November – End of Month Review

I cannot believe we are only one month from the end of the 2014! This month has been busy and lots has been going on both in terms of writing and life (not that I usually separate the two).

Blog & Projects

With only two months of 52 remaining I am making effort to actually post my poems in the group and receive feedback and editing support. I wish I had more time for this amazing project but I have been ‘on the road’ a lot this year and with one thing and another have not always found time to work on the poems as much as I would have liked. Those half baked 52 poems have never seen the light of day on the site as the intention is not workshop standard poetry.

I do plan to plug the gaps in 2015 – especially as I presume there won’t be 52 as a weekly event anymore, so I should have time to work on them.

I continue to work on a big project of my own, which I hope will reach daylight by 2015/16!

Paragram have sent proof copies and orders are already stacking up for the ‘Remember’ Anthology – featuring my poem ‘Picasso of Dance’.

Submissions

I only made two submissions this month, I also finished my Hanbury Hall Poems for our Poetry Society/Stanza group. We are still not sure how these poems will be used, but I will keep you posted.

Performing Poetry

After a year of open mics and events I have decided to spend the next 12 months on writing focus. This does not mean that I will not perform, it only means I will perform less, saving a fortune in transport costs and allowing more time to write. This year I have especially enjoyed seeking out special events to be part of, finding these opportunities is a priority in 2015. I have enjoyed managing 6 performances, a workshop and a book launch instead of 9- 12 open mics and my writing has been far more productive with the extra time I have gifted myself.

Coventry Nightblue Fruit with Cork Poets at the Big Comfy Bookshop – Adam Wyeth, Cal Doyle & Kathy D’Arcy.

Nightblue fruit

Mouth & Music at the BHG – Boars Head with Fergus McGonigal & Humdrum Express

M & M

Medical Themed Quiet Compere at the Strand, Cheltenham with Sarah L Dixon

Medical Themed

Poetry Bites – Kitchen Garden Café Birmingham

A group of contributors to the Restless Bones Poetry Anthology formed the Headline act at this event.

16 Days of Activism -Library of Birmingham

Restless & 16 Days

Events & Workshops

Workshop with Emma Purshouse, Bilston Art Gallery, Craft & Conflict

Craft & Conflict

Book Launch – The Failed Idealist’s Guide to the Tatty Truth By Fergus McGonigal

Book Launch

Stanza

WWM – Writing West Midlands – Young Writing Group & Mentoring

Writing, Headlining Restless Bones, 16 Days of Activism and a Proof

This week I have mainly focused on my writing again, missing some open mic events and other performances. Mr G and I have also started sorting the house *for Christmas, we still have a lot of things boxed up from the move and have rooms that are practically inaccessible because of this.

This week also saw ‘Black Friday’ SALES coming to the UK – and although I didn’t really take part, I did happen to be in town buying a few birthday gifts. I spent an hour in a clothes shop trying on various items and finally picked 2 things, calculated my 30% discount, got a bit excited by the bargain of a winter micro-fleece and a pair of jeans, got to the till – none of the items I bought were in the BF SALE! Typical!

I am working on current submissions with several deadlines early December as well as compiling a 15 minute set for next weekend’s gig.

© 2014 KGC

On Tuesday 25th a group of featured poets from the Restless Bones Poetry Anthology Headlined at Jacqui Rowe’s event. I had a fantastic night and met several poets who then came and performed for Sound Bites this weekend. The anthology continues to sell well and will now be on Sale by Silhouette Press at the next Inzine event in Coventry. Performers included; Elaine Christie (creator of the collection), Tessa Lowe, Claire Walker, David Barber, myself- Nina Lewis, Jude Ashworth,

Poetry Bites: Restless Bones

“One of the top 10 venues for poetry in the UK” (Susan Richardson, Radio 4).

Tonight’s Poetry Bites will be devoted to contributors to ‘Restless Bones’, an anthology raising funds for the Born Free Foundation.

BUY YOUR COPY HERE;

InZine Fest II

SATURDAY
12-5pm
6/12/2014
@ The Pod
1A Lamb Street, Coventry, CV1 4AE

Jacqui was at an awards evening, Poetry Bites was hosted by Chris Fewings and a grand job he did too!

RELATED LINKS:

http://silhouettepress.co.uk/events/inzine-fest

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/book-launch-restless-bones-poetry-anthology-for-born-free-foundation/

My next event was yesterday at The Library of Birmingham, ‘Sound Bites’ as part of the 16 Days of Activism. The subject matter of this event was not pretty or entertaining but I was proud to be part of this event, organised for 16 poets by Najma Hush.

