Excuse and no excuse!

Following an unfortunate incident in Crickley Hill Country Park yesterday morning (involving several dogs and a wet patch of grass) I'm now the frustrated owner of a splinted left wrist! I have decided this is a splendid excuse when it comes to housework, gardening etc. but it leaves no excuse when it comes to getting down to putting pen to paper ....

Back in May this year I spent a fascinating day at a poetry workshop run by the BlueGate Poets in Swindon at the Museum and Art Gallery there. The tutor was Tamar Yoseloff and we were working from the excellent modern art collection the gallery houses. Shortly both on-line and print anthologies will be coming out with the poems inspired by the day. Here's a preview, with my poem based on Kyffin Williams painting "The Dark Lake", a dramatic portrayal of the landscape around Llanberis in Snowdonia.

 

Intrusion

 We are interlopers

in this barren place,

hushed by echoes

of quarrymen’s rough shod feet

striking out past

unplumbed silent depths

on grim grey paths

of splintered slate,

the winter morning

numb with cold.

Fashioned from time-worn stone,

moulded by mountain ways,

still in death

they command this land.

Their absence haunts

each cwm. each crag -

and taunts our timorous footsteps

when we trespass in their slag.

(Copyright Gill Garrett 2013)

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Shades of autumn

The last few mornings have had that autumn feel to them - a chill in the air, hazy horizons over the valley when I walk the dog, a dampness underfoot. I really don't want to see the summer go yet - we just don't seem to have had enough of it - but at least on the writing front there are things to look forward to as a new season starts.

On Wednesday September 4th a new poetry venture - "Well Versed" - is starting at the Muffin Man in Cheltenham  with a mixture of invited guests, music and an open mic. I'm delighted to have been invited to take part in the first evening. Perhaps you might like to come along too - 7-9pm. It should be fun. The following Saturday, September 7th, sees "Poetry In Store" at Waterstones bookshop on the Promenade from 11 -1pm - a variety of poets (myself included) will be reading their own work and that of others. I'm not sure of the date yet, but my monthly poetry group will also be doing a fund raising evening for the Global Footsteps Cafe charity later in the year - watch this space for details of that one.

But the piece de resistance has to be the Gloucestershire Writer's Network evening at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on Monday October 7th! Tickets go on sale as from next week. I loved the event two years ago (when I was a runner up in the poetry competition); that year it was held in the amazing Spiegeltent with its nineeenth century carved pillars, huge mirrors and coloured lighting. Sounds like a more mundane venue this year I'm afraid, but I'm still looking forward to it no end! The winners and runners up in both the poetry and short story sections will be reading their entries, followed by Jennie Farley reading some of her work on the festival theme of "Memory".

Most usefully this week I've received the judge's critiques on my winning entries for the GWN poetry competition and the Onward Short Story prize.  Whilst I know only too well that  I have an awful lot still to learn, it really is very heartening to be congratulated when you have mastered something you've really been struggling with! So both lots of comments (edited highlights below) were most welcome.

"The winning poem is a gem, using as its metaphor a Victorian sampler embroidered by a 13 year old girl ...  during a hard Welsh winter, each coloured thread representing dreams of summer. This memorable poem is as carefully worked as the sampler itself, not a stitch (or a word) out of place." Jennie Farley


"What’s really striking in this story is the strong sense of place and the use of detail from the natural world. There is some beautifully cinematic writing, as though we are watching a film. The story also knows just where to begin and end, which sounds simple, but is one of the most difficult aspects of short fiction to judge correctly. The author also understands the ‘tip of the iceberg’ technique where little details are used to suggest an awful lot more in the reader’s mind. Combining elements of French travelogue, ghost story, and contemporary family issues, this is a rich and well crafted story." Prof. Ursula Hurley


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THANK YOU!

This post is really just to say a massive "Thank You" to the people who have helped me with my writing over the past couple of years, the people who have encouraged me to write, introduced me to different techniques, given such useful constructive criticism; the people who have picked me up and dusted me off when I've been down and who have celebrated with me when I've had successes. When I retired from lecturing I didn't find the transition from academic to creative writing easy and I'm so grateful for all the advice and support I've been given. In particular Rona Laycock's classes at the New Brewery Arts Centre in Cirencester were fantasic for me and lately the sessions I've been attending with the poet Jennie Farley have moved me forward a great deal.

What has made me especially aware just now of all the help I've been given has been the news that, in addition to winning this year's Onward Short Story Competition, I've also won the Onward Poetry Competition - I'm still recovering from the shock! But I know that so much of the credit goes to Rona, Jennie, my Ty Newydd tutors of the past two years (Lavinia Greenlaw, Paul Dodgson, Victoria Field, Nigel Jenkins, Paul Henry, Tom Bullough) and others I've been fortunate enough to do occasional workshops with. To all of you - a huge "THANK YOU!"

This is the poem with which I was fortunate enough to win.

An Autistic Child

Fluent at six

You read as if

By instinct,

Concentrating

For hours,

Cocooned within

Your world

Of words.

