Launch of the Emma Press anthology, 'Slow Things'

We attended the launch of Slow Things yesterday evening. Slow Things is the latest poetry anthology from The Emma Press. It features poems on such diverse subjects as 'ice, traffic and a giant wooden boulder'. It also includes my poem, 'Dear Loris', about the Slow Loris, probably the only poisonous primate. 

The book launch took place in the Archive of Rambert on London's South Bank.

Ballet Rambert

I would like to thank publishers Emma Wright (owner of The Emma Press, above) and Rachel Piercey (regular co-editor, third from left below) for another wonderfully unique and diverse anthology.
  

There was plenty of opportunity for browsing on the book table; and given that the evening also included a launch of The Dead Snail Diaries by Valley Press founder and publisher, Jamie McGarry, it was hardly surprising that there was a trail of mollusc shells among the publications!

The photo below shows Jamie in full flight, regaling us with his witty gastropod poems.

It was a delightful and well-supported occasion, with a lively atmosphere, clear readings and plenty of opportunity for conversation.

Fellow Suffolk Poetry Society member, Alex Davis (front right)

Rachel Piercey with Alison Brackenbury

A buzz of conversation!

Alex Davis reading

 ... Alex and me, part of the Suffolk contingent ...

Thank you, Emma and Rachel, for a memorable occasion. 

• About The Emma Press
• About Slow Things
• About The Dead Snail Diaries by Jamie McGarry of Valley Press
• The EP/VP Blog (shared by The Emma Press and Valley Press)

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! 

Launch Event: 'The Holy Place', Arlington's, Ipswich

We had an enjoyable evening at Arlington's in Ipswich last night at the monthly Poetry Cafe, run by Fred Ellis. The theme was November/Remembrance, and it was not surprising that quite a few of the poems had a military feel. There were also poems crackling with bonfire imagery. A good number of home-grown pieces were read out or performed. Matthew from the Poetry Pulse showed us his seasonal poem in a novel decorated scroll. UCS and the Writing Workshop that takes place on Thursdays at 2pm (plug!) in Gainsborough Community Library were both well represented.

I did a fifteen minute reading from my chapbook, 'The Holy Place', choosing five poems dedicated to special people and places in my life. My selection included a Sestina, a Tercet Ghazal and a Sonnet. My thanks to all who came to support me and to those who bought copies of the chapbook.

'The Holy Place' is co-authored with John Dotson, and published by Peter Thabit Jones of The Seventh Quarry Press, in conjunction with Stanley H. Barkan from Cross-Cultural Communications in New York.

You can find out more on my website. I have copies of the chapbook for sale at £3.50, inclusive of UK p&p: please click the red contact button here if you would like to buy one or ask a question etc. 

The Poetry Cafe ... an Impression

The Holy Place Chapbook: Ipwich Launch

Chapbook Launch

POETRY CAFE

ARLINGTON's

IPSWICH, SUFFOLK, UK

TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER

TIME: 7pm

All welcome (small fee)

I will be launching my chapbook, 'The Holy Place', during the evening. 

Please come and join us ... and bring a poem to read on the theme of November/Memories.

*

'The Holy Place' 

by John Dotson (USA) and Caroline Gill (UK)

is the 5th in the Poet to Poet series, 

a commissioned series published by 

The Seventh Quarry Press in Swansea (ed. Peter Thabit Jones)

 in conjunction with Cross-Cultural Communications, New York (ed. Stanley H. Barkan). 

The 3rd chapbook in this commissioned series contains poems

 by Aeronwy Thomas, (daughter of Dylan Thomas) and Maria Mazziotti Gillan (USA).

Event Alert (2): Launch of 'Silver' by Sir Andrew Motion

Bury St Edmunds (Abbey Gardens)

So what happened to Jim Hawkins?

I wonder if you remember turning the pages of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson as a compelling swashbuckling yarn unfolded in your mind's eye. Former Poet Laureate and founder of the remarkable online Poetry Archive, Sir Andrew Motion, held us spellbound in Bury St Edmunds the other night at the launch of his new novel, Silver, a sequel to Stevenson's classic tale. The new book is published by Jonathan Cape.  

The event took place in the Greene Room at the Theatre Royal, the only surviving Regency Playhouse in the UK, now in the care of the National Trust. I won't write about the launch event itself in any detail in the hope that some of you may be planning to attend one of these evenings yourselves. Suffice to say that it was a joy to hear the poet reading his own words, with fascinating snatches of commentary thrown in along the way. We were riveted by prose pieces from Silver, and were also treated to a selection of Motion's recent poems. It was one of those evenings that left you craving more, and I found myself joining a mounting queue of (adult) would-be treasure seekers at the book signing table.   

• The 'Lighthouse' Stevensons
• Review of Silver in The Guardian by Daisy Hay