The Writing Life: Save our (Newcastle) Libraries

The View over the Tyne from Newcastle (to The Sage)

Do take a moment to read about the projected cuts in Newcastle upon Tyne, that vibrant city where I was initially a university student, and then later on a resident, attending weekly Creative Writing classes for adults under the auspices (a) of the The People's Centre in North Shields and (b) the WEA (under the tutelage of Margaret Wilkinson).

There are pleas from authors in the Newcastle Chronicle: they feel it would be a tragic move to close so many library resources across the city.

As a student I was a frequent visitor to the Newcastle University Library. I remember many a happy morning in the old City Library during the time I attended the Creative Writing classes. I still recall looking up facts about the eating habits of raccoons - and about Cortes, cocoa and the New World.

David Gill outside Newcastle University

A group of writers in Newcastle have set up a WordPress site to show the support of 'Writers for Libraries', through poetry and prose contributions. Poetry Scotland editor, Sally Evans, has written vividly about the Newcastle University library 'Stacks': I remember these so well. Her prose piece, 'Her faith in Libraries', can be found here.

You will find my contribution here. It is a poem called 'Ode to Our Treasure Keepers'. 

West Jesmond from the Metro

Newcastle's elegant Northumberland Street

The Tyne Bridge by day

The Holy Place Chapbook: Ipwich Launch

Chapbook Launch

POETRY CAFE

ARLINGTON's

IPSWICH, SUFFOLK, UK

TUESDAY 6 NOVEMBER

TIME: 7pm

All welcome (small fee)

I will be launching my chapbook, 'The Holy Place', during the evening. 

Please come and join us ... and bring a poem to read on the theme of November/Memories.

*

'The Holy Place' 

by John Dotson (USA) and Caroline Gill (UK)

is the 5th in the Poet to Poet series, 

a commissioned series published by 

The Seventh Quarry Press in Swansea (ed. Peter Thabit Jones)

 in conjunction with Cross-Cultural Communications, New York (ed. Stanley H. Barkan). 

The 3rd chapbook in this commissioned series contains poems

 by Aeronwy Thomas, (daughter of Dylan Thomas) and Maria Mazziotti Gillan (USA).

Fiesta Time: National Poetry Day 2012

'when the stars threw down their spears ...' William Blake (artwork © C Gill)

I wonder how you will be celebrating National Poetry Day!

I am looking forward to the Gainsborough Community Library poetry workshop here in Ipswich. We shall be toning our poetry muscles and honing our poetry techniques. Each participant is due to present a favourite poem. No prizes for guessing which one I have chosen!

I hope to throw a link to NPD sites I see during the day ... so let's start with the official National Poetry Day site, which can be found here.

• National Poetry Day with the Poetry Society
• If you are in to txting, 'Texperiments' might be the activity for you.
• Poetry Prescription ... a panacea for all poetic ills
• Poetry Magazine (USA) reaches 100!

Poetry Matters (20): Heidi Williamson's 'Writer in Residence' Course

Heidi Williamson (supplied by Heidi Williamson)

I had a nostalgic train ride to Norwich - the 'Fine City' of my teenage years and new UNESCO City of Literature - on Saturday to attend another of Heidi Williamson's excellent courses for writers. Readers of this blog may recall that some weeks ago I had the opportunity of joining Heidi's course on preparing a first poetry collection. You can read about that day here.

This last Saturday's course on 'Becoming a Writer in Residence', was every bit as challenging and wide-ranging. Heidi spent two years as Poet in Residence at the Science Museum's Dana Centre and is currently Writer in Residence at the John Jarrold Printing Museum in Norwich. She also holds a residency here in Ipswich for the Arlington's Cafe Poets.

Heidi brings not only bags of enthusiasm grounded in personal experience to her courses but also meticulous preparation, borne out of incisive thinking and careful planning. There is always a good balance of 'input' and 'discussion', not forgetting time for personal note-making along the way. So am I hoping to follow this through with a residency? Well, who knows: ideas are brewing, so watch this space ... 

Heidi's collection, Electric Shadow, was published by Bloodaxe and is available here. Heidi's excellent courses are popular: they attract writers from a wide area, so do keep an eye open if you feel they might be for you!

Poetry Matters (18): Passion for Poetry Event, Bury St Edmunds

Spring is in the air - and you might like to support the Very Reverend Dr Frances Ward, Dean of St Edmundsbury, in the 'Passion for Poetry' event, by selecting and sponsoring a poem. Details can be found here - and there is still just time to return a completed form by post.

Postscript, 2 April 2012: it was good to join others at the Opening of the ECAT (Edmund Centre for Arts and Theology) Centre on Saturday. David and I heard that our sponsored poems had been read in the Cathedral Centre at Bury St Edmunds as part of the Dean's 24 hour poetry reading. We were able to meet Dr Elizabeth Cook, who will become Writer-in-Residence.  

