Looking Ahead to #DylanDay 2021 ... Immagine e Poesia

 

Tomorrow is #DylanDay (see here), so I wanted to post some photographs linked to the poet whose hometown of Swansea was also my home for two decades. The water fountain in Cwmdonkin Park in the picture above had a chained cup in the days of Dylan's childhood. 

 

 

The park is a riot of colour in spring when the tulips are in flower and the ornamental cherry trees are in bloom. 

Italian poet and Dylan Thomas aficionado, Lidia Chiarelli, charter member and co-ordinator of the Immagine e Poesia movement, has been busy assembling and curating a website of international writing and visual art to mark the day. 

I am delighted to have my poem, 'The Gothic Arch', posted on Lidia's website (do scroll down slowly and read the wealth of new contributions, though the easiest way to find my poem may be to scroll to the bottom here and then move the cursor up the page a little). My poem, as you will see, was written in response to a few words from one of Dylan's poems. 

The site also contains articles, such as one by Peter Thabit Jones on 'Dylan Thomas and Greenwich Village, New York', in which he ponders some of the fascinating 'what ifs' in relation to Dylan's short but extraordinary literary life. 

Do click over to the site and explore some of the features. 

Thank you, Lidia, grazie mille. 

 

* * *

Lidia informs me that the website event is sponsored by the Metropolitan City of Turin.

Here are the links to the Poets' and to the Artists' sections: the contributions are in order of arrival ...

https://dylandaycelebration.jimdofree.com/poets-for-dylanday/

https://dylandaycelebration.jimdofree.com/artists-for-dylanday/

- 48 Participating Countries on 5 continents

 

102 POEMS/HAIKU

6 VISUAL POEMS

41 ARTWORKS

8 ARTWORKS CONTRIBUTIONS FROM "CIRCOLO DEGLI ARTISTI" - TORINO

5 INSTALLATIONS (PHOTO SHARE)

6 MUSIC COMPOSITIONS

8 ARTICLES/ESSAYS

5 VIDEOS/VIDEO-CLIPS

3 LETTERS

'Dear Dylan'

Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea

My poem-and-letter submission [9/2019] has been accepted for the 2020 Indigo Dreams Publishing 'Dear Dylan' anthology (to be edited by IDP poet and Cheltenham Poetry Festival Director, Anna Saunders). My poem has a Cornish setting since Dylan and Caitlin got married in Penzance, but my letter is based in Swansea, which was my home for nearly twenty years.   

And, on the subject of poets with a Swansea link and the surname Thomas, we have just ordered a copy of Jeff Towns' new edition of 'Swansea Village' by Edward Thomas. My copy has been tucked away until my birthday, but I'm told it includes contributions from Jeff Towns, Peter Thabit Jones (who published my chapbook), Andrew Green and Peter Stead.

In the Footsteps of Dylan Thomas...

Swansea ~ Abertawe (my photo)

Swansea ~ Abertawe (my digital artwork of the scene)

My Dylan Thomas tribute poem, 'Salubrious Passage', has been published in Reach Poetry #221, Indigo Dreams Publishing. 

You can just make out the exit to the left of the 'angels' sign in my photo. I wish I had a picture of the Wind Street entrance to this hidden yet iconic thoroughfare, but you can see one here. 

Dylan Thomas - Centenary Celebrations

Dylan Thomas would have been

 100 today

 Monday 27 October 2014

Dylan Thomas outside the Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea

I lived in Swansea for nearly twenty years and was able to visit the heron-priested shore at Laugharne on numerous occasions. I had the privilege of meeting Dylan's daughter, Aeronwy Thomas Ellis, a few times. I attended one of her poetry workshops at the Laugharne Festival.

Dylan's 100th Birthday has been the cause of worldwide celebrations, and it seems a fitting tribute to throw links to a number of these ...

