What is ANNOYING me this week?

Not being able to match the widescreen aspect ratio of video with PowerPoint page sizes.

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

Someone’s Birthday last week.

LISTENING TO:

Ma Vlast – Smetana.

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

Following my nominations for the Kreativ Blogger award last week, both Sarah James and Gary Longden have responded with randomness surrounding their lives which you can see on their blog posts using the links below.

Sarah James – http://www.sarah-james.co.uk/?p=2476
Gary Longden – http://garylongden.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/kreativ-blogger-award/

I am now waiting for their nominees to post their own randomness and further nominees. I see this as a way to find some really interesting bloggers as the Kreativ Blogger Award baton gets passed on.

This last week has seen me complete the first draft version of the film Double Booked, which I will be showing to the Producer Keith Large next weekend. This has been a great project to raise my skills in film making and to learn how to get the best out of my editing software.

Something that I thought would be easier than it turned out, was pulling together some sound effects for the sound of a background party, that according to the script was “a group of undertakers raising the dead in room 25”. This line was added as we were filming in a social club on a Saturday evening and there was a good chance that we would pick up some sound from the bar downstairs. So it was easier to explain it away in the script rather than try to record around it.

As it happened on the night there was little or no sound to disrupt the filming and so I was left with a line in the script that needed to be explained with a sound effect.

Initially I had someone going WOOHOO followed by laughter, which Jimi had sourced from a SFX site on the week. This however did not work as the woohoo sounded like some lost bird flying around the hotel and took the viewers focus away from the main action and dialogue as they tried to figure out what on earth sound was.

The Woohoo has now been dropped to the cutting room floor and laughter and a little clapping has taken its place.

The problem with a background sound is putting it in the background, making it sound as if it is taking place in another part of the building, rather than being an immediate sound that is in the same room. It is not just a case of turning down the volume as this does not take it out of the room. Jimi has the knack of understanding sound and the way it is layered from distant to near sound, of how sound changes when heard from the space in which it occurs to being in a different space where there is a barrier in between the source of the sound and the listener.

In reality we filter out sound when we are listening, only taking in the necessary noise to enable our comprehension, so we don’t really listen, only taking on the immediacy of the sound of the situation.

With films it is all the sound we want to control and deliver for the listener to take in, we filter out un-required sound before we present it to the viewer/listener – but there is the art of understanding what they will further filter out from the soundtrack, which may mean they miss something that although in the background is significant to the piece and therefore impairs their understanding of the whole piece.

There will not doubt be more work to improve the piece once Keith has viewed it, but I do feel it is shaping up nicely.

I have a few meetings coming up in the next couple of weeks for three potential projects, which are exciting opportunities to work with different groups on the development of new poetry, through activities where poetry would not normally feature, bringing the experience of writing poems into new domains and to new audiences. I am really excited at the opportunities and the recognition that poetry can bring something new and dynamic to activities that have been well established and now want to find a new way of expressing themselves and to tap into the creativity of communities.

There are a few reading opportunities in the coming week:

The Goblin Poetry and Folk Club is tomorrow night (Tues 21st) hosted by Brian Langtry at the Giggling Goblin Café in Ashby De La Zouch starting at 8:00pm – A great mix of poetry and music from the floor; this has developed into a fantastic addition to the gig calendar in the Midlands. Licensed Bar and Free Entry.

Friday (24th) Sees the February Spoken Worlds in Burton on Trent at the Old Cottage Tavern in Bykerley St. Hosted by Gary Carr is starts at 7:30pm. The pub is a Real Ale pub and the event is free entry.

I will also mention that on Tuesday 28th Feb there is Poetry Alight at the Spark Café in Lichfield, I will put a reminder on next weeks blog.

My Lost Poet this week is a Canadian Modernist who was part of the Montreal Group. His poetry has been described as sometimes Metaphysical and at other times Imagist. It is his Nature poems that explore Canada’s landscape that interest me, his best known poem The Lonely Land was inspired by Frederick Varley’s painting Stormy Weather, at a Group of Seven exhibition in 1926, but I am getting ahead of myself.

