'100 Years of Remembrance' - A Local Poetry Competition

St Andrew's, Rushmere

I am posting the guidelines for the '100 Years of Remembrance' Poetry Competition. 

Please enter if you are eligible to do so!

And please read the flyer carefully as this is a local competition.

Thank you. 

Suffolk Flora Preservation Trust Poetry Competition Event

I am just back from the Suffolk Flora Preservation Trust Poetry Competition (SFPT). Many congratulations to Tim Gardiner for winning the £50 adult prize in the SFPT Poetry Competition on the theme of the aquatic life in the Fromus Valley Nature Reserve. Lord Cranbrook hosted the event at Kelsale Village Hall this afternoon.

Tim's poem, along with three other commended entries including my own (about the Wandering Snail, Lymnaea peregra aka Radix peregra), will feature in the Suffolk Flora Preservation Trust's 2018 Adult Education volume on the reserves at Simpson's Fromus Valley and Orchid Glade. The judges were Kaaren Whitney, Poet-in-Residence for the reserves, and Suffolk Poetry Society Chair, Florence Cox. Sue Wallace-Shaddad and Sue Nobbs also read their poems to the enthusiastic audience. It was a real pleasure, too, to hear the winning and commended poems written by those who had entered the young people's section of the competition. 

Christmas Greetings

(My thanks to David for posing)

...And if you do, this next photo shows the scene that awaits you on the inside of Tranmer House (at Sutton Hoo)...

Mouse inside Tranmer House, home of Mrs Pretty on the Sutton Hoo estate.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...'

Clement Clarke Moore 

You might like to click here to see the sheep Tranmer House. 

Snow, Suffolk, December 2017

Poetry in Aldeburgh, 2017... and 'Herrings', the Festival Anthology

'I hear those voices that will not be drowned...' (from 'Peter Grimes', Britten) on The Scallop (Hambling)

Poetry in Aldeburgh took place this last weekend, with The Poetry School as the festival's headline partner. There were poetry workshops on the Friday afternoon, followed over the weekend by readings, presentations and collaborations of various kinds. There were walks along the beach, gatherings of friends, books to buy, swarming gulls and, of course, the essential whiff of fish and chips along the Crag Path.

A year ago I was sitting in the Aldeburgh Beach Lookout during the previous festival, enjoying Anne-Marie Fyfe's excellent workshop about the sea, when she told us that there would be a Poetry in Aldeburgh anthology called Herrings, and that we could submit our festival poems.

Fast forward twelve months, and Herrings has not only taken shape as an ocean-blue hardback, thanks to Nancy Warburg Astor and Andrew Hewish, but has now been launched. It has been produced and published by Blue Door Press; and contains 100+ poems, each written by a different poet as a snapshot, not only of Aldeburgh in 2016, but also of the festival itself. 

Internationally renowned and novice poets alike are represented in the volume. It is lovely to have my poem, 'Treasure Hulk', in such diverse company; and thanks are due to all those who created the book and organised the festival. The contributions to Herrings reflect festival visits to, and visions of, this seaside town that owes so much not only to the ocean and its bounty, but also to the influences of artists of various kinds such as Crabbe, Britten, Pears and Hambling.

My haul, Poetry in Aldeburgh, 2017

Herrings, the anthology

The Aldeburgh Beach Lookout

Dusk descends

Looking north

Illuminations

Publicity

Essential sustenance...

Poetry Reading - Advance Notice

Carillon Sonnet and the Sutton Hoo Shepherd's Hut

I am delighted that my poem, 'From the Shepherd's Hut, Sutton Hoo', has been long-listed in the Carillon 'Sonnets for Charity' Competition. Money raised will go to Worldwide Cancer Research. 

We moved to Suffolk nearly five years ago, and during my time here I have much enjoyed looking out for some of the remaining shepherds' huts that grace the by-ways of our region. 

Shepherd's Hut at NT Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, UK

 You will see some of my other East Anglian hut photos here (in my Christmas post, 2015).

The Poetry Trust's Poetry Prom at Snape

Snape Maltings, Suffolk, UK

We attended the annual Poetry Prom at Snape last night, and thoroughly enjoyed engaging presentations from two world-class poets who had flown in from the USA, Naomi Shihab Nye and Mark Doty.

It was Ellen McAteer's first Poetry Prom as Director of The Poetry Trust, and it was good to be able to exchange a few words with her at the end.

Naomi is described by The Poetry Trust as 'a passionate cross-cultural ambassador whose engaging grounded poems are a call for peace and international goodwill in these troubled times.'

There was sensitivity (Mark Doty's poem about an encounter with a young goat and Naomi Shihab Nye's piece about an unexpected gift). There was style - and huge appreciation from the audience.