Poetry Matters (13): TIPS Xmas Special

Sheep
(on Hay Bluff)

I have been greatly enjoying the festive poetry selection in the TIPS for Writers (74) 'Xmas Special' anthology, edited by Wendy Webb of Norfolk Poets and Writers.

The anthology has an all-colour cover, featuring a barge in autumn, pictures of James Knox Whittet's winning anthology, 'Fires of Memory' (of which more in a future post) and Peter Smith's collection, 'Poems for Peter'. It also shows the cover of the 'Live Canon Emerging Poets Anthology 2009': my renewed congratulations to Wendy for taking the second prize in this esteemed competition.

Subjects in the anthology range from traditional Christmas themes (hence my sheep photo, in case you were wondering, to complement the Haiku by Jean Cooper on p.12), with 'Mary's Song' by prolific small press supporter, Joan Sheridan Smith (p.26), to 'Ye Olde Yorkshire Pudding' by Bernard M. Jackson (p.17).

Forms are wide-ranging, and include free verse (if this statement is not a contradiction in terms!), for example 'The Night Before...' by Alison Chisholm on p.31. I spotted examples of Tanka, Haiku (including a link to Claire Knight's poem* that won First Prize in the Haiku Section of the New Zealand Poetry Society Competition 2009) and Cinquain. Sonnet forms include Wendy's invented form, the Brentor Sonnet, 'Wishful Thinking' by Peter Davies; and my poem, 'Poltesco', in the Cornish Sonnet form. Dr Marc Latham's poem, 'Hiking Hadrian's Wall at Summer's End' is a colourful ('cerulean', 'green', 'gold[en]', 'yellow', 'emerald' and 'blue') Folding Mirror Poem, a form invented by Marc.

I am delighted with this anthology: thank you, Wendy, for another great publication.

* One of Claire's Haiku features in the 2010 Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar. My copy arrived today: you can order one here.

• Wendy's post about creating the Brentor Sonnet form
• Wendy's profile (& email for potential TIPS subscribers)
  

Poetry Matters (10): Featured Poet on 'Quill and Parchment'

My thanks to Sharmagne Leland-St. John for publishing two of my poems and for inviting me to feature as the guest poet for the December 2009 issue of 'Quill and Parchment'.

Special thanks go to Sharmagne for granting me permission to post a guest password to allow readers of my blog temporary access to the issue. My thanks, too, to Kay Weeks for conducting the interview. Please feel free to follow this link here.

You will then be asked to enter the following words as they appear below, which will allow you to read the journal for the next few days:

NAME: december
PASSWORD: wolf

I came across Sharmagne and Quill and Parchment as a result of taking part in the 'Empty Shoes' project, under the editorial aegis of Patrick T. Randolph. 'Empty Shoes' is available on Amazon. Profits from the anthology (which includes my poem, 'Stranger') go to help those who are hungry and homeless.

Poetry Matters (10): Nature Poetry Group

I have just joined the new Nature Poetry group on ReadWritePoem. Thank you to Crafty Green Poet for setting this up. If you enjoy nature and eco-poetry, why not come and join in?

Poetic People (10): Ruth Padel

Ruth Padel is the new Poetry Professor for Oxford University, and the first woman to hold the chair. Professor David Morley has a good posting on the subject.

Poetry Matters (9): The Poetry Archive

We have just listened to the excellent BBC Radio 4 programme on the Poetry Archive. Andrew Motion may be handing over the Laureate torch to Carol Ann Duffy, but the Archive remains as a wonderful, accessible and lasting legacy to his tenure.

Highlights for me were hearing the very different voices of Tennyson, Yeats and Causley - perhaps especially Charles Causley. I believe the programme is due to be repeated on the radio (FM only) on Monday. You can see the site (with iPlayer etc.) here. Sound producer, Richard Carrington, told us a few 'behind the scenes' tales of the actual recordings, and the programme gave a fascinating insight into this wide-ranging and international resource.

The Archive has a good glossary of poetic terms and a description of forms (e.g. 'pantoum', as highlighted on the programme). I would hope that in the future - and where applicable - it might be possible to access the Archive's poems by form - and possibly by subject or key words.

Poetry Matters (8): Swansea Poetry Event

THE SEVENTH QUARRY Swansea Poetry Magazine,

edited by Swansea poet Peter Thabit Jones,

presents a

POETRY WORKSHOP

with America's Kristine Doll and Catalonia's August Bover

at the Dylan Thomas Centre

Saturday, 20th June, 2009

10 a.m. to 12 noon

Fee: £10 on the door.

I would like to commend this event to anyone within reach of the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea. Check out other events organised by The Seventh Quarry at this link to MySpace.

Poetry Matters (7): Harvard Website

poetry@harvard is the new poetry website to watch!