WALES

• Dylan Thomas 100
• Dylan Thomas 'the Official Website'
• Dylathon (including a reading by South Wales Evening Post reader, Ian Griffiths, Chair of the Suffolk Poetry Society)
• Peter Thabit Jones and the Dylan Thomas Celebrations (including DT100 America)
• Dylan Thomas News
• 'Poem in October' (on the BBC)

MEDIA COVERAGE

• BBC
• New York Times
• LA Times

Number 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, birthplace home of Dylan Thomas

'The Holy Place' chapbook: Review Corner

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

Online Reviews

• Matt Merritt has posted a review (here on his Polyolbion site) of my poetry chapbook, The Holy Place, co-authored with John Dotson. The chapbook is 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. 

• Sally Evans, editor of Poetry Scotland, has just posted a review here on the Poetry Scotland Reviews blog. 

My thanks to Matt, Juliet, Sally. Further comments on the The Holy Place can be found here.

Copies of The Holy Place can be purchased (£3.50, inc. UK p&p) via the email link here.

Poetry Publication: The Gift of Form by John Brantingham

John Brantingham

John Brantingham, US author of The Gift of Form: A Pocket Guide to Formal Poetry, published by Oak Tree Press, has also written poetry collections such as East of Los Angeles. His poetry has been featured on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac and in hundreds of magazines in the US and the UK. He has been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes and won Pearl Magazine's Fiction contest. He lives and works in Southern California.

John, who did not start out as a fan of formal poetry, writes in his introduction,

'... and then I made my largest intellectual shift: 

the rules of formal poetry are not there to be restrictions, 

and in fact there are not really any rules at all ... '

Rules for John have been replaced by tools. 

I met John back in 2011 at the First International Swansea Poetry Festival in the Dylan Thomas Theatre, organised by Peter Thabit Jones (ed. The Seventh Quarry, Swansea) in conjunction with Stanley H. Barkan (Cross-Cultural Communications, New York). The photo above was taken during the festival, and shows the backdrop to Peter Thabit Jones' acclaimed verse drama, set in Swansea, 'The Boy and the Lion's Head'.

I am delighted to have two poems, 'Cornish Evening' and 'Waiting for the Bore', included in The Gift of Form: A Pocket Guide to Formal Poetry.

Anthology Alert: Tuesday Poetry ~ People and Places

Cover design: Richard Salkilld

I am delighted to receive copies of this volume from the Tuesday Poets in Swansea. The anthology has been produced by Jean Salkilld, and features work by Ann Cooke, Gillian Drake, Margaret Duguid, Caroline Gill, Brett Hayes, Ruth Jenkins, Ll. Hugh Nicholas, Carole Pearson, Carolina Rosati-Jones and Jean Salkilld.

Tuesday Poets arose out of creative writing courses under the auspices of the Department of Adult and Continuing Education at Swansea University. This is the third anthology in the series. The first had a seasonal focus, the second (2011) was based on the theme of 'colour'. The 2012 theme is 'people and places'.

My poems in the volume are ekphrastic ones, namely 'Harmony in Fragmentation' ('Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte' by Seurat) and 'Turner's Loch Coruisk, Skye'.

Publication Pointer: The Holy Place Chapbook

More details of this chapbook can be found here

How would you define a chapbook?

I have been asked this question a few times since my recent 2012 chapbook (above), co-authored with John Dotson, was published.

Most people are au fait with 'poetry pamphlets'; and in many or most cases today, a chapbook and a pamphlet are synonymous. Indeed, some Oxford Dictionaries say as much. What fascinates me, however, is the origin of the word, 'chapbook'. Perhaps chapbooks are more widely known these days on the western side of the Atlantic.