Mark Doty read a hot-off-the-block (or tablet/iPad) poem which he had just written as a result of a call from the States.

I bought a signed copy of Naomi's collection, A Maze Me, which I much look forward to reading. 

It was a lovely occasion, and a chance to mingle with friends in the book signing queue, and over coffee and chocolate brownies in the interval. 

Poetry and Pilgrimage ~ an ECAT Writers' Day at the Cathedral

The St Edmundsbury Cathedral tower through the ruins

I have just returned from the cathedral at Bury St Edmunds, where I attended the latest in a series of ECAT (Edmund Centre for Arts and Theology) days.

Our Diocese has been celebrating its centenary this year, and a number of events have been planned under the title 'Pilgrims in Time'.

The Dean, the Very Reverend Frances Ward, presented a number of poems with a pilgrimage or journey theme before handing over to Sarah Friswell, the Cathedral PR and Media Officer. Sarah led us round the Cathedral, pointing out the significance of a number of features such as the font and tower. We were given the chance to think about Bunyan and Pilgrim's Progress. We began to discuss and attempt to formulate the difference between a 'guided tour' and a 'pilgrimage tour' in the session before lunch.

Dr Elizabeth Cook, the first Writer-in-Residence at the Cathedral, led a wonderful poetry workshop in the afternoon. Once again we had the opportunity to look at some journey and pilgrimage texts. Matters such as the place of community chatter (as in The Canterbury Tales) and the role of silence were considered. It was soon time to put pen to paper, and I think all the participants will have gone home with new material and a number of poems in draft.

This is the third ECAT day I have attended, and each one has offered a fascinating insight into the relationship between art (in the broadest sense) and theology. My thanks to all who make these days so rewarding, enjoyable and worthwhile.

• An account of a previous ECAT poetry day from Elaine Ewart's FlightFeather blog.

Postscript
I did a little personal reading in advance of today's workshop and soon began to realise that the notion of 'Christian pilgrimage' has many applications in the church. An outward journey (for example to the Holy Land) usually runs along parallel lines with an internal journey of faith. Some Christians, however, would adhere to the view that the only journey of significance is one through time (as opposed to a physical journey) as lives are lived on earth with hearts set on what Bunyan's character, Pilgrim, called 'the Celestial City'. I was surprised (in a positive way) to discover that the eighteenth century Puritan theologian, Jonathan Edwards, preached a sermon entitled 'The Christian Pilgrim'.  

Reading my Stonehenge Poem at Walpole Old Chapel

David and I joined other East Anglian poets for the annual Poetry Evening at Walpole Old Chapel. We were wondering whether Hurricane Bertha would prevent us from reaching this lovely and remote corner of Suffolk, but all was well and we were treated to some wonderful poetry, glasses of elderflower cordial and slices of Queen Mother's cake. Our thanks to Mike Bannister and all those who helped to make the evening such a delightful occasion.

In the light of a recent visit to the re-vamped Visitors' Centre at Stonehenge, I read my bluestone poem, 'Preseli Blue', which features in my recent chapbook, The Holy Place. The poem was first published in The Lie of the Land (ed. Jan Fortune, Cinnamon Press).

'Preseli Blue' was read on BBC Poetry Please as part of the programme from the Hay Festival in 2008. It was written in response to the rope-bound Millennium Bluestone on display in the National Botanic Garden of Wales. You can read the text here by scrolling down on the Shabdaguchha site. 

On our recent visit we arrived at Stonehenge too late in the day to contemplate a ride up to the stones themselves, though we much look forward to doing this. There was plenty to see at the Visitors' Centre, including a few 'retro' des-res huts ...

With David Gill

... and this rope-bound (model) stone that you could try to pull!

Needless to say all efforts proved useless!

We enjoyed watching the land-train, but I can't help reminiscing about my early visits to the site in the 1960s when we used to take the dogs and wander at will.

Storm clouds were brewing. It was time to beat a hasty retreat.

Personal Highlights from the 1st Suffolk Poetry Festival

Suffolk Poetry Society Chairman, Ian Griffiths

Huge thanks and congratulations are due to the committee members of the Suffolk Poetry Society for their gargantuan labours in presenting the First Suffolk Poetry Festival at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket last Saturday. Thanks are also due to The Limbourne Trust for their sponsorship. The festival day proved to be an eclectic and inclusive mix of homegrown poetry from Suffolk - and judging by the applause and the enthusiastic conversations, it was a great success.  

Festival Organiser, Colin Whyles

I attended one of the workshops in the morning. It was on the Sonnet, and was led by Suffolk Poetry Society President, James Knox Whittet. James led us through a number of sample Sonnets, proffering tips to follow and pitfalls to avoid, before encouraging us to create a Shakespearean Sonnet of our own. My attempt certainly needs more polish, but I hope a finished poem may emerge from my scribblings once I have had a chance to add some final touches.

