WPD 2022 ~ My World Poetry Day

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World Poetry Day – that sacred day when poetry gets mentioned on Radio Channels beyond Radio 2 and Radio 4, the day when a frame is held around words… it was World Frog Day yesterday, but I saved my leaping around for today!

I always mark WPD by making sure I read some poems and either organise or attend an event. Today I am going on a magical tour and then following up the starter with a main, with Apples & Snakes. I will skip dessert… or eat a real one for dinner, as cooking is out of the question this evening!

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I hope you have all managed to plan something sweet… if not and you have some time to spare, go and find your favourite spot to relax in, take a book of poems or your phone and read.

Or take advantage of this list of pieces and poems from the world today.

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Some poetry I collected from the web this evening:

From Outlook.com (please note there is a trigger warning/ suitability poem listed part way through the first poem).

outlookindia.comworld-poetry-day-two-poems-on-ukraine-and-one-on-peace-during-wartime-

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Caleb Parkin

https://thebristolmayor.com/2022/03/21/world-poetry-day/

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This article was news from before WPD – but let’s share it now:

Anjum Malik Manchester’s first Multi-cultural City Poets

Anjum Malik performing at University-held mushaira in 2018

© 2022 Manchester Metropolitan University

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MMU Marks World Poetry Day

Manchester Metropolitan University is well known for strong creative writing courses. Today they marked WPD in a myriad of ways.

Malika Booker has read An Alternative History of Stones for World Poetry Day

© 2022 Manchester Metropolitan University

Hit Play – it will work.

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World Poetry Day – March 21

Khalil Gibran
“Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.”

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https://www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/download-words-burn-resources

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A review of my magical night of poetry

I love poetry and I love a mystery – put them together and you have the wonder of my first event!

World Poetry Day: Poetry with a View – Mystery Location at Golden Hour!

About this event

I am excited to announce that Monday 21 March 2022 is World Poetry Day. Escape with me to a mystery location to experience a selection of poetry readings with a beautiful view!

© 2022 Eventbrite/ Sarah

I had no idea when I booked weeks ago where we would even be situated in the world… there really were no clues before I joined the livestream…

to my delight – the North West of England, Lancashire. It was hosted on heygo – which was a perfect platform for WPD.

My first experience of heygo was fabulous – you can capture postcards! Sarah was a fabulous guide, we were treated to 6 poems, lots of factual snippets (including some new ones for me), a beautiful sunset, a walk along the Leeds to Liverpool canal and we even saw some ducks! It was fun to guess the poets. There’s also a navigational map in the top corner too.

We heard:

Warning by Jenny Joseph – this poem was voted Britain’s favourite modern poem (2006) and Nation’s favourite (10 years before), this poem inspired a whole society.

Daffodils – By William Wordsworth. One of England’s most famous nature poets – William Wordsworth – Nation’s Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

A Subaltern’s Love Song by Sir John Betjeman. Classic English Poet – one of the all time well known poets… saved St Pancras Station from demolition!

The Quangle Wangle’s Hat by Edward Lear – born into a middle class family – middle child of 21 children – known for literary nonsense…. died aged 29.

If by Rudyard Kipling – one of the most well known writers of his time, won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907. I listed ‘If’ as my favourite poem at the start of the tour!

And we finished with the sun going down to Yes, I’ll Marry You by Pam Ayres!

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Later I joined Apples + Snakes for the World Poetry Day Mini Break with Lorna Zita.

About this event

For World Poetry Day this year, Apples and Snakes want to bring a little bit of sunshine and fun with Mozambican poet, cultural projects manager and international Slam Champion Lorna Zita.

More about Lorna:

Lorna Zita is black, spoken word poet, cultural projects manager and international Slam Champion. She represented Mozambique on Digipoem ‘’Zimbabwe’’ and BBC Contains Strong Language in the UK.

She was the second-place winner of the Maputo-Katembe literary contest “The bridge that connects lives” organized by the CCMA and the German Embassy.

In 2020 she was considered the most influential voice of Voices of African Women by I, Africa and currently has two Digipoems Published in partnership with Page Poetry Alive and the British Council.