There were only about 10 performers who made it to the Bookbox yesterday, the quality of writing and performing was incredible. Moving first hand experiences and poetry to fit the Activism themes. I wrote 3 poems especially for the event – one of my poems focused on Slavery – last night they featured this issue on the evening news. Slavery was abolished in this Country in 1833 – but unbelievably it is still a huge (largely unseen) problem.

The rest of the women present were absolutely amazing, individuals who shared a piece of themselves, their experiences and private thoughts about life as a female upon earth. Thanks to Marcia Calame, Ddotti Bluebell, Jackie Smallridge, Leah Atherton, Nina Lewis, Sammy Joe, Abie Budgen, Carole Griffiths and Susan Philips – Nikki Bi and Shahida Choudhry who all helped to create Saturday Soundbites : Women Unplugged, spent at 16 Days of Activism Birmingham, UK .

– Najma Hush

http://www.libraryofbirmingham.com/womenspeakout

http://www.libraryofbirmingham.com/event/Events/16days-womenunplugged

Showcasing an eclectic mix of women performers from across the West Midlands. This event will be a unique gathering of our region’s most talented women, coming together to artistically express their passionate views for Human Rights, live through performance.

 

Whether you want to spin us a yarn, spit your bars, hit us with your punch line, or wax us lyrical with your prowess, join us at The Library of Birmingham.

 

Hosted by Najma Hush, poets reading include: Marcia Calame, Abie Budgen, Ddotti Bluebell, Jackie Smallridge, Nina Lewis, Leah Atherton & Sammy Joe. And the two poets who came from my plug at Poetry Bites, who due to dropping acts were able to perform Carole Griffiths and Susan Philips.

It was also good to see 4 men who had come to support the women in their lives at the event too.

  Photos to follow.

Women Unplugged is just one of the event for Amnesty International’s, The Official 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign (29 Nov – 7 Dec 2014). With a fantastical array of creative events filled with vivacious activities, interactive shows and live performances for the people of Birmingham at the People’s Palace (organised by the Women’s Networking Hub).

It has been a brilliant week and the Caldmore writing Workshop, led by David Calcutt  which was due to happen this Tuesday has been rescheduled for early December, which means I can enjoy it without having to save energy for an evening performance too.

I have received my proof from Paragram, for the upcoming anthology ‘Remember’ AND in addition to all this excitement Christmas has arrived! The local towns have all had SWITCH on and the pretty lights are twinkling, the markets have arrived Victorian Christmas Market in Worcester and Frankfurt Market in Birmingham, although I wouldn’t recommend Saturday day time crush as experienced yesterday! I saw Christmas trees being delivered at school when I left on Thursday and we have our Advent Calendars ready to fill and I am getting excited about our 2nd Christmas together in our house. Before that we have 3 family birthdays to celebrate too! (And lots of Christmas Shopping!)

A Week of Writing & Medical Themed Quiet Compere Open Mic

I have already started planning my writing for 2015 and have made the important decision to focus on the writing rather than performing poetry. This year has been great fun and I have indeed been prolific in the local and surrounding area, I have achieved what I set out to achieve and have spent a year at the mic. People know me, some of my poems are widely known, I have made lots of friends and contacts and have enjoyed sharing my work this way. I will continue to do so, but in a more realistic and balanced way. People (who didn’t know me well 12 months ago) said I wouldn’t be able to keep it up… I knew I would and I did, I have a learnt a lot by watching others and I would continue supporting all the great events if I could. However, I am going to be selective and make sure I get an annual or bi-annual appearance at these events, whilst continuing to look for unique opportunities, commissions and paid work (as I have done this year) and using the rest of my time (extra time freed up from not attending 4 events a week) to write. Plus it costs a fortune in travel – a sum I am unlikely to recoup any time soon.

So this week – as I was busy with many projects – I thought I would give it a go and start and I am surprised how good it feels. I do miss having 3 events to attend, but it is lovely to take a back seat and I feel less stressed, which has helped create better writing space and time.

I spent the first part of the week working with the day-job, I booked Friday off as was performing in Cheltenham and I ended up having Thursday as a writing day too. I am currently working on phase 2 of the big project, I have embarked on two new projects one involving promotion and the other one something special for the New Year, I am writing & editing my Hanbury Hall/Art Network Poetry, sets for next weekend and the weekend after, some work from David Calcutt’s Wild Fire Workshop that I attended over half term in October, some work that came from the Stratford workshop with Angela France, historical research and several current submissions, as well as email/admin tasks. You can now see why I have cut events from my schedule!

