A Norfolk-Suffolk Dozen (of poets) in Orizont Literar Contemporan, Romania

CONTEMPORARY LITERARY HORIZON NO 2 (34)/MARCH-APRIL 2013 / 

HORIZONTE LITERARIO CONTEMPORANEO NO 2 (34)/MARZO-ABRIL DE 2013 

Coming soon ... the issue which includes the Norfolk and Suffolk Dozen of Poets. There is a preview here, with a poem, 'Day Out', from Sue Wallace-Shaddad.

The journal costs 15 Euros (plus 2 Euros tax). Please get in touch if you would like to buy a copy. 

Orizont Literar Contemporan ~ All the World in a Journal

CONTENTS 

CRITICĂ 
Daniel Dragomirescu, Una fiesta intercultural
Neil Leadbeater, Albert Camus, Religion and “The Fall”
Donald Riggs, From Horatio  Hornblower
Mira Faraday, The Misty Isle
Juana Castillo, Bernardino
Eduardo Sanguinetti, Los Peligros de la igualdad
Niza Todaro Glassiani, Juana de Ibarbourou
Manuel Ameneiros, Tema espinoso
Alan Gomes, Criminal Majority at Brazil 
Mario Antonio da Silva (Brazil), Arte e verdade
A NORFOLK-SUFFOLK DOZEN
Caroline Gill, Introduction
Mike Bannister
Anne Boileau
Helen Ivory
Rosalynde Price
David Gill
Wendy Webb
Cameron Self

Lynn Woollacott
James Knox Whittet
Sue Wallace-Shaddad
Ivor Murrell
Heidi Williamson
Chris Gribble
Naomi Jaffa
POEZIE
Jenifer Ransom
Douglas Lipton
Martin Bates
Khadija Ejaz
Paul Satherland
Paul Mein
Mike Foldes
Lidia Borghi
Ettore Fobo
Astrid Fugellie
Luis Benitez
Oziella Inocêncio
Rodolfo Chavez
César Curiel
Monica Manolachi
Andréia Franco
PROZĂ
Patrizia Boi, La Chiave magica
Edmundo Gaudêncio, Sombras
Radu Mihai Dimăncescu, Memorii
Bogdan Guţu, Scrisoare anonimă/Anonymous Letter
PROFIL CULTURAL  
Theodore Elssaca (Santiago de Chile)

OLC/CLH-ALL THE WORLD IN A JOURNAL

Anthology Alert: Kamesan's World Haiku Anthology on War, Violence and the Violation of Human Rights

'This landmark collection, 

interweaving hundreds of poetic voices from around the world, 

creates a powerful statement for peace and against war.'

Kim Goldberg

This volume of world Haiku has just been published by Kamesan Books. The volume has been edited by Dimitar Anakiev in Radovljica, Slovenia. Anakiev was born in Belgrade, Serbia, and is a co-founder of the World Haiku Association. The new anthology contains 903 Haiku from 435 poets in 48 countries, writing in 35 languages. The accompanying artwork has been created by Kunihara Shimizu from Tenri in Japan. The collection begins with Basho in the 17th century and goes on to include much contemporary work. My Haiku, written in response to the vision of a convoy of tanks on the M4 Motorway, is listed as 298 on p.134.   

'This is a multicultural book against war and violence 

that connects people from different nations around the world.' 

Dimitar Anakiev

Editor

*

• The book can be purchased from the outlets listed here. 
•  You will find a sample Haiku here. 
•  You can read more about the book ... at Chen-ou Liu (劉鎮歐)'s blog, Neverending Story 

'The Holy Place' chapbook: Review Corner

The Holy Place by John Dotson and Caroline Gill (£3.50 inc. p&p in UK)

Matt Merritt has posted a review (here on his Polyolbion site) of my poetry chapbook, The Holy Place, co-authored with John Dotson, and published by Peter Thabit Jones (The Seventh Quarry Press, Swansea) in conjunction with Stanley H. Barkan (Cross-Cultural Communications, New York).

Juliet Wilson's review can be found here on her Crafty Green Poet site. You might also care to read this (feline orientated) page on Juliet's blog.

My thanks to Matt and Juliet.

Published Poems: Poem of the Week, THE POETRY KIT blog

Minions Moor, Cornwall

If you click over to the Poetry kit blog (editor, Jim Bennett), you will find my Poem of the Week ...

