Creative Corner (7): Poetic Postcard Swap

Click to enlarge
(or visit Rachel's site here for a better view)

Blend in with the trees
Make use of their breadth
Think wild...

from Save the trees (or else) - by Rachel Fox

Fellow poet, Rachel Fox, and I have been swapping our poetic/photographic/poetic greetings cards.

Rachel sent me a set of her ten poetic postcards in exchange for a (rather eclectic) selection of my Coastcard items. It was Rachel's idea, and we both felt that it would be an interesting and experimental venture. Who knows where it may lead...

I promised to mention the swap on my blog. Rachel's cards can be purchased from her website: www.crowd-pleasers.net. Let me give a few more details:

• A set of ten costs £3.50 via PayPal (I assume for UK sales)
• The cards can (sometimes) be bought from the following outlets, though Rachel suggests that it may be best to buy direct from www.crowd-pleasers.net if you would like to have 'all the set'. Outlets as follows:
  
• Loch Croispol Cafe, Bookshop and Gallery, Durness, Sutherland
  Oathlaw Pottery and Gallery, by Forfar, Angus
  Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton's Close, Edinburgh
  Tarts and Crafts, Balmedie, Aberdeenshire
  The Forest Bookstore, 26 Market Place, Selkirk
  The Windsor Gallery, 61 Perth Road, Dundee
  Unique Arts, South Square, Thornton, Bradford, West Yorkshire
  Wisecraft, 10 Lower Mill Street, Blairgowrie, Perthshire
  Word Power Books, 43 West Nicholson Street, Edinburgh
• Rachel's cards are (in non-metric measure) approx. 6"x4"
• I really like the fact that they are made on recycled card, and printed in Rachel's home locality.
  
• You will find Rachel's email on her site, if you have any queries.
  
• All cards (image, design and poetry) are the copyright of Rachel Fox.

The postcard set comprises ten poems. Most of them are in an American Typewriter-style font.

• The sisters said it best - on 'estuary sand-coloured background'
  
• Crowded out - on indigo/grey, with a lighthouse
• Save the trees (or else) - green background of birch trees
• Free at last - sand-coloured, with a balloon
• And so it goes - interesting and unusual shot of a car on mottled jade background
• Pluses and minuses - this witty and pithy poem is hand written for maximum impact
• Happy new hope - pink background, with handprint overlay
• Significant other deceased - pearl grey 'sky' background
• Diving - set against calm blue waters

and my personal favourite,

• Auchmithie road - muted brown background, with the words superimposed on a cliff edge scene. This poem has a liminal 'feel' to it. It was the one that particularly resonated with me, living as I do, high up in the clouds on the edge of Swansea Bay. Rachel's poem refers to Auchmithie near Arbroath on the Scottish coast.
  

Rachel's poems use rhyming quatrains and couplets. Most poems are not 'end-stopped', which gives them an open feel, and perhaps encourages the reader to add his or her own interpretation and ending.

Would I enjoy sending these poem cards to friends? Yes, indeed I would - and I have already done so. I feel they are good value - barely more (for a pack of ten) than one would pay for a single cup of quality filter coffee in town. They would make an unusual and welcome Christmas gift.

• Rachel's crowd-pleasers blog
• Rachel's crowd-pleaser PayPal page, where the cards can be purchased
  
• My Coastcard online shop (or you can click on the seal photo at the top right of my blog)

• Rachel reads her poems on YouTube
  

We look forward to your feedback!

Creative Corner (8): Postscript to Poetic Postcards Swap

Poetic Postcards by Rachel Fox

As a postscript to yesterday's post (link here) about the poetic card swap that fellow poet Rachel Fox and I have been doing...

... you might like to read about a paper swap enterprise at Lawendula's Woven Letters blog, and on the subject of creative initiatives, be sure to check out Seth Apter's blog, The Altered Page.

Calendar Corner (7): The Seventh Quarry - Event

THE SEVENTH QUARRY
Swansea Poetry Magazine

edited by Swansea poet Peter Thabit Jones
presents

AN EVENING OF POETRY
FROM AMERICA
SULTAN CATTO AND ALEKSEY DAYEN
PLUS
SONGS FROM SINGER-SONGWRITER TERRY CLARKE
introduced by Peter Thabit Jones

at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea, on Friday, 16th October 2009

7 P.M. Free entry

A collaboration between THE SEVENTH QUARRY
and CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATIONS, NEW YORK

- organised by Peter Thabit Jones –

Calendar Corner (8): The Seventh Quarry - a Second Event

DYLAN THOMAS IN WALES
VISITING AMERICAN STUDENTS PROJECT
SPRING 2010

Dylan Thomas in Wales is a 12-week literary seminar offered by Knox College (Illinois, America),
in cooperation with the Carl Sandburg Birthplace (America), The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine (Wales), Cross-Cultural Communications (New York), and in association with the Welsh Assembly Government in New York. At Knox College, students will study the life and literary works of Dylan Thomas;
in Wales, they will study the impact of Wales’s natural history and cultural dynamics on Thomas’s work.

To launch this new and exciting Project
American poet Robin Metz and Swansea poet Peter Thabit Jones
will give readings of their poetry and talk about the Project.