Here are a few facts:

• the word has its origin in the 'chapmen' or itinerant hawkers, who by the 1600s would often peddle small stitched-together pamphlets of poems, ballads, alphabets and short prose. The Old English for such people was céapmann. Our word, 'cheap', is linked to this, and was originally indicative of a good deal. 'Chap' as in 'very good chap' came to mean a potential or actual customer. An 18th century example of the word appears here.
• chapbooks reached the height of their appeal in the last quarter of the 18th century.
• the historical progress of the chapbook is hard to document because few records were kept by those who sold these small works - and many chapbooks were 'of the moment' and not produced with longevity in mind.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge published his 1796 series entitled The Watchman in chapbook format, thereby giving the reputation of the chapbook a facelift.
• The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine (who was born not far from here in Thetford) was published in chapbook form. Thousands of copies of this publication were produced.   

I hope to be reading from The Holy Place at the monthly Poetry Cafe in Arlington's, Ipswich, on Tuesday 6 November 2012. The Poetry Cafe is open to all (small fee to cover costs) and begins at 7pm. Do come and join us ... and bring a poem to share. 

If you would like to find out more about The Holy Place, there is a link here to my website. This commissioned chapbook has been published by Peter Thabit Jones of The Seventh Quarry Press in Swansea in conjunction with Stanley H. Barkan of Cross-Cultural Communications, New York.

The commissioned chapbook series runs as follows:

Poet to Poet #1: Bridging the Waters: Swansea to Sag Harbor
by Vince Clemente and Peter Thabit Jones (2008)

Poet to Poet #2: First and Last Things
by J.C. Evans and Annabelle Moseley (2009)

Poet to Poet #3: Nightwatch
by Aeronwy Thomas and Maria Mazziotti Gillan (2010)
 
Poet to Poet #4: Poems East Coast/West Coast
by Stanley H. Barkan and Carolyn Mary Kleefeld (2010)

Poet to Poet #5: The Holy Place
by John Dotson and Caroline Gill (2012)
 
Poet to Poet #6
by Sultan Catto and Jean Salkilld - forthcoming

News and Views (1): Norwich ... not just 'A Fine City'

Pull's Ferry, with Norwich Cathedral behind

Having lived in Swansea, which was chosen to host the UK Year of Literature and Writing (1995), for nearly 20 years, I now find that Norwich, a short train ride away and the home city of my teenage years, is the new UNESCO City of Literature!

•  Writers' Centre Norwich 

Caistor St Edmund, Norwich

On the train journey home from Norwich today, I took this photo of Venta Icenorum, the Roman town and one of the regional capitals of Roman Britain (can you see the square of the outer walls?). The village is now known as Caistor St Edmund: it is a place I knew well from my Norfolk childhood, but I had never seen the Roman walls so clearly before. The tower-like structure towards the left is Bastion 7136.

Magazine Moment (31): The Seventh Quarry

The Seventh Quarry (against a blue background for contrast)

Issue 15 of The Seventh Quarry poetry magazine contains submissions from most corners of the British Isles in addition to contributions from Italy, Germany, Korea, USA and Guatemala. The magazine is edited by Peter Thabit Jones from Swansea. Wales is represented by eight writers in this issue.

My eye was immediately drawn to 'Gales at Rhossili' by Jean Salkilld, who runs the Swansea Tuesday Poetry group. I can visualise those Gower gales as

White horses break the misted greyness of

the sea circus ...

This issue contains a fascinating interview with Chicano poet and Boston University professor, Tino Villanueva, who came to Swansea in 2010 to read in the Dylan Thomas Birthplace. Tino, author of six books, defines the term Chicano as 'an American of Mexican descent, whether native-born or naturalized citizen.' Villanueva describes Dylan Thomas as the poet whose 'language most seduced' him. However, there are other powerful influences, too. Tino explains that he has spent the last ten years working on a poem sequence revolving around Penelope, the faithful Homeric wife of Odysseus. I sense the significance of  'ten years' as a unit of time since not only did the Trojan War drag on for a decade, but it then took Odysseus a further ten years to return to his island home of Ithaca.