I spent time reading writing articles and poetry books (I still have a bookshelf full of books I have bought in support of others over the past year) as well as writing and editing.

 I started writing in the 2015 diary and planning things for the rest of the month.

I missed an Open Mic in Digbeth, Poet’s Place a the library of Birmingham and on Friday there were 4 events that clashed – Word Up, Spoken Word at the Ort and Confab Cabaret.

Having a 9 day break from performing meant that I was ready for my set at Cheltenham on Friday. It was a great night. Sarah L Dixon a.k.a The Quiet Compere spends most of her year organising events around the North and Midlands areas of the country, she is now expanding events up and down the Country. I met her earlier when Sarah James, Jenny Hope, Ruth Stacey and others performed at the Birmingham Quiet Compere Tour.

Back in the Spring I was asked to be one of the poets on the 2015 Tour on the 10th July at The Hive in Worcester.

In Cheltenham they have an annual conference called Medicine Unboxed conference and Sarah L Dixon runs an open mic for this weekend, so it had a medical theme. I wrote my poems a few months ago, they went down well, people particularly responded to Moth Face and Dodgy Stomach. It was a great night with varied performances, subject matter and lots of ’52’ Poets.

The line up for the evening;

Nina Lewis
Ruth Stacey
Peter Wyton
Nick Lovell
Chris Hemingway
Sarah Snell-Pymm
Rick Vick
Avril Staple
Brenda Read-Brown

Kathy Gee-Wordstring
Maggie Doyle
Claire Walker
Colin Waterman
Sarah James

***

Brenda Read-Brown, Chris Hemingway & Claire Walker

 

Kathy Gee, Maggie Doyle & Nick Lovell

 

Peter Wyton, Sarah James, Sarah Snell-Pym & me Nina Lewis

 

Photographs – Sarah L Dixon © 2014

Here is a picture of all the 52er poets in attendance

Since then I have been busy finalising my Hanbury Hall Poems which have now been sent to the Droitwich Arts Network, fingers crossed they will be used somehow. I wrote 6 poems on the first picture – recognised instantly as Paris. ‘April in Paris’ By Sue Black. I also wrote 4 poems inspired by ‘Beach Slut’ by Wendy Swann. I wrote about several of the other pictures too, in the end I just submitted two poems; ‘Not Yet Home’ & ‘Little Blue Hut’.

By the end of the weekend I hope to finish my Wild Fire Poetry and some other work too.

November – Performances, Submissions & Mentoring

This week has been busy week, one which finally had a writing day in it. I took on a lot of work this week and even took a last minute booking on the 1st writing day I had planned.

I am currently busy working on several things including my Hanbury Hall poems and writing material for an event at the end of the month as well as general submissions, I made 2 on my writing day (Fri) this included 4 new poems and 2 fairly new ones that I have been working on for a few weeks with the intention to submit.

I performed a set for Mouth & Music on Tuesday night, the theme was ‘Remember’, I could have just read my recently published Paragram Poem ‘Picasso of Dance’, I intended to spend Tuesday writing to the theme – but I got called into work.

Instead I took both my poetry books to the venue and organised my set ad hoc. Amongst my set I performed an edited version of ‘Return to Stone’ previously performed at Roy McFarlane’s ‘Soulful Voices’. Roy had been booked to headline, unfortunately his mum passed away very recently. My thoughts go out to him and the family.

We were treated to Fergus McGonigal and Humdrum Express (Ian Passey) as headline guests and the whole night was great fun, alive with atmosphere – which after the beginning of my working week I felt I very much needed and benefitted from.

   Photography: Peter Williams © 2014

On Friday I had a writing day which was long overdue, I spent 4 hours working on poetry for submissions and caught up on admin for another hour, before taking a well earned and much needed rest. Fortunately I did wake up in time to get ready for Stanza!

 It was Children In Need on Friday and I had the opportunity to perform in Wolverhampton, but had already committed to Stanza and the meeting was a lot closer to home.

Stanza was a great night with lots of people, helpful editing advice and lovely nibbles. I love Stanza, it is such a friendly and helpful group. I am glad we have less than a month to wait before the next meeting – booked early because of Christmas!

On Saturday I worked as an Assistant Writer for our group at The Hive. I was performing in the Birmingham Literature Festival, I missed October’s group – it felt like I had been away for months.