In 2018 she won the literary contest, organized by Revista Literária Inversos in honor of the International Children’s Day at Feira de Santana in Brazil.

© 2022 Eventbrite/ A+S

This workshop had limited places and I lucky to get one!

It was great to meet Lorna and to see some familiar faces in the group. I admire anyone who can produce a workshop in their 2nd language and I am so glad that we were treated to a poem in Portuguese at the end to hear first hand why Lorna is the SLAM champion that she is!

It was a great way to spend World Poetry Day and I now have a little stash of ideas to write from, some prompts, one incredibly concise poem and have had a good refresher on the use of voice in performance.

WPD 2022

Happy World Poetry Day 2022

UNESCO first adopted 21 March as World Poetry Day in 1999.

Find out more about the history of WPD here.

… poetry speaks to our common humanity and our shared values, transforming the simplest of poems into a powerful catalyst for dialogue and peace.

World Poetry Day is the occasion to honour poets, revive oral traditions of poetry recitals, promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry, foster the convergence between poetry and other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and raise the visibility of poetry in the media. As poetry continues to bring people together across continents, all are invited to join in. © UNESCO 2021

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The pandemic saw a surge in people returning to writing or trying it for the first time. These writing communities were of great benefit to thousands of people as Covid changed our world.

I thank all the poets who have become part of my world and helped me through challenging times since 2020.

And of course all the poets who have been part of me doing this, since 2014.

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Let’s make some poems!

Here’s a little exercise for you to try which is a patchwork of several different ideas I have used in workshops and in my own writing.

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• Take a walk with your notebook (or phone), make observations of nature, write some down – remember to include sensory details.

• Return home and find a spot you never write in.

• Write longhand and freewrite from your collected lines/ a key word/ phrase or a lingering feeling (the words on your walk weren’t wasted – they got you to here).

• Explore your freewrite – circle some words and phrases.

• If you normally write in form try free verse/ if you normally write in free verse choose a form.

• This is a great site for learning form, for any level of writer and includes 15 different forms and includes some PDF templates.

• Enjoy your new constraints and WRITE!

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LINKS TO POEMS:

80,000 Gallons to a Lock

Luke Kennard

A convocation of pylons considers how to celebrate country-wide conversion to renewable energy

Helen Overell

a vision

Maggie Wang

Alternate Take

Kayo Chingonyi

Have a wonderful World Poetry Day – write some words and for more inspiration (and a video poem from me) check out the WLFF website: Video Poetry for World Poetry Day ~ Worcestershire LitFest & Fringe

Science & Maths Poetry Anthology – Every Word Counts

This gallery contains 16 photos.

Originally posted on Poet Laureate:
Following the news of the death of Stephen Hawking in March, I decided that we should have a collection of poems focusing on Science & Maths. As poets we are naturally curious which is something Stephen Hawking encouraged his students to be. I hope you enjoy these poems, huge gratitude…

NaPoWriMo 2018 A Review of a Week of Poetry 3

This was my first week back at work and a week that saw 3 performance events, all of which I missed (due to lack of energy and work). I held it together just enough to manage a poem a day. I found my time with NaPo prompts therapeutic, a small part of the day carved out just for me.

Week 3: 

1. (19) Not of Eve (Written about the White Witch)
2. (20) Rules of the Game (A poem based on the rules of Badminton)
3. (21) Wið færstice – For a Sudden Stitch (A Poetry Spell)
4. (22) On Display (Reverse text)
5. (23) Contrast (Erasure)
6. (24) A State of Disobedience
7. (25) Narcissus Flower

Week 1 Poetry 

1. Best Before
2. The Sea Jewel
3. The Home at Christmas
4. Apology
5. Bring Me The Shoes
6. Wordle Band Name
7. Pudding Protest
8. In the Park
9. Picking Blackberries
10. Note at Preached/ Preached to Neat / A Taped Coherent / Open at Detacher

