Friday 30 October 2015

Countdown to November 1st

An interesting couple of poetry events in the last week - firstly the launch of Anna Saunders' "Kissing The She Bear", a collaborative venture with photographer William Humphries. It's a really lovely exploration of myths from far and wide and the marriage of poems and photographs works quite magically. The second event was a cream tea at the Greenway Hotel in Shurdington that accompanied a reading by the Cheltenham Poetry Festival Players; the theme was "Gardens" and we were entertained with a short but comprehensive coverage of works from the past five hundred years. I must say I much prefer listening to poems about gardens to actually getting out and doing much work in them!

Anna Saunders

But the main thrust here in recent days has been sorting out other commitments ready for NaNoWriMo which starts on Sunday. If I'm to make headway with my plans for the month (more of which to follow) there won't be much opportunity for the myriad household tasks that usually sap the creative energy. So it's an onslaught this week on everything I most dislike about domesticity ....

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Looking beneath the familiar


Catchword, my writing group, had an “AwayDay” yesterday in the small Cotswold town of Painswick. After coffee at the Patchwork Mouse, we explored individually for a while, seeking inspiration in the historic buildings and fabulous surrounding countryside. Then, after a very good lunch at the Butchers Arms in Sheepscombe, we adjourned for a writing afternoon at one of our number's home.

I have lived not ten miles from Painswick for more then twenty years and have visited often during that time but, thinking about the day later, I thought how true my friend Susie's comment was - 'The interesting thing is that if you go to a place to write, then the place becomes more interesting because you look at it with an artist’s eyes rather than being  detached or disconnected from it. Writing gives you a more direct connection ... and this may be something to remember in other places, even those that are familiar.'

I certainly saw in Painswick yesterday so much that I had overlooked before - and gained a lot of inspiration for new writing. Watch this space as they say!




Sunday 18 October 2015

"In Performance"

We were a small, select little band at Deepspaceworks Arts Centre here in Charlton Kings on Friday evening for a New Bohemians workshop. Actor and poet Eley Furrell and his partner Kim facilitated an evening of tremendous fun, concentrating on the basic skills of performance - skills so vital to writers of both prose and poetry in today's world of constant readings, interviews, media visibility. Lots to learn but a safe, supportive group in which to practice - a really good session.

Eley and Kim

The next New Bohemians event will be on December 11th - "Christmas Crackers". In addition to our Christmas celebration, the evening will see the launch of Picaresque's new pamphlet, "Poetry Among The Paintings". Do put the date in your diary now - we'd love to see you there for what promises to be a great evening.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Crossroads

There was a very apt quote in the  pamphlet of winning entries for this year's Gloucestershire Writers Network competition - Flannery O'Connor's words "The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location."

The overall theme of the Literature Festival here this year was "Defining Moments" and on Sunday evening at the "locally sourced" event it was fascinating to see how different competition entrants had responded to the challenge of writing about "Crossroads" in their poetry and prose. Short stories spanned everything from the unexpected outcome of a driving test to the horror of lynchings in the American Deep South; poems encompassed villanelles and blank verse sonnets. A very good evening - and it was lovely to be a participant in it.


Friday 9 October 2015

National Poetry Day

Yesterday was National Poetry Day, celebrated nationwide on radio and television, in newspapers and magazines and very much in style at Smokey Joes in Cheltenham. Angela France and Roger Turner headlined our event, preceded by a lively open mic session. Our theme was "Gloucestershire" and poems celebrated the wonderful countryside and the interesting towns with which we are blessed. Naturally my contribution had to be an appreciation of our great river ...

Severn Sunset

We walk with the living and the dead
who strode this slow stretch
at low tide to Evensong's toll
in the sunset shimmering light
of a thousand summers,

and sharp-eyed, long-shanked waders
emerge from sighing reeds
to gorge on the bare expanses
of the river's sandy entrails
as dusk softens the Forest shore

where the hills beyond the hills
fade into the mind of yesterday.


(Copyright Gill Garrett 2014)



Frankie March at the open mic




Tuesday 6 October 2015

Stop the world ...

Perhaps you know that feeling - when you'd like the world to slow down just a little so that you could jump off and catch up with yourself. So much going on at present and no time to deal with it all, to do things properly ....

The Canal Laureate, Jo Bell
Swindon Festival of Poetry and the Cheltenham Literature Festival clash every year, which is a real shame when both have excellent events that you'd love to go to. Last Friday I spent a great morning at the lovely Lower Shaw Farm in Swindon at a workshop with Jo Bell, their poet in residence this year. Jo was an archaeologist before she took to poetry and canals, living on a narrowboat on the English waterways, and she writes brilliantly (and often very humorously) about both of her existences. If you haven't come across her latest publication, "Kith" (Nine Arches Press), do get hold of a copy - there are some fantastic poems in there.

Within hours of the workshop I was back in Cheltenham and at the Festival here to listen to Pat Barker, in conversation with Antony Beevor. I have always loved her WW1 Regeneration Trilogy, and recently read "Noonday", her latest novel that follows on from "Life Class" and "Toby's Room" to take WW1 characters through to the 1940s London Blitz - an excellent read. Then on Saturday I was able to hear another of my favourite authors, Kate Atkinson, talking about her most recent novels and also about the craft of writing, which I found fascinating.

But now it's back down to work, to the more challenging prospect of writing myself rather than listening to others talking about their writing!