Plus songs about Dylan Thomas
by Swansea’s singer-songwriter Terry Clarke

at the Dylan Thomas Centre

7 p.m., Friday 4th December, 2009

FREE ENTRY

Various events will take place at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea, and there will be cultural and educational visits to places connected with Dylan Thomas, such as The Boathouse in Laugharne and the newly renovated Dylan Thomas Birthplace at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea.

Robin Metz Peter Thabit Jones

Robin Metz has received the Rainer Maria Rilke International Poetry Prize for his book Unbidden Angel (Cross-Cultural Communications), the Literal Latté International Poetry Prize (NYC), the Marshall Frankel American Fiction Prize (Other Voices), and 14 additional international awards. His play Anung’s First American Christmas received four “Top Ten” citations for its 2009 world premier (Theatre Building Chicago). His poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in numerous national and international journals, including Paris Review, Epoch, International Poetry Review, Rosebud, Fourth River, Oberon, Writers’ Forum, Abiko Quarterly (Japan), New Welsh Review (Wales), The Wolf (UK), Van Gogh’s Ear (France), NewFront (Nepal), The Seventh Quarry (Wales). He has presented his work in more than 70 US cities and in 23 nations (most recently Kosovo, Cuba, India, Wales, Nepal). He is co-founder of Chicago’s acclaimed Vitalist Theatre company and Director of Creative Writing, Knox College, whose literary magazine, Catch, has won nine national and international awards.

Peter Thabit Jones is the author of nine books of poetry and one book of stories. His first American book, The Lizard Catchers, was published by Cross-Cultural Communications, New York. Whispers of the Soul (a bilingual English/Romanian book with New York’s Vince Clemente) was published in Romania in summer 2009. His new verse drama, The Boy and the Lion’s Head, has just been published by another Romanian publisher. The editor and founder of The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine, he co-authored (with Aeronwy Thomas, Dylan Thomas’s daughter) the first-ever Walking Guide of Dylan Thomas’s Greenwich Village, New York, 2008. A dvd, based on the Guide and filmed in New York, will be available in 2010. He and Aeronwy toured America in 2008. The tour, organised by his New York publisher Stanley H. Barkan, saw them give readings and talks from New York to California. Peter returned to America twice in 2009. His poetry has been translated into twenty languages. He will visit Catalonia, Chile and America in 2010.

Creature Feature (10): Seal Saturday, 10 October 2009

Intimate moment: we watched his mother seal with her pup
on the Pembrokeshire coast.
I hope the pup is just shedding his thick white baby fur. He did not appear to be injured.

The seal pup feeding...

The mother goes off for a swim, leaving the pup in a sheltered spot.
She turns round to check that all is well.

The mother patrols the mouth of her cove,
ensuring that no predators come near her young.

Another furry seal pup a bit further round the coast.

You can watch our Seal Saturday video clip here...
... or here:

We went on to St David's Cathedral,
and had tea in the cloister in warm sunshine.
I can recommend the walnut cake, if you are in the area!

Calendar Corner (6): National Poetry Day, UK, 2009

Footprints on Laugharne's 'heron-priested shore' *

The Boat House, Laugharne

Happy National Poetry Day!

I have been longing for the revelation of the Poetry Society's surprise knitted poem. The knitting was carried out 1000 heroic members of the Poetry Society as part of the centenary celebrations. It seems to me that this poem is not only a suitable poem for writers everywhere, but it is also a fitting tribute to the poet, Aeronwy, daughter of Dylan Thomas, who died earlier this year. The unveiling took place outside the British Library yesterday, and the poem was presented to the Royal Festival Hall today.

Did you take part in the BBC poll of favourite poets? You can read the results here, and I feel there are one or two surprises. You can discover the favourite poet of a number of celebrities here.

• National Poetry Day in Wales
• The Times has an intriguing article on the future of poetry ... from 1913.
• National Poetry Day with Crafty Green Poet and at Polyolbion.
  

I hope you have all been celebrating in style.

* Do let me know if you can identify the footprints in the sand. You might also like to identify the feathers on Crafty Green Poet's blog here and on Weaver's blog here.

Puffin Quest 3: OAPS (Old Age Puffins)

Coastcard Puffin Design
© Caroline Gill 2009

Puffins at the RSPB Reserve,

Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire, UK

Those who follow my blog will know that puffins are probably my favourite bird. They float around in 'rafts' on the sea, looking like small jewels or beads in a necklace. They are often referred to as the 'clowns of the air' because they look so comical when they fly. I took a number of photographs, trying to capture their different poses: I hesitate to say their 'expressions' because this is a word I associate with humans. I hope you like the result!

Puffins seem to have been in the news a bit these past few months. I blogged about the rare sighting of the Tufted Puffin a couple of weeks ago.

[Ed.- you will find a link to that post from this one! You might also like to see my puffin bookmarks in this post].

I have now been given an unidentified newspaper clip about 'the oldest known puffin in Europe'. The bird was ringed back in 1975. Another puffin found in the same vicinity of Rough Island, part of the Shiant Isles, off Scotland had first been ringed in 1977.

• Wildlife Extra: apparently a puffin on Iceland may be even older!
• British Trust for Ornithology OA Puffin Report