Sultan Catto is the poet in profile in this edition. He is professor of Theoretical Physics at the CUNY Graduate Center and at the Rockefeller University in New York. He writes poetry in Turkish and English. I was intrigued by Sultan's poem, 'Sunday Afternoon' (the more so having just viewed a study for Seurat's Pointillist work, 'Sunday Afternoon at the island of La Grande Jatte' in the New York Met). The poem contains compelling juxtapositions of images - we find 'starfish on sands' alongside 'flights of songs'.

'The Seventh Quarry' is not only international in flavour, representing an ever-expanding global community of poets and artists, but is also refreshingly eclectic in terms of style and form. There are short pithy poems like 'Lost Song in Swansea' by John Edwin Cohen and long ones that flow across the page, such as 'Remembering Fengdu' by Nancy E. Wright. 'Visiting the Lady Chapel at Llandaff in April' by Penelope Duckworth is a modern sonnet and '45 Grave on the Nostalgia Circuit' by Simon Hunt is a rhyming sonnet.

John Brantingham holds the stage for the Grand Finale with his masterful '30 Poets, 1 Violinist, 1 Cameraman in Wales', a tribute poem to Swansea's First International Poetry Festival, which took place last summer. The poem is set in Laugharne, at the Dylan Thomas Boat House, and I am left with the lingering image of a violinist playing his music in Wales under a white umbrella in the rain.

• Details of The Seventh Quarry (subscriptions, submissions ...) can be found here.

Publication Pointer (2): Swansea International Poetry Festival Anthology

Swansea's First International Poetry Festival, Summer 2011

This highly engaging festival was organised by Peter Thabit Jones, editor of The Seventh Quarry (mid front row in blue jacket) in association with Stanley Barkan, editor of Cross-Cultural Communications, New York (front row, right).

I am pleased to have a poem in the festival anthology: the publication has just been awarded Second Place by Geoff Stevens in the 'Best Poetry Anthology of 2011' section of the Purple Patch Small Press 'Best of' Lists' for 2011.

Fiesta Time (5): International Poetry Festival, Swansea 2011

Statue of Dylan Thomas outside today's festival venue, the Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea

I have just come in from a magnificent day of poetry, dance, acting and music from the USA, Wales, Israel, England, Cornwall, Scotland, Canada and Italy. Tomorrow we will hear poetry in translation, but more of that when the time comes. Old friendships have been renewed and new international friendships have been made. We have heard poems of mourning and poems of jubilation. We have laughed and we have been almost moved to tears. We have heard dialect poetry, and have seen poetry written in many languages in the various books by the participating artists - from Catalan to Korean. Thank you, Stanley (of Cross-Cultural Communications, New York) and Peter (editor of The Seventh Quarry, Swansea), for organising such a remarkably cosmopolitan event. Roll on tomorrow for the next round ...

Fiesta Time (4): International Poetry Festival opens in Swansea, 2011

John, Robin, Caroline (me!) and Lisa

The Swansea International Poetry Festival has begun with a swing! The festival is taking place under the auspices of The Seventh Quarry, Wales (ed. Peter Thabit Jones) and Cross Cultural Communications, New York (ed. Stanley Barkan). 

Tonight's launch took place in the Nick Holly Studio Gallery, a superb venue. Thank you to all who made it a wonderful evening. Here's to tomorrow!

Fiesta Time (3): International Poetry Festival in Swansea, 2011

STOP PRESS ... starting today ...

Swansea, SA1

SWANSEA, WALES: 16-18 JUNE 2011



The Seventh Quarry 
and
 Cross-Cultural Communications, New York 

A three-day festival of poetry, drama, workshops, and music ...

Writers and performers 
from 

the U.K., America, Canada, Argentina, Israel, Europe, Eastern Europe, and India.



Hosted by Peter Thabit Jones and Stanley H. Barkan 

at the Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea. 


Extra festival events at The Boathouse, Laugharne; 


Dylan Thomas House, Swansea; 
and the Nick Holly Art Studio, Swansea.



