Tag: hilaire

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New Year, new book and other news

margate dereliction

Oof! December was a blur of concerts and all that entailed, then family stuff and various resolutions.  Between Christmas and New Year we managed not one but two mini-breaks: the first was a day in London which included an excellent guided walk of Nine Elms & Battersea with Hilaire. The next day we took off to the north Kent coast, staying in Tankerton and doing a whistle-stop tour of Thanet’s seaside towns. I love a bit of dereliction for its photo opportunities, but it is a shame to see how run-down Margate seems to be. Nevertheless it was my favourite of the places we visited, albeit very briefly. There’s a youthful, arty vibe to it.

Back on the computer, by posting a comment on a Substack a while back I seem to have got a bunch of new followers there, even though I’ve never posted an article there as far I know. I can’t spread my online time any thinner. Blog or Substack..?

Then the Blue Sky experiment. I haven’t been posting regularly there, although I still prefer it to Twitter, and have certainly come across many more interesting folks. However I’ve spent a fair bit of time monitoring new followers and blocking those that appear to be either bots or agents. They invariably present as men in their sixties, straight out of a catalogue, smiling, posing with a boat or car or something outdoorsy, usually without a biog or else it’s an AI one-liner such as ‘Enjoying all that life has to offer!’ or ‘Be kind to me I’m new here!’  They are usually following zillions of people and if they’ve posted at all it’s just vapid photos or re-posts that suggest a political agenda. I suppose a lot of people just follow back when someone follows them, which is why these fake accounts exist – to disseminate crap on an industrial scale. It was one of the things that did for Twitter and I’m sorry (but not surprised) to see it happening on Blue Sky. All we need is for all the trolls, eejits and troublemakers to start posting and feeding the bots. So let’s hope they stay away.

The collection is coming along. First round of edits & comments received from publisher. I’ll be going through them very soon. We’re still hoping to hit a March launch. Let’s see! I’ve got a few readings set up now, but need to arrange some more. First of all I’m reading at Red Door Poets on January 21st in Covent Garden, as the guest of Gillie Robic. I don’t know yet who the other readers are but I’m sure it’ll be a good night, with an open mic too, so please come if you’re in London/willing & able.

One thing I plan to do more of in 2025 is writing poems. Sounds simple, eh? I’ve got an idea for a proto-pamphlet in the pipeline, which I’d like to self-publish in hand-made form and have it to sell alongside the ‘big book’ at readings.

I’m still fully committed to Planet Poetry, despite Peter and I missing out on any ACE funding. On the other hand, we’ve got a small number of people supporting us on buymeacoffee.com for which we are inordinately grateful as it helps to relieve the financial burden. And of course my quarterly poetry submissions spreadsheet, which I wonder how long I can continue with to be honest!

Meanwhile the music continues… two one-day workshops coming up, for which I am the admin. And another unrelated project which starts next month. More on that at a later date.

Happy New Year to you, thanks for reading this blog and I hope your 2025 proves to be a goodie.

Books/

London Undercurrents at Clapham Bookshop

Joolz Sparkes and Hilaire have been collaborating on London Undercurrents for a number of years and I was delighted when it was published by Holland Park Press earlier this year. I wasn’t able to make the launch dates and have keeping an eye on when they would be reading again. I’ve heard both Joolz and Hilaire read some of these poems before and have always enjoyed them. So when I saw they were reading at Clapham Bookshop last night, I hot-footed it up.

London Undercurrents is ‘the hidden histories of London’s unsung heroines, north and south of the river’. Some of the women depicted are real people, others imagined but based on factual histories of particular jobs, workplaces and locations. The book is organised in thematic sections, each introduced by ‘fragments’ from North and South.

I’m looking forward to reading it – it’s coming with me on my reading/writing break next week. But for now, here’s Hilaire reading ‘At 65, Miss Lancaster is still at the wheel’:

Joolz & Hilaire with London Undercurrents
Joolz Sparkes & Hilaire

 

 

 

 

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Poems, schmoems. Couple acceptances, a bit of rejection but hey.

