Magazine Moment (17) : Wendy Webb's TIPS for Writers, issue 79

Based on the Mermaid Stall in Zennor Church, Cornwall

I have been greatly enjoying Wendy Webb's 79th edition of TIPS for Writers (and here). The attractive technicolour cover shows Wendy, quill in hand, at Coleridge's desk in Nether Stowey. The back cover (and as a left hander, I usually begin at the back) shows the artwork covers by Kay Weeks and Dee Sunshine of more of Wendy's publications .

The issue begins with a tribute to poet, Simon Wood, whose fine poems I have enjoyed and admired over a number of years. Simon's contribution to the small press world of poetry will be missed.

Bernard Jackson's Rondelet for Autumn sets a seasonal tone, with its 'sunlit groves' and 'jewelled cobwebs'.

We are transported on through a landscape of alliteration (e.g. 'Mordor on a moody moonlit midnight') to the Sagarmatha Himalayas by Dr Marc Latham, creator of the Folding Mirror Poetry form.

For those who like to follow in the enchanting footsteps of the Foodleflap, there is A Foodleflap Sonnet by Bernard M. Jackson, in which the compelling creature pursues its quest for currant buns!

My favourite 'serious' poem is almost certainly Santorini by David Norris-Kay. The poet evokes this fascinating island with its 'small twinkling towns' and 'dark cliffs topped white as burnished bone'. 

Some poems concern subjects that are closer to hand, and I was particularly drawn to the examples of the Brentor Sonnet, a form created by Wendy with its split lines [6/7 and 13/14] 'for visual and sound effect'. Brentor is, in Wendy's words, 'a hill transfigured in the mist' on the edge of Dartmoor, with a chapel perched on the top of it. As it happens, it was a favourite haunt of some of my Tavistock-based relations in the early 1900s. One of the latest Brentor Sonnets in this issue is by John N. Brown. It is about a barge on a canal. Another - this time by Peter Davies - concerns the changing faces of the Suffolk landscape. Two more can be found on p.26, Autumn Love by international Haiku prize winner, Claire Knight - and Oh let me tell by Peter Geoffrey Paul Thompson. 

For those who enjoy taking part in poetry competitions, p15 of the latest issue is devoted to these. They form part of the celebrations for the 10th anniversary of the magazine. Entry is open to those who live in the UK and to those who are members of Norfolk Poets and Writers. 

Why not join us all as TIPS celebrates its first golden decade? The current magazine costs £3 (in the UK). eTIPS is a free pdf which is available to all and can be delivered to your inbox several times a year, on request.

You can find Wendy's email here if you would like to receive the monthly ezine or would like to take out a subscription to the full print magazine. There is something for most tastes ... the formal (with many of Wendy's own forms), the informal, the serious, the funny and even, on occasions, the absurd.

And as I mentioned, the Coleridge cover is wonderful, too!

You may be wondering about the mermaid in the photo above. To find out more about Wendy's association with these fascinating creatures, I would encourage you to take out a subscription to TIPS (or eTIPS). You might also take a look on Amazon ... e.g. here.

Thank you, Wendy, for a most enjoyable read.