I also had the 1st of 3 Mentoring sessions, I was asked back in the Summer if I would consider being a Writing Mentor, of course I said YES! It was a great first session and I look forward to continuing this work in December & January.

Since then I have spent some time catching up with family, sleeping and avoiding buying bags!

Next week looks good, I didn’t have a particularly blank diary, but I realise I need to re-energise, I have officially only committed myself to a set in Cheltenham on Friday and apart from this think I may have a week off. I am working in the day job and need some energy to finish writing projects, plus it IS cold and rainy – staying in is always more appealing in this season of dark afternoons and pre-Christmas busy-ness!

Review of October

The end of last month was so crazy busy I am only just tying up loose blog ends now, nearly midway through November!

October was a true turning point month, goals I have been working towards for a while came together and opportunities flowed one after another. It was a fab month I thoroughly enjoyed being busy. Half term was filled with writing events and I also managed (or was possibly forced by exhaustion) a couple of days off. Think I have had about a week so far this year because I love what I do – it doesn’t feel like work.

I started reviewing my writing life in weekly chunks as it was becoming too much to blog in real time about my schedule.

OCTOBER highlights include;

National Poetry Day – I loved finding out how other people had marked this special day, some of the things people got up to were incredible.

I hosted the opening event of Arts All Over the Place – Poetry, Performance and Everything Else as the Poetry Princess, followed by a writing workshop with Jan Watts and Cathy Crossley, next I  performed at Roy McFarlane’s Soulful Poetry Event – all part of the AAOTP Festival. Then I hotfooted to the library in Birmingham to watch the new Poet Laureate being announced. Adrian Blackledge became the new Birmingham Poet Laureate for 2014-2015

This day also marked ONE YEAR since returning to the OPEN MIC circuit!

RELATED LINKS:

National Poetry Day

Literature Festivals including Birmingham Literature Festival, Poetry, Performance & Everything Else Festival and Book to the Future Festival.

I went to see the recording of Radio 4 Poetry Please with Roger McGough, followed by With Great Pleasure, also recorded for BBC Radio 4. Rich McMahon was playing guitar and singing in the foyer  before the evening show at the Rep Theatre of Tell Me on a Sunday, which was a storytelling event set up by Writing West Midlands and Cat Weatherill to share real life stories. Marking the end of 3 years on this project she had selected some of the top stories and tellers to perform and treated us a little to her own stories in between.

I then returned to the festival the following weekend to perform my own commissioned poetry about Urban Nature for Naked Lungs.

A spoken-word exploration of the intersection of urban and natural.

Our lives in the city are played out amongst the products of human endeavour, the frantic pace of the metropolis tending to obscure our innate intimacy with the natural environment. Yet nestled within the concrete and mirrors are jungles brimming with other lives. Birmingham has recently been declared a Biophillic city and is praised for its biodiversity. How does the city structure our experiences of the non-human? Is it valuable that we facilitate such experiences? A group of writers will be producing and performing work dealing with these questions.

It felt amazing to be part of the festival just one year after discovering it! My first commissioned performance project, I hope there are more opportunities in the future.

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/birmingham-literature-festival-naked-lungs-urban-nature/

Full Story

I performed a set for Phenomenal Women organised by Jan Watts for the Book to the Future Festival at Birmingham University and Arts All Over the Place celebrated the end of the PPAEE Festival with a huge party, I was delighted to perform an amusing set for the them and have Swingerella share the stage with me.

SpeakEasy also celebrated the 1st Anniversary, I was happy when they asked me to perform a set at this special event. More

I also completed my biggest poetry project to date and organised INKSPILL for the 2nd Year – an online writing retreat hosted right here on this blog. There is a pinned post on the front page of this blog (homepage) with links to the main articles from our INKSPILL weekend, go check it out. This year I was joined by Writer William Gallagher and Poets Charlie Jordan and Heather Wastie who wrote and filmed some wonderful guest posts full of knowledge, advice and experience.

My brother’s Wedding at the beginning of the month was a non-writing highlight. I read a poem by Roy Croft during the service to the tear stained faces of the bride and groom – toughest of audiences. It was a truly magical day!

That is a lot of highlights for just over 4 weeks!

 

Blogs & Projects

I continue with 52, although I am behind in week 40 something. I regret not being able to take full advantage of the community of this group, my own writing schedule has taken off this year and I am busy working when I am not writing and some weeks cannot find the time I promised to carve out for 52. We are all getting reflective as the year draws to a close.

