Poetry Workshop at Poetry in Aldeburgh

I have just returned from a Poetry in Aldeburgh workshop in the Lookout on the beach. It was a grey November afternoon, but we had a small log burner to keep us warm, and plenty of energy flowing freely through our pens. The workshop's title was 'Edge of the Depths' (the sea, the sea - what else?) and was led by Anne-Marie Fyfe. What an inspiring start to the Festival. Thank you, Anne-Marie.

Coming home, with two compulsory items - a book and a bag. 

The book in my hand is just out, and exquisitely produced by Eye Wild Books. Its title is Conversations with Birds, and the poet is Ian Griffiths, former Chair of Suffolk Poetry Society. The wonderful artwork is by Carol Lawrence. Do consider obtaining a copy of this publication.

 You can hardly see the sea,

but I can assure you it was visible

through the Lookout doors.

Aldeburgh beach, outside the Lookout

Last glance at the Lookout before I made my way home...

Aldeburgh Poetry Festival 2015 (Post 2)

We have just returned from a second day at Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. We were mainly out at Aldeburgh, where there were some strong autumn gusts at lunch time by the iconic Scallop, followed by a stormy panorama as we left the town on our journey back to Snape this evening.

Highlights included an excellent and lively talk by John Burnside on the poetry of birds. We were riveted by his selected bird poems from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and by his engaging commentary. I particularly connected with the poems by Edward Thomas and Marianne Moore.

Alison Brackenbury delivered a delightful reading and brought great illumination to 'Christmas' by John Clare from December in The Shepherd's Calendar.

I have been particularly thrilled to find much of this year's poetry linking back to the land in a variety of ways. This, of course, is a personal preference, and perhaps it is not surprising that land in all its guises (edges, boundaries, borders, soil, seasons, owned land and wilderness ...) has played a significant part when you consider that one of the official festival themes for 2015 is 'poetry and freedom'.

Perhaps my ear was acutely attuned to this current (was it an overcurrent or an undercurrent? The emphasis seemed to waver) as a result of my visit only three days ago to the extraordinary exhibition of Ai Weiwei at the Royal Academy.  

Aldeburgh Poetry Festival 2015 (Post 1)

Aldeburgh

So here we are once again in the throes of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, and judging by the number of people standing during events, it seems that poetry is alive and well here in the east.

I spent the afternoon at a poetry workshop on the theme of led by Peter Sirr. It took place in the extraordinary surroundings of The Red House.

My second event was a Craft Talk, delivered by one of the 2014 Faber New Poets, Zaffar Kunial. The poet took us through selected texts, including two versions, a 'before' and 'after', of his own. He demonstrated how the writers had created a sense of balance and space (or perhaps 'distance').

My final event of the day was to have been Richard Mabey, who had to withdraw from the festival. In his absence, John Burnside and Helen Macdonald read from their respective books and held a lively conversation about a number of ecological and natural world issues, touching on taxonomy and the naming of species, the pros and cons of re-wilding and the question of mass (the importance of regaining vast numbers of e.g. insects) or diversity (the importance of keeping as wide a range of wildlife as possible). 

I look forward to another round of talks tomorrow, and a second chance to mingle with poets from far and near. I also hope to catch a breath of bracing sea air and to do a bit of book browsing.

My thanks to Ellen McAteer and all those at The Poetry Trust who have worked so hard on behalf of those of us who wish to come together to share poetry in all its rainbow guises.

Feather, Aldeburgh beach

26th Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

Aldeburgh

'Aldeburgh is the UK’s pre-eminent annual celebration 

of national and international contemporary poetry'

The Poetry Trust

A sweep of unpromising grey cloud dissipated around noon and the sky brightened over Snape and Aldeburgh. The 26th Aldeburgh Poetry Festival took off in Suffolk sunshine to the delight of those who had come from far and wide to take part, to be informed or entertained and simply to imbibe poetry of all sorts and descriptions.