My lost poet is A.J.M. Smith (1902 – 1980)

Arthur James Marshall Smith was born in Montreal and whilst I can find very little about his childhood, it is noted that he came to England to study from 1918-20 and it is during this period that he discovers the latest thinking in poetry that moves away from the Victorian poetic ideals and sees the rise of Modernism.

Modernism in Canada was virtually unknown at this time, the first Canadian Modernist collection was published by Arthur Stringer with his collection Open Water in 1914. This was hailed at the time as being the first free verse collection to come from a Canadian Poet, but was not linked to Modernism until much later.

When Smith returns to Montreal he enrolls at McGill University and by 1924 he is the co-editor and writer for the McGill Daily Literary Supplement, a year later he co-founds with F R Scott the McGill Fortnightly review. The Review attracts many young writers such as A M Klein, Leon Edel and Leo Kennedy, the group was to become the Montreal Group, who developed and promoted the ideals of modernism in a cultural background that was entrenched in Victorianism.

Smith’s poem the Lonely Land, written in 1929, was inspired by Varley’s painting. Varley was one of the Group of Seven Painters whose haunting landscapes with their distinctive visions capture the spirit of the place. The Canadian vast tracts of isolation, snow wastes and tortured forest. I had the pleasure of seeing these paintings at the Ottawa National Art Gallery in 2004 and have loved them ever since. They encapsulate as an artistic image, the genius loci, leaving you with the unnerving feelings of remoteness and disconnection.

Frederick Varley's Stormy Weather

Smith’s nature poems are most often described as being Imagist, taking the ethos of getting inside an object and sharing its uniqueness, internalizing to discover the spirit of the object, rather than the place in which it exists.
His poem – “To Hold a poem” is the first indication of this move towards internalizing his view point and much of his Nature poetry is concerned with experiencing the world through objects and the relationship to the other aspects of the landscape. This differs from the Metaphysical view which externalizes, making comparisons between the object in relation to other objects. Smith however wrote poetry that explored these different themes. He had studied the Metaphysical poets such as John Donne and his early work.

Smith in both his Imagist and Metaphysical poems seeks to put an order into things, whilst he describes the action, energies and forces at work in the landscapes, he is seeking to put the meaning and structure into these worlds. Smith to some extent goes beyond the theories of the Imagists, who see the role of the poet gaining an intellectual synergy with the object and describing what is found through the experience, but purely focusing the object. Smith goes beyond this and internalises thought.

Smith received his Doctorate from Edinburgh University in 1931. From 1936 he is promoting the poetry of other poets and is the co-editor of New Provinces an anthology of the Modernists.

It is at this time that he takes up the post of Professor at Michigan State College a position he held until his retirement in 1972. He became a naturalized American but spent his summers in Quebec. He was to become known as not just a poet but also a scholar who published many books and essays that brought Canadian Poetry to a wider audience.

He died in Michigan in November 1980. It was noted that he made a great contribution to the improvement of Canadian literacy.

Links
Anne Compton’s Essays on A.J.M. Smith

“AFTER THE EBB-FLOW”: A.J.M. SMITH’S NATURE POETRY
http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/SCL/bin/get.cgi?directory=vol14_1/&filename=Compton.htm

Patterns for Poetry: Poetics in Seven Poems by A.J.M. Smith
http://canadianpoetry.org/volumes/vol28/compton.html

Roderick Wilson Harvey Essay on A.J.M. Smith

“To Hold in a Poem”: Tension and Balance in A.J.M. Smith’s Verse
http://www.canadianpoetry.ca/cpjrn/vol11/harvey.htm

Michael Darlings Essay on A.J.M. Smith

A. J. M. Smith’s Revisions to His Poems
http://www.canadianpoetry.ca/cpjrn/vol11/darling.htm

Ken Norris’ Essay on Canadian Modernism

The Beginnings of Canadian Modernism
http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol11/norris.htm

