fittingly about the End of the World. It’s just the sort of antidote to Dante. Next up, Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light – I was going to wait for the paperback, but decided to treat myself.

I’ve been struck how this pandemic situation has been bringing people closer. I’ve been in touch more with friends in Rome, Australia and the US, and even those closer to home, than ever before. Suddenly we all share the same incredulity, restrictions, fears, sympathy, changes to our day to day living, ideas of how to stay positive and active.

I hope you’re staying well and occupied wherever you may be. Vinceremo, as they (might) say in Italy.

Making, moving, cleaning, reading, studying, growing … life while social distancing

Funny how quickly our vocabulary grows around novel situations. A few weeks ago I’m not sure I was familiar with the terms social distancing, self-isolation or elbow bump. Now – well, you know.

With so many projects and events cancelled in the last few days, and many more to come, I’m reminded how crucial it is to stay positive. But what does that mean? I’m fortunate at the moment to be thinking about ‘social distancing’ rather than ‘self-isolation’.  I’m also lucky to be a bit of an antisocial person anyway. Even so, box sets and jigsaw puzzles have a limited appeal. A couple of newsletters came into my inbox today which made me feel like putting together a list of Things We Could be Doing While Social Distancing. I hope something here strikes a chord!

Making

You may not have any spare clay hanging about but what about paint? Or string or rope? The Collective Gen blog has put together 12 Projects To Do Using Supplies You (Probably) Already Have – macrame (I’ve recently rediscovered this myself and no ball of string is now safe). I recently found a rather tatty old jardiniere (plant pot stand!) for £10 in a junk shop and painted it with some leftover Farrow & Ball paint. The joy of middle-class upcycling!

Moving

“If there was ever a time to re-energize, re-connect with your willingness to sit with yourself, care for yourself – it could be now. If there was ever a time to acknowledge that your relationship to the above can have a direct impact on others – it could be now.” –  my yoga guru Adriene Mischler sends out a weekly newsletter to calm your spirit and remind you to take care of yourself and others. Plus there are all her fantastic (and free) yoga videos to do at home. I was a complete beginner when I started following her in 2018 and I love her energy and sense of fun.

Cleaning

Dusty house, dusty mind… or something like that? If you’re healthy and have got the energy how about joining me in a ritual Spring clean. No kidding. A Victorian flat seems to grow dust balls in the hall quicker than you can say ‘tumbleweed’.  Spring cleaning tips from Reader’s Digest here

Reading

It’s a bit obvious for a poet that now’s a great opportunity to read all those collections that have been piling up. However, I’d like to throw down the gauntlet. I’ve been reading Dante’s Divine Comedy, and am finding Paradiso heavy going. BUT I see there’s Digital Dante – all the text, context, commentary and much more. I’m definitely going to get help here to get me through Paradiso with a greater appreciation. If you’ve not read this work, why not set yourself the goal? Alternatively, my next classic tome to tackle is Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Can I even call myself a poet and not have read this work? I did study the Prologue and some other bits of it at school, about 100 years ago. I’m ready to go for it now, in the interests of furthering my knowledge of The Canon. At the Poetry Foundation you can read the whole prologue.

Studying

How about taking an online course? Search for ‘poetry’ at Coursera and there are any number of free courses you can join. ‘Words Spun Out of Images: Visual and Literary Culture in Nineteenth Century Japan’, ‘Modern American Poetry’,  ‘The Ancient Greeks’ – actually that last one isn’t poetry, but I bet it’s interesting. Or if you’re willing to pay, the Poetry School runs a number of online courses, as do of course the wonderful Live Canon.

Growing

The satisfaction to be gained from sowing seeds and watching them grow is hard to overestimate. I’m very, very lucky to have a garden, but even if you only have a window sill you still may be able to grow something. I think the first bit of growing I ever did was to sprout some seeds. Urban Turnip has a post entitled Best urban gardening & container growing blogs – not a recent post, but it includes links to various indie gardening blogs (ie not the big ones where you’re encouraged to buy stuff). Now’s exactly the time of year to be sowing stuff, and if it’s something you can eat, even better. It really makes you feel that life goes on, and it’s a beautiful thing. Happy growing.

