So Thursday is National Poetry Day, which I shall be celebrating with my Hastings Stanza group, doing what poets do… agonising over line-breaks, commas and what have you. Before that though, on Wednesday, I’ll be at the Fisherman’s Club for the prize readings of a local competition I was a judge for, on the themeRead more ⟶
Tag: prole
Season of mists and new starts
Autumn creeping up, and with it, as always, changes. I’m upset about the Queen’s death, more perhaps than I thought I would be. It may be something to do with delayed (or reignited) mourning for my sister, or my parents. But it’s also something I’ve been worried about for a while – it’s like aRead more ⟶
Oh hello! Quick catch up
What was I doing all last month? Mostly singing (I passed my Grade 8 with merit – hurrah!), the odd party (friends with birthdays and/or launches), gardening (what was possible with the scaffolding up), executor stuff for my sister, making jam & chutney from all the rhubarb, and seeing an old friend from my adidas/NikeRead more ⟶
On poetry magazines: Butcher’s Dog, Prole, Frogmore Papers
This is the first of a mini-series about print poetry magazines. Although I do my quarterly spreadsheet, there’s no room for any description of the mags, so I thought it would be nice to feature some of my favourites as a reader, where I like to submit myself and what I subscribe to. There areRead more ⟶
So no fireworks this week then? Hmmm
What a week. That election (can’t bring myself to watch). Another lockdown starts. Planet Poetry Episode 2 coming up. And I’ve just turned 60. Planet Poetry Peter Kenny and I were thrilled and touched by the feedback on our podcast first episode. Episode 2 goes live on Thursday, when I’m interviewing Clare Shaw (yeah, baby!)Read more ⟶
A birthday post and on magazines
Ooh. Lots of interesting discussion & comment around my last post. Thank you to everyone who engaged! (Feels a bit of a sham/shame to use that 21st century term but you know what I mean: commented, shared, liked/disliked etc). Meanwhile, on another blog (when I update it that is) I’m telling the story of ourRead more ⟶
Working from (a temporary) home
I’m currently working each morning from a little B&B room in a farmhouse in Pembrokeshire, while Nick is here playing the organ for St David’s Cathedral. Apart from occasionally getting up in the night and bashing into furniture it’s all very pleasant. A cockerel and a swarm of hens outside. Peaceful countryside views. We’ve hadRead more ⟶
Poetry competitions now open – to enter, or not?
I’ve noticed there are a number of poetry competitions about to close – January seems to be a competition battleground. I’ve talked about the issue of poetry competitions before – and there are some fascinating comments here from both experienced compers and others who absolutely hate the whole poetry competition scene. So who (if anyone) winsRead more ⟶
Quick update – submissions, good news, real life stuff
The big news this week is that we finally completed our purchase of the new flat, and we’re now wondering what we can afford to do to it in the five weeks before we move in. Within an hour of getting the keys I’d already stripped wallpaper from an entire wall – it came offRead more ⟶
Three small press poetry competition deadlines coming up
Ah! Poetry competitions. Love ’em, hate ’em? It helps when you win something occasionally, admit it. Sadly, the stats are against us, but would we have it any other way? Who wants to be a winner if everyone else is too? And on the subject of probability, I just read that the British state lottery, orRead more ⟶