Naked Lungs – My 1st commission – 2 other poets and myself performed at Birmingham Literature Festival in a piece called Urban Nature, it was an amazing experience.

Hanbury Hall Art Exhibition – an opportunity through the Poetry Society Stanza group to write poetry inspired by art in the gallery. I enjoyed the exhibition and still need time to create, write and edit my submission.

INKSPILL – kept me busy over the last week of October, writing and researching articles, communicating with Guest writers and organising the schedule of events. It was great fun and lots of people have accessed the posts.

 

Submission

I completed a poetry project and missed lots of end of month submissions.

Wrote poetry for my commissioned performance and received rejection from publications I submitted to over the summer.

 

Performing Poetry (which I attempted to cut back on to maximise writing time)

Events I performed at include;

Mouth & Music, Kidderminster, hosted by Heather Wastie, headlined by Jasmine Gardosi. Where I first performed my Halloween Set – to the theme of Ghosts and Ancestors, including two new poems written especially for the event.

 

SpeakEasy, Worcester Hosted by Fergus McGonigal – Worcester Poet Laureate, headlined by Antony Owen and Spoz, I was lucky enough to be asked to perform and was delighted as this was the 1st Anniversary Special! There was CAKE!

 

Poetry For Lunch, The Library of Birmingham, hosted by Jan Watts.

Restless Bones Birmingham Promo with Born Free Film at The Ort.

42 Halloween Special

Mostly Halloween at the Ort – a 10 minute set.

 

Word Up, in Halloween Fancy Dress Birmingham, hosted by Ddotti Bluebell – a night of amazing poetry. Headlined by Daisy Edwards & Swingerella.

 

Workshops & Events

Writing Workshop David Calcutt Community  Garden Walsall, WILD FIRE

Poetry Workshop Angela France in Stratford-Upon-Avon

AAOTP Award Evening – where I received a HERO AWARD for stepping in last minute to open the festival.

Alan Durham’s Hen Race Book Launch

 

Meetings and Projects

We had the annual meeting of writers with Writing West Midlands.

My 1 to 1 Mentoring Role for WWM was made official and planning started for these sessions.

I also managed to get to Stanza this month again, hosted by Sarah Kemp.

 

PUBLISHED

It was August when I sent my last batch of submissions out, since then I spent my time working on one or two larger projects and some commissions. Most of the work which I sent out has since been rejected.

On the 7th November I received an email (that is how busy I am, it has taken days to acknowledge this on the blog), from an editor accepting my work.

Paragram accepted my poem ‘Picasso of Dance’, about Martha Graham for publication in an up and coming print anthology  of Poetry and Flash Fiction, ‘REMEMBER’, which will be available to buy from Amazon and other on-line stores.

Very excited and grateful for this opportunity.

A Workshop with Emma Purshouse – Craft & Conflict Exhibition – Bilston Art Gallery

A very apt workshop the day before Remembrance Sunday. It was intergenerational and listening to the children’s poetry based on Conflict Art was insightful. It is the Centenary of WWI, which has created a whole deluge of War poetry, something I have attempted in the past and this year. I find it hard as despite having family serve in WWII, war is something I have not (fortunately) experienced first hand, there are a mountain of clichés to conquer and sometimes I feel I have no right writing about such things. However, Art is a world I know and I found using the exhibition as stimuli I was able to get ink on paper.

The exhibition itself is filled with such varied interpretations of Conflict that choosing ‘a piece’ to use as a starting point was a tough decision. I am a fan of Haiku, so when asked to produce 3 I thought it would be easy. There was so much story both the artists and the subjects and war itself that coming up with a complete idea in 3 lines was challenging. My first Haiku hit the nail on the head though. It was good to have Emma’s Feedback and support and I am glad I discovered this workshop in time. I look forward to creating poems that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.

© Poetry on Loan 2013

I was absorbed by some of the artwork, so much so I wished I had hours to just sit looking at it – not half an hour to form all my ideas into a poem. I took photos in the hope of spending more time on this body of work, but it will not be the same as sharing the space with the art, up close.

I thoroughly enjoyed my workshop experience and now hope for time to settle back down with my photos and notebook and get to work.

We read examples of our work from the workshop in the afternoon in the Gallery, it was great to hear everyone’s interpretation of the exhibits and the theme of War & Remembrance.

 

RELATED LINKS:

http://www.emmapurshouse.co.uk/

http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/events/craft-conflict/ Craft and Conflict brings together both contemporary and historical items that commemorate and explore the themes of war and remembrance. The exhibition is on until the 22nd November, if you are local I highly recommend it!

