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'.