Tin mine, Cornwall

Publication Pointer: 'Heart Shoots' from Indigo Dreams Publishing Ltd.

'My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water'd shoot ...' 

Christina Rossetti 

A pre-ordered copy of Heart Shoots has just arrived at my home. This new poetry anthology is the companion volume to the popular Soul Feathers, also produced by Ronnie Goodyer and Dawn Bauling of Indigo Dreams Publishing Limited. Thank you, Ronnie and Dawn, for your dedication and tireless efforts not only on behalf of poetry, but also on behalf of the charitable causes you care so much about.

This new collection is sold as a fund-raiser for Macmillan Cancer Support, the charity known primarily for its Macmillan Nurses. These, of course, are backed up by a strong team of medical doctors, therapists, managers, administrative support-workers, campaigners, volunteers and others. You can find some of the people who make up the face of this inspiring organisation here. Way back in 1911, Douglas Macmillan established the 'Society for the Prevention and Relief of Cancer', providing information on recognising, preventing and treating cancer to patients, doctors and members of the public. All profit on the sale of this new volume has been waived by the publishers, allowing £2 (inc. of VAT) to go to the charity for every copy sold.

Heart Shoots is a volume in which poems by 'the newcomer' and 'the internationally famous' nestle side by side. Those in the latter category include Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Seamus Heaney, Joni Mitchell, Benjamin Zephaniah, Sharon Olds, Penelope Shuttle, Moniza Alvi, Pascale Petit and Dennis Lecorriere, to mention those on the front cover. You will also find poems by Wordsworth, Keats, Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and John Donne. There are many contemporary poets whose names you will know from the wider poetry and small press scenes. 

And if you are wondering why I have posted this dragonfly, well, perhaps the answer lies on p.57 of Heart Shoots.

Poetry Resources: the Poetry kit

I am delighted to receive this listing from the Poetry kit, curated by Jim Bennett. Thank you, Jim.

Do take a look at the multitude of resources on offer at the Poetry kit site.  

Poetry: Invisible Architecture (ii), Antlers Press, The Roundhouse, Camden

 

We had a snowy train journey to London on Saturday to visit the Invisible Architecture Installation in The Roundhouse, Camden, curated by Antlers Press, in celebration of World Poetry Day 2013. This was our first visit to this extraordinary venue. The building itself is well worth exploring if you have the chance. You can read my previous post about it here.  

Arriving at The Roundhouse ...

... with its steam engine shed relics.

 

We were feeling pretty chilly after a train and two buses, so we warmed up with a spot of brunch at Made in Camden, the restaurant-cafe bar that adjoins the Roundhouse. We can both recommend the chipped potato wedges, and I thoroughly enjoyed the apple pancakes with passion fruit coulis.   

 

It was soon time for the opening of Invisible Architecture, a literary 'library and listening station' curated by Nichol Keene of Antlers Press. This unique cross-cultural library (of visual and audio works) has been developed for the purpose of 'forging international links and creative collaborations between writers and publishers, swapping stories from around the world as they build their cities through what they say.'

It was this global dimension that caught my eye in the first instance. I strongly believe that writers and artists from diverse geographical and cultural backgrounds have much to share. The experience of taking part in a collaboration of this kind has many benefits.  

 

Part of the Invisible Architecture Installation

 

We walked through the dimly-lit engine shed, emerging into a central circular space. There was a display of English PEN literature against the wall. There were also a few musicians testing the sound in preparation for a later event. Some of you will know that I am fascinated by echoes, and it was fun to stand on a silver square and try out the acoustics for myself.

 

One of the tunnels receding from the centre

 

So here we were, in a dark space that would once have housed the turntable for steam engines. The arches all round the edge led off into short tunnels rather in the way that spokes on a wheel spin outwards in all directions. It seemed to me, and this is where I would need a pigeon's eye view, that each tunnel was soon intersected by a middle wall, before extending further back into the darkness. 

 

The Roundhouse: interior, with tunnel

 

Nichol Keene, the force behind Invisible Architecture, had set a ring of fold-up chairs around the central area. Most visitors were pleased to have the chance to sit down in these extraordinary surroundings.

