Fiesta Time (3): International Poetry Festival in Swansea, 2011

STOP PRESS ... starting today ...

Swansea, SA1

SWANSEA, WALES: 16-18 JUNE 2011



The Seventh Quarry 
and
 Cross-Cultural Communications, New York 

A three-day festival of poetry, drama, workshops, and music ...

Writers and performers 
from 

the U.K., America, Canada, Argentina, Israel, Europe, Eastern Europe, and India.



Hosted by Peter Thabit Jones and Stanley H. Barkan 

at the Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea. 


Extra festival events at The Boathouse, Laugharne; 


Dylan Thomas House, Swansea; 
and the Nick Holly Art Studio, Swansea.



A commemorative chapbook is being produced 


and several awards will be announced. 


Dylan Thomas Boat House, Laugharne

Magazine Moment (24) : Orizont Literar Contemporan, Romania

Orizont Literar Contemporan

'All the world in a journal' 

Thanks to the stalwart efforts of editor-in-chief, Daniel Dragomirescu, and the editorial team, the latest issue, An. IV, number 2 (22), of Orizont Literar Contemporan has been published - and has now reached me from Bucharest. In keeping with the magazine strapline above, this number contains a literary feast of poetry and prose from many corners of the globe. We find Gonzalo Salesky bringing us his poems from Argentina (p.14), and Professor Donald Riggs sharing the second instalment of his article on the teaching of Creative Writing in universities in Philadelphia (p.52). Catherine Mimano offers the lively perspective of a nineteen year old in terms of the cultural identity of her country, Kenya, a land of the wildebeest migration and hip-hop music.  

My knowledge of modern languages is limited, but I always enjoy seeing the translation of a piece of work alongside the original. Adolf P. Shvedchikov writes his poetry in Russian with alternative English versions. Petronela Corobleanu of the translation unit, MTTLC, at the University of Bucharest has provided a Romanian translation, too, and it is fascinating to see the three languages laid out together on the page.

Wales is well represented in this issue. I was particularly delighted to find an appreciation by Byron Beynon of the poet, Raymond Garlick, who died on 19 March 2011. Byron is brilliantly placed to write such a piece, for, as we discover in his tribute, he was the recipient of over 100 letters and cards from this formative Anglo-Welsh poet. You will also find my latest interview, number seven in the 'Dialoguri Galeze' series, with poet and Tuesday Poetry Group leader, Jean Salkilld. Jean's poem, 'Legend's Source' (p.4), takes us 'through lights of autumn leaves' into the northern woods of America, where the tears of Hiawatha's mother supposedly welled up in the form of the mighty Missisippi river. Our thanks to Petronela Corobleanu for her translation into Romanian.

The magazine covers every shade of style and emotion. I will end by alluding to Victor P. Gendrano's piece, 'My Grocery Adventure', on p.34. He demonstrates in three short paragraphs just how he was able to fulfil his daily motto of making 'at least one person smile'. It would be giving the game away if I spilled the beans (no pun intended!) and explained just how he came to do this, for perhaps you would prefer to order a copy of the magazine and find out for yourself ... 

• Orizont Literar Contemporan
• OLC: please enquire about PayPal and/or subscription options here.
  

Poetry Matters (18): Peter Thabit Jones ~ 'Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur'

Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur by Peter Thabit Jones
Editor-Publisher: Stanley H. Barkan
Publishing House: Cross Cultural Communications, Merrick, New York, 2011
Photographs: Melissa Goese-Goble, Patricia Holt, Carolyn Mary Kleefeld, Linda Parker

Available from Cross-Cultural Communications, 239 Wynsum Avenue, Merrick, New York, 11566-4725, USA. Price $25 (hardback) $15 (paperback)

Launch of 'Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur' (Photo © David Gill 2011)

'I went on daily walks, alone, letting the island-like world seep into my very being ...'

Peter Thabit Jones, Preface, p.9

We were delighted to visit the stunning Studio Gallery of Swansea artist, Nick Holly, last Friday for the launch of Poems from a Cabin on Big Sur by Peter Thabit Jones. The work in this sparkling new collection brings us - in the apposite words of Vince Clemente - a vision of Peter, 'the man on Big Sur [observing] with the eyes of maturity, but [feeling] with the open heart of the boy on Kilvey.'

Big Sur, on the Central Coast of California, is adorned with the stunning combination of the St Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is a place well-loved by writers and those who seek natural wonder and solitude. Redwood and Monterey Pine adorn this region. It is an area of wide skies and horizons, where the rugged landscape is frequented not only by mountain lions but also by rare amphibians such as the California Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus).

In his Preface, Peter alludes to the fact that his spell as Writer-in-Residence in the Cabin on Big Sur followed in the tradition of a line of other writers and artists who had been equally influenced by this extraordinary wilderness (in the sense of 'expanse of wildness' rather than 'area of emptiness'). Jack Kerouac's novel, Big Sur, (1962), for example, arose out of his time in the same cabin.

Many of us dream of living the Robinson Crusoe experience. Most of us occasionally manage to hunt out small corners 'far from the madding crowd'. Writers like Dylan Thomas and R.S. Hawker beavered away in huts perched high above estuary and ocean. I like to write with one eye on the keyboard and the other on the wide sweep of Swansea Bay, as it spreads out beneath my window. Few of us, though, unlike Peter, have truly experienced the life of a poet in isolation - for real.

