Human vs. machine

Having heard an item on Radio 4 this morning about computer generated poetry (and the apparent difficulty some people have distinguishing between that and the "real thing") I thought I'd try out one of the generating websites. If you have five minutes to spare and want to feel a whole load better about your own work, do try one out. I entered random words on my chosen topic as requested (I'd been looking at the picture below so chose "fields") and the resulting sonnet was hilariously awful ... It certainly gave me a good laugh to start my day!

Writers and radio

I think the idea expressed in that last post - that life was getting back to normal - was just too tempting for Fate! Instead life continues on something of a roller-coaster here and the protracted heatwave doesn't help productivity either, but I know all writers go through fallow patches and usually live to tell the tale ...

Positives over the last couple of weeks though have been visits to local writing groups to talk about opportunities to take part in The Writer's Room on NHSound. It's been great to sit in and listen to some excellent poetry and prose - my thanks to both Caldicot Writers and Newport Writers, who have made me very welcome at their respective meetings. Alyson Rees, a talented young poet from Caldicot and quite a newcomer to the local scene, took part in last Thursday's programme and read some very thought-provoking and insightful work. I'm very much looking forward to contributions to the programme in the next few months from several other writers in both groups. The Wye Valley Writers will be launching their anthology on the programme on August 30th too; Monmouthshire appears alive with creative energy just now!

Ways to Peace

A fortnight of chaos, which I hope is coming to an end! How I envy writers who can work despite the heavens falling in or life aiming a wrecking ball at them ...

But this afternoon I sat looking out over the Wye Valley planning out (very belatedly) my contribution for the three day Ways of Peace event to be held at Tintern Abbey in September in support of the UNESCO International Day of Peace. There will be speakers, music from many cultures, workshops and readings of poetry and prose, much of the weekend free and open to all. The setting could not be bettered - if you're not familiar with the Abbey, a centuries-old ruin that draws pilgrims and tourists alike, do look it up and think about joining us then. It'll be a great event.

Writing the unwritten

A huge "Thank You!" to Nilima Raichoudhrey, who ran a superb writing workshop yesterday at the Abergavenny Arts Festival. We were a small group but benefited enormously from her experience in Zen writing, her time as a scriptwriter and her infectious enthusiasm for words and their expression. So much to think about after the session: about stories under stories, about "essence" - the unspoken in the spoken, the unwritten in the written - about writing as uncovering what you deeply know rather than what you think you know. A fascinating afternoon.

Nilima Raichoudhury (third right) with
Festival volunteers

Moments

My mother calls.
I do not reply.
Watching him walk out of our home, our lives.
The script ripped up.
A car engine overheating on the hills.

What about me?
Suddenly the motorway is empty.
No sadness at the melting doll.
The sky dark with a million stars...

copyright Gill Garrett 2018

Summertime - and the living is easy?!

I don't do well in the heat so have been wilting over the past few days, especially as the heatwave has coincided with a frantically busy patch both work and family-wise. So I'm putting the occasional memory lapse down to the weather and lack of time - but this morning, doing some research for a major prose project I'm currently embarking on, I was amused when I realised that I 'd failed to recognize myself as the author of an article I was finding very useful! To be fair, it had been written a few decades back ...

But there's lots happening poetry-wise at the moment too. I much enjoyed "Shore To Shore", the poetry reading by Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Clarke, Jackie Kay and Imtiaz Dharker in Penarth last weekend, the first of eight events around the country celebrating Independent Bookshops Week. Tomorrow sees the start of the Ledbury Poetry Festival and I'm delighted to be reading at the Community Showcase event there next Monday, July 2nd, at 10.00. It's a free event - please do come along if you're in the area and do have a good look at the Festival programme, which has some really excellent and exciting inclusions this year. This weekend also sees the Abergavenny Arts Festival with poetry and creative writing sessions alongside marble carving, pottery, painting, textiles, music and loads more besides - mostly free events again.

For now though I shall retreat to the blessed cool of the kitchen to rehydrate ...

Justice - and poems - for Grenfell

Who could fail to be moved by yesterday's display - yet again - of the quiet dignity of the Grenfell bereaved and survivors? For most of us, something beyond words. But sometimes words do go a little way towards expressing the almost inexpressible. I spent yesterday evening in Newport at a "Poems for Grenfell" event at the Dolman Theatre. Some of the 62 poets, of all nationalities and backgrounds, who had contributed to the anthology on which the event was based read to a hushed and humbled audience; the poems of others, who were unable to be there, were read for them. So grim, yet inspiring, a reminder of  a wholly preventable catastrophe that "should be forever seared into our nation's collective memory" (Sadiq Khan).

Available from The Onslaught Press
All royalties go to The Grenfell Foundation

A new venture and old favourites

A chaotic couple of weeks with domestic and family issues holding up progress on most items on the writing front. But there's now the odd glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, and there were two positives towards the end of last week too, the one being my first "Writer's Room" programme for NHSound. My thanks to Nathan and Jake who saw me through the unfamiliar technical bits, and to Bernard John who came into the studio as my first guest, to talk about his writing life and to read from his new poetry collection.

The second high point of the week was something of a blast from the past! A tremendous evening at Newnham on Severn on Saturday for a Fairport Convention gig. It was held in St Peter's Church - complete with bar, burgers and a big crowd - and it was great to see a church being used as a true community centre, as all churches were in the distant (medieval) past. Folk has always been my favourite music genre, I think because it tells stories and in many ways it's so closely akin to poetry; I loved hearing the old songs resurrected amongst more recent ones. And, seeing the vintage of most of the audience, I couldn't help thinking back to a brief poem of mine from a few years ago ...

Children of the 60s

Small the cordite in the air-
we're no spent fireworks, 
marching to overcome,
to make love not war.
Light our blue touchpapers
and retire; after a slow burn
we still give a dazzling display.

(copyright Gill Garrett 2015)

Still magic after all these years ...