 

 

Antlers Press was founded as a small nomadic press by Nichol Keene in 2011. Nichol is keen to participate in projects concerning pamphlets, book design, illustrations, paperbacks, hardback books, Japanese bindings, presentation documents, portfolios, slipcases, solander boxes, photo albums, invitations, posters and fine art prints. It was good to meet her, and to learn about the hand-crafted books that she produces and about the collaborative work that she undertakes. We chatted about poetry and linguistics, about TEFL and Gertrude Stein.  

 

Nichol Keene (supplied by Nichol)

So where does Invisible Architecture come in to the picture? The library and listening station comprised poems and prose pieces from many corners of the globe. My poetry chapbook, The Holy Place, (co-authored with John Dotson of the USA, and published by Peter Thabit Jones of The Seventh Quarry, Swansea, in conjunction with Stanley H. Barkan of Cross-Cultural Communications, New York) had been selected for inclusion in the Installation. A copy of the recent Antologia, the Orizont Literar Contemporan anthology from Romania (edited by Daniel Dragomirescu) had also been chosen for the display, along with an audio mp3 file of 'Turner's Loch Coruisk', one of my poems about Skye.  

 

With The Holy Place and the Antologia

 

There were many other items and we were able to 'borrow' these as we sat on the chairs. We could also listen to the audio files, as our recorded voices echoed through the tunnels. I encountered a huge variety of publications, ranging perfect bound volumes with photographs to small pamphlets (including one that contained a map of part of Wales). One large (A4 plus) handwritten work, Long hand, had a minimal but memorable Pepsi poem on one page. 

 

Long hand and other selected items

 

Nichol showed me some of her 'products'. The term, however, seems out of place for such finely crafted publications. There was something very special about the new pamphlet, Invisible Architecture, that had been put together by hand just in time for the Installation. It was the result of Nichol's pairing of those participants in the Invisible Architecture project who wanted to write a shared poem or piece of prose. 'The Wanderer' by Amber Massie-Blomfield and Anil Godigamuwe made an arresting opening poem, with its 'shadows that flicker' and the smell of 'the candle's light'. I bought a couple of copies of the new collection. I was also tempted by Bought, a publication in a small green envelope. It is available from the Antlers Press online shop. The narrative entitled 'The Kamikaze Dingo' is written by Toby de Angeli and illustrated by Nichol. Again, this is a novel and innovative publication, and this is the beauty of Antlers Press.  

 

Antlers Press publications can be bought from the website by clicking here

 

It was good to meet some of the other visitors to the nomadic library. One man had heard about the Installation through a news article (which he thought had been in the Daily Telegraph). Another was the author of a Turkish publication. There was a work by Oona Grimes and another by Alev Adil. 

 

Photo of the Installation library ...

 

I found myself enjoying the poetry in a day without olives is like a day by Jack Piers Scott. There is some delightful artwork on the accompanying digital album. Hallucinated Horse, another anthology on display, is a Pighog Press publication of New Latin American poets. The volume has been translated and edited by Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Tom Slingsby. There were free copies of back issues of Popshot magazine for us to take home.

 

... and another

 

There were times when we browsed at the display, times when we sat down to read and times when we listened to the audio files. It was a strange and positive experience. 

 

David browsing

 

Nichol had placed large empty sheets of paper and small blank cards in the centre of the circle, along with pens and a fat black marker. We were encouraged to participate by writing creatively on these. David and I attempted short Haiku.  

 

 

What a great day. Thank you, Nichol! 

Antlers Press

Email: antlerspress[at]gmail[dot]com
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Invisible Architecture was curated by Nichol Keene. 

 

Individual participants include: 

 

Alev Adil * Amber Massie-Blomfield * Amir Hedayat-Vaziri * Anil Godigamuwe * Caroline Gill * Django Wylie * Dorothy Lehane * Emily Fitzell * Fani Parali * Jack Scott * Jennifer Brough * Kymm Coveney * Mark Pawson * Mert Erkan * Mischa Pearlman * Miss Quotes * Moya Pacey * Olga Koroleva * Peter Swaffer-Reynolds * Sascha Aurora Akhtar * Selina Nwulu * Stefania Salamida * Tania Hawthorne-Marchori * Theodoros Chiotis * Toby de Angeli * Zia ahmed *   

 

Presses involved include:

LemonMelon * Onomatopee * Pighog Press * Popshot Magazine 

  

N.B. Many (but not all) words in bold are livelinks, so do press through to the linked sites.