I made my way to the front at Aldeburgh to sniff the sea and to take my festival photograph near the iconic Scallop on the beach. It was soon time to head off to The Red House for a workshop led by Karen McCarthy Woolf. What an experience to write in such a distinguished and musical venue! Karen kept us on our toes, as urban, coastal and rural horizons began to dance before our eyes. We tried to capture something special in our writing as we cast our nets widely. Most of us came away with pages of material and poems in draft. Thank you, Karen, for such a stimulating, eye-opening and wide-ranging session.

Snape Maltings

The Aldeburgh Poetry Festival is largely based around the complex of Snape Maltings, with its boardwalk at the edge of the reeds and its wide skies that provide wonderful starling murmurations on autumn evenings. I attended the Open Workshop on Saturday in the Oyster Bar, led by Michael Laskey, founder of the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, and Jeni Smith, and once again found every poetic muscle in my body (or brain?) being contorted in new and occasionally uncomfortable ways!

Sadly the event with Jen Hadfield was cancelled due to bad weather up north, but it was great to catch up with a good number of friends and to meet new ones. By the time I headed for home my book bag was bulging with a mix of shiny and secondhand volumes and pamphlets by Edward Thomas, Tony Harrison, Karen McCarthy Woolf*, Chrissie Williams, Jen Hadfield and Kevin Crossley-Holland ...

Me ... with feather bag ...

and copies of An Aviary of Small Birds (Carcanet, 2014) by Karen McCarthy Woolf

Photo credit: © Karen McCarthy Woolf (used with permission)

• Farewell to Festival Director, Naomi Jaffa
• Welcome Ellen McAteer as new Director of The Poetry Trust
• *An Aviary of Small Birds (Carcanet, 2014) by Karen McCarthy Woolf
• Anthony Wilson blogs about the Festival
• InSuffolk Conversation with Naomi Jaffa
• Fiona Moore's detailed and enthusiastic account 

 

Fiesta Time: Aldeburgh Poetry Festival 2013

Snape Maltings

I can hardly believe that nearly a week has gone by since Aldeburgh Poetry Festival.

I attended a translation workshop led by Sasha Dugdale at Aldeburgh on the Friday afternoon. Although I have contributed to the Romanian journal, Orizont Literar Contemporan, in various ways and over a number of years, I have never been a poetry translator. Sasha led us through a Mandelstam poem with great panache; and when it was over to us to try to present our own versions in English, we began to grasp why translation is the closest reading of a poem that can be attempted. Sasha drew our attention to the journal called mpt, which stands for 'modern poetry in translation'. The current issue ends with a fine tribute to Seamus Heaney by David Constantine, who was one of the three poets at this year's Aldeburgh Poetry Prom.  

Then on Saturday afternoon, David (Gill) and I had tickets for a couple of events at Snape Maltings. The first was a presentation on Christopher Logue by Craig Raine, a poet in his own right, and known by many for his time as poetry editor at Faber and Faber.

Raine spoke about Logue's five volume magnus opus known as War Music, which constitutes the poet's contemporary re-working of the Iliad, a work I know from my days as a student and then as a teacher of Classical Studies. War Music is 'crammed with contemporary references' and is not merely a translation. During the short session Raine led us through a number of passages and we began to see how cinematic influences had been brought to bear on the material in a bid to enhance the action. The notes I made on the handout are full of remarks such as 'slapstick', 'cartoon comedy' and 'violence infected with comedy'.   

Our final Aldeburgh event was a brief reading by D. Nurske, sponsored by Ink, Sweat and Tears. Nurske explored the nature of 'beauty' in poetry in his Short Take session. He reminded us of the fact that a century ago readers were keen to present the work of others at readings whereas the current trend is for readers to share their own work. To this end, he chose to redress the balance by introducing short poems by a variety of writers, including some revered household names like Issa and others less universally known like Sylvain Garneau.

Nurske spoke of poetry as 'a voice that comes from nowhere'.  

With Lynn Woollacott

With this thought much in mind, it was time to head for the Trask Cafe for a cup of Earl Grey and a slice of chocolate brownie. One of the pleasures of attending a festival is the chance not only to make new acquaintances in workshops etc. but to meet up with friends. Lynn Woollacott and I have 'known' each other for some years through our poems in Indigo Dreams publications and through online exchanges. We are both Hellenophiles with a soft spot for the threatened Caretta caretta sea turtles (click here and scroll down) that come ashore to breed in a few selective sites on the islands and mainland of Greece.

