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!

News and Views (1): Norwich ... not just 'A Fine City'

Pull's Ferry, with Norwich Cathedral behind

Having lived in Swansea, which was chosen to host the UK Year of Literature and Writing (1995), for nearly 20 years, I now find that Norwich, a short train ride away and the home city of my teenage years, is the new UNESCO City of Literature!

•  Writers' Centre Norwich 

Caistor St Edmund, Norwich

On the train journey home from Norwich today, I took this photo of Venta Icenorum, the Roman town and one of the regional capitals of Roman Britain (can you see the square of the outer walls?). The village is now known as Caistor St Edmund: it is a place I knew well from my Norfolk childhood, but I had never seen the Roman walls so clearly before. The tower-like structure towards the left is Bastion 7136.

Competition Corner (3): Kukai Results

Sparrow in Philadelphia

I enjoyed taking part in the 1st International “sparrow” Kukai organised by editors, Rita Odeh from Nazareth and John Daleiden over at Catching the Moment. The kigo (season word/topic) was SPARROW/S. 

I read on the Haiku World site that 'a kukai is a peered review poetry contest. A topic is assigned by the secretary, and all poets submit their poems on that topic to the secretary. An 'anonymized' list is then distributed to all participating poets and they are invited to vote. Votes are returned anonymously to the secretary who tallies the votes and resends the poems to the participants, this time with names and points revealed.'

There were some excellent entries, and some real surprises in terms of the approach to the challenge. There were also some familiar Haiku words and phrases that popped up in more than one entry, e.g. cherry blossom, Spring, sun, rain, wind, silence, song ... and perhaps more surprisingly, mailbox.

As participants, we were invited to cast votes up to a total of six points, which could be divided between three entries. One of my Haiku failed to make the long-list, but the other two came in at 7th and 9th place. I hope to enter future Kukai, and to hone my Haiku skill as I go along.

• Catching the Moment
• International Kukai

There are various kukai on the web, e.g. the Romanian Kukai site. If you would like to enter Rita's next one, you can find the details here. You have until 10 May.

P.S. My thanks (once again!) to Crafty Green Poet, who drew my attention to the Sparrow kukai.

Event Alert (1): Raiders of the Lost Art at UCS with David Gill

Philadelphia, Jan. 2012: David Gill receives his Outstanding Public Service Award

If you live within range of Ipswich, you might care to join us on Wednesday 2 May. As part of the UCS Academy Lecture series, David Gill (my husband) will be discussing his research on collecting antiquities. The evening, entitled 'Raiders of the Lost Art' and hosted by Mark Murphy of BBC Radio Suffolk, will take place at the University Campus Suffolk Waterfront Building in Ipswich, starting at 17.30 with registration and refreshments and closing with a canapé reception from 19.30.

We very much hope you will be able to join us for this event. If you would like to come, it would be appreciated if you would reserve a place: further details can be found here on David's Looting Matters blog and here (with contact email) on the UCS website.

You may also be interested to hear of David's recent appearance in The Independent's 2012 list of '100 People who make Britain a much, much better place' for his work on returning looted antiquities.

Outside the UCS Waterfront Building, Ipswich, venue for the event on 2 May

Anthology Alert (11): Antologia Launch in Bucharest

Editor-in-chief, Daniel Dragomirescu (centre) with members of the editorial team

My thanks to Daniel Dragomirescu, editor-in-chief of Orizont Literar Contemporan / Contemporary Literary Horizon magazine, for this photograph of the recent launch event of the Antologia / Anthology at the Muzeul Literaturii / Museum of Literature in Bucharest, Romania. You can read more here (in Romanian) and here (from Rosetta Savelli in Italy) and here (from me in the UK!).

ALL THE WORLD IN AN ANTHOLOGY

TODO O MUNDO EM UMA ANTOLOGIA

TOUT LE MONDE DANS UNE ANTHOLOGIE

TODO EL MUNDO EN UNA ANTOLOGIA

TOT MAPAMONDUL ÎNTR-O ANTOLOGIE

If you would like to buy a copy of find out more about this engaging international magazine, please leave a message in the Comments section below or send an email using this link.

Anthology Alert (10): Ten Forward, Carillon's 10th Anniversary Publication

Ten Forward ~ Celebrating ten years of Carillon Magazine

Carillon is celebrating its 10th birthday, no small achievement for a literary magazine in the current climate. Editor, Graham Rippon, has done a terrific job in producing a glossy anniversary perfect-bound book edition, with the positive title, Ten Forward. I love the way in which the bursting bud on the front cover becomes a full-blown and flamboyant poppy on the reverse. Spring has indeed sprung in South Yorkshire!

I recall the early editions of the magazine, and indeed the welcome small payments that were made for work that was selected. We all know how few small press magazines are able to pay their authors and poets, but it is always a boon when a cheque arrives in the post or, for that matter, a contributor's copy. It is not only the contributors who are well looked after, for Carillon readers are treated to a rich variety of subject and writing style.

Ten Forward is divided into three sections: (1) poetry, (2) prose and (3) 'Bookmark' and other competition winners. Carol Thistlethwaite has been reviewing books for the magazine for some time, and Graham Rippon has also included his review of her delightful poetry collection, From the Field Book.

I feel privileged to have two of my 'Bookmark' poems, 'Through the Door of Wishful Thinking' and 'Dartmoor: the Call of the Wild' included alongside work by familiar names such as Gerald Hampshire, June Drake, Michael Newman, Pat Jourdan and Neil Leadbeater.

Poems that made a particular impact on me include 'The Slave' by Barbara Robinson, 'Sighing the Deep' by Angela Bradley - and 'Daybreak' by Lorna Grinter, in which 'the air is stitched with birdsong'.

If you would like to find out more about Carillon or if you would like to order a copy of the anthology for yourself, you can visit the Carillon website here - or you can click here for a list of contributors. Thank you, Graham, for a fine and beautifully produced anthology.

And when you next see a red poppy on your travels, don't forget that (in the words of Gordon Scapens),

'it waves a message'.  

Publication Pointer (6): Launch of Antologia ii in Bucharest, Romania

I am sorry to be missing this exciting launch event of the second 'Antologia', a multi-lingual publication arising out of Orizont Literar Contemporan / Contemporary Literary Horizon magazine produced in Bucharest, Romania. The editor-in-chief is Daniel Dragomirescu, and the translation work is largely undertaken by students of the MTTLC in the University of Bucharest, under the direction of Professor Lidia Vianu. The launch takes place on 7 April 2012 at the National Museum of Romanian Literature. Two of my poems feature in the Antologia.

You might also enjoy these international links ...here, here, here, here and here!