A bit of judicious pruning ...

In no way could I claim to be a keen gardener, but I spent a useful hour or so this afternoon beginning the autumn clear up in the back garden. As I was hacking back over-enthusiastic clematis and jasmine, it occurred to me that perhaps this was a bit like editing poems - a necessary activity to get the best out of something. Looking around afterwards, that little bit of care and attention had revealed the real shape of the plants and showed them to much better advantage. It's taken me a while to learn that poems often need a bit of cutting back too, but I'm certainly getting better now at putting a poem aside for a while, then coming back to it with the proverbial "red pen" to tighten things up - and it invariably reads all the better for it!

Friends old and new

It's been a stressful week with some major family traumas. I'm so aware that at times of crisis - and of loss especially - I turn more and more these days to poetry books and my "old friends" in them. "The Book Of Love And Loss" edited by Rosie Bailey and June Hall (Belgrave Press) is a great bedside companion in those circumstances; I've given a copy to friends in similar situations and know how much they've valued it too.

I've had a birthday during this last week as well though, and a lovely present from my daughter - "Whatever The Sea, Scottish Poems for Growing Older" edited by Lizzie MacGregor (The Scottish Poetry Library and Polygon 2016). About ageing they may be, but these poems are not all full of gloom and doom! Far from it - they certainly recognize the challenges of ageing but celebrate the positives too - many are witty and very life-affirming. Do have a look at a copy if you can - and I promise you won't have to be "ageing" to enjoy it!

The GWN at the Lit Fest

It was a lovely evening on Sunday at the Gloucestershire Writers Network event at the Cheltenham Literature Festival - as always, superbly organised by Rona Laycock. We had a very appreciative audience for our readings and the pleasure of hearing judge Phil Kirby's poetry afterwards. And I'm delighted to say that, as the winner of the poetry section, I'm once more the keeper of the Dursley Hare for twelve months! His origin seems to have disappeared in the mists of time but he's a delightful little statue and comes along with the monetary reward (which, I'm glad to report, does not have to be passed on to the next winner!). Last time I had the hare sitting on my desk he proved a very lucky writing mascot, so I'm hoping for a repeat performance this year.

This morning I was invited to read my winning poem and to talk about my writing on Corinium Radio, along with Judith van Dijkhuizen and Derek Healy, both runners up in the poetry section, and Graham Bruce Fletcher, a runner-up in the prose competition. The theme this year had been "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" and it was fascinating to see the different angles from which people had approached it, with poems on such varied topics as a disabled father giving away his daughter at her wedding to non-native giant conifers, and short stories told in such diverse voices as those of a weary Russian emigree and an unmanned drone!

National Poetry Day

Perhaps you heard Prince Charles on Radio 4 this morning reading Seamus Heaney's "The Shipping Forecast"? Or maybe you're in Glasgow and you've heard Big Issue vendors reading poetry? Look out for letters postmarked by the Royal Mail today. What's it all about? Well, today is National Poetry Day, with its theme this year of "Messages". Before each programme on Channel 4 today refugees and migrants will be reading their poetry, and there are bound to be some heartfelt messages there. Do look out for them. 

And if you're interested to learn more about and enjoy the work of one poet in particular, do think about joining us in Cheltenham in  a couple of weeks time. We're hosting "I Walk On Fire", a weekend festival of all things Dylan Thomas. You can get all the information about the workshops, readings and open mics on line and it promises to be a great few days. Do hope to see you there.

Festival Fever

There are so many literary festivals these days that it would be all too easy to fall into the role of professional festival attendee! And for some reason some of our local ones clash (the Swindon Poetry Festival and the Cheltenham Literature Festival for example), which is infuriating when there are competing events to which it would be good to go. I have no desire to hear the "big names" who are simply out to market their latest publications, but I do enjoy listening to poets and authors whose work has inspired me and who have interesting things to say about the creative process.

A poet who has certainly inspired me is Maggie Harris and last Friday I was lucky enough to attend one of the sessions she was running in Swindon. I had met her a couple of years ago at a Warwick writing weekend and determined then to get to any other workshops she offered. Along with Maggie, during the afternoon session the northern poet Jacci Bulman gave a reading from her collection "A Whole Day Through From Waking" (Cinnamon). Many of the poems were based on her personal experience of illness and were not only moving but very thought-provoking. An interesting day!

Maggie Harris

New Voices

New Bohemians continues to go from strength to strength. Last Friday saw an excellent performance by four "new voices" from within the group, Lukas Russell Thomas, his mother Dee, Iris Lewis and Peter McDade. Jodie Orton provided a very pleasant interlude busking for us which, along with the poetry and the usual drinks and nibbles, made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Fresh from his success as the Gloucestershire Prize winner in the Buzzwords poetry competition, Peter joined Iris to give a joint presentation. Their poems ranged over a broad territory encompassing everything from myth to anthropology via an errant terrier named Smudge. Lukas certainly made us think, starting his performance with quotes to identify - Shakepeare or hip-hop? Remarkable how a well-read audience can get things so wrong! Certainly a challenge to our perceptions. Several of Dee's poems centred on motherhood and I could definitely identify with her reversal of the roles in Larkin's famous quote "They fuck you up, your mum and dad .."!

The next New Bohemians gathering will be on October 14th at 7.30pm; David Clarke will be leading a workshop before the usual open mic. Do join us at deepspace in Hamiliton Street in Cheltenham if you can - it promises to be another great evening.

Iris and Peter

Lukas and Dee

A French Interlude

Radio silence for the last couple of weeks I'm afraid, due to IT problems in France - how dependent we have all become on our technology and how bereft we are when deprived of it!

But an interesting and enjoyable time in the eastern Pyrenees, despite the incredibly high temperatures that made getting around a bit of a trial at times. There were a number of visits I wanted to make to follow up on some ideas and to do some research for a couple of forthcoming projects. Definitely the most moving visit was that to the memorial at the internment camp at Rivesaltes; the camp buildings now lie in ruins but the recently opened exhibition centre there tells the heartbreaking story of so many lives lived and lost over decades of the twentieth century.

Rivesaltes lies 40 kilometres from the Spanish border and early in its history housed some of the half a million refugees crossing into France during the Retirada in the Spanish civil war. It later incarcerated gypsies, Jews and French "undesirables" during the Vichy regime and subsequent German occupation; after Algerian independence many Harkis and their families were sent to live there. Through recordings, film and photographs each group tell their own extraordinary story in the exhibition. With the present refugee crisis, our visit was a timely reminder of the horrors man inflicts on man.

Less troubling (except for the precipitous drops from the single track road!) was a visit to the tiny mountain hamlet of Montalba, the setting for a planned short story. I always try to research settings carefully - they are "characters" in writing as much as the people who live out situations within them and I find that taking extensive notes and photographs really helps when it comes to recreating them on paper.

My setting ...

And talking of settings, another really good trip was to Carcassone. One of my favourite books read last year was Kate Mosse's "Citadel" and it was fascinating to visit the area in which she set her tremendous WW2 story. Another one to reread, I think.

...and Kate Mosse's!

One communication that did get through on our trip was news of the Gloucestershire Writers Network competition results. I was delighted to find that I'd won the poetry section and consequently will be reading again at the Cheltenham Literature Festival next month. My Picaresque colleague Judith van Djikhuizen, who also guested on this blog earlier this year, was a runner-up.The "locally sourced" event will take place at the Town Hall on Sunday October 16th at 19.00 when the winners of both the poetry and the prose sections and the runners-up will be sharing their work. It's always a very good evening so I'm really looking forward to it.