Celebrating Jennie Farley

 A lovely event earlier this week - a lunchtime celebration in Cheltenham of the work and influence of the poet Jennie Farley. In the past, a few friends and I were privileged to attend workshops in her beautiful cottage (once frequented by Lewis Carroll); over a period of a four or five years we used to meet with her monthly and benefited enormously from her wisdom and wide poetic experience. She has guided many a fledgling poet, run many spoken word events, judged many competitions - and, of course, written and published extensively. Her poetry is always so sensual, so vibrant. One piece of advice she offered me which I've never forgotten was "No - not that old chestnut 'write what you know' - write what you imagine!" Jennie certainly has a fertile imagination!

Thirty seven poets contributed poems to a unique anthology "Poems For Jennie", which was presented to her by Howard Timms on Monday. Some of those contributors weren't able to join us at the event at the Langton but all sent her messages of thanks and appreciation. Long may she continue writing - and helping to give a voice to those following in her footsteps.

Looking forwards, looking back

I can't say that November was too frantic to be posting anything because of NaNoWriMo, other writing commitments or indeed anything major - just yet more boring health and family issues! It's all too easy to become thoroughly downcast when things don't go to plan and projects don't steam ahead as we might have hoped. But sometimes I think we need to look at what we have achieved despite life doing its best to derail us - and to celebrate those achievements too.

Whilst the travel side of my pilgrimage project has been considerably hampered by circumstance, I've been able to do a lot of armchair research, modify some plans, make provision for others. I've also been able to get to grips with some of the outstanding admin aspects of a writing life - not the most exciting but sadly necessary! And there have been one or two interesting outings - to support a Society of Authors local branch in fundraising for the charity Bees for Development, to an unexpectedly fascinating talk on Medieval Women Writers (just look them up if you can't think of any!), to give a presentation to a U3A group on Digging Up The Family (which is currently enjoying renewed interest - and sales!).

Getting towards the end of 2024 - not an untroubled year - inevitably leads to some retrospection, some weighing up of things. But 2025 is less than a month off now, we'll soon be past the shortest day and the buds on the magnolia outside my study are as anxious for spring as I am. I've had several applications for the next course of Writing Our Lives sessions that I'm facilitating and I'm very much looking forward to those. And, fingers and all else crossed, to resuming my pilgrim ways!

Ann Drysdale

 It was a real privilege to attend the funeral earlier this week of the poet Ann Drysdale. Ann, who sadly died very suddenly in August, was tremendously supportive to me when I was preparing my first collection. When I first met her, I was in complete awe of her and quite intimidated by her fierce intellect, but I grew to know her better and to appreciate her in many ways. I interviewed her for a radio programme on National Poetry Day a few years ago on which she was both entertaining and erudite. Her readings, locally here in South Wales and further afield, always had very appreciative receptions. Her collections have a special place on my bookshelf. She leaves a legacy of so much poetry, and also prose - and many other writers and poets owe her considerable debts too. Rest in peace, Ann.

Paintings and poems

 I had a very interesting afternoon on Saturday visiting the Ceridwen and Gwion Bach exhibition at Y Gaer in Brecon. The artist Tim Rossiter is exhibiting a series of his paintings there, completed over fifteen years, based on the Welsh myth that tells of the impregnation of the enchantress Ceridwen by Gwion Bach. If you don't know the story, do look it up - it's one of the oldest and the best known of all Welsh stories. The child that results from the bizarre union (and who, rather like Moses, is set to sea in a leather bag) is reputed to become Taliesin, the renowned sixth century bard. 

The paintings themselves were fascinating but I was particularly interested to hear the poetry that had been written in response to some of Taliesin's work. Two poets - Graham Harthill and Ric Hool - read; a third, Frank Olding, who was to have read in Welsh was unfortunately unwell. I enjoyed the readings very much but couldn't help thinking how masculine the poets' takes on the story perhaps were - indeed, Graham Harthill himself acknowledged them as such. I'm sure many women would find very different meanings in the myth - but then, what resonates in each of us when looking at any story will depend on many factors, not simply gender of course. A lot to ponder on there!