Colin Whyles preparing the microphone for the Festival launch of 'so too have the doves gone'

Café Green provided vegetarian snacks and meals all through the day. It was good to have the chance (albeit briefly) to chat with fellow poets and to look at the bookstall over lunch. I treated myself to a copy of Orinsay Poems (Orphean Press 2012) by Mike Bannister on the subject of 'happy times and adventures in and around Orinsay on the Isle of Lewis'. The afternoon was given over to presentations from the Poetry Cafés that are such a feature of the Suffolk poetry scene. Each cafe had been allocated a 30 minute slot, and the offerings ranged from a group Renga to the demonstration of the Sestina form to the presentation of Peter Hood's songs about the east coast.

There were presentations from ...

• Sudbury Café Poets
• University Campus Suffolk (photos here and here)
• Arlington's Poetry Café in Ipswich (represented by Joan Sheridan Smith, Sue Wallace-Shaddad - and yours truly)
• Browsers Poetry Café in Woodbridge
• Poetry Aloud in Bury St Edmunds
• New Words: Fresh Voices from the Seagull Theatre in Pakefield 
• Pinky's Poetry Café in Halesworth, introduced by Mike Bannister. 

In addition to these planned presentations there were also short open mic slots between the scheduled events in the programme. It was good to hear poems from Tim Gardiner (you can read about his insect poems here) and others.

Chairman, Ian Griffiths, representing the Woodbridge Poetry Cafe

Given the rich wildlife of the county, it is not surprising that birds featured in a number of poems. Ian Griffiths narrated a poem that featured not only the imagery of a Robin and a Blackbird, but also included a whole host of other feathered companions. 

Yours truly at the mic!

I planned some days ago to read my poem about the Woolly Bear Caterpillar. You can imagine my amazement when I noticed a British cousin of this species walking across a presenter's hand (Chris Packham's, I seem to remember) on BBC Springwatch from RSPB Minsmere earlier in the week. My poem is published in my 2012 chapbook, The Holy Place, co-authored with John Dotson and published by Peter Thabit Jones of The Seventh Quarry and Stanley H. Barkan of Cross-Cultural Communications in New York.

David Gill, reading his poem and introducing the UCS slot

A University Campus Suffolk slot was included in the reading programme. David read his Edward Thomas tribute poem, 'Gloucestershire in the Negev', alongside excellent poems from two UCS students.

There was just time for a welcome cup of tea and large slice of chocolate cake before the evening session. This began with the launch of so too have the doves gone, an anthology of poems largely from Suffolk and Essex to mark the centenary of the Great War. Judith Wolton led the way. This time it was my turn to read an Edward Thomas tribute poem. This new 2014 anthology was edited by Stephen Boyce and initiated by Pam Job and Judith Wolton. It was published by Jardine Press Ltd.

Florence Cox was next up on the programme and we enjoyed her witty and meticulously observed poems on the foibles of human nature. Florence was followed by 2012 Crabbe Memorial Poetry Competition winner, Caroline Gilfillan who gave a presentation of her Pepys poems. The final performers of the evening were Kate Foley and Luke Wright.  

My thanks to all who made the day such an enjoyable one for so many. May it be the first of many!

• Festival photos and report on WriteOutLoud
• Diss Express announcement
• Festival listing in Mslexia

Poetry at Sutton Hoo ~ a Day with Dr Sam Newton on Beowulf

Model of the Sutton Hoo helmet ...

I spent today at Sutton Hoo, site of the incredible Anglo-Saxon ship burial. The site is in the care of the National Trust. The study day, 'An Introduction to Beowulf and Sutton Hoo', was put on as part of the Wuffing Education scheme by Dr Sam Newton, who has written extensively on the subject.

It was an excellent way to spend a January Saturday, and I came home wanting to read Seamus Heaney's translation of the tale and hoping to re-watch the Michael Wood programme, 'In search of Beowulf' (which I believe is only available on YouTube). I also want to explore some of the Anglo-Saxon landmarks in my locality.

This is the framed view of the site, looking down from the level of the mounds to the River Deben in Woodbridge. 

This was my view as I came out from the Old Court to go home. You can make out one of the burial mounds between the trees. 

Poetry Events ~ RhymeWeld at our Poetry Cafe

'Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie ...' 1785, Robert Burns

We tried something a little different at our monthly Poetry Cafe in Arlington's last night, namely a RhymeWeld (some felt it should be a RhymeMeld).

A reader began by reading the title of a short poem followed by the poem and a moment's pause. The next person in the circle followed suit and so on, allowing the poems to form part of a much larger poem cycle.