A commemorative chapbook is being produced 


and several awards will be announced. 


Dylan Thomas Boat House, Laugharne

Magazine Moment (24) : Orizont Literar Contemporan, Romania

Orizont Literar Contemporan

'All the world in a journal' 

Thanks to the stalwart efforts of editor-in-chief, Daniel Dragomirescu, and the editorial team, the latest issue, An. IV, number 2 (22), of Orizont Literar Contemporan has been published - and has now reached me from Bucharest. In keeping with the magazine strapline above, this number contains a literary feast of poetry and prose from many corners of the globe. We find Gonzalo Salesky bringing us his poems from Argentina (p.14), and Professor Donald Riggs sharing the second instalment of his article on the teaching of Creative Writing in universities in Philadelphia (p.52). Catherine Mimano offers the lively perspective of a nineteen year old in terms of the cultural identity of her country, Kenya, a land of the wildebeest migration and hip-hop music.  

My knowledge of modern languages is limited, but I always enjoy seeing the translation of a piece of work alongside the original. Adolf P. Shvedchikov writes his poetry in Russian with alternative English versions. Petronela Corobleanu of the translation unit, MTTLC, at the University of Bucharest has provided a Romanian translation, too, and it is fascinating to see the three languages laid out together on the page.

Wales is well represented in this issue. I was particularly delighted to find an appreciation by Byron Beynon of the poet, Raymond Garlick, who died on 19 March 2011. Byron is brilliantly placed to write such a piece, for, as we discover in his tribute, he was the recipient of over 100 letters and cards from this formative Anglo-Welsh poet. You will also find my latest interview, number seven in the 'Dialoguri Galeze' series, with poet and Tuesday Poetry Group leader, Jean Salkilld. Jean's poem, 'Legend's Source' (p.4), takes us 'through lights of autumn leaves' into the northern woods of America, where the tears of Hiawatha's mother supposedly welled up in the form of the mighty Missisippi river. Our thanks to Petronela Corobleanu for her translation into Romanian.

The magazine covers every shade of style and emotion. I will end by alluding to Victor P. Gendrano's piece, 'My Grocery Adventure', on p.34. He demonstrates in three short paragraphs just how he was able to fulfil his daily motto of making 'at least one person smile'. It would be giving the game away if I spilled the beans (no pun intended!) and explained just how he came to do this, for perhaps you would prefer to order a copy of the magazine and find out for yourself ... 

• Orizont Literar Contemporan
• OLC: please enquire about PayPal and/or subscription options here.
  

Poetry Matters (18): Peter Thabit Jones ~ 'Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur'

Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur by Peter Thabit Jones
Editor-Publisher: Stanley H. Barkan
Publishing House: Cross Cultural Communications, Merrick, New York, 2011
Photographs: Melissa Goese-Goble, Patricia Holt, Carolyn Mary Kleefeld, Linda Parker

Available from Cross-Cultural Communications, 239 Wynsum Avenue, Merrick, New York, 11566-4725, USA. Price $25 (hardback) $15 (paperback)

Launch of 'Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur' (Photo © David Gill 2011)

'I went on daily walks, alone, letting the island-like world seep into my very being ...'

Peter Thabit Jones, Preface, p.9

We were delighted to visit the stunning Studio Gallery of Swansea artist, Nick Holly, last Friday for the launch of Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur by Peter Thabit Jones. The work in this sparkling new collection brings us - in the apposite words of Vince Clemente - a vision of Peter, 'the man on Big Sur [observing] with the eyes of maturity, but [feeling] with the open heart of the boy on Kilvey.'

Big Sur, on the Central Coast of California, is adorned with the stunning combination of the St Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is a place well-loved by writers and those who seek natural wonder and solitude. Redwood and Monterey Pine adorn this region. It is an area of wide skies and horizons, where the rugged landscape is frequented not only by mountain lions but also by rare amphibians such as the California Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus).