Poetry Matters (6): The Poetic Turn

I have just read an interesting post about whether students enjoy poetry classes. What is it about a poem (rather than a teacher) that makes the subject exciting to a group of nineteen year old? Is it the structure, the nature of the 'turn' or a rhyme scheme? The linked blog, 'Structure and Surprise', complements the book of the same name, edited by Michael Theune from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois.

Poetry Matters (5): One Word Ripples

Saltmarsh: ripples and reflections
WWT Llanelli

Those who know me know that I love to experiment with poetry forms and unusual words. I read somewhere recently of a challenge to pick a single word as the starting point for a poem. I took this photo with my new camera (I am really quite a techophobe or technodunce, but again I love to experiment); and the ring of ripples in the centre, which you can enlarge if you click on the photo, has kickstarted a poem idea. In the past I have sometimes been helped by a spidergraph: I wonder how your poems develop? There must be a myriad of methods: I would love to list some of your answers!

A Mix of Media (2): Puffins [don't] Twitter

Puffins on Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire

There has been much in the news recently about Twitter and how postings can be regulated. A representative of Penguin Books has said, according to The Guardian, that there are no current plans to advertise Puffin Books (for young readers) on Twitter.

• (Real) puffins on the Isle of May
• Michael Rosen's new book of bird poetry
  

Poetry Matters (5): The Acid Test

Simon Armitage (on the Poetry Book Society site) has come up with a check list for helping new poets to assess their own work. Can we think of any other yardsticks we bring to bear on our poems? You might also care to read George Szirtes article in Poetry (magazine) on Formal Wear: Notes on Rhyme, Meter, Stanza & Pattern.

Once you are happy with your poem, be sure to choose a suitable outlet for it. There are many well-run journals and competitions, but there are others that you will want to avoid. You might find this list helpful.

Poetry Matters (4)

• The Irish Times Poetry Now shortlist has been announced.
• American Life: Extinction - powerful poetry on the naming of things by Charles Harper Webb, introduced by Ted Kooser
• Poetry inspires jewellery maker
  

Poetry Matters (3): Darwin: science 'versus' poetry

I have been planning for some days to write about Darwin and the developing debate along the lines of the intrinsic weightings of science as opposed to poetry. Thankfully I have been pipped to the post by Professor David Morley of the University of Warwick.

There has been much talk about the 250th anniversary of the publication of The Origins of the Species, but far less media coverage (or so it seems to me) concerning the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, 12 February 2009. The latter event has not been completely overshadowed, however: Americans at the University of Arizona marked the scientist's birthday with ... poetry.

Britain also had his celebrations: Ruth Padel, great great granddaughter of Charles Darwin, was taking part in a poetry and science event at Somerset House on 9 February. Her latest book, Darwin: a Life in Poems has just been published. I am grateful to my friend, Mary, for pointing out that Melvyn Bragg has been doing a major radio series on Darwin (In our Time, BBC Radio 4): take a look at the website.

• God and Evolution by R.J. Berry (a scientist's view from a Christian persepctive)
• Prince Charles on Darwin Trail (Galapagos)
  
• Blog for Darwin (site of the forthcoming Blog Carnival)
• Darwin 2009, Cambridge
• BBC Darwin Season
• Mathematical Poetry ... 7 steps forward
• Horniman Museum Photography Competition (Darwin related)
• British Science Association Events 2009: in many regions of Britain
• Mslexia 2009 Poetry Competition. Judge: Ruth Padel

Poetry Matters (2): Poetry or Prose?

I am not renowned for my astute political insights (the understatement of 2009), but a column in today's Guardian set me thinking. It hangs on a statement from the former Governor of New York, Mario Cuoma, in relation to the recent inauguration of President Barack Obama. Do we all agree that poetry is the perfect vehicle for a campaign; but that once the campaign has been won, a ruler should revert to prose?

In the make-believe (or sometimes quasi-reality) world of literature, can we think of cultures that adopted poetry as their language of state or power? Homer comes to mind, but do the ring-cycle formularies of the bard have any 'linguistic' bearing on the Mediterranean world he was 'writing' about? Items like the tablets of Linear B are functional and hardly 'poetic' in the sense I have in mind.

Abraham Lincoln scholar, Ronald C. White Jr, believes that there is a connection between US Presidents and poetry: 'Our best speakers have an ear for poetry. Lincoln loved to read Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Shakespeare.' (UCLA Today).

Poetry Matters (1)

Here is a short round-up of things poetical.

• Poetry pamphlets and their rising status, The Guardian
• The Stephen Spender Prize, Times Online
• 2009 Cat Protection Writing Competition, The Cat Magazine
• One (poem) for the road, trucking odes, The Sydney Morning Herald
• The Scottish Natural Heritage site has a new database for Gaelic 'nature' words.
  
• Poets have been preparing for the seventh National Poetry Day in Vietnam.
• Digital poetry explained by Christopher Funkhouser.
• Digital Poetry and Art Links
• Swansea Learning Lab: podcasting and visual poetry
• Oxford seeks to appoint new Professor of Poetry