Book Launch – The Failed Idealist’s Guide to the Tatty Truth By Fergus McGonigal

 

On Thursday night I went to Worcester to perform at Fergus’s book launch and to celebrate his success as a published poet. I was touched to be invited to perform at the Book Launch along with Neil Laurenson, Claire Walker, John Lawrence, Maggie Doyle and Heather Wastie. A great mix of poetry to entertain people for the first half and then the delight of Fergus sharing lots of poetry from this new collection.

I bought my copy of course, thank you Fergus for the lovely message, I shall cherish it along with the book and cannot wait to read it (your book is in a queue of ….. and will be read as soon as possible)!

It was a cracking night and I am happy for Fergus. The venue was packed out with friends and family and people had travelled great distances to celebrate the next chapter of Fergus’s adventure.

Fergus McGonigal

Is the current Worcestershire Poet Laureate, co-curator and host of the Worcester Lit Fest & Fringe’s monthly spoken word event, “SpeakEasy”, which runs on the second Thursday of every month at The Old Rectifying House, in the heart of Worcester City.
Last year, Fergus was chosen from 20 commissioned West Midlands poets to be one of 6 poets to represent the Arts Council’s Poetry on Loan “Postcard Poets” project. Their aim is to bring poetry to library-goers across the region: through performance poetry; poetry workshops; and events like “Poetry on Demand”, where you can commission a poet to write a poem for you on the spot.

From this autumn, Fergus will be working with Museums Worcester taking their First World War Remembrance Project to community centres, arts festivals and schools; and he will also be running several Remembrance Day events for MW. 

Fergus’s first collection, “The Failed Idealist’s Guide to the Tatty Truth”, will be published in November by Burning Eye Books.

“Fergus McGonigal: this young man is emerging, no I correct myself, taking over, as this season’s “must have poet”. He is everywhere! He has the voice and passion of a young Brian Blessed, a hangover that Oliver Reed would be proud to recognize, and a wry sense of humour which always makes him a hit with any audience.” 

http://www.fergusthepoet.com/index.html

Congratulations to Fergus & thanks for the invite!

 

Check it out and buy your copy here 

November – Cork Poets, Fireworks, Book Launch, Performances, Workshop, Work, Getting Published, Writing & Wild Fire!

November – Cork Poets, Fireworks, Book Launch, Performances, Workshop, Work, Getting Published, Writing & Wild Fire!

Just taking a deep breath to read the title of this post makes me realise how busy this first week of November has been, especially as I used my only writing day (Monday) to catch up on household chores and laundry. The laundry was a bit of a mistake, 3 loads, it started raining, we have just enough airers for this amount, discover our central heating does NOT work. Fortunately Mr G called up our insurance company and they sent an engineer out – we have a new thermostat and more importantly, a warm house! We were beginning to ice up on the inside! Unfortunately the engineer wasn’t here until Friday so the clothes are only just dry.  We do have a tumble dryer mode on the washer but it seems to make everything several sizes smaller, so we avoid it for clothes.

Hard to believe it was sunny back at the beginning of the week, after the monsoon of recent days. I accepted way too much work this week but it was all at places I have worked before so at least there were no extra miles getting lost or classes I wasn’t prepared for! It did result in two 5pm crash outs Wednesday and Friday though.

Writing Work

I have an ever-growing list of current writing projects, 3 of which now come from workshops I have attended over the past fortnight. None of which I have managed any time on this week. All of which I want to get my teeth stuck into this weekend, well Sunday now. I have used today up in a flurry of road systems, motorway junctions and a gallery workshop.

In writing the reviews of these events this week I have decided to go back to the old format of posting separate events.

Here are some links so you won’t get lost (unlike me)!

Tuesday 4th November

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/coventry-nightblue-fruits-annual-celebration-with-poets-from-cork/

Nightblue Fruit – Antony Owen, with Guest Poets from Cork; Adam Wyeth, Cal Doyle & Kathy D’Arcy.

Photos by Saleha Begum.                                                                                                    Saleha Begum © 2014

 

Wednesday 5th November was Guy Fawkes Night and despite it being a work night Mr G planned our first ever Bonfire Party. Last year we had a fire in the firepit, some sparklers and watched everyone else’s fireworks in the sky.

