Filling January with poetry

I don't do that well in winter, being encumbered with Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I try to fill it with poetry to compensate for having to take the Christmas lights down. 

This year was my third year of doing Kim Moore and Clare Shaw's January Writing Hours, which offers the discipline of an hour a day responding to poems and prompts. Sadly, I can only ever attend four per week because of fixed work commitments, but even so, after a two-year break from writing poems following the completion of my most recent collection, 'Love the Albatross', I feel I might be getting ready to start writing again, and so it was good to smell the distant whiff of poetry on the air. And it's always wonderful to encounter poets and poems you might not have come across otherwise. 

I also volunteered to read at a few poetry events, largely to make myself do it despite the dark and the longing to hibernate. The first of these was the launch of Di Slaney's new pamphlet, 'January conversations, with dogs', published by Valley Press. Di was looking for poets with poems about dogs to read at the launch, so I sent her a copy of 'The Good Dogs of Chernobyl', which was published in my 2019 collection, 'The Shadow Factory', and was delighted when it, and I, were chosen to take part. And although they were mostly distant, Northern, god-like poets involved, whom I 'know' from social media but have never met, I instantly felt part of a warm poetry community - it was a beautiful launch of a thoughtful, dog-accompanied collection of poems that never tip into sentimentality, skilfully illustrated by poet and artist, Jane Burn. And yes, I bought two copies, one for us and one for dog-owning, poetry-publishing friends, and if you like dogs and poems, you should too. 

                         

Mid-month and I left Bristol for the first time this year to travel to Bradford-on-Avon for the second Poetry@Roots reading at Bradford Roots Music Festival. I read at the first one last year, on the grounds that not wanting to leave my settee to drive along the frankly scary Sally-in-the-Wood in winter's dark was exactly the reason why I should do it, and it was a such a shiny experience, I jumped at the chance to do it all again. 

Organiser and compere Dawn Gorman

This year there were guest readings by Kate Noakes and Christine McFarlane, who was launching her first collection, 'Irish Elk and other Extinctions'. Dawn, who organises every event she puts on so very competently, but without the least hint of bossiness, interviewed Kate and Christine for The Poetry Place on West Wilts Radio, and also Dominic Fisher and me about the forthcoming anthology from the IsamBards, 'Dancing on the Bridge'. You can hear us here, at about 6 minutes and 25 seconds in. 

Taking to the Golden Gudgeon stage

Then, right at the end of the month, two readings within 18 hours of each other, the first a Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni Showcase, at Manchester Poetry Library, which I joined online. 

Compere Kim Moore with a bottle of beer and fellow-reader, Rachel Carney, listening to a collaborative reading on the theme of dementia by Hilary Robinson and Rachel Davies

I always find Teams and Zoom readings slightly terrifying in case a) someone rings the doorbell and the dog goes ape, or b) I suffer a technical disaster and find I can't join the reading, or the internet goes down - none of which has happened yet, though that doesn't stop me worrying. This time, there was even more jeopardy, as we're between kitchens right now, and out of camera shot, I was surrounded by tottering piles of crockery, rusting pots and pans, jars of condiments bought with the most exciting of intentions in 2018 that somehow got pushed to the back of the cupboard and never used, etc, etc. In the end, I took the precaution of shutting poor Cwtch the Collie upstairs, from where she tried to dig her way back down through the ceiling, though this wasn't audible in Manchester. As for the notification which kept popping up, telling me I had a poor network connection, I just ignored it and it was OK. 

Rachel Carney's view from the audience

Since this might have been my last contact with MMU, I'm pleased it went well. I loved studying for my MA, and having the space to write about the difficult subject of estrangement was important to me as I negotiated my experience of it. It was also exhilarating hearing the poetry some of my peers - Rachel Carney, Betty Doyle, Simon Costello, Hilary Robinson and Rachel Davis - have written.

The final reading of the month wasn't at all scary because it was on my home ground, at Silver Street Poetry and Open Mic, of which I'm one of the co-organisers. Knowing everyone there makes for a safe space in which I can be a little more frank about the circumstances behind the 'Love the Albatross' poems than I might be otherwise. And of course, people know me in return, which means I know I won't be judged. 

Action MC moment from Dominic Fisher

It means a lot to me when people who, it turns out, have experience of estrangement come up to me after a reading and tell me how much these poems have touched them. 

