'World Poetry Anthology' edited by Hassanal Abdullah

 

 

David Gill and I are delighted to be included in this new anthology of poetry from across the globe, compiled and edited by Hassanal Abdullah to mark 25 years of his international poetry journal, Shabdaguchha.

This volume published by Darklight Publishing (New York and Mexico) features, among many others, poems by Pablo Neruda, Aeronwy Thomas, Stanley Kunitz, Peter Thabit Jones (poet, writer and editor of The Seventh Quarry Press), Louise Glück and Lidia Chiarelli.  

You can buy the anthology here. 

David's poem is a nod to Edward Thomas. My poem, 'Preseli Blue', concerns a bluestone from Stonehenge and was triggered by the sight of one of these boulders on display in the National Botanic Garden of Wales, way back in 2001.  

Previous post: click here.

International Echoes ~ Shabdaguchha at 15!

Happy 15th birthday, Shabdaguchha! 

This Bengali poetry magazine with an international flavour is edited by Hassanal Abdullah from his home in the USA. I was made aware of this multilingual magazine back in 2011 when I was invited to contribute to a section on poetry from Wales, along with Aeronwy Thomas (1943-2009), Peter Thabit Jones, Jean Salkilld, David (Gill) and Lynn Hopkins.

Fifteen years is a long time in the life of a poetry magazine! Two of the highlights along the way (in my opinion) have been pieces on the Swatantra Sonnet (devised by the editor) and a feature on Cajun poets, presented by Beverly Matherne.

Issue 59/60 contains birthday greetings from Stanley H. Barkan, editor of Cross-Cultural Communications in New York, from Laura Boss, Kristine Doll, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Tino Villenueva and many others. My anniversary tribute can be found on p.16, under the heading 'An International  Celebration of Literary Adventure'. 

Media Matters: Readings from 'The Holy Place', Ipswich Community Radio

Preseli Bluestone at the National Botanic garden of Wales

My thanks to Mai and Gary who hosted the Friday Breakfast Show on Ipswich Community Radio this morning. It was good to be a guest poet on the show. It was my first live broadcast, and I have learned a few tips in case there is a future occasion ...

• to conquer the nerves, sit back (well, not too far from the microphone) and enjoy the experience, in the hope that a sense of enthusiasm will transmit across the airwaves! 
• to visualise the listeners ... 
• to mention my website!
• to have a couple of extra pieces up my sleeve in case there is more time than expected.

Mai and I talked mainly about my new chapbook, The Holy Place, co-authored with John Dotson from California. It was published in 2012 by The Seventh Quarry Press in Swansea (editor Peter Thabit Jones) in conjunction with Cross-Cultural Communications in New York (editor Stanley H. Barkan).

The chapbook is the 5th in the commissioned Poet to Poet series. Aeronwy Thomas (1943-2009), Dylan's daughter, was paired with Maria Mazziotti Gillan in Nightwatch (which is listed if you click through and scroll down), the 3rd chapbook in the series.

I read the following poems from The Holy Place:

• Weddell Seal at the Ice Edge 
• Lament of a Lewis Chessman
• Preseli Blue (about the bluestones at Stonehenge) ... this poem is on the Shabdaguchha poetry site, thanks to the editor, Hassanal Abdullah: to find it, click here and scroll down.
• Isabella Tiger Moth greets the Woolly Bear Caterpillar

Mai and I chatted about early poems, and I read my poem, Koala Bear (not in the chapbook), written in the 1970s at the age of eleven for the Sevenoaks Three Arts Festival poetry competition on the theme of 'animals'. It won me the Grove Poetry Trophy, a silver inkstand. These days I know that the koala is NOT a bear ...

If you have a query or would like to buy a copy of the chapbook (£3.50 inc. p&p in the UK), please leave a note in the comments section below this post, or alternatively you can find an email address for me by clicking here (it is on the left, once you have clicked through). 

Anthology Alert (12): ... and Poetry Cornwall | Bardhonyeth Kernow is TEN!

Cover Photo credit: Angelicia 'Bird of Paradise Flower'

Poetry Cornwall | Bardhonyeth Kernow, # thirty four

I have been a subscriber to Poetry Cornwall | Bardhonyeth Kernow almost from its arrival on the small press poetry scene. A number of my relations lived in Cornwall, and it is a part of the world I have known and loved for as long as I can remember. Presumably like a number of others, one of these relatives felt that she had invented surfing ('belly-boarding') by riding the Atlantic waves on a coffin lid.

Forget the coffins: this is a time for celebration. Poetry Cornwall | Bardhonyeth Kernow is riding high on the upward trajectory of its unique wave-crest as it marks this special 10th anniversary year. Thank you, Les, on behalf of so many of us, for a terrific magazine. Thank you for sharing poetry, for publishing our poems and also for including poems in dialect, in Cornish, in other languages and in translation.

This issue contains my piece, 'Moonshine', about the Snowy Owl who landed in the Zennor area of Penwith around Christmas-time in 2008. I had the opportunity to read the poem a few days ago at the IpArt PoetryFest here in Suffolk.

Looking down on Zennor ...

with its Mermaid pew ...

in the lovely church of St Senara.

Poetry Cornwall | Bardhonyeth Kernow also marks its milestone anniversary with the publication of a new book, Cornwall - an anthology of poetry and photographs, described as 'an artistic and literary credit to the identity, heritage and culture of a Celtic nation'. The book is compiled by Les Merton and illustrated with photographs by Angelicia. It contains my dragonfly poem, 'Vagrant Emperor', written in a form inspired by Bengali-American poet and editor of Shabdaguchha, Hassanal Abdullah's 'Swatantra Sonnets'.

Thank you, Les, and here's to the next anniversary! 

Poetry Cornwall | Bardhonyeth Kernow # thirty four
ed. Les Merton
ISSN 1476-7007
Price £4.50

Cornwall - an anthology of poetry and photographs
compiled by Les Merton, photography by Angelicia
ISBN 978-1-906845-38-4. 
Price £8 with free p&p.

Both publications are sold by Palores Publications.

Magazine Moment (28): Shabdaguchha, Reach Poetry and Orizont Literar Contemporan

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 (see below) 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. 

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

* * *

REACH POETRY, INDIGO DREAMS PUBLISHING, UK

I was delighted to receive my copy of the March edition of Reach Poetry (162) yesterday. The beautiful cover shows a pony (perhaps a grey mare?) at sunset. Editor, Ronnie Goodyer, has included a fitting tribute to small press poet-publisher extraordinaire, Geoff Stevens. Geoff will be much missed.

My poem, 'Harmony in Fragmentation', inspired by Seurat's Pointillist work, 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte', took Second Place in the readers' votes for February, so thank you to all who voted.  

* * *

ORIZONT LITERAR CONTEMPORAN, BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

And finally, I have just noticed that the new edition of the Romanian literary magazine, Orizont Literar Contemporan, will be coming out soon, thanks to editor-in-chief, Daniel Dragomirescu from Bucharest. You might just recognise a certain person on the cover . . .

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. 

*

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