Week 2 Poetry

• 11. Cotton To 
• 12. The Tiny Objects of a Vast Mind
• 13. World Going
• 14. White Matter Change
• 15. Apple
• 16. The Difficult House – Poem Beginning with a line from Sean Nevin
• 17. Keep the Light
• 18. Remover

NaPoWriMo Day 6 Ingredients: Actual Poems

It is around about now (days off the end of the month) that I realise this challenge is not going to end in April for me. After 4 weeks off from my writing life, I am returning to writing for performance, performing and editing current projects. The summer is fast approaching and lots needs addressing in my life outside of poetry. My poetry life is busy preparing for festivals, events and submissions. Tag on the day job, I don’t even want to think about all the boxes I am trying to unpack my way through or the need for a DEEP Spring clean at home… the result is chaos.

I have decided not to rush the NaPoWriMo project, I want to enjoy this process and benefit from time to write – after all that’s the main point, that and to have fun.

I may dream of writing business but the nuts and bolts are art. Art needs nurturing, time, commitment, space… I am approaching it softly.

From now on I do a day a day, as it should be. Welcome to day 6.

Our featured participant today is Kevin O’Conner, who struggled at first with our Day 5 prompt, but came up with a great poem, well-seeded with seed names.

Today’s featured poet in translation is Burma’s Ma Ei. Very little of her work is available in English, but you’ll find two poems at the link above, and two more here.

You may be interested in checking out this short film, showcasing the work of contemporary Burmese poets, including Ma Ei, as well as this interview with James Byrne, editor of a recent anthology of Burmese poetry, which includes Ma Ei’s work.

Today’s prompt was to write about food.

This is my friend’s microwave (7 years ago), maybe they have these models in the UK in a higher budget than the mark Mr G and I look at, I just loved the message. Usually they just ping, beep or flash. Perhaps I should have written about this microwave instead of taking half a day (and night) deliberating my food poem.

I think the writing process for Day 6 is juicier than the poem so I am sharing it first. I love food, this write should have been easy. But I remember Jo Bell’s advice; abandon your first thoughts, dig deeper. Immediately, like a naughty child, I want to write all my initial foodie thoughts.

 

Butter Fingers

I haven’t written a poem about cake.

Or biscuits.

Or fish fingers, crabsticks and spaghetti hoops.

There is no advice about what foods to avoid

on (first) dates,

or heavily veiled descriptions of tier towered

wedding cakes.

No Saturday night take-away

chicken madras, sweet and sour pork, fish

and chips,

but there is a poem about food.

 

If in doubt write what you are not going to write about. Just a bit of free write fun there, in the shape of a poem. Although it does pass as a food poem. At this point I placed a title above it and moved on. It is a poem.

I started with pictures of food, trying to disguise identity in an almost riddle.

Bright circus colours

a Big Top in stream form

The mustard and ketchup on a hotdog.

Then came a mind-map. Some ideas from which I may explore in the summer when I have maximum writing time.

Films about food and drink was taken from the mind-map and became an enjoyable hour of research and created some ideas for my next writing group, in May. I have a list of 27 alternative film titles substituting food words. ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crumpet’ a particular favourite of mine. Harrison Ford, dishy – doesn’t take a writer to get to crumpet there.

I then looked at Tarantino film clips involving food (another idea to chase later). I ended up on a recipe page and then spent a futile Google search looking for US Market canned Pumpkin, previously available in Tesco & Waitrose and now seemingly not reaching our island at all. I thought of filling suitcases and then baggage allowance and security.

Then I wrote a poem about Mr G and I cooking in the kitchen together.

Tango on terracotta tiles…

cabinet perimetered dancefloor…

hands gathering busy.

From here I ended up falling asleep and I woke up (2 hrs after my alarm) with a poem spilling from my head.

 

Eggs is Eggs (A pillow head poem)

Mum poached them

Dad fried them

Paul boiled them

I scrambled

and David,

was too young to cook.

 

 

NaPoWriMo: The Inevitable Catch Up – Day 1

I took Easter offline and have been chasing my tail ever since. It was not an intentional break from online activity, but it was a blissful and practically fulfilling decision.