Finally, the last poem from 'Love the Albatross' to come home to roost did so in the pages of Indigo Dreams' The Dawntreader. A fine place for it to land. Thanks to Ronnie and Dawn for everything. 

Pushing the Cart (and a Chance to Listen at your Leisure)

When my publisher, Ronnie Goodyer, told me that he and Dawn Bauling had nominated one of my poems from ‘Love the Albatross’ for a Pushcart Prize, I had to look it up. (The prize, that is). I'd seen people celebrating their nominations over the years, but without any idea exactly what it was. I had the impression being nominated was an honour, and largely its own reward, and having looked into it, that seems - realistically - to be the case. (At least, there 's an slim anthology of poems published every year, but thousands of nominations. I’m just very grateful to to have a poem amongst them.)

So. Many thanks to them both, and congratulations to my fellow Indigo Dreams nominees, alongside whom it’s an honour to be listed.

Also, now it's been aired, here's the link to hear Helen Ivory and me guest-poetting for West Wilts Radio's 'The Poetry Place' whenever the fancy takes you. 

Poetry and the Stories of St Mary Tory

Covid put paid to a lot of things, one of them being the Words and Ears poetry evenings that used to take place in The Swan at Bradford-on-Avon. (It seems churlish to complain, given that the organiser, Dawn Gorman, now presents 'The Poetry Place' on West Wilts Radio - another boon for the poetry community in the West - but I do miss the rather more plentiful opportunities we used to have for in-person mingling with the poets of Wiltshire and Somerset. 

I was really pleased, then, to be able to join a few of them for a one-off Words and Ears Live at the 2024 Bradford Roots Music Festival. First though, since I'd arrived in very good time, a little visit to the lovely Chapel of St Mary, more commonly known as St Mary Tory,

In case you're wondering, 'Tory' has nothing to do with the political party; rather, it derives from the word 'tor' and refers to its location, perched high on the hill above the 17th century suburb of Newtown. 

Luckily, I was winding my way to Mary Tory from the top of the hill, rather than uphill from the centre of Bradford-on-Avon, which I've heard is a fair climb. 

Even so, my route was still steepish in places. 

Sadly, it was a dull, dark day, and the Westbury White Horse wasn't visible on thie horizon, but I did enjoy the rooftops with their graduated tiles, layered in the distinctive Cotswold manner ... 

... while below I picked out Holy Trinity Church, the roof of St Laurence, the atmospheric Saxon Church, and the mediaeval Town Bridge ...

... and to the west, I could see the Tithe Barn with the Kennet and Avon canal behind it. It would be good to go back again on a clearer day. 

St Mary Tory

The chapel is thought to date from the second half of the 15th century, and was originally a pilgrim chapel on the route between Glastonbury and Malmesbury. The antiquary, John Leland, came across it in his 'Itinerary' of 1533, and John Aubrey, chronicler of the 17th century, considered it 'the finest hermitage I have seen in England'. By the 19th century it was a ruin, and was rebuilt, in its original, late Perpendicular style, by T B Saunders QC. 

The lovely East Window, was designed and made by Mark Angus of Bath in 1999. 

It felt like a very peaceful, special place, but I couldn't linger too long as I had poems to read. I duly arrived back at the festival slightly pink and breathless, but my poems - featuring Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Joe Strummer and Ian Dury - were well received, and I was also interviewed by Dawn for West Wilts radio about my forthcoming collection, 'Love the Albatross'. 

On the Golden Gudgeon stage - clockwise - Linda Saunders with Dawn Gorman during the sound check, Jeff Phelps, Dawn and Frances-Anne King, Eileen Cameron, Chris Macfarlane, Linda Saunders, Dee Way and Ruth Sharman

A funny thing happened when I was talking to a member of the audience, who was wearing a bird headband, about wassailing, specifically the time we wassailed my grandmother's apple tree which my friend had driven over from my old garden on top of her Morris Traveller and replanted, and she said 'Dru Marland'! Which is exactly what I love about our community and our corner of the world. 

A month of poetry - and the Buzzwords Poetry Competition 2022

September's been a busy month, seeing the submission of my dissertation, and with it, the end of my MA in Creative Writing at Manchester Writing School. I decided to apply after my mother went to live with my sister in Nottingham for the last couple of years of her life, and I suddenly found myself with a lot more free time. Now all that's left to do is wait for the result of my dissertation, and then the release of my overall mark. I've really enjoyed rediscovering my inner swot, and will miss her and my studies once I've graduated. (Unless I go on to study for a PhD. We'll have to see.)