This year we invited neighbours, friends and Mr G’s God children, who loved it. Was great to see them work through fear of sparklers and fire and before the end of the evening they were (under supervision) throwing more wood on the fire and writing in the air with Sparklers. We took photos but have not uploaded any yet. Many of our neighbours celebrated on the 5th so there were lots of other fireworks to watch as well as our own.

The fireworks still whiz, pop and bang as I write this, families waiting for the weekend to have a party. Mr G and I have always gone to public displays – nothing beats your own garden though, the fairy lights looked great on the summer house and a great night was had by all. At least 4 hours of fun in layers in the cold, before the rain came.  Big thanks to Mr G for buying the fireworks and for Leyton for lighting them!

I was exhausted after work and had gone to the supermarket too (I planned to cook burgers and had bought refreshments for the kids). I fell asleep watching teatime TV and could have happily gone straight to bed. By the time I woke up Mr G had the fire going and the garden was all ready for our guests. It was a great night, even if I was too tired to cook and the kids had all the Sparklers!

 

RELATED LINKS

http://www.bonfirenight.net/

Thursday 6th November – Fergus McGonigal launched his first poetry collection.  

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/book-launch-the-failed-idealists-guide-to-the-tatty-truth-by-fergus-mcgonigal/

 Gary Carr © 2014

I was invited to read at his launch, I forgive him for making me go first!

RELATED LINKS:

http://burningeyebooks.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/new-november-title-1-the-failed-idealists-guide-to-the-tatty-truth-by-fergus-mcgonigal/

If you would like to buy the book directly rather than through Amazon, here is a link:

http://www.inpressbooks.co.uk/the-failed-idealist-s-guide-to-the-tatty-truth/

 

By Friday I was so tired it was a struggle to survive work, but I did and then slept for a few hours when I got in. Mr G and I had planned a quiet night in and that’s exactly what we did.

I had hoped to manage some writing but I was too tired to think, let alone type. I had the night off completely. Except for checking emails on my phone – and thank goodness I did, as I received one from an editor telling me they were publishing a poem of mine in an upcoming print anthology.

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/published-2/

Saturday Last week I discovered a call out for people to take places on a workshop run by Emma Purshouse at Bilston Art Gallery, they currently have an exhibit called ‘Craft & Conflict’.

I got extremely lost and it took twice as long (and then some) than it should have and even though I ended up on the motorway 6 junctions further away than I should have been on my way home, it still only took 35 minutes to make the 15 miles back, although probably more miles owing to the junctions, really need to get my Sat Nav mended.

Anyway it was totally worth the extra petrol and road stress. This was the 2nd session of the day and the Arts Services had advertised it as intergenerational, which it was this afternoon. Children have great imaginations and I was impressed by the writing of younger members of this workshop. The Gallery collection was more than I expected, more pieces. There was so much that grabbed me that I plan to continue producing work from this workshop.

Saturday 8th November a Workshop with Emma Purshouse, Bilston Art Gallery, Craft & Conflict

https://awritersfountain.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/a-workshop-with-emma-purshouse-craft-conflict-exhibition-bilston-art-gallery/

SUNDAY 9th November

With such a busy week of work and events by Sunday my tiredness caught up with me and once again I didn’t make it online to complete my planned schedule, nor did I find time to write my Wild Fire poems from David Calcutt’s wonderful Community garden Workshop. My list of writing projects is growing faster than the first scarf I knitted, when I forgot how to cast off!

Needless to say I didn’t make it to the Community Garden Bonfire to read my non-existent fire poetry,  I barely made it to getting dressed!

Caldmore Community Garden Bonfire with Poetry readings with David Calcutt.

With work booked the next day, I had an early night. Sure this was a great night I missed and I look forward to hearing all about it.

Coventry – Nightblue Fruit’s Annual Celebration with Poets from Cork

Tuesday 4th – A Treat in Coventry and a Night with Poets from Cork

Antony Owen works hard on the exchange programme between the UK and Ireland. He had invited a handful of Irish Poets from Cork, Adam Wyeth, Cal Doyle & Kathy D’Arcy to guest at Nightblue Fruit at a new Venue (which we only just found), to be fair we were delighted to find Coventry, I took Claire Walker and Maggie Doyle too, Three Poets do Battle with Road Signs and the A44 4 44 (title of a poem yet to be written)!

It was a great night, I felt energised by the atmosphere and thoroughly enjoyed listening to new poetry, both that of the Guest Poets and open mics. I performed a few poems which seemed to go down well. I performed an allotment poem (from the ever expanding collection), my Halloween poem about Princess Juliana and a poem written for 52 about my hacking chest infection, called Constrict.

