Anthology Alert ~ Launch of 'Poetry from Strata Florida' at Poets and Princes Day

If you are within reach of Strata Florida / Ystrad Fflur in mid-Wales, do come and enjoy the 'Poets and Princes' day, laid on by CADW and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies on 14 September.

A number of us will be reading our poems at 2pm, during the launch event for the new anthology (cover below, editor Martin Locock of Carreg Ffylfan Press). As you can see from the poster, there will also be sessions on princes, poets, pottery, printing and food! Martin will be leading guided tours around this special site ... and you may even see a Red Kite or two.

Poems in Unusual Places ~ The Plastic Palace, Minsmere

I was reading a post on the Giraffe Head Tree blog about litter on our beaches worldwide when I remembered my photos of The Plastic Palace installation, which is situated between the shore and the bird reserve at Minsmere. We were able to enter the palace, where there was a box containing a book for thoughts, pictures and poems. 

I composed a quick Haiku, which David was kind enough to write in the book for me ... as he could bend down to sit on the seat.

The Plastic Palace has been created under the auspices of the RSPB by Minsmere's Environmental Artist-in-Residence Liz McGowan. It was quite a revelation just how many types of non-degradable plastic wash up on our shores, from a toy camel (quite appropriate for a sandy site) through to detergent bottles and, of course, all those rubber gloves. I think the Wombles would have enjoyed The Plastic Palace as their holiday residence ... and, who knows, they might just have done a little beach-combing and re-creating of their own! 

Publication Pointer ~ Glossy Ibis ... and Puffins

My previous post was about an anthology that will raise funds for WWT Welney, and, as it happens, my most recent poem to be published, 'Glossy Ibis near Welney', has just made The Box in the August edition of Reach Poetry, having been voted 4th in the readers' vote.

The Glossy Ibis is a bird that is still on my 'wish-list'. I had hoped to see one when we were on the lagoons near Pylos three years ago, but it was not to be.

Sunset: Yialova lagoons, near Pylos, Greece

Speaking of birds, my puffin poem, 'A Chink in the Sky', features in the August edition of FreeXpresSion from Australia. It seems a good excuse for a(nother) puffin picture ...

 ... or two!