Fabulous reading arranged by super-supportive publisher Live Canon

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of a trip to London with my fellow Telltale poets, Peter Kenny & Sarah Barnsley. Live Canon, who published my pamphlet ‘Why?’ last year, had invited me to join the other three ‘pamphleteers’ Tania Hershman, Miranda Peake and Katie Griffiths, in a reading at the Boulevard Theatre in Soho. The actual theatre! Not the bar, where we had the launch in November (although that was a cool venue). No, we’re talking stage, a gorgeous auditorium, a seriously professional mic… when we walked in for a ‘sound test’ Miranda was whispering the word ‘terrifying’ and I admit I was a tad nervous myself. But hey, it was intimate, friendly, we were looked after so well and introduced by Sophie in true supportive Live Canon style. It was such a privilege to read as part of the Boulevard’s Sunday Service series, and I’m very grateful to Helen at Live Canon for arranging it – it’s brilliant when a publisher really stands by your work and takes an active role in helping you to promote it.

Plus I got to see my name with the Poet Laureate’s on the same flyer – ha ha!

Boulevard Theatre Sunday Service flyer

Oddly, we’d all decided on basically the same outfit – skirt or dress, opaque tights and ankle boots. Or is this just a way that women poets of a certain age dress for readings..? Which is rather rude of me since I’m almost certainly the oldest of this group. Anyway, here we are:

 

Tania Hershman
Tania

 

Katie Griffiths reading at the Boulevard
Katie

 

Robin Houghton reading at the Boulevard
Robin

 

Miranda Peake reading at the Boulevard
Miranda

Many thanks to Mark for taking the photos… this was my view of the auditorium just before the start:

Afterwards I was mightily relieved to have a drink with my lovely pals Sarah and Peter. And all this at 4.30 in the afternoon – back home in time for dinner, how civilised!

The Telltalers
The Telltalers had a grand day out!

And speaking of the pamphlet, I was recently able to donate £30 to the Trussell Trust, which represents £1 for each copy of the pamphlet I’ve sold either through this website or personally. Five more copies have been sold since then and I have five left, so when they’re sold I’ll be able to make the final £10 donation. And thank you also to the poet who responded to my email by donating £20 to the Trussell Trust so that he didn’t have to read my pamphlet – teehee! Well, it’s a good cause!

If you have a pamphlet ready to go then why not enter it into this year’s Live Canon competition? The judge is Glyn Maxwell and closing date March 31st…

‘Why?’ is of course available from the Live Canon website. Thank you so much to everyone who has bought a copy! Much love to you all.

New update to the UK poetry mags submissions list. Also Spring coming soon.

Yesterday I sent out the latest update to the magazines subs list, which if you’re on my mailing list you should have received, so let me know if not.

There are now 112 journals (print and online) on the spreadsheet – but of course I’m always open to suggestions of more to include. The spreadsheet contains all the magazine names, publishing frequency, submission page URLs, submissions window dates, how many poems to send and other criteria. I’ve also now replaced all those way-too-long submission page URLs with TinyURLs which means you can click straight through – no more broken links or cutting & pasting.

If you’ve subscribed since yesterday, I’ll be doing another mailout later today so you’ll get it then. If you know anyone who might find the info useful, please tell them to sign up today and they’ll catch the next mailout. The sign-up form is on this page.

Giveaway

Meanwhile, thank you to those of you interested in the free copy of Tamar Yoseloff’s Formerly – I put all the names in a bag and Nick drew out the winner, none other than…. Peter Raynard – nice one, Peter, and commiserations to everyone else.

Fundraising for The Trussell Trust – latest

I’ve been pledging £1 from the sale of each copy of my latest pamphlet WHY? to the Trussell Trust (working to end UK hunger) and today I was able to make a donation of £30. Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to this. The pledge is ongoing if you haven’t ordered the pamphlet yet 🙂

More good news

It’s March. Spring can’t be far off, can it?