Well hello! I am feeling epic. Not because I’ve suddenly won some dough or got a call from Faber. No!

Health update (feel free to skip!)

You may recall my moaning on about my bad back or whatever. It seems to be something else entirely that’s been sapping me of energy and slowly seizing up my joints to the point of what felt like Permanent Old Ladydom, the mystery has I think been solved. It looks like I have a condition with the important-sounding name of Polymyalgia Rheumatica, which nobody is supposed to get before they hit at least 70 apparently. So for various reasons I don’t fit the profile, except that my brother has also had it, and if he hadn’t said ‘your symptoms sound just like mine’, I would never have been diagnosed. So THANK YOU that bro of mine. The key facts for me to take in are 1) no-one knows what causes it (funny how that’s often the case when it’s a condition mostly affecting women) 2) there is no cure  and 3) one can only wait for it to go into remission, which takes at least 2 years.

But the good news is that there’s a drug that suppresses the symptoms, and for once in my life I have given in Big Time to Big Pharma. Within hours of taking the magic pills I felt about 20 years younger. I am honestly not exaggerating. I am Lazarus. I can function again, and it feels like I’ve got a second chance at life – more so even than after having cancer. So here I am taking a long-term, systemic drug after always saying I never would. I accept there may be side effects but I will manage them. I’m sleeping right through the night. I’m starting to write again. It’s even kicked me and Nick into a new resolve to eat low-carb and take better care of ourselves. So all good.

Quick submissions summary

Poems currently out, to magazines: 11, competitions: just the Bridport (ha) and two pamphlets. One of the pamphlets was ‘long listed’ by Live Canon.

Three more poems rejected by Shearsman, two pamphlets sunk without trace in competitions.

Three poems accepted by Morphrog, one ‘highly commended’ in the Ver Poets comp.

Recent readings

No full readings lately but I did go to the launch of Magma 74 last week and read my ‘hospitality management’ poem. It was a really good night – great to hear many of the poems read, and a chance to catch up with several poet friends including Jayne Stanton, Alison Brackenbury and Hilaire (who read very calmly from London Undercurrents at only five minutes’ notice!), say hello to others who I know either slightly or met for the first time, such as Maura Dooley, Carole Bromley and Stuart Charlesworth, as well as editors Pauline Sewards and Benedict Newbery (a fellow Live Canon longlistee). The venue in Exmouth Market was fun – with a very high but tiny stage. Here are a few pics, not sure who took the medley of pics that appeared on Twitter:

Readers at the launch of Magma 74

 

Here are Benedict and Pauline doing the intros (a bit fuzzy, sorry):

Launch of Magma 74

Two days later I took a wee trip to St Albans, just north of London outside the M25, and it was actually a very easy journey by train  as there was no need to change in London. I was a bit ashamed I’d never been there before, as I like visiting cathedrals and cathedral cities where there’s often a lovely historic vibe.

I was there for the Ver Poets competition readings, so I got to read my HC poem ‘Next best thing’ and hear all the winning poems, some of which were read by the poets themselves. It was a lovely surprise to see Peter Raynard there, as I hadn’t realised St Albans is actually his manor.

Adjudicator Kathryn Maris gave a really thoughtful and kind introduction. At the end, a cheque was presented to a lady from the OLLIE Foundation, a charity that provides funding for suicide prevention skills training for any individual or community that wants it. I wasn’t aware that proceeds from the competition were given to charity in this way, and was impressed. Personally, I think if this was made more explicit in the promo material it may encourage even more entries.

I don’t have any pics of the event but I’m looking forward to reading The Book of Jobs, Kathryn Maris’s first full collection, a copy of which I picked up while I was there.

Oh and here are a couple of photos I took of the Abbey:

St Albans Abbey

st-albans-abbey

 

 

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Giveaway winner PLUS 2 tickets for the TS Eliots at bargain price

Coast to Coast to Coast issue 2 number 55

It seems to be the thing at the moment when it comes to ‘picking a name out of the hat’ to make a wee film of it. I can see this is a nice idea (both to allay any suspicions of fixing, and also to present a friendly face), so I did consider it. But in the end I decided it was a bit over the top in the case of my impromptu prize draw, in which there weren’t many names, and also it’s just a little thing between us, isn’t it?

