WHAT ANNOYS – DELIGHTS – AND IS OFTEN UNEXPLAINED.
What is ANNOYING me this week?
Apps that become demanding children – ITunes and Spotify you know who you are!
What is DELIGHTING me this week?
The Community Café Workshops.
LISTENING TO:
THE WALL – PINK FLOYD
SOME OF MY DOINGS:
An early post this week as I have a lot of things I want to promote.
THE WALL
Tamworth will see a fantastic production of Pink Floyd’s THE WALL over four days at the beginning of June.
The production which is collaboration between Fired Up Theatre / Tamworth Borough Council and the local community is a new interpretation of this Magnus Opus from the Floyd.
The interpretation features a new script, poetry, dance and actors drawn from the local community to explore the themes of isolation, delusion, seclusion and loneliness and how it impacts people in their daily lives.
For my part I am creating new poetry both from my own pen and also in collaboration with the Community Cafés. The poems will be performed using a variety of media from film to sound pieces to word displays.
Last week saw my first workshop with the community café in Wilnecote where a cross generational group gathered to discuss the song Comfortably Numb and to create new lines in response to the song, these were recorded and I am now putting together a sound poem from the event. I will be running two further workshops in Amington and Belgrave over the coming weeks.
Poetry Workshop at Wilnecote - (c) Community Cafe
In addition I will be supporting the Creative Director, Simon Quinn and the dance choreographer Amy Radcliffe in producing the show
You can find more about the production at:
http://www.tamworthassemblyrooms.co.uk/arts-activities/the-wall
Tickets are on sale now and since being promoted on The Pink Floyd News website are selling well, so it is best to book early to get the date for the performance that you want to attend.
The performance dates are 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th June – To book tickets follow the link:
http://www.tamworthassemblyrooms.co.uk/whats-on/event-calendar/icalrepeat.detail/2012/06/05/290/0/the-wall
You can use the calendar on the right to select the date of the performance that you wish to attend. Tickets are £8:00 (£6.00 Concessions Details are on the website.)
JOHN DONNE – GOOD FRIDAY 1613 – 400 YEARS.
John Donne - depicted 3 years after writing Good Friday.
Jacqui Rowe tweeted me last week to point out that next Easter it will be 400 years since John Donne sat in front of the fireplace at Polesworth Abbey and wrote the poem Good Friday 1613 Riding Westward. I am in agreement with Jacqui that we should not miss the opportunity to commemorate this anniversary of such a wonderful poem.
So I am proposing that we create a commemorative event to take place on Good Friday 2013 at The Abbey and I am looking for ideas from the poetry community as to what we might do.
I do have one or two ideas that have been suggested to me already, which I will hold on to so as not to influence your thoughts in coming up with some original, out of the ordinary approaches to creating and event.
Ideas may involve some workshops prior to the event, which I am open to organising, so don’t hold back on the ideas, lets create something new that will go down as an event in the history of Polesworth in the same way that Donne’s poem is considered.
Who knows in 100 years time our descendant poets may well be celebrating 500 years since Donne wrote the poem and 100 years since we created our event.
Please leave comments on this blog or email me at maldewhirst@yahoo.co.uk with your thoughts.
In the meantime I will discuss it with Fr Philip and other groups in Polesworth.
If you don’t know the poem then follow this link to read it.
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/goodfriday.php
KEITH LARGE – FISTS AND CHIPS
There are not enough serious short plays being written these days in my opinion. Not that I am adverse to comedy, I appreciate the comic sketch as much as anyone but I do wonder if writers use comedy as a safe way to get their work out there and as such avoid the controversy that a serious play exploring social issues can attract.
So I very much admire Keith Large who I have the pleasure to work with on film projects, for his taking a stance to tackle the subject of a social issue through his latest production.
Keith has written and produced a radio play called Fists and Chips, the play takes the theme of domestic violence as its focus and seeks to breakdown preconceived ideas on the reality on what is for some unfortunate people is a major part of their daily lives.
The play was produced as a radio play in a London recording studio, starring Jeff Stewart (PC Reg Hollis in the Bill) and Carrie Hill.
I would recommend that people follow the link and listen to this thought provoking, sensitive play.
You can hear the play by following this link:
http://www.dvmen.co.uk/
Keith has also put me on to an Edinburgh writer who he really rates. Simon Jackson whose poetry collection Fragile Cargo is published by BeWrite Books.