It was lovely, Lynn, to have the chance to meet you face to face!

Snape Sunset

Postscript: my thanks to Naomi Jaffa and the Festival organisers. The Poetry Paper is as ever crammed with poems and commentary. Issue 10 celebrates twenty-five years of the festival and contains an interview with David Constantine, a double spread on landscape in poetry and, of course, a good number of poems.  

Magazine Moments ~ From Romania to East Anglia

I have been at the 25th Aldeburgh International Poetry Festival at Snape today.

When I got home, I was able to open the double issue of Orizont Literar Contemporan that had arrived. My thanks to Daniel Dragomirescu! 

This issue includes a feature I edited on Two Aspects of the Literary Scene in Norfolk and Suffolk

• Chris Gribble, Norfolk: Norwich, UNESCO City of Literature

• Naomi Jaffa, Suffolk: Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

Fiesta Time ~ 25 Years of Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

I got back some hours ago from my excursion to Aldeburgh. 

The weather was extraordinarily mild for November, though there were heavy showers at times. I was practically the only soul on the long beach during a dry spell. Has everyone migrated to Snape? 

I took part in Sasha Dugdale's translation workshop. My experience of translating *poetry* from a literal translation (since I do not speak the original Russian of our sample poem) was a near-novel one for me. Of course, those who know the original language can translate a poem with accuracy. But where does that leave the poetry itself? How much should we strive to recreate the poet's original intention with precision? How much should we aim to convey the way in which the poem reveals its magic to us?

I came away with a copy of mpt (modern poetry in translation), edited by Sasha. The issue (no.3 2013) ends with a fitting tribute to Seamus Heaney from David Constantine, in which Constantine reminds us that despite its personal origins, 'a poem is always also for someone else ...'

Fiesta Time: the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

The Aldeburgh Scallop

I have just returned from a brilliant day at the festival. The weather was chilly, with east coast temperatures, but the bright sun more than made up for the wintry feel.

My congratulations to The Poetry Trust for arranging excellent workshop leaders. I spent the morning in the Aldeburgh Music Room, in Val Bloom's workshop on poetry forms (right up my street!). We drafted poems from word associations and from Imagist ideas. We attempted a Nonet, and considered its inverted form, the Tenon.

There was just time to move the car and have a quick lunch (sadly no time for the famous fish and chips today!) before heading off to the Peter Pears Gallery for a worshop on 'Elsewhere', led by Dr David Wheatley. I have to confess that I just found (or made) time to slip into Reed Books, where I bought a copy of Swithering by Robin Robertson.

David Wheatley introduced us to Larkin's concept of 'elsewhere', and guided us as we explored possibilities of 'mapping out' an elsewhere poem for ourselves. We soon had rough drafts (though some sounded very polished to me), which we read out and offered for group discussion.

I wandered back to my car, passing - or rather, failing to pass - a delicatessan, where I bought a delicious chocolate and walnut brownie. The sunset was stark and beautiful; the sea, crisp and calm.

Roll on tomorrow when we go to Snape for a discussion of short poetry. And if you are heading in that direction, copies of my chapbook, 'The Holy Place' (co-authored with John Dotson) can be bought from the Festival Bookstall.

Speaking of 'The Holy Place', do join us for a launch reading on Tuesday 6 November at 7pm at Arlington's in Ipswich. The reading will take place during the monthly Poetry Cafe. All are welcome, and there is a small fee (about £3) to cover Poetry Cafe costs. Why not bring a bonfire poem to share ... 

Fiesta Time: The Aldeburgh Poetry Festival 2012

I took copies of my chapbook, 'The Holy Place' (co-authored with John Dotson) over to Snape ...

... ready for the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Bookstall.

The beautiful setting of Snape will add an extra dimension to this year's festival ...

... and festival-goers will still be able to walk along the coastal waterways ...

... at Aldeburgh, with its excellent fish and chips!

Roll on Friday, when the festival begins!