Publication Day ... 'Driftwood by Starlight', The Seventh Quarry Press

 

I am excited and delighted to announce that Peter Thabit Jones of The Seventh Quarry Press in Swansea has just published my first single-authored poetry collection, Driftwood by Starlight. I am immensely grateful to Peter.

The book can be purchased from the online shop on The Seventh Quarry website - here. 

Fellow poet, Susan Richardson, has written the following words:

 

Laurence Hartwell generously provided the cover photograph of Cadgwith Cove on The Lizard in Cornwall, UK.  

As it happens, one of my poems in the collection, Elegy for Idris Davies, is currently a Poem of the Month on the SecondLight website here. 

Pushcart Nomination 2014

Sharmagne Leland-St. John and her team at Quill and Parchment (USA) have selected my poem, 'Elegy for Idris Davies', for a 2014 Pushcart Prize nomination.

The poem concerns the miner-turned-poet, Idris Davies, from the Rhymney Valley in South Wales.

A dram for transporting pieces of coal

Poetry Venues ~ Walpole Old Chapel, Suffolk

One of the fascinating things about poetry readings is the venue in which they happen. I have enjoyed the opportunity of reading in large venues like the National Botanic Garden of Wales and in intimate interiors such as Dylan's parlour at Number 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in Swansea. I recently read a poem, 'Elegy to Idris Davies', from my chapbook (co-authored with John Dotson) in the exquisite venue of Walpole Old Chapel in Suffolk as part of a Poetry Evening, organised by members of the Halesworth Poetry Cafe. 

Walpole Old Chapel had been a sixteenth century farmhouse until it was turned into a chapel some 30 years after its construction by some Independent puritans under William Bridge. In 1955, after an unusual history, the chapel passed to the care of the Historic Chapels Trust. These days the chapel is used for suitable gatherings and for Quaker meetings. Its setting is rural, and as we drove up to it, the combine harvester was moving up and down, gathering barley from the surrounding fields.

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On a different note, I have just found this timer, which is useful for preparing poetry presentations!

Magazine Moment (30): Poems in Bengali / American Magazine, Shabdaguchha

Not exactly a [Keatsian] fading rose - as in my poem, 'Swansong' - but more picturesque

I discovered this morning that the latest issue of Shabdaguchha, a Bengali-American publication, is now online and features three of my poems. Hard copies are also available.

Shabdaguchha is under the editorship of Bangladesh-born, New York-based poet, novelist, critic and translator, HassanAl Abdullah. You can reads a feature about him here. 

Issue 53/54 includes a section prepared by Peter Thabit Jones (editor of The Seventh Quarry magazine) and dedicated to the work in English of 'Welsh Poets'. It is always a pleasure (though a rare one) to find that David (Gill) and I have poetry in the same volume! Our first joint appearance in the poetry press was, I believe, in the Pairs Issue of Purple Patch, edited by Geoff Stevens, whose recent death brought shockwaves of sadness to the poetry fraternity. Our paired poems on that occasion were - not surprisingly - on the archaeology and topography of Greece. Our Shabdaguchha pieces have been published alongside poems by Peter Thabit Jones, Aeronwy Thomas (d.2009), Jean Salkilld (leader of Swansea's Tuesday Poetry group) and Lynn Hopkins.

In addition to the Welsh poetry, the current magazine includes sections in Bengali and English. A poem called 'No Cats on the Yangtze' by Stanley H. Barkan, editor of Cross-Cultural Communications in New York, particularly caught my eye. My thanks to HassanAl Abdullah - and many congratulations on the 14th anniversary of the magazine. 

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Details of how to purchase a hard copy of the magazine can be found by clicking here. Issue 53/54 Vol. 14, no.1-2, July-Dec 2011 of Shabdaguchha contains the following poems by the Gills ...

Caroline

• Elegy for Idris Davies
• Preseli Blue
• Swansong

David

• Standing Alone
• From Syracuse to Manhattan
• Gloucestershire in the Negev

Anthology Alert (9): Memories ~ a Host of Golden Daffodils

The cover

Local writers, Ann Cooke and Dr Ruth Jenkins, have produced a sparkling new prose anthology on the subject of 'Memories'. The collection costs £5 (plus, I imagine, an additional charge for p&p) and profits will go to St James' Church in the Uplands, Swansea, Wales, UK. Please leave a comment here (or send me an email) if you would like to buy a copy, and I will put you in touch with the editors.

The volume was launched in the Parish Hall at St James' last Saturday evening. It was a wonderful occasion of prose and poetry. Byron Beynon gave a fascinating paper on Idris Davies and the subject of memories. He touched on key themes from the anthology, weaving these into a narrative on the Faber poet from Rhymney, whose work continues to excite a wide readership today.

After a magnificent buffet, we were treated to three pieces from the new collection. One was about the evocative and transformative power of music, a second on the ever-popular subject of the Mumbles Train (which is sadly no more) and finally, a lively account of a carol-singing expedition in Llanelli by the Reverend Dr Duncan Walker.

Congratulations to Ann and Ruth and to all my fellow contributors. Subjects covered range from a lively and colourful selection of 'memories of 1960s Swansea' (by Paulette Luise Pelosi) to biographical sketches (e.g. a grandmother, a grandfather - and my pen portrait of my godfather). There are recollections of happy times and of darker days.

Why not support a worthy cause and buy a copy of this hot-off-the-press booklet. You will then be able to enjoy some of the 'Ohhh and Ahhh-moments' (in the words of contributor, Torsten Herbst) for yourself.    

• Idris Davies biography online here
• You can read my Idris Davies poem here

Publications (4): Poem of the Month - and others

A dram, used in the coalfields of South Wales

I was surprised and delighted last night to receive an email, informing me that my poem, 'Elegy for Idris Davies', has been voted Poem of the Month by Anne Stewart on the SecondLightLive web page. This poem was published by Peter Thabit Jones in The Seventh Quarry. You can read it here.

More locally, three of my poems have just appeared in our Poetry Group's Christmas anthology, 'Tuesday Poetry', produced by Jean Salkilld. My poems are about (1) Christmas, (2) the rose-red city of Petra and (3) winter at the Westonbirt Arboretum.

Further reading

• Biography: Idris Davies
• Westonbirt Arboretum