So without further drum-rolling I’ll just come out with it and say the lucky winner is Hilaire – last in the hat, first out, it seems – so Hilaire, DM me your address and I’ll get Coast to Coast to Coast issue 2, number 55 to you in the post. Thank you to everyone who expressed an interest, and for all your comments & banter here on the blog.

Filing, writing, launching

Happy New Year by the way – this January is unusually busy for me, having had a short break last week in Seville (lovely city, and thrilling to experience warmer weather and longer/light evenings, even if only for a few days).

But enough of the ‘poor me’ stuff! I’m currently navigating my way around a new computer which I felt was overdue, the old one being ten years old. A big part of the switchover is re-filing poetry files and folders, amalgamating from both desktop and laptop, which are frankly in disarray. No wonder my sending out is all awry at the moment. I’m also learning how to use the new software I’ve bought to replace the now out-of-my-price-range Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Ugh!

Well in the pipeline now is the launch event for my Cinnamon pamphlet All the Relevant Gods on Feb 22nd – very excited about this, so I’ll write a separate post shortly. I’ve started another ‘poem a day’ exercise this month to kick some thought into new writing. And when I’ve got some end-of-year stats about 2017 submissions I’ll give you an update.

Two tickets for the T S Eliot Prize readings for sale

On Sunday is the annual T S Eliot Prize readings jamboree, and I’ll be going with Telltale pal and co-conspirator Peter Kenny. I do have two spare tickets if you’re thinking of coming but don’t have a ticket yet – they’re good seats, and only £13.50 as I got the early bird price. If you’re interested, let me know asap as I’ll be trying to flog them on Twitter very soon.

 

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‘Making Poetry Work’ at the Poetry Cafe

Kayo Chingonyi, Kirsten Irving, Clare Pollard at the Poetry Cafe

Yesterday evening I was at the Poetry Cafe for a Poetry Society/Society of Authors event called ‘Making Poetry Work’, billed as a discussion about the ‘business’ of poetry. Being a member of both organisations I felt drawn to it – plus of course I have an interest in the business of poetry in the shape of Telltale Press.

The blurb did say it was aimed at ’emerging’ writers and although I didn’t take that as meaning ‘young’ I think that probably was the intention. As it was, I was probably representative of the average age of the audience. There was a panel: Kayo Chingonyi, Kirsten Irving, Clare Pollard, Kate Potts and Emily Hasler of the Society of Authors.

The format was that Clare Pollard led the panel though a series of questions to do with getting published, how to make a living as a poet (or suitable day jobs to work in around it!) and typical poet career progressions. It was fun and lively, with a good size audience. Only late on did we get to business issues and although I was hoping for more discussion of the publishing business of poetry – readership, sales, distribution, margins and so forth – there wasn’t time and it probably wasn’t on the agenda anyway. It was interesting to hear the advice and opinions of the panellists, but at times I was itching for topics to be thrown open to the audience. I sensed there was quite a bit of knowledge and experience in the audience that would have enriched the conversation. But with a large agenda to cover the time was handled well.

After a chatty break we had brief readings from all the poet panellists and I really enjoyed that – it felt like a lovely antidote to all the ‘businessy’ stuff that gets me fired up (but not always in a good way). Powerful readings, especially from Kayo who I’ve not heard before.

It was great to encounter one or two familiar faces, including Hilaire – makes me realise I’m starting to make London poet friends and be part of something there. I was also very pleased to meet Kirsten Irving, whose magazine Fuselit was one of the first I sent off for when I was starting to write poetry, and I was transfixed by the amount of work and love that had gone into its production, including a little bag of sea creature fridge magnets that came with it. Kirsten said she didn’t often get face to face feedback and she seemed genuinely pleased. It reminded me how important it is to tell people when you’ve appreciated something they’ve done. And producing a poetry magazine has to be pretty thankless at the best of times. Thank a poetry editor today!