Before we left I treated myself to a book. Kathy D’Arcy’s collection ‘Encounter’, which I look forward to reading, I am sure I will hear her voice as I read my way through it. She was complimentary about my poetry and liked the unique voice of my work. A voice I hope future years of writing will strengthen.

I enjoyed all the sets, Kathy’s poetry spoke to me and connected me, it is powerful when that happens. Her work reminded me of my time in Ireland and she was brimming with smiley positivity! I was very careful not to look around the shelves, I could have spent a fortune on books! I have so many lined up to read and have just borrowed two more.

Poet Biographies Written by Antony R Owen;

Major Open Mic event run annually to celebrate Coventry’s twinning with Cork, Ireland in association with O’Bheal and Coventry’s Nightblue Fruit. Twin city link acknowledged by President Michael D Higgins in 2014.

ADAM WYETH is a poet, playwright and essayist. Born in Sussex in 1978, he has lived in Co. Cork since 2000. Wyeth’s critically acclaimed collection, Silent Music was Highly Commended by the Forward Poetry Prize. He has been hailed as a ‘poet of ideas exquisitely wrought and swarming, demanding a reader awake to complexity on a subtle scale… The Irish Times call, ‘Silent Music is a clever volume that playfully questions taken-for-granted certainties… a fresh and imaginative voice is evident.’

Adam’s second book The Hidden World of Poetry: Unravelling Celtic Mythology in Contemporary Irish Poetry was published by Salmon in 2013. The book contains poems from Ireland’s leading poets followed by short essays that unpack each poem and explore its Celtic mythological references. Paula Meehan says ‘This book connects us back to a Celtic dreamtime through mythology, which is, no more, no less than the poetry of the ancestors. Seamus Heaney calls Adam, ‘A gifted commentator/close reader. A hearer and heartener.’

Adam’s debut play Hang Up, produced by Broken Crow, has been staged at many festivals, including the Electric Picnic, the Galway Theatre festival and will be staged in Berlin later this year alongside his fourth play, Apartment Block. Hang Up has also been recently adapted into a short film and premières at Cork international Film Festival, 2014. His third play, Lifedeath was showcased at the Triskel Arts Centre mini-festival of new work in 2013 and was named by the Irish Examiner as the play of the festival. It had a performance reading as part of University College Cork’s Theatre programme. In 2013 Adam was commissioned to write the The Poetry Sessions, for Cyclone Theatre Rep. A full-length play covering all the poets on the Leaving cert syllabus, which has just been on its nationwide tour.

Cal Doyle has read as part of Poetry Ireland’s Introductions Series. Most recently his poetry has appeared in New Eyes on the Great Book and the Penny Dreadful. He regularly writes on Irish poetry for Southword and is the poetry editor for the Weary Blues. He is currently working on respective collections of poetry and prose. He lives in Cork, where is completing an MA in Irish literature and cinema in UCC.

Kathy D’Arcy is writer in residence with Cork literary organisation Tigh Fili (Poets’ House). Her first collection, Encounter, was published by Lapwing Publications in 2010, and a second, The Wild Pupil, was published by Bradshaw Books in 2012 (‘among the best poems I have read in years’ – Thomas McCarthy). She currently teaches Irish women’s literature with UCC’s MA in Women’s Studies programme, runs writing workshops and works with homeless teenagers, but she originally qualified and worked as a doctor. She is also a playwright; her plays ‘Retreat’ and ‘This is my Constitution’ have been staged in Cork, and the latter appeared recently at an Irish parliamentary briefing on constitutional change. Last year she was awarded an Arts Council Literature Bursary, and this year she received an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Award to conduct a Creative Writing PhD developing her experimental poetic techniques.

It was good to see Saleha Begum too, she has travelled far and wide since I last saw her and is busy with her own creative projects. Here are some of her photographs from the night, they catch some of the warm atmosphere (in a very cold room).

Saleha Begum © 2014

It was a fabulous evening, the Big Comfy Bookshop is a place to visit, great venue for words, coffee, books and marshmellows. It didn’t matter that we lost our way (or at least I did) on the way home, or that it was midnight before I was in, or that I had work the next day. This was one of those truly magical, uplifting nights where the stress of the work day slips away as you surround yourself with comfort. Pure pleasure.

 

RELATED LINKS:

http://thebigcomfybookshop.blogspot.co.uk/

adamwyeth.com

www.kathydarcy.com