Lover of writing, poetry in particular and reviewing, member of British Actors’ Equity. I live in Gloucestershire U.K with husband and Border Collie 'Isla'. We have two adult children and some bees!
I’m delighted to say that my poem ‘The House of Dark Hearts’ appears in The Hedgehog Poetry Press‘s anthology of fabulously spooky poems! @hedgehogpoetry #Halloween #Halloween2020 #Boo
Image courtesy of Hedgehog Poetry Press
Copies available from Hedgehog Press here or via Amazon over there
Many thanks to Ed. Mark Davidson for including me alongside such mighty fine poetry!
Isla would like to thank Eye Flash Poetry Journal for publishing her poem ‘always.whatever’ in their wonderful Pocket Pamphlet, ‘Dogs’. Thanks also to her translator @kmalderman1
Poet dogs may wish to see this pamphlet and many other lovely publications here
I meant to post this some time ago but life got in the way – it’s a ‘shout out’ with thanks to The Poetry School and Carrie Etter whose course, ‘Historicising the Prose Poem‘ I completed a short while ago.
I’m a complete novice at the genre; confused and perhaps a little annoyed (!) by the perceived view that it’s hard to define. However, through a series of assignments, excellent feedback and the fellow classmates’ work, I began to understand its intriguing complexity and attraction. There were some incredible poets doing the course and I had a wonderful time reading their work and learning from their understanding of Prose Poetry.
Carrie has mastered the genre to great effect, as evidenced in her collection which was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award. It’s the very moving — Imagined Sons published by Seren Books
Although the Poetry School’s online system may be a little clunky, their support staff are extremely helpful. I enjoyed expert tuition, a great standard of work from fellow poets and superb feedback. I will certainly enrol for another Poetry School some time.
In the meantime I’m delighted to say that two of my poems from the course are about to be published, one in @EyeFlashPoetry and another in @PoetryBusMag!
An update on my own writing – having begun to write again earlier this year, I’m very glad to say that the past couple of weeks I’ve had a bit of a lucky run.
I sent out a little bundle of poems and now have some in three forthcoming publications, one in an art exhibition and one was Highly Commended in a poetry competition.
and they’re written into the landscape of the city of Gloucester, U.K. Luke’s Gaia Earth is the pinnacle of the ‘Earth and Sky’ exhibition and you can find out the Gaia Earth tour dates here
Image courtesy of The Gloucestershire Writers’ Network – GWN
THE HEDGEHOG POETRY PRESS – HALLOWEEN ANTHOLOGY
I’m very happy to have a poem in Hedgehog Poetry Press’s forthcoming spooky Halloween anthology The House in the Forest. Details available from the website – release date 31st October 2020 – mwah ha ha!
Finally, my poem ‘Of the Master’ will appear in The Poetry Bus Magazine (PB9) @PoetryBusMag – the mag will be fundraising and hope to publish September 2020.
I want to say I’m enjoying this but maybe only in a whisper, in case the Muse disappears! Perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect to produce complete poems each day but I’m glad to have some useful ideas to develop.
Don’t think I’ll post about this daily now because there are other projects I’d like to talk about but so far, it’s proved useful to try to write a poem a day. I’ll hope to keep it up for the entire month of April.
Well I did manage something, but it took some doing as I’m not used to writing a poem a day of course! It’s not a complete poem but an interesting slant on the prompt.
Okay so I’m working on the poetry pamphlet review but in the meantime, I’ve committed to doing this! A poem a day for the whole of April. I’m really hoping to keep up
I’m in a high risk category and so, in line with UK Government and National Health Service advice, I’m staying at home for the next 12 weeks, bar emergencies. This seems quite unreal, I know others feel this too.
At least I have my lovely daughter and husband to keep me company and do tasks outside the home. Others are not as lucky but it’s great to see so many offers of help for each other. This is the best side of us coming out and it’s heartwarming.
A Critical Care nurse broke our hearts when she broke down after 48 hours on duty, trying to save lives. There wasn’t any fresh fruit or vegetables left in the supermarket because people had cleaned the shelves of essential foods and she didn’t know how to keep herself healthy – to use her words …
I’m anxious though as our son is one of the many on the front line treating people hospitalised with Covid-19. We won’t be able to see him for however long it takes to see this virus gone. That’s upsetting BUT ALSO he has no toilet paper at home because there’s none left and he hasn’t time to look for it!
Please, let’s all calm down and stop the panic-buying ❤️ let’s give the elderly and those in greatest need a chance.
In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, festival Director Anna Saunders and team have made the heartbreaking decision to postpone the Festival until late September. This also means that Anna’s book launch is also rescheduled.
Feverfew – Indigo Dreams Pubs Ltd – ‘a bold and intense collection where candid, confessional poems meet richly lyrical, mythically inspired verse.’ https://www.indigodreams.co.uk
They’ve taken the decision to put the community’s welfare above their own means of earning a living but of course, many other events and launches have been cancelled everywhere.
No-one makes much profit (if any) from these events. Many use their own funds and who blames anyone who needs to keep going as long as possible or until their Governments restrict movement more stringently? It must be a difficult call.
I think so much of how hardworking people are in the arts and how much they support and encourage talent, both established and newly-hatched. Indeed I and many I know have benefited hugely from their help.
It’s so upsetting to read of the hardship being encountered by independent organisations and individuals everywhere. They slip between the rules governing statutory sick pay and other funds that might help to keep their organisations and indeed themselves, going. I fear that many may not withstand this latest setback and really hope that they can get some help with the loss of income.
I’m going to ensure that I support the festival this Autumn and hope that many of us will try to support other groups as much as possible.
So here’s wishing ‘Good Luck’ to Anna and her team and to ALL other independents in a similar position and well … stay well everyone!
Anna Saunders – Cheltenham Poetry Festival Director