Event Alert (1): Raiders of the Lost Art at UCS with David Gill

Philadelphia, Jan. 2012: David Gill receives his Outstanding Public Service Award

If you live within range of Ipswich, you might care to join us on Wednesday 2 May. As part of the UCS Academy Lecture series, David Gill (my husband) will be discussing his research on collecting antiquities. The evening, entitled 'Raiders of the Lost Art' and hosted by Mark Murphy of BBC Radio Suffolk, will take place at the University Campus Suffolk Waterfront Building in Ipswich, starting at 17.30 with registration and refreshments and closing with a canapé reception from 19.30.

We very much hope you will be able to join us for this event. If you would like to come, it would be appreciated if you would reserve a place: further details can be found here on David's Looting Matters blog and here (with contact email) on the UCS website.

You may also be interested to hear of David's recent appearance in The Independent's 2012 list of '100 People who make Britain a much, much better place' for his work on returning looted antiquities.

Outside the UCS Waterfront Building, Ipswich, venue for the event on 2 May

Anthology Alert (11): Antologia Launch in Bucharest

Editor-in-chief, Daniel Dragomirescu (centre) with members of the editorial team

My thanks to Daniel Dragomirescu, editor-in-chief of Orizont Literar Contemporan / Contemporary Literary Horizon magazine, for this photograph of the recent launch event of the Antologia / Anthology at the Muzeul Literaturii / Museum of Literature in Bucharest, Romania. You can read more here (in Romanian) and here (from Rosetta Savelli in Italy) and here (from me in the UK!).

ALL THE WORLD IN AN ANTHOLOGY

TODO O MUNDO EM UMA ANTOLOGIA

TOUT LE MONDE DANS UNE ANTHOLOGIE

TODO EL MUNDO EN UNA ANTOLOGIA

TOT MAPAMONDUL ÎNTR-O ANTOLOGIE

If you would like to buy a copy of find out more about this engaging international magazine, please leave a message in the Comments section below or send an email using this link.

Anthology Alert (10): Ten Forward, Carillon's 10th Anniversary Publication

Ten Forward ~ Celebrating ten years of Carillon Magazine

Carillon is celebrating its 10th birthday, no small achievement for a literary magazine in the current climate. Editor, Graham Rippon, has done a terrific job in producing a glossy anniversary perfect-bound book edition, with the positive title, Ten Forward. I love the way in which the bursting bud on the front cover becomes a full-blown and flamboyant poppy on the reverse. Spring has indeed sprung in South Yorkshire!

I recall the early editions of the magazine, and indeed the welcome small payments that were made for work that was selected. We all know how few small press magazines are able to pay their authors and poets, but it is always a boon when a cheque arrives in the post or, for that matter, a contributor's copy. It is not only the contributors who are well looked after, for Carillon readers are treated to a rich variety of subject and writing style.

Ten Forward is divided into three sections: (1) poetry, (2) prose and (3) 'Bookmark' and other competition winners. Carol Thistlethwaite has been reviewing books for the magazine for some time, and Graham Rippon has also included his review of her delightful poetry collection, From the Field Book.

I feel privileged to have two of my 'Bookmark' poems, 'Through the Door of Wishful Thinking' and 'Dartmoor: the Call of the Wild' included alongside work by familiar names such as Gerald Hampshire, June Drake, Michael Newman, Pat Jourdan and Neil Leadbeater.

Poems that made a particular impact on me include 'The Slave' by Barbara Robinson, 'Sighing the Deep' by Angela Bradley - and 'Daybreak' by Lorna Grinter, in which 'the air is stitched with birdsong'.

If you would like to find out more about Carillon or if you would like to order a copy of the anthology for yourself, you can visit the Carillon website here - or you can click here for a list of contributors. Thank you, Graham, for a fine and beautifully produced anthology.

And when you next see a red poppy on your travels, don't forget that (in the words of Gordon Scapens),

'it waves a message'.  