Reviews include,
“Jackson is a brave poet. There’s an underlying tenderness to Fragile Cargo, but the poems are all written with such energy and bite that the reader is never allowed to feel comfortable. They’re funny too. Jackson captures our lives and dilemmas and works like a photographer to show us the way we really are. More please.”
Mark Wallington (writer for Not the Nine O’Clock News and thirteen produced TV series and films)
Simon will be touring in the near future, included a date at the Buxton Festival in July.
You can buy Simon’s book by following this link
You can follow Keith on Twitter @KeithLarge3
And follow his other projects at:
http://www.carrotnapper.com/
JO BELL – NAVIGATION – REPRINT
I was pleased to hear that Jo Bell’s collection Navigation is going to be re-printed.
Jo who is the leading light behind National Poetry day and delighted us with the Bugged anthology in recent years, writes about life afloat on her narrow boat with musings on sex and archaeology, but not I hasten to add not always at the same time.
I bought one of the last 12 copies of the original print from her a few years ago and not only have I read it myself but I have also lent it several other poets who all loved it but were disappointed not to be able to get a copy of their own. Well now is your chance as copies will be available from Jo, you can contact her through jo@jobell.org.uk . The book is well worth the £9 including postage.
I also note that Jo has taken the opportunity to slightly revise the collection and has added in some new poems, a great move on her part as it means I now have to buy the reprint but only if she will sign it for me.
And if you are not following her blog then why not it has been listed in the friend’s blogs panel on this blog for over a year. If you have been just that little bit too busy take a break and have a look now at:
http://belljarblog.wordpress.com/
TWO POETRY EVENINGS.
Jonathan Davidson has dropped me a line to promote two very interesting evenings of poetry.
Firstly, we have an evening of Persian Poetry on Wednesday 9th May 2012 at the Barber Institute in Birmingham. It will be rare and wonderful; two Afghani poets and their translators and details here: http://www.writingwestmidlands.org/2012/02/28/an-evening-of-persian-poetry/
And secondly, Jonathan is producing a poetry performance working with a team of performers and a theatre director and based on poems from the Bloodaxe Books’ anthology, Being Human. This will be rare and wonderful too and has three dates at The Belgrade in Coventry from Friday 22nd June 2012. Details here: http://www.belgrade.co.uk/event/being-human . Anyone who has an interest in performance will find this useful. Jonathan has produced three others over the years and they have all been terrifically well received.
Both are well worth going along.
NEWS FROM THE POETRY TRAIL POETS.
Gill Learner whose poem Listen is on the Polesworth Poets Trail (outside the Butchers Shop on Bridge St) has full collection in print, The agister’s experiment, 2011, published by Two Rivers Press.
The collection has received some great reviews
“The poems here fizz and crackle while exploring the vast range of humanity“
Poetry Book Society Bulletin Spring 2011
“It is rarely that a first collection hits the nail on the head as accurately as this.”
ARTEMISpoetry 6
The collection explores the themes of small workshops and the craftsmen toiling at their work and brings a solid accuracy of the process of manufacturing into our thoughts. I also think the cover is something to behold.
You can read more about Gill and her work at http://www.poetrypf.co.uk/gilllearnerpage.shtml
For copies of the collection see the Two Rivers Press page
http://tworiverspress.com/wp/the-agisters-experiment/
Janet Smith whose poem The Owl is on the trail has had further poem, Still Birth, selected as one of the twenty highly commended poems for Donald Singer: Health, Art and Science – Hippocrates Awards for Poetry.
You can see the link to the award here: http://donaldsinger.blogspot.co.uk/
Congratulations to Janet, whose work goes from strength to strength
Sarah James at Nightblue fruit. 1st May
Margaret Torr at The Fizz – 22nd May
LOST POET.
The Lost Poets are on Holiday until June.
SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS
Readings in April.
17th April – Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
20th April – Spoken Worlds – Burton on Trent.
Great to see Margaret headlining. Great to hear Jo Bell is reprinting – that makes my copy a first edition. Great to hear The Wall progressing. Great to see Sarah headlining. Lots of great stuff here.
Some great stuff happening – thanks for sharing it, Mal.
Love the idea of the Donne poem aniversary – so many ideas could be worked from that; relationship to divinity or Christianity over time; the cosmos understanding; landscape; travel …