Appropriate timing!

On Sunday the Gloucestershire poet, my friend and ex-colleague Iris Anne Lewis shared a lovely afternoon with me as we launched our two new poetry collections. Coming in the same week as National Poetry Day - today, October 3rd - it could not have had more auspicious timing. We were fortunate to have the use of the Friend's Meeting House in Cirencester, a seventeenth century building with a beautiful panelled library that just lends itself to spoken word presentations. And we were lucky indeed to have Angela France, senior lecturer in poetry at the University of Gloucestershire, and Anna Saunders, the Director of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival, reading alongside us. Another Welsh poet, my friend and mentor Rona Laycock, very ably chaired the afternoon and we had a very attentive and appreciative audience. Many thanks to everyone who came and helped to make it such a memorable occasion.

So, after another lengthy gestation, The Photo I Didn't Take has finally made it out into the world. When I despair of the mishaps and the health problems of the last few months, I can now comfort myself with the knowledge that I have brought out both a prose and poetry publication this year! Time to move on now though and get stuck in again with the pilgrimage project that was relegated to the back burner with so many adverse things going on. 

If you happen to be in the lower Wye Valley area during October - do drop into the Wye Valley Craft Association centre at Abbey Mill in Tintern. Amongst the beautiful pottery, jewellery, woodwork and glassware you'll find a display of books by local authors - novelists, poets, children's writers, memoirists. So many great ideas for those Christmas presents you've promised yourself you'll get early this year! To say nothing of those you can treat yourself to ...

On a different note

Writing about things "heading in the right direction" must be tempting fate - so I'll take another tack! But despite the present writing project taking a very circuitous route, some minor surgery in the offing this week and one or two other unexpected diversions, there have been some interesting and positive features over the last month and my new poetry collection "The Photo I Didn't Take" is going to be launched on the 29th. It's going to be a joint launch with the poet Iris Anne Lewis (whose new collection, Amber, is also with Graffiti Books) at The Friends Meeting House in Cirencester - a beautiful setting for readings and afternoon tea.

And I'm very much enjoying facilitating a short series of sessions on Writing Our lives at Monmouth Library. Life writing is such a fascinating genre and people bring so much to these sessions - such varied life stories and so many hopes and plans for telling those stories in some very innovative ways. It was the Shakespearean actor, Sir Antony Sher, who said that "Nothing is more interesting than human lives" and I couldn't agree more with him. It's a real privilege to be party to them in a writing environment.

Heading in the right direction

2024 is turning into a bit of a roller-coaster of a year. The ups have been really good ups but the downs have certainly been fairly traumatic downs. For someone who is normally very fit and healthy, recent weeks have been a real trial but I'm hoping now that the apparent upward trajectory is going to be a sustained one. There's a lot of catching up to do! Writing projects have had to take back seat and are certainly not going to flourish in that position.

I was delighted last week though to find Once Upon A Time In Wales on sale amongst only a handful of English language books at the National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd. I spent a day there with my daughter and, despite the rather iffy weather, thoroughly enjoyed it. The Gorsedd Ceremony, with all its tradition and symbolism, was hugely impressive - and, despite the proceedings having quite a bit of archaic Welsh in them, I was very cheered by how much of the language I now understand! Unfortunately I wasn't able to go again on the Friday when Mike Parker, who taught me at Ty Newydd and whose books I so enjoy, was received into the Gorsedd. Many, many congratulations to him for this tremendous honour.

Are you sitting comfortably?
Then I'll begin ...

Another thoroughly enjoyable visit was yesterday's to Writers in the Library in Cirencester, where I was the guest speaker. It gave me the opportunity to meet up with old Gloucestershire writing friends but also to hear some new voices at the open mic session afterwards. Many thanks to Liz Carew and Frank McMahon, the organisers, for inviting me.

And now down to work. The proof copy of my forthcoming poetry collection landed on the mat this morning - very exciting!   

