Don't miss it!

We're gearing up here for the annual Cheltenham Poetry Festival, running this year from May 6th - 15th. Do look at the website to see what's going on; there's a tremendous variety of events - some great poets reading, five workshops. poetry cinema and lots more.

I shall be reading with my Picaresque colleague Penny Howarth at Carrie Etter's event on Saturday May 14th at 8pm at the Wilson Museum and Art Gallery - the ideal venue as Penny and I will be reading some poems from "Poetry Amongst The Paintings", the pamphlet inspired by the Wilson's collections. All the ticket details are on the website but many of the events are selling fast, so don't miss out, book to join us now!

Walks to work from

After a disappointing weekend (the "Writing About The Past" course not coming up to expectations), two lovely days over the border walking with my husband and the dog. And plenty of inspiration there! On Wednesday we climbed Skirrid Fawr, the last outcrop of the Black Mountains. The area abounds with myth and legend, the most striking of which is the story of how the mountain got its name. In Welsh the mountain is called "Ysgyryd Fawr" - the shivered mountain. The gospels tell how, after the cruxifiction, "darkness fell upon the land" - and in far away Wales, the mountain shivered and shook, part of it sliding downhill to form Skirrid Fach (Little Skirrid). Thus the earth on the mountain was considered holy and especially fertile; it used to be scattered on fields, on coffins and on church foundations. Pilgrimages would be made to the summit. Definitely a poem in that to go with my Celtic myths project!

Skirrid Fawr

Then a very different walk yesterday - exploring the area around the Whitebrook, a hive of industrial activity in the Victorian era, now a tranquil, wooded valley with all the scars erased. Or are they? Perhaps no longer scars, and well hidden amongst the trees and shrubs, suddenly you come across the ruined remains of an old mill, the contours of ancient quarrying. So many stories buried beneath the bluebells and anemones that carpet the woods there today - an interesting challenge to resurrect and tell some perhaps.

What stories could it tell?

Rather pushed for time!

I must admit to struggling a little with NaPoWriMo this time. For a variety of reasons life is extremely busy just now. I'm very glad I haven't committed to putting my daily poems on the blog! Some may see the light of day eventually but they are in a very rudimentary form in my notebook at present ... Still, at least they're there.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester for a Relax and Write weekend course on writing about the past. It looks as if it should be really interesting and it certainly has direct relevance to the major project I'm undertaking at the moment. Talking about writing about the past - I'm currently reading "Portrait of Orkney" by the wonderful Scottish poet the late George Mackay Brown. It's a fascinating account of the heritage and islands from which he came - some poetry, mainly prose, but prose that is so poetic in nature there's really no divide. A lovely book to read.

Interesting evenings

We're well into NaPoWriMo now - but it's proving a time to listen and to read a lot of poetry as well as to write it. As it should be, of course - I don't think you can hope to write without being an avid reader too, taking every chance to widen your own knowledge and understanding of the art. And the past week has provided some great opportunities to do so - at New Bohemians last Friday, Buzzwords on Sunday and at a tremendous reading on Monday at the Suffolk Anthology bookshop here in Cheltenham.

Two American poets, Katherine E. Young and Rose Solari, had been in the UK for the Oxford Literary Festival. Their reading, "Wayfaring Strangers: Identity Beyond Borders", gave fascinating insights into two different approaches. The two women are obviously very used to reading together and complimented each other beautifully. Rose read from her third collection "The Last Girl"; I found her poems, several of which related to family, very moving. Katherine - a translator by background - read some of her own poems from "Day Of The Border Guards" but also a couple of her translations from Russian poets. I'm not overly familiar with Russian history and culture but her poems, and the stories behind them, have certainly whetted my appetite - lots to follow up there!

Rose and Katherine

The Brokenborough Poets

An interesting evening at Writers in the Brewery in Cirencester yesterday - the Brokenborough Poets were this month's guests, reading from their anthology "Fieldwork". They're a long established group who meet monthly at the Horse Guards pub just outside Malmsbury; I had heard about them from my friend and Catchword colleague Liz Carew, who is one of their number, but this was my first experience of listening to their excellent work. I really enjoyed their variety of approaches and styles and, when I got home, read the anthology straight through, cover to cover. Some really good poetry there.

Another poetry event coming up on Friday (April 1st) - do join us if you're in the Cheltenham area. The New Bohemians evening coincides with a printmaking exhibition at deepspace artworks in Hamilton Street so is taking as its theme poetry inspired by the visual arts. Readings, a viewing of the exhibition, a classical music interlude, drinks and nibbles, to say nothing of the haiku competition, all for £6.50! 19.00 for 19.30 if you can make it - it's sure to be an enjoyable evening.

Thinking about it!

Nearly that time again! To do or not to do?! I did manage to write a poem a day throughout last April (at least in first draft) and a few of them went on to see the light of day properly afterwards. But, having committed to the project, I did find it a wee bit stressful, given the inevitable other calls on my time.

There's something very motivating though about being part of a truly world-wide phenomenon. National Poetry Month started in the States and Canada twenty years ago and then in 2003 Maureen Thorson, a poet living in Washington DC, linked it to a poetry writing exercise where people posted on their blogs the poems they'd written daily throughout the month. NaPoWriMo was born. It's certainly taken off since.

If you're moved to have a go - and I think I shall probably do so - there are some great prompts put together this year by mslexia and the Poetry School. Have a look on the website (www.mslexia/workshop/poetry-writing-workshops) and think about it!

Friends and fellow writers

Over the past three or four years I've been fortunate to work with some excellent local poets and writers. The two groups I work most closely with - Catchword and Picaresque - have provided me with tremendous support and inspiration - and, more than once, with shoulders to cry on!

My friend and Picaresque colleague Jane Malone is probably the most modest person I know, but I so admire her work and I have learned a lot from her. She has the enviable talent of being able to take the most ordinary things and to weave them into some magic poetry. But she also addresses some really big issues in a very down to earth way, as the poem which she has kindly agreed to let me put on the blog this week illustrates. Thank you, Jane - for the poem and for what you've taught me.

Persephone Drowned

You’ve not seen a spring like it. Cataracts spilling

from the clouds. The road washed away. Your cottage

mildewed, fusty, as if you are hunkering underground.

Outside, a quagmire. Saplings uprooted, branches snapped,

daffodils crushed like fallen stars. It makes you stop, breathe

words you’ve heard on the news – flood, sea-level, disaster.

And suddenly you’re on hands and knees grubbing in mud

for seedlings, bulbs, new growth. Remembering the sweet dark soil,

how it offered up richness letting the seasons turn through your hands.

Believing it was enough to keep one patch of earth green.

I started writing poetry three years ago after I retired. This particular poem was written during all the bad weather two years ago when news of flooding was filling our television screens and I was feeling particularly concerned about the effects of global warming.

Jane Malone.