6th Festival of Suffolk Poetry

We had a terrific day last Saturday at the 6th Festival of Suffolk Poetry.

I heard lots of poetry, read a couple of poems (one was my Milestones Competition Penwith Finger Stone poem here) and attended a stimulating workshop on 'The Music of Place' led by Grevel Lindop.

HUGE THANKS to Festival Director, Colin (in photo above), the SPS Committee, our guest readers and all who helped to make it such a wonderful occasion.

Arriving early: outside the John Peel Centre, Stowmarket

Felixstowe Poetry Cafe embraced the theme of 'Earth and Space Matters': my poems were more 'earth' than 'space', touching on landscape and language. 

We welcomed Kate Foley as our new President and heard a wonderful song cycle of poems by our outgoing President, James Knox Whittet, set to music by Colin and sung by Lynne Nesbit.

5th Festival of Suffolk Poetry

Colin Whyles, Festival Director on stage at the John Peel Centre, Stowmarket

We are just back from an eleven hour day at the 5th Festival of Suffolk Poetry. The day began for me with a workshop led by Rebecca Watts in which we were encouraged to make poetry collisions by bringing unlikely situations or characters together. If I say that one of my drafts began with Darwin, Lowry, the Great Fire of London and a horse, you will begin to get the picture...

The Suffolk Poetry Cafes took to the stage in the afternoon along with Creative Writing students from the sixth form college, One.

David and I both read in the Open Mic this year: my poem was inspired by a train ride we made from Philadelphia to New York back in 2012.

Philadelphia, Penn's Landing

The evening included readings by John Vaughan, Beth Soule, Susan Utting, Blake Morrison and Rebecca Watts. Having read Morrison's collection Shingle Street, named after the Suffolk coastal village of the same name some time ago, it was good to hear the poems read in the poet's voice.

Seal at Shingle Street

David watching seals at Shingle Street

Huge thanks to Colin, our Festival Director, and to all the Suffolk Poetry Society committee for their hard work. It was much appreciated by all of us.

Suffolk Poetry Society's 4th Festival of Suffolk Poetry, 27 May 2017

SPS Chair Florence Cox

I took these photos on Saturday 27 May 2017 at the 4th Festival of Suffolk Poetry. It was a riveting day, with poetry workshops (thank you, Gregory Warren Wilson, for the one I attended on music and poetry), mini-workshops provided by the students at Suffolk ONE - not forgetting readings from our special guests and presentations from representatives of the Suffolk Poetry Cafes. David and I each read a poem in the Open Mic slot (photo here). It was a privilege to hear Lord Phillips interviewing Terry Waite CBE about his new book, Out of the Silence.

Huge thanks are due to all and particularly to Colin Whyles, Festival Director, 

and the SPS Committee members, who masterminded the day. 

Guest reader, Dr Elizabeth Cook, reading from Bowl and from her St Edmund poem

Festival Director, Colin, announces Lord Phillips and Terry Waite CBE

Sue Wallace-Shaddad reading for Arlington's Poetry Cafe

Elizabeth Bracken takes the stage

Elizabeth Bracken

Beth Soule at the microphone

Caroline Gay Way

Terry Waite CBE in the wings

Nancy Mattson at the reading desk

Gregory Warren Wilson reading in his guest slot

Florence offering a vote of thanks to all

Concluding words from James Knox Whittet, our SPS President

Poetry News ...

After a relatively quiet spell on the poetry front, a couple of things came at once.


Orizont Literar Contemporan
 
I was delighted to have three poems published in English and Romanian in issue 52 of Orizont Literar Contemporan. The poems in question were a Tritina called 'Isle of Skye: Aquiline Encounter' (1/2010), an On-ce poem called 'Pompeii; a Tale of Two Dogs' (14/2010), and finally, 'Migration Mirage' (6/2005), which was first published in The Seventh Quarry. My thanks to editor-in-chief, Daniel Dragomirescu, and translator, Florian D. Mirea.

 

The 3rd Festival of Suffolk Poetry

David and I were invited to read for Arlington's Poetry Cafe in Ipswich (photos here and Festival Report by Deborah Wargate here). I decided to focus on poems inspired by other writers, so my set comprised the following pieces: 'Monte Testaccio: Mound of Potsherds' (53/2003), with its references to Keats, 'On Emily's Moor' (13/2004), about the landscape portrayed in Wuthering Heights - and finally 'Pepys Island' (12/2014), concerning a phantom area of land, supposedly at latitude of 47º south.  My first poem, 'Monte Testaccio ...' comes from my chapbook, The Holy Place, co-authored with John Dotson and published by The Seventh Quarry (Swansea) in conjunction with Cross-Cultural Communications (New York).

Reading for Arlington's Poetry Cafe at the John Peel Centre in Stowmarket

A Terrific Day at the 2nd Festival of Suffolk Poetry

Festival Director, Colin Whyles, on stage

Colin adjusting the microphone

David reading his Raasay poems as a tribute to Sorley MacLean

I also read a Raasay poem ... and one about a turtle's 'tears'.

Ian Griffiths, Suffolk Poetry Society Chairman, recited his Golden Oriole poem

Poems on Gainsborough's House - Colin at the microphone

The 2nd Festival of Suffolk Poetry,

John Peel Centre for Creative Arts, Stowmarket

The Suffolk Poetry Society hosted its second all-day festival on Saturday 30 May 2015. Colin Whyles, Festival Director, was at the helm, with assistance from fellow committee members.

The morning programme comprised poetry workshops, including a session entitled ‘Poem as Time Machine’, with quick-fire exercises presented by Michael Laskey, co-founder of the international Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. Other workshops focused on the Villanelle poetry form (led by Suffolk Poetry Society President, James Knox Whittet) and on internal and external landscapes (led by Angela Locke, former Ipswich High School student, now a writer in Cumbria).

The afternoon events featured more than 30 members of 9 Poetry Cafés or groups from throughout our region, including a staff and student representation from University Campus Suffolk in Ipswich. The poems displayed a huge variety of style and subject matter. Suffolk-themed pieces ranged from a railway rap to a poem by previous Society Chairman, Anne Boileau, on the theme of Thomas Gainsborough’s pocket watch. 

There were more readings in the evening, including one from Michael Laskey. Douglas Coombes of InSuffolk (www.insuffolk.com) held an onstage conversation with three Crabbe Memorial Poetry Competition Prize Winners, namely James Knox Whittet, Pam Job and David Healey. 

A bookstall displayed an impressive range of members’ books, pamphlets and chapbooks. Poetry doctors were on hand for those who were having difficulty with a poem. There was a demonstration of calligraphy by Sue Hufton.  

Do take a look at the Suffolk Poetry Society's Facebook page for more Festival photographs. A huge thank you to all who worked so hard to make this such an enjoyable and memorable day. 

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

SPS 1st Festival of Suffolk Poetry

I am looking forward to taking part in the First Festival of Suffolk Poetry. Tickets are still available. It should be a good day!