Publication Pointer (6): Launch of Antologia ii in Bucharest, Romania

I am sorry to be missing this exciting launch event of the second 'Antologia', a multi-lingual publication arising out of Orizont Literar Contemporan / Contemporary Literary Horizon magazine produced in Bucharest, Romania. The editor-in-chief is Daniel Dragomirescu, and the translation work is largely undertaken by students of the MTTLC in the University of Bucharest, under the direction of Professor Lidia Vianu. The launch takes place on 7 April 2012 at the National Museum of Romanian Literature. Two of my poems feature in the Antologia.

You might also enjoy these international links ...here, here, here, here and here!  

Poetry Matters (19): Route to a First Collection Workshop with Heidi Williamson

Heidi Williamson (photo courtesy of Heidi)

Have you ever wondered exactly what it takes to prepare a first full-length poetry collection?

I went on a brilliant workshop today led by Bloodaxe poet, Heidi Williamson. The pieces in Heidi's first collection, 'Electric Shadow', which I couldn't resist buying, have been described by Poetry Book Society selectors, Moniza Alvi and Paul Farley, as ...

‘Poems which display an incisive mind, 
a powerful imagination 

and an equally impressive purchase on language.’

I very much look forward to reading these at leisure. 

Heidi, a prize-winning poet, held a two year residency at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre in London. She is currently serving as Poet-in-Residence at the John Jarrold Printing Museum in Norwich. These opportunities have afforded her the opportunity to move out of her comfort zone (as I believe she said), and to embark on a series of explorations into the multi-faceted worlds of science and technology, worlds that are not often associated with our perhaps limited perception of those 'traditional spheres' of poetry. 

I first met Heidi some weeks ago when she travelled to Ipswich to join the Café Poets at Arlingtons. There was little chance to talk then, but I was excited when I heard that she was running a course, and was thankful that our house move didn't quite overlap with the day in question!

So what did we do in the workshop? Well, we were encouraged to attempt exercises that helped us to focus and think more incisively about the nature of our embryonic future collections. We were also given step-by-step guidelines to follow. We were made aware not only of helpful tips but also of common pitfalls to avoid along what can be for some - if not for many - an uncertain route towards publication. 

I won't go into more explicit details because it is possible that you may choose to take the opportunity of attending one of Heidi's future workshops for yourself. Suffice to say that Heidi took a very comprehensive approach to her topic, providing her participants with an extremely enjoyable and valuable way of spending a Saturday. I have come home with much to think about and a wad of practical handouts to read and digest. I look forward to following through some of the books that were recommended - and I feel far more equipped for the next leg of my own exciting and doubtless unique journey into the world of poetry and its publication.

Thank you, Heidi, for an inspiring and challenging day!

Poetry Matters (18): Passion for Poetry Event, Bury St Edmunds

Spring is in the air - and you might like to support the Very Reverend Dr Frances Ward, Dean of St Edmundsbury, in the 'Passion for Poetry' event, by selecting and sponsoring a poem. Details can be found here - and there is still just time to return a completed form by post.

Postscript, 2 April 2012: it was good to join others at the Opening of the ECAT (Edmund Centre for Arts and Theology) Centre on Saturday. David and I heard that our sponsored poems had been read in the Cathedral Centre at Bury St Edmunds as part of the Dean's 24 hour poetry reading. We were able to meet Dr Elizabeth Cook, who will become Writer-in-Residence.  

Media Matters (3) David Gill on Air

David at Nestor's Palace, close to Homer's 'sandy Pylos'

David was a 'sofa guest' on Radio Suffolk this afternoon. You can find the programme on this link - and by pushing the slide-bar along until you get to '2.30', about three quarters of the way along the line. We found it took some seconds before the sound kicked in.

The programme was billed with these words:

'on the sofa Professor David Gill who has been described as Indiana Jones in reverse because he likes to return antiquities to their original homes.'

The chat show covers various aspects of David's 'relationship' with archaeology, from his first find as a boy to his 2012 Award from the Archaeological Institute of America (which is when the Swansea media came up with the 'Indie' nickname). David mentions his poetry, and recites his poem, 'From Syracuse to Manhattan'.