In his Preface, Peter alludes to the fact that his spell as Writer-in-Residence in the Cabin on Big Sur followed in the tradition of a line of other writers and artists who had been equally influenced by this extraordinary wilderness (in the sense of 'expanse of wildness' rather than 'area of emptiness'). Jack Kerouac's novel, Big Sur, (1962), for example, arose out of his time in the same cabin.

Many of us dream of living the Robinson Crusoe experience. Most of us occasionally manage to hunt out small corners 'far from the madding crowd'. Writers like Dylan Thomas and R.S. Hawker beavered away in huts perched high above estuary and ocean. I like to write with one eye on the keyboard and the other on the wide sweep of Swansea Bay, as it spreads out beneath my window. Few of us, though, unlike Peter, have truly experienced the life of a poet in isolation - for real.

It is with these thoughts in my head that I plan to approach this collection as I read it more carefully and alongside the accompanying photographs in the days to come. I have already encountered poems that invite the reader to glimpse into the 'window's picture', as it conveys the poet's vision in terms of a dual sense of the 'so-close ocean' and the 'shores of the mind'.  

• Peter Thabit Jones
• Forthcoming: International Poetry Festival, June 2011 (organised by The Seventh Quarry
  
  and Cross-Cultural Communications, New York - more details soon) 

Poetry Matters (18): 'Creatures of a Dead Community' by Lynn Hopkins

Author: Lynn Hopkins (picture of cover used with poet's permission)

Publisher: Peter Thabit Jones, The Seventh Quarry Press (2011), The Seventh Quarry

Photographs: Moelwyn Hopkins

Illustrations: Rhian Elin Thomas  

Price: £4.50 

ISBN: 978-0-95674547-3-6

'From a lofty bed,

two hands clasp a kernel

as if in prayer'

from 'The Grey Invader' by Lynn Hopkins

It is hard to think of Swansea without picturing the curve of the bay. It is an iconic yet ever-changing seascape that can be enjoyed from numerous angles. If we associate Peter Thabit Jones with the view from Kilvey Hill, we can now link Lynn Hopkins with those sweeping vistas from another vantage point where 'sea breezes blow', namely the hillside that 'stands in stillness', supporting Oystermouth Cemetery.

This 'dead community' has found a special place in Lynn's affections. For her the cemetery is a place of 'peace in beautiful surroundings'. It is a place that has inspired her first collection, a sparkling quiverful of twelve poems about the wild creatures that make their home around the graves. They are very much alive, and for Lynn their presence proves that 'life goes on, even in a dead community'.  

I have known Lynn for some years, although our paths have not crossed frequently. She is currently a student on the part-time humanities degree at Swansea University. It was a privilege to attend the recent launch of Lynn's volume, and to hear the poet reading her own work. Artistic acheivement runs in the family: Lynn's husband was also a published poet. It was a thrill to meet the poet's daughter, Rhian, whose delightful illustrations are the perfect complement to her mother's words and to her brother, Moelwyn's photography. It is not often that three members of a family have worked together on a project of this nature. 

Publisher, Peter Thabit Jones, adds that Lynn's poems are 'accessible, sound-textured and tender'. He makes the shrewd observation that although they are written in English, Lynn is bilingual and brings to her work that added dimension or 'sense of craftsmanship employed by poets working in Welsh.' Lynn's detailed approach is both arresting and engaging: the poet weaves her stories of the wild creatures into a compelling warp and weft of carefully chosen words. 

In this poem-sequence, we encounter the statue on the cover (see above) of a pensive woman, clutching her 'private book'. Word and image combine to conjure up a sense of the pain of loss, but they also manage to convey a fragile sense of future: the reader is encouraged to consider the possibility of a time when tears will be no more. But for the present, this woman of stone has to suffer the dubious company of her faithless feathered companions, the 'Magpie, raven, and rowdy rook'. 