September was also very busy with regard to poetry readings; in fact, I ended up doing more in one month than the preceding two and a half years, starting with four readings over the course of one weekend at the University of Bristol's Botanic Garden Bee and Pollination Festival. Reading with me were two of my fellow IsamBards, Pameli Benham and David Johnson. 

I also had the pleasure of being one of the guest poets at the Berkeley Square Poetry Review in Clifton, and at Uncut Poets at Exeter Phoenix, along with Dominic Fisher. 

My seventh reading of the month, again as guest poet with Dominic Fisher, was pre-recorded for West Wilts Radio, courtesy of Dawn Gorman's The Poetry Place. The programme, with many excellent open-mic readings, is available to listen to here.

My final reading of the month was perhaps the most personally satisfying of all, as it was for Silver Street Poetry, the open mic I used to run with my partner, Colin Brown, before the pandemic put a stop to such things. Since then we've had a prolonged search for a more spacious venue than our old haunt, and have found a warm welcome at St Stephen's Church, just off Bristol City Centre, which not only has an excellent Spanish cafe, but also mermaids! 

I'll be running the event from now on with Dominic, Pat Simmons and Rosalie Alston, as Colin is currently working in Cardiff. We'll be booking some excellent guest poets in the months ahead. In the meantime it was great to dip my toes in the warm (as it turned out) waters of viability, a mere two and a half years after I was slated to read in April 2020. 

And my best poetry news for the month came in an email from the organisers of the 2022 Buzzwords Poetry  Competition to say that my sequence of poems, Conversations with Silence, from my most recent project, Love the Albatross, had won second prize, which is all kinds of pleasing. Thanks very much to judge, Nigel McLoughlin.   

Second Chance Poetry Place

You can check out of the Poetry Place any time you like, but you can never leave. Especially not now there's a Play Again facility. 

This week Dawn Gorman and Peter O'Grady discuss poems by Wallace Stevens and Alice Oswald, and there's also the interview Dawn recorded with me a couple of weeks ago.  In it, we talk about where poems come from, and the process of turning them from inspiration into writing that encapsulates the earlier experience and its emotional root. I also read three poems from my new collection, The Shadow Factory.

https://westwiltsradio.com/the-poetry-place/ 

A blog should always be enlivened with a few photos, so I thought I'd post one per poem that I read on the show.

Here's the horse's skull that features in Touchstone. There was a gap of about four or five years between that particular walk and the writing of the poem.

If that's a bit gruesome, have some snowdrops from Holcombe Old Church. A much shorter processing period this time, of about ten months. 

Finally, a link to the actual good dogs of Chernobyl and how they are faring these days.

Plus, another good dog ... of Bristol this time (although here pictured at Land's End).

The Poetry Place

After a gruelling couple of days at my first job, each bookended by pre-dawn and evening drives to the Bottleyard Studios across town, and with the added frisson on the second night of a diversion to Sodding Chipbury, and then a late night return trip there to collect Son the Actor from his final gig, I was glad to have a day off today. 

Except that poetry isn't a job, it's a way of living, and since there can be even less respite from that, I was off to Bradford-on-Avon to record a radio interview. 

I met my interviewer, Dawn Gorman, in the Swan for a little prep. 

A short distance away was the makeshift studio, which wasn't makeshift at all but a very kind person's spare room - a lovely, quiet, modern space. 

And they tell me the interview went well. I have to say, it was  much less nerve-wracking than the live radio interviews I've done.

The Poetry Place on West Wilts Radio will air on Sunday 23rd February at 4pm, and Tuesday 25th at 9pm. It will also feature poetry discussion from Dawn and Peter O'Grady. 

At home there was a treat waiting in the form of a goody bag from East Riding Festival of Words, in honour of my poem, The Unfinished Book, which was recently highly commended in their 2019 poetry competition. 

I'm not going to share the poem here as it remains unpublished and so can still be subbed to magazines, but the story behind its writing is here.

I will say, however, that I'm made up, so much so that I've almost forgotten a seagull shat on me and the Northerner when we were in Filey.