 

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And so to bed (and Bath)

Actually I wish I was still in my bed right now as I’m feeling a tad slug-like after another late night ‘up in town’ as my mum used to say. (It was always ‘up’ to London – even at the station announcers would always say “attention please on the up platform…” – I wonder if one goes ‘up’ to London from points north? Hmmm.)

reading pile, may 20th 2015

But the ‘bed’ reference is more to do with what’s on my bedside table in the process of being read. The latest additions are a copy of Brittle Star issue 36 and a sleek little pamphlet called ‘Earthworks’ by Jacqueline Gabbitas. I was fortunate to meet Jacqueline and her Brittle Star co-editor Martin Parker last night at the launch event, at the Barbican Library. She was a warm and effervescent host, a hugs-rather-than-handshakes person who made everyone feel like long-lost friends. It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere. Oddly enough I was asked to read first, which is becoming a habit – I think I’ve been on first in the last four readings I’ve done. I also noticed I made a teensy error in the poem that appears in the magazine (‘practice’ instead of ‘practise’) but thankfully I wasn’t had up by the grammar police. My apologies nonetheless.

I was dead impressed with the whole operation – the magazine and other publications from Stonewood Press, their imprint, are beautifully produced, the event was well organised and well attended and they even provided free wine, Pimm’s & strawberries. Nice! Not only that, but it was a impressive range of readers (poetry and short stories). I particularly enjoyed a two-hander from Joolz Sparkes and Hilaire, who read a selection of poems from their project ‘London Undercurrents’ featuring tales of feisty London women from different periods of the city’s history. Also very nice to hear (and speak to) writers Jonny Wiles, Ruth Brandt and Stewart Foster.

Also on my current reading list is the May issue of Poetry (the cover alone has been giving me strange dreams). I suppose one of the pleasures of editing a monthly poetry journal (as opposed to the more usual half-yearly) is the ability to include longer pieces if you so wish, or to focus on a single theme or style. April’s edition was dedicated to ‘breakbeat poetry’, or a celebration of ‘new American poetry in the age of hip-hop’ as Don Share says in his introduction.  This month the magazine opens with a 35-page long poem by Frank Bidart. Equally daunting is a 22-page essay by Donald Revell entitled ‘Scholium.’ I’m never sure of the best way to tackle longer pieces – I find the amount of concentration needed makes them impossible to digest in one sitting. So it’s usual case of start, skim, and go back. Or not, depending on how gripped I am.

And finally, Sonofabook – a new twice-yearly journal from CBEditions, a mix of poetry, short stories and non-fiction pieces which looks very promising. There’s an offer on at the moment as an incentive to subscribe. Sonofabook features a guest editor for each issue, and is the brain child of publisher Charles Boyle, who incidentally writes a very honest blog by the same name – check out this excoriating piece about Faber, for example!

Siegfried Baber pamphlet launch, photo by www.dotandlucyphotography.co.uk
Photo of Siegfried Baber by http://www.dotandlucyphotography.co.uk

Just a quick mention about last week’s event in Bath, which was such a pleasure for me – to unfurl the Telltale rollerbanner in Toppings bookshop and to introduce our latest Telltale poet Siegfried Baber and his pamphlet When Love Came To The Cartoon Kid. When I began the whole Telltale thing I didn’t realise how much enjoyment and satisfaction I would get from helping other poets on their way. The more you give to these things the more they seem to pay back. That’s not to say I’m not still ambitious for myself – but the two things (helping yourself and helping others) aren’t incompatible. Personally I think I they balance each other up.

It reminds me of a singing teacher who once told me that the way not to ‘run out of breath’ is to support it and keep fuelling it, rather than giving up too soon. If you believe all you have is a small amount of breath, that’s all you’ll ever have. But if you trust your lungs to do what they’re good at you’ll find there’s a lot more inside you than you think.