The experiment made us realise that it was quite hard to restrain ourselves from jumping in with our usual comments and questions the moment a poem was over. It also made us think that when we try this again, we will go a little more with the flow, inviting any poet in the room to follow on if he or she feels the piece has a connection to what has gone immediately before. Will this make for more or less spontaneity and will this method enhance that feeling of creating something new in a unified way?

The exercise reminded me of starry winter nights in days gone by when our ancestors told tales around the fire. I read my poem The Ceilidh House in the RhymeWeld.

We returned to our normal procedure for the second half, and since Burns' Night will have come and gone by our February gathering, I read my poem called 'The Mouse Replies' in which I imagine what the wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie might have said to the poet.

Seasonal Greetings from Suffolk ...

 Happy Christmas!

Shepherd's Hut at Sutton Hoo

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

Collaborative Conversations ~ a meeting with Suzanne of Lemonkitten Design

Ipswich Waterfront ~ a Creative Place

I had a very enjoyable meeting some days ago with Suzanne Franks of Lemonkitten Design. Back in the summer Suzanne mentioned that she might like to work on some poetry illustrations, so we thought we would have a preliminary chat and see whether it could perhaps lead to some sort of collaboration.

I first encountered Suzanne's designs when we moved to Ipswich two years ago. I am particularly drawn to her crisp use of colour, her exciting sense of pattern and her clean lines. Suzanne, it seems to me, draws a fair amount of her inspiration from animal and plant life, so although it is early days and we are keeping an open mind, I am feeling excited about the possibility of combining aspects of our work.

You can find Lemonkitten Design on Facebook ... by clicking here! 

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!

Poems in Unusual Places ~ The Plastic Palace, Minsmere

I was reading a post on the Giraffe Head Tree blog about litter on our beaches worldwide when I remembered my photos of The Plastic Palace installation, which is situated between the shore and the bird reserve at Minsmere. We were able to enter the palace, where there was a box containing a book for thoughts, pictures and poems. 

I composed a quick Haiku, which David was kind enough to write in the book for me ... as he could bend down to sit on the seat.

The Plastic Palace has been created under the auspices of the RSPB by Minsmere's Environmental Artist-in-Residence Liz McGowan. It was quite a revelation just how many types of non-degradable plastic wash up on our shores, from a toy camel (quite appropriate for a sandy site) through to detergent bottles and, of course, all those rubber gloves. I think the Wombles would have enjoyed The Plastic Palace as their holiday residence ... and, who knows, they might just have done a little beach-combing and re-creating of their own! 

World Book Day 2013

Happy World Book Day 2013!

How will you be marking it, I wonder? 

I shall be at the Ipswich Writing Workshop at Gainsborough Community Library. I will then attend a poetry evening with “Managing a Masterpiece” Poet in Residence, Dean Parkin in Gainsborough House, Sudbury. Dean will be reading from his new collection, inspired by the artistic history of the Stour Valley. The event will include the announcement of winners of a County-wide Poetry competition for adults and young people, now published in a new book, Poems of the Stour.

And ... in case it is of interest, I am currently reading Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (memoir) and Pepys by Caroline Gilfillan (poetry).

  “I kept always two books in my pocket, 

one to read, one to write in.” 

Robert Louis Stevenson

Writing Workshop: National Short Story Week

Drake's urban cousins?

This is National Short Story Week, so it may come as no surprise to discover that we were presenting our short stories in the Ipswich Writing Group in Gainsborough Community Library this afternoon.

Gainsborough Community Library, Ipswich

Suzi, a group member, had got us writing all kinds of lists last week, as a means of creating our characters - lists of small items, lists of luxury accoutrements, lists of items in a refrigerator (my character had a door key), and so on ...

It was fun hearing the stories. I used to write the occasional short story, but until this last week, had not done so for quite a while. I sometimes write narrative poems, but these are structured in a very different way. We were given a word count (give or take a few) of 400, and my piece came in at 424. The only problem was that this was only the first half of a short story or perhaps the start of something a bit longer! I wondered about re-drafting it to make it fit the mould, but decided to leave it be until the group members had had the chance to express their feelings or make suggestions.

Nic introduced us to a helpful A-Z of points to consider for writing fiction. 'E', for example, stood for the 'empathy' that one needs to have or develop for one's characters if they are to leap of the page. 

We had a go at crafting a second story in the workshop this afternoon. Thirty minutes was barely sufficient time for me to get down my organic ideas. I ended up with characters, setting and a narrative, but there is no plot to date!

I don't see myself emerging as short story writer, but I always enjoy the chance to flex those writing muscles in a new way. My thanks to Mai and Nic, who led a great session today. My aquatic character, Drake, is still poised on the edge of a loch, so I had better go and rescue him before a certain monster rears its head ...