“A gifted child”

They said.

But to spread

Your wings,

To interact,

You must read

Between the lines,

Decode the syntax

Of expression

Interpret posture,

Gesture, space,

Leaf through the pages

Of the human face.

Not yours

The gift that

Makes for

Easy friendship,

Give and take,

Acceptance by

The crowd.

Such literacy

A mystery to you –

A lesson

To be learned

Piecemeal

Over years.

Easier by far

The comfort of your books.

 (Copyright Gill Garrett 2013)

Unexpected success!

Who would have thought that I could be so indebted to a twelve year old girl from a hundred and fifty years ago! This is a photograph of a tapestry that hangs in our living room, worked by my husband's great great grandmother. For the Gloucestershire Writer's Network competition this year the theme was "Memory" and I submitted a poem entitled "Retrospect : Anne Dakins, her work, in the 13th year of her age, 1861". I could not believe it yesterday morning when I heard that it was chosen as the winning poem. I shall be reading it at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in October.

The news finished off a perfect week for me. The "Gaining Confidence" course at Ty Newydd enabled me to do just that. It was a thoroughly enjoyable, stimulating few days with tutors who took a real interest in student's work and presented lively and thought-provoking sessions. We were a very mixed group - in terms of age, background and writing styles - but, as always, I learned a lot from the other students and their approaches too. Four days is never long enough though - I'm already planning next year's trip!

Looking forward to "Gaining Confidence ..."

On Monday I'm off to Ty Newydd for the week - an event I've been looking forward to since January! I think mine was probably the first application for the course at the Welsh writer's centre at Llanystumdwy; as soon as last year's course there ended I was planning this next visit - I love it there.

For those of you who are not familiar with Ty Newydd, it was Lloyd George's last home and he is buried a couple of hundred yards down the road on the banks of the River Dwyfor. The house is set in fabulous grounds with views over Criccieth Bay and is the epitome of faded elegance. Literature Wales runs a variety of creative writing courses there - poetry, prose, play writing, writing in health and social care - some a week long, some over weekends. This will be my fourth visit and I've not been disappointed in any of the courses I've done so far. The tutors have been excellent, the accommodation comfortable, the food good - one evening in the week you're expected to help out preparing dinner, but that's all part of the fun of it.

Next week's course is on "Gaining Confidence In Poetry and Prose". The two tutors are Paul Henry for poetry (I heard him read last year at the Much Wenlock Poetry Festival and was hugely impressed) and Tom Bullough for prose (I've not met him before but his reputation goes before him). I'm expecting great things of the week, so watch this space!

A writing community

When I was working as a freelance lecturer I found that keeping contact with other professionals in my area of business was essential a) to ground me in what was happening in the larger health and care world and b) to maintain my sanity! For all the pro's of being self employed, a definite con can be the isolation often involved. Writing, I have found, can have a similar profile - but I have learnt from my previous experience how to deal with it.

My writers group Somewhere Else is excellent on a regular basis but I try to occasionally link up with other writers too for a breadth of vision and to find out what else is going on in the local scene. Once a month I go to Writers in the Brewery in Cirencester; it welcomes a variety of invited writers to read and discuss their work and provides a platform for others with an open mic session. It runs on the last Thursday evening of most months of the year.

This morning the Catchword group held their annual coffee morning with writers from all over Gloucestershire invited. It was hot, noisy and great fun - and the cakes (especially Sarah's raspberry and almond one) were fantastic! Great to hear about other people's projects, publications and proposals. Wilkie Martin's first comic crime novel "Inspector Hobbes and the Blood" comes out on Friday. Great excitement there! And I could share the news of my competition win earlier this week. My short story L'Ermitage has won the Onward Short Story prize in aid of the Theatre Royal in Hyde (and should be on the website shortly). After entering an awful lot of competitions with no joy at all and a few with modest success, that certainly made my week!

(If you are interested, my story The Journey, which won third prize in the Curry Mallet History Festival competition, can be read here (scroll down to 3rd Prize!))

Digging Up The Family

Creative non-fiction can cover some very diverse areas. For me a fruitful area for non-fictional inspiration has been the family history research I've now been carrying out for a number of years. Not that our family has been anything out of the ordinary, but you can always find the extraordinary in that ordinary. I've learned so much about social history - and it's been a lot more interesting than the political / military affairs of nations that passed as history in my school days!

Next month Vintage Script magazine will publish "Victorian Juvenile Justice", my article based on the experiences of my grandfather in the 1880s and 90s, when the theft of a loaf of bread and half a pound of butter earned him two weeks in gaol and two years in a reformatory - at the age of ten! Their last issue featured my article on mourning jewellry, a topic on which I'd known almost nothing until being given a brooch belonging to my grandmother in which was embedded a lock of her mother's hair; that started me off on a fascinating journey of discovery. The magazine, which comes out three times a year, is an interesting  mix of historical / retro articles and stories and it's well worth a look at if you have leanings in that direction.