Launch Alert ~ Paragram Anthology, Slants of Light

I love the keyhole!

We braved the storms on Valentine's Day 

to attend the launch of Slants of Light 

at the Poetry Place, 22 Betterton Street, London.

 Sally J. Blackmore of Paragram hosted a wonderful evening

of poetry on the anthology theme, Slants of Light,

chosen as a nod to the poem by Emily Dickinson.

The anthology contains my sonnet, 'Meteor Shower', 

one of the poems shortlisted by judge, Adrienne Dines. 

It was a privilege to hear so many poems read by their authors:

thank you, Sally and your 'A Team', for a riveting poetic evening.

Postscript ...

This was the view (in photo below) from our 12th floor window in Holborn.

The Post Office Tower displayed digital pink hearts on its revolving display! 

Media Matters (4) #relaypoem for The Olympics

Sundial ~ Dymock Church

My Olympic (British summer) #relaypoem is up on the Poetry Society website today ...

Fiesta Time (9): Scotland at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

We spent a grey November day in Aldeburgh, enjoying the 23rd Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, laid on by The Poetry Trust. We had visited this beautiful east coast town before, but this was our first visit in 'festival season'. 

Aldeburgh is proud of its poet, George Crabbe ... 

We had tickets for the Scottish Islands Reading event in the Jubilee Hall. Poets like Jo Bell, who had not arrived when I took this photo, and Penelope Shuttle joined the audience of local people (like us!) and followers who had come from further afield. There were representatives from the Poetry Society, and it was good to meet Judith Palmer for the first time.   

Words are the building blocks of poetry (see photo above), and it was particularly exciting to hear three poets flitting between languages, namely the languages of Gaelic, Shetlandic and English. Of course, this kind of rich diversity is not new to me, having just moved from the bilingual climate of Wales where the 'dragon has two tongues' (see here).

The three sets of readings were by Robert Alan Jamieson from Lerwick, Shetland; Meg Bateman, a lecturer at the Gaelic college, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, on Skye - and an honorary lecturer in English at St Andrews University ... and Rody Gorman, who was born in Dublin and also lives on Skye. Rody has translated Cavafy poems into Gaelic.

There were various threads running through the poems, and Jamieson's short poem, 'Welcome to the Folk Museum', struck a particular chord with me, reminding the reader (or listener) just how easy it is to 'romanticise' the Highland and island way of life, glossing over the stark realities at e.g. the time of the Clearances.

Readers of this blog will know that we have a great affinity with Eilean a' Cheò aka the 'Misty Isle'. We also enjoy (if that is the right word) the heart-rending poetry of the Raasay poet, Sorley MacLean, so we were particularly pleased to have the opportunity of hearing some modern Gaelic voices. It was interesting to learn that while Gaelic has a limited lexicon, it has a richness of its own as so many of its words have a plethora of meanings.

Thank you to all took part and to those who gave us fascinating insights into the poetry of the northern isles.  

Aldeburgh ... in November

We spotted the home of a famous Aldeburgh resident ...

Beautiful Birds (7): Name that poetic bird!

Little Egret
(just to get you thinking 'bird'!)

There is a bird-in-poetry quiz on the Poetry Society website. Have a look when you take a coffee break and see how you score! I found it quite difficult, though there were a few firm favourites in the nest. Can you name a favourite bird poem?

• The Owl by Edward Thomas has to be one of mine. A truly poignant poem.
  
• Thanks to Matt of Polyolbion for listing the following (see 'Comments' below): The Nuthatch by Bernard O'Donoghue, Emmonsails Heath in Winter (and other poems) by John Clare and The Seafarer (7th century).