It is with these thoughts in my head that I plan to approach this collection as I read it more carefully and alongside the accompanying photographs in the days to come. I have already encountered poems that invite the reader to glimpse into the 'window's picture', as it conveys the poet's vision in terms of a dual sense of the 'so-close ocean' and the 'shores of the mind'.  

• Peter Thabit Jones
• Forthcoming: International Poetry Festival, June 2011 (organised by The Seventh Quarry
  
  and Cross-Cultural Communications, New York - more details soon) 

Magazine Moment (23): TIPS for Writers 83

Welcome to my 550th post on this blog!

Kalamata Olives with Basil and a tang of Peloponnesian Orange and Lime

TIPS for Writers magazine, 83, issue 3/2011

editor: Wendy Webb, Norfolk Poets and Writers

I recieved a copy of this edition of TIPS a few days, and as ever, have found it to contain a feast of new poetry. I chose the photo above because it seemed to represent (to me at least) something of the mouth-watering Mediterranean flavours evoked in 'Olives, Grapes, Cicadas, Sun' by Norman Bisset. We find ourselves listening to the sound of cicada 'choirs' and watching the fall of light on Doric columns. We see the very roots of civilization emerging alongside the twisting stems of olive and vine.

Wendy is always one for a challenge, and in her editorial she writes that she would like to see some palindromes, including her own verse form, the Palindromedary Sonnet, submitted for the next issue [Later note: Wendy's link no longer exists, July 2012]. She is also keen to receive some Folding Mirror poems in the form created by Dr Marc Latham. You can read my post linking these two forms here on Marc's Folding Mirror Poetry blog.

The poems in this issue represent a plethora of situations. We follow some steps behind the one (presumably a health professional) who walks beside the parents of a baby in 'Acceptance' by Margaret Whitaker, the winning poem in the 10th Anniversary Tips Competition. Then we take a completely different turn and feel the buzz as Kay Weeks dances the night away at Mar de Jade.  

Kay's poem embraces the geckos and turtles that help to populate this Mexican landscape. Norman Bissett brings us back to the shores of the UK with his poignant observations regarding the decline of the 'Camberwell Beauties'. Bernard Jackson's sonnet 'To a Hidden Bird' resonates for me with words by Edward Thomas. You can read about E.T's 'Unknown Bird' here on The Solitary Walker blog. Bernard's evocation of Jesmond Dene, the leafy 'interlacing canopy of green', rings true for me - and I spent five very happy years of my life in that neck of the woods.

A feature I particularly like in this issue is the editors' page (p.23). This contains sample poems by Ronnie Goodyer of Indigo Dreams (IDP) and Geoff Stevens of Purple Patch. Ronnie's 'Breakbones' with its intoxicating rhythm draws us in to take a closer - careful - look at the wild flowers such as Bog Asphodel on a stretch of West Country mire. Geoff's concrete poem, 'Looking out to Sea', needs to be seen in its eye-glass shape to be fully appreciated, but its array of 'blue' words is compelling.

If you would like to take out a subscription to TIPS  in this its 10th anniversary year, you will find Wendy's details on the Poetry Library Southbank Centre site here. Thank you, Wendy, once again for an engaging and colourful read.

Archaeological Avenues (3): David Gill's BSA book, update

Just an update on David's book to say that you can now read more on the Swansea University website here. (There only seems to be a cached page available at present). 

• Previous post on publication of book here ...

Creature Feature (3): Tiger, Tiger

'In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?'
William Blake

Helen Calcutt and Peter Tinkler's Tiger, Tiger site is growing in leaps and bounds (if you will excuse the pun). The exciting news is that the project has now linked up with the Born Free Foundation, thanks to the support and involvement of Richard Bonfield, BFF Poet-in-Residence.

If you would like your creative 'tiger' work to be considered for the Tiger, Tiger project, you will come across the guidelines here. 

There are a number of pieces up on the site, so do take time to have a browse. You will find creative contributions from the following:

Helen Calcutt | David Calcutt | Richard Bonfield | Anna-Louise Pickering | Sarah James | Julie Boden | Ruth Stacey | Vera Franklin | Rosemary A Bach-Holzer | Saba Zai |  Nita Lewsey | Jackie Fallows | Jenny Hope | Rosemarie Rowley | Siobhan Harper | Jacqui Rowe | Janet Smith | Lucy Jeynes | Gareth Partington  ...

I also have two Tiger, Tiger poems on the site, which ... you can read here -

• by scrolling down for 'Isabella ...'* and 
• by clicking on my name, Caroline Gill, for 'Muffled Drum'.

It is a sad fact that there are probably only around 3500 tigers in the wild in our world today. You can read about the Born Free Foundation's concern for this amazing wild cat here.



* This poem was first published in Reach Poetry (ed. Ronnie Goodyer and Dawn Bauling, IDP). 

International Echoes (14): Metverse Muse

I had been looking forward to the arrival of a package from India for some time, and was delighted when 'Metverse Muse' (double issue, 27 and 28) popped through my letterbox yesterday, all the way from Visakhapatnam.

The editor, Dr H. Tulsi, has put together 248 pages of international poetry (from India, Australia, UK, USA, New Zealand, Singapore...), articles, reviews and competition results.

I feel very honoured to have been awarded Joint Second Prize (with international Haiku prize-winner, Claire Knight) in Category A of the competition for the 'Best Fixed Form Poet of the Year 2010'.