The choice of vocabulary keeps the reader alert. Just when we are tempted to feel that all is tranquil and serene, with butterflies fluttering over 'this haven of rest', we are reminded that it is folly to think of this place as an entirely peaceable kingdom. Instead, we are confronted with the stark reality of the horrors of death and war and 'butchered hearts'. The black cat 'with two sides' to its face sums up this paradox to perfection.  

So thank you, Lynn, for introducing us to your new circle of companions - the snail, the 'wily' fox, the 'brown owls' on their 'brittle boughs' - and all the other cemetery dwellers. Thank you for helping us to appreciate the world around us in a new way from the perspective of a place where sea meets sky, and where heaven and earth are bound in life and death.  

If you would like to buy a copy of this captivating and lyrical collection, I suggest you follow this link to The Seventh Quarry Publications, and scroll down to the bottom of the page for contact details.

• Lynn Hopkins: Part-time Degree Student’s Publishing Success

Anthology Alert (9): Memories ~ a Host of Golden Daffodils

The cover

Local writers, Ann Cooke and Dr Ruth Jenkins, have produced a sparkling new prose anthology on the subject of 'Memories'. The collection costs £5 (plus, I imagine, an additional charge for p&p) and profits will go to St James' Church in the Uplands, Swansea, Wales, UK. Please leave a comment here (or send me an email) if you would like to buy a copy, and I will put you in touch with the editors.

The volume was launched in the Parish Hall at St James' last Saturday evening. It was a wonderful occasion of prose and poetry. Byron Beynon gave a fascinating paper on Idris Davies and the subject of memories. He touched on key themes from the anthology, weaving these into a narrative on the Faber poet from Rhymney, whose work continues to excite a wide readership today.

After a magnificent buffet, we were treated to three pieces from the new collection. One was about the evocative and transformative power of music, a second on the ever-popular subject of the Mumbles Train (which is sadly no more) and finally, a lively account of a carol-singing expedition in Llanelli by the Reverend Dr Duncan Walker.

Congratulations to Ann and Ruth and to all my fellow contributors. Subjects covered range from a lively and colourful selection of 'memories of 1960s Swansea' (by Paulette Luise Pelosi) to biographical sketches (e.g. a grandmother, a grandfather - and my pen portrait of my godfather). There are recollections of happy times and of darker days.

Why not support a worthy cause and buy a copy of this hot-off-the-press booklet. You will then be able to enjoy some of the 'Ohhh and Ahhh-moments' (in the words of contributor, Torsten Herbst) for yourself.    

• Idris Davies biography online here
• You can read my Idris Davies poem here

Book Corner (3): The Book of Forms ~ forthcoming

What better way to celebrate World Book Day than to receive an update of news about the forthcoming publication of one of my all-time favourite poetry publications, 'The Book of Forms: a Handbook of Poetics' (fourth edition), by Professor Lewis Turco?

• Meanwhile, the current edition is available on Amazon.
• Closer to home, you can read about World Book Night at no.5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, childhood home of Dylan Thomas. This event takes place on 5 March ~ details here.

Fiesta Time (2): International Poetry Festival in Swansea, June 2011

Blue Plaque: Dylan Thomas House, Number 5, Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea

 ~ ~ ~

SWANSEA, WALES: JUNE 2011

The Seventh Quarry 
and
Cross-Cultural Communications, New York 

A three-day festival of poetry, drama, workshops, and music 

will take place from 16th to 18th June, 

featuring writers and performers 

from the U.K., America, Canada, Argentina, Israel, Europe, Eastern Europe, and India.

Hosted by Peter Thabit Jones and Stanley H. Barkan 

at the Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea. 

Extra festival events at The Boathouse, Laugharne; 

Dylan Thomas House, Swansea; 

and the Nick Holly Art Studio, Swansea.

A commemorative chapbook will be produced 

and several awards will be announced. 

Further details and a brochure forthcoming.

~ ~ ~