The best laid plans

                                                
An idyllic walk, part of a long-researched river pilgrimage ... and within minutes of taking this photo I was upside down in a ditch with a broken left elbow and a damaged right wrist and shoulder! The subsequent pilgrimage around three different hospitals (plus a very unpleasant dose of Covid) had certainly not featured in the planning and accounts for the radio silence over the last few weeks. The really annoying thing was that, having covered nearly seven miles on some quite challenging ground, I managed to fall off a tarmaced surface ...

Getting back on track is going to take a while as driving is currently an issue. But I've always liked to have a couple of writing projects on the go at once and that's my saving grace just now. The schedule for the next book may need some rearranging, but I have no excuse for not getting on with some articles and meeting a poetry deadline!

Away from the desk

 A busy and enjoyable couple of days out and about this week. On Thursday I was lucky enough to be invited along to a joint Creative Cardiff / Cardiff University day on the Creative Writing Industries. It was interesting to meet a number of new writers, just emerging from the MA programme at the university, and to hear from alumni of that programme about their very varied career paths since graduating. A panel discussion on Voices in Welsh Publishing showcased four publishing houses (Seren, Parthien Books, Broken Sleep Books and Lucent Dreaming) and another session addressed the thorny question of Getting Paid and the Practicalities of a Writing Career. But, as always, the great advantage of the day was the opportunity it provided for networking - or "finding your tribe" as several speakers expressed it. Wales is a small country - but it has a very vibrant writing community and some very supportive tribes.

Then yesterday evening I went to the Millenium Centre to see Michael Sheen in Nye. It was by far and away the best theatre production I have ever seen. Every detail was incredible - the script, the acting, the sets, the staging. Aneurin Bevan was played as the flawed, arrogant, argumentative, brilliant character that he was. The action was amusing and moving in equal measure and by the end the whole theatre was on its feet in a standing ovation. Should you have any chance of seeing ithe play during its short Cardiff run, it's not to be missed. And with things as they are in the NHS at present, it's an opportune moment to be reflecting on the immense value of this country's most precious institution.

Out into the world

I sometimes think that the aftermath of launching a book is a bit like the "empty-nester syndrome" parents speak of having launched offspring into the big, wide world! It's as if a constant companion has left for pastures new - especially when that companion has been around for a long time. But it was a great delight to see Once Upon A Time In Wales making its way into other people's hands last weekend, and to have had such positive responses since from those who came to the launch. And it's interesting now to move on with a new "companion", one who is already demanding a lot of time and energy!

This week is Mental Health Awareness week. Creative and reflective writing have been proved time and again to benefit mental health, and organisations such as Write Well (about which I've written on this blog before) can contribute greatly to people's sense of wellbeing. In September I'm starting to work with two community groups on life writing projects. Life writing has been a particular interest of mine for some years. Working with older people in residential care for three years after I retired, following up on their life stories, was so rewarding and so enjoyable all round, and I'm really looking forward to my autumn groups. "Nothing is more interesting than human lives" said the Shakespearean actor Antony Sher - and I couldn't agree more. 

An imminent delivery!

Should any readers be in the Monmouthshire area a week on Saturday - I'd love to see you at the launch of Once Upon A Time In Wales. Yes, after a very long gestation (exceeded, I think, only by elephants!) my latest book will actually reach delivery on May 4th. Monmouth Library will be hosting the launch, and the morning will be introduced by Robin Davies, chair of the Monmouth Welsh Society. I'm delighted to say that review copies have been very well received.  

After a short breather I'm now well into my next venture, which again is taking me on trips around the country. The weather hasn't been particularly kind of late (I spent a week on the coast at Nant Gwrtheyrn at the beginning of the month in howling gales and pouring rain) but it's hopefully looking up a bit now. Which is just as well as most of my journeying is on foot! I'm looking at pilgrimage, in its many senses - religious and secular - and it's proving both fascinating and challenging. It's a topic that has interested me for some time. The 600 odd miles of the Camino de Santiago might be a little beyond me now (though who knows ...) but journeying with intention to places of significance can be achieved in so many ways - and with all sorts of adventures as you go.

