Here’s the longer post I promised about my week at Ty Newydd. First of all, some of the advice and sayings I captured from the tutors during workshops. It’s not a long list, but we were mostly doing exercises, so I just wrote down phrases that resonated with me: Train yourself to remember details SometimesRead more ⟶
Category: Inspiration
Something completely different – sound poetry
I was just reading this post on Rebecca Gethin’s blog and from there followed a link to Hannah Silva’s blog, which led me to watch some videos of her performing. Hannah’s amazing ‘sound poetry’ made me think again about the Magma theme ‘the music of words’ – I hope the editors are planning to includeRead more ⟶
Audio poem (an experiment)
I was inspired by Mark Hewitt’s performance of ‘expiry tbc‘ the other evening here in Lewes. It was actually a 3-person production featuring Peter Copley on live (and looped) cello, and wonderful lighting effects by Kristina Hjelm. I’d had the privilege of being in Mark’s workshopping group led by Mimi Khalvati earlier in the year,Read more ⟶
A day at the (Poetry Book) Fair
Having answered a call for volunteers on Facebook, I found myself yesterday at Conway Hall in London, donning a blue badge and helping out at the Free Verse: Poetry Book Fair. Organised by Chrissy Williams and CB Editions, with a lot of help also from Joey Connolly, the Fair is in its third year andRead more ⟶
Seamus Heaney. Just my 2p-worth
What a very sad loss. I think I’d be useless as an obituary writer, as anything I’ve tried writing about the death of Seamus Heaney just sounds crass or obvious. I don’t have anything new to add to what’s been said across the blogosphere, but I enjoyed listening to this short piece on Radio 4Read more ⟶
Another three great poetry blogs
Thought it was about time I shared a few more blogs, one I’ve been following for a while and two that have come to my attention just recently. I’ve particularly been enjoying Clare Pollard‘s ‘poetic journeys’ – most recently through Kent, from Broadstairs and Margate to Canterbury and one of my favourite places, Dungeness. TheRead more ⟶
A couple of rejections this week – oh well
Two rejections this week – firstly, a ruthlessly perky email from Mslexia regarding their poetry comp (subject line “Better luck next time!”) – I suppose it’s good to be told you haven’t won anything, rather than not hearing anything, which is the norm. Nevertheless it felt a bit like failing to hook a plastic duckRead more ⟶
A bit of a rave about Sam Willetts
On the train to the Poetry Review launch the other week I looked through the magazine to remind myself of the poems which I’d enjoyed on first reading, or that I remembered (not always the same thing of course). Consequently I found myself re-reading Claire Crowther, Sam Willetts and Jean Sprackland, checking their biographies inRead more ⟶
A real summer
Funny how a couple of weeks of sunshine makes a difference in so many little ways. For example, walking through my home town in the last few days I’ve noticed in how people dress. Usually, sunny days are so unexpected and untrustworthy. My feeling is it’s just not worth buying or making summer clothes when you liveRead more ⟶
Three more great poetry blogs
Thought I’d share with you three more notable blogs that I’ve come across recently. 1. Tweetspeak Poetry Not, as it sounds, a site devoted to Twitter poetry (is that actually a genre now? I think George Szirtes is doing his bit to promote it anyway) but a magazine-style blog with regular features such as ‘This week’sRead more ⟶