Sunday 22 February 2015

What is the meaning of "ought"?

A few years ago a friend of mine was doing a PhD on "The Meaning Of Ought" so yesterday, at a poetry workshop in Cirencester, when asked to write down one of the big questions in life, that is what I chose. And lived to regret it! The exercise that followed the request was to use a restricted vocabulary (from a strip of words cut from a newspaper) to write a poem answering the question! Needless to say, that particular big question in life remains unanswered but some amazing lines - salvageable for use elsewhere - certainly came out of it all.

It was an interesting and entertaining day. I knew it would be - I have yet to go to a session run by Rona Laycock which I haven't enjoyed. Seven of us spent our time on a variety of tasks, ranging from observing and writing about glass-blowers at work in the studio beneath us to using recipes from a Nigel Slater cookbook to pen poems on passion and violence. Plenty of food for thought there!

Thank you, Rona!


Saturday 14 February 2015

Valentine


Welsh Mountain Tops

We'd sit there breathless,
in silence, for a long time,

hearing the wind
and each other's thoughts,

watching the clouds 
and each other's drift,

touching the rock
and each other's core.

(April 2012)

Friday 13 February 2015

World Radio Day

Perhaps not well enough advertised - but today turns out to be World Radio Day, a day organised by UNESCO "celebrating radio, why we love it and why we need it today more than ever... a day to remember the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring people together across every corner of the globe" as the website reminds us.

A Murphy wireless - so like ours at home in the 1950s!

I have always been a fan of radio. As a very small child I loved "Listen With Mother", sitting on Mum's lap by the wireless in the living room on weekday afternoons, enchanted by the stories and songs to which we listened; six decades later, radio is my constant companion when I'm driving. Whilst I listen to a lot of music too, short stories, serials, plays are more my thing - and poetry programmes my real favourites. Hearing a poem read is quite a different experience from reading it on the page and often opens up to me a whole new way of understanding it. I find the Scottish Poetry Library website invaluable for its listings of literary broadcasts for the coming week (as well, of course, as for lots of other poetry related information).

So we were a day ahead of ourselves yesterday when several of us from Catchword joined some of Rona Laycock's virtual writing group at Corinium Radio in Cirencester to record our forthcoming programme on "Crime". A broad genre indeed for writers! The hour long programme will have stories both humourous and serious, factual and fanciful and a crime based poem. I am not sure yet when it will air, but if you'd like to hear it (and I promise you it's worth a listen!) do keep an eye on the schedule on the Corinium Radio website.

Monday 9 February 2015

Springing into action


Last week brought a hint of spring here followed by a blast of winter. On Monday I was delighted to find some early primroses flowering in a sheltered corner of the garden - only to find them the following morning covered with snow! And the temperature had plummeted. But a walk that afternoon in the Cotswold Water Park provided one of my favourite experiences - the opportunity to watch the incredible beauty of a winter's sunset. So much inspiration in the natural world just now.


And so much activity to be planning and preparing for. Firstly an evening at Writers in the Brewery at the New Brewery Arts Centre in Cirencester at the end of the month. If you're free on Thursday February 26th, do join us at 7.30pm for Catchword's presentation of prose and poetry on the theme of "Conflict" - tea and coffee provided (and cake - to celebrate Rona Laycock's birthday!) with the bar open for stronger refreshment. Tickets £4 on the door.

The beginning of March sees the Preview Weekend for the Cheltenham Poetry Festival. Our Picaresque troupe will be performing at the Wilson Art Gallery and Museum here in Cheltenham. "Poetry Among The Paintings", on Saturday March 7th from 11.00 - 12.00, will be a programme of highly imaginative poetry inspired by the Museum's art and sculpture exhibitions. Last year Picaresque's festival slot was sold out and highly acclaimed; you can get tickets for this year's from the Tourist Information office (01242 237431), £6/£5 concessions. Do hope to see you there.