Writing and reading

I don't know about March "coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb"; with only four days left of the month, today started bitterly cold, then this afternoon we've had a mixture of thunderstorms and hail. The spring that Sunday promised appears to have gone AWOL .... 

March has actually flown past, with a lot of time spent on editing (which is, I think, the real hard work of writing!) and more research for my next book. I've also been trying to catch up on my reading list. I'm having a year of concentrating on Welsh authors and books about Wales. Although my Welsh is slowly improving, I'm afraid I still have to read most original texts in translation, but I'm enjoying the "greats", such as Saunders Lewis, immensely anyway. Currently I'm reading The Edge of Cymru by Julie Brominicks, another Welsh learner - it's part travelogue (describing her walk around the edges of Wales) and part discussion of the environmental issues particularly affecting our countryside. It's beautifully written and very thought-provoking, a good read.

I've also been reading Addlands by Tom Bullough, who tutored me at Ty Newydd a few years ago. It's a story about a mid twentieth century Radnorshire family, and - as a son of Radnorshire - Tom captures the landscape, the dialect and the life choices that had to be made brilliantly. Some time ago I remember being caught up in a debate about "writing what you know" and "writing what you imagine". To me the authenticity of the author's voice is paramount. The imagined may well have a vital role, woven into the tapestry of a story, but when a setting is a real place with a real history its presentation by an "insider" who knows the bones of it makes the world of difference. 

Learning from the experts

It's something about which I had to be very disciplined when writing Digging Up The Family too - reigning in material to make the project manageable and the book readable! Drawing up sensible parameters, and keeping within them, is so important in non-fiction, but it does mean that all sorts of fascinating avenues have to be bypassed and a lot of material "parked", shelved for future use. I'm hoping to start writing up my current project before Easter and a coherent structure is at last emerging from the plethora of research I've been working on. A day spent with the author Tiffany Murray at CreativeCardiff last week, looking at some of the issues she raised about writing her forthcoming memoir "My Family and Other Rock Stars", was certainly helpful.

Another interesting meeting last week was with the Welsh writer and broadcaster Ifor ap Glynn, who came to speak to the Uwch (higher level) learners at the Palmerston Centre in Barry. Ifor has won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod not once but twice and he's as inspirational to listen to as his work is to read. The closing date for entries for this year's Eisteddfod writing competitions is fast approaching and I think Ifor's presentation may well have prompted several of my learner colleagues to have a go! I certainly look back on my good fortune in succeeding in the Tregaron Eisteddfod two years ago with great satisfaction. And I find that writing creatively in a language that you're learning definitely helps you get to grips with the nuts and bolts of it!

Moving on

Yes, spring is on the way! I was up in mid Wales last week, where it never comes before March, but there were snowdrops out everywhere and even some early lambs in the fields. I was enormously cheered by it all. Although it's not been a bad winter so far, it seems to have gone on for ever, so the prospect of longer, warmer days is very welcome.

It's been a busy month and the final version of Once Upon A Time In Wales is now safely at the publishers. I have the greatest admiration for the writers who can move seamlessly on from one book to writing their next in a matter of days. That's of course what the publishers want of their successful authors, but some of us mere mortals perhaps need a bit of a breathing space to recuperate and regroup after putting so much time and energy into a book. I'm very much looking forward to my next venture and am well under way with the research, but it will be a little while yet before the end product sees the light of day!

Welcoming in 2024

After a troubled ending to 2023 for so many people around the world, here's to a new dawn and a happy, healthy and peaceful 2024 for us all. Despite the wet and chilly start today, I saw one or two signs in the Wye Valley this morning that spring is on the way - yes, we've got a couple of months of winter still to weather but they promise that brighter days aren't all that far away.

For the last couple of months I've been dogged by health issues but at last my book of Welsh folk tales, "Once Upon A Time In Wales", is about to head to the printers and it should then be out in the spring. Whereas my other books have reached fruition relatively quickly, for a variety of reasons this has been a project a long time in the making. Like all long-time bed-fellows, I shall miss it when it has actually left home! But there are a couple of new ventures calling and it's exciting to start the New Year exploring some new paths.