My first full writing day for a while (last Thursday) was spent sorting through the inbox, finding a fair few rejections and also some work accepted for publication. I also discovered a freelance job opportunity – I would have bid but unfortunately it was too close  to the deadline. Apart from this and the backlog of social media and emails my time offline has not had any great impact.

It does mean I am 18 days behind with NaPoWriMo and one of the jobs on the list today is to get busy writing. I am mid editorial on my manuscript so in the ‘take a break’ slots I am playing catch up.

I have discovered this year that they are featuring different poets;

As in prior years, we’ll be featuring a participant each day, and giving you an optional prompt. In years past, we’ve also featured a daily new book of poetry, magazine, or poetry-themed website. This year, we’ll be doing something a little bit different. Every day, we’ll be featuring a different poet who writes in a language other than English, but whose work is available in English translation, working our way from east to west.

Our first poet in translation is Japan’s Hiromi Ito. Known for her ability to uncannily represent spoken language on the page, several of her books have been translated into English and, incidentally, she’s a translator herself, having translated Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat and Oh, the Places You’ll Go! into Japanese. But you don’t need to know Japanese to get to know Ito’s work: Poetry International features translations of a number of her poems into English, as well as audio files and essays. Also, one of her books, Wild Grass on the Riverbank, is available in English from Action Books, as well as a selected poems, Killing Konoko. © 2016 NaPoWriMo

As well as this they still have a featured participant each day too. I spent some time this morning exploring Veronica Hosking’s poetry vhosking without reading her NaPo work (I like to write mine cold). I will link my NaPo posts to the featured blogs because they are great to share.

DAY 1: The first challenge was to Write a Lune, which is apt as I spent the weekend writing Haikus with my Young Writers Group.

The lune is also known as the American Haiku. It was first created by the poet Robert Kelly (truly a great poet) and was a result of Kelly’s frustration with English haiku. After much experimentation, he settled on a 13-syllable, self-contained poem that has 5 syllables in the first line, 3 syllables in the second line and 5 syllable in the final line.

Unlike haiku, there are no other rules. No need for a cutting word. Rhymes are fine; subject matter is open. While there are less syllables to use, this form has a little more freedom.

There is a variant lune created by poet Jack Collom. His form is also a self-contained tercet, but his poem is word-based (not syllable-based) and has the structure of 3 words in the first line, 5 words in the second line and 3 words in the final line.

As with Kelly’s lune, there are no other rules. © 2016 Writer’s Digest

I like this genre as it is fun to play with and doesn’t take too long to come up with new poems (unless you are writing to demonstrate the ease to teenagers, then you will struggle to identify multiple syllables and finding words to fit)!

Generally I post excerpts of my NaPo Poems, as these are short form you get to enjoy them fully.

Go have a play!

Robert Kelly Lune

The grey day unfolds

work did not

call. Freedom to write.

The sky is white with

Spring, frozen

bird sits on bare tree.

Faint music. Thin walls

the daily

ghost playlist begins.

 

Jack Collom Lune

I thought a word count as opposed to a syllable count would be easier to compose, I actually found it trickier and it is quite hard to get the brain to stop counting in syllables.

My Desk (which is messier than this Lune suggests)

Black stapler, pen,

bulldog clip, paperclip, magazine, key,

notebook, receipt, diary.

 

Now

High flying dreams

catch invisible contours and soar

further than imagined.

April

Numb feet, stinging

toes, fluffy socks, extra layers,

the English spring.

I hope you enjoy them.

RELATED LINKS

DAY 1 Lune

 

 

Weather, birdsong, exposing yourself: Jo Bell on the 52 project’s runaway success | Write Out Loud

Weather, birdsong, exposing yourself: Jo Bell on the 52 project’s runaway success | Write Out Loud.

I have to share this great article by Jo Bell on Write Out Loud because 52 has been a worthy project to be involved in this year and I have created poetry beyond boundaries. The best thing about the community is the level of critique and the fact that professionals and novices meet alongside each other and I think, half a year in, due to the constant reminders from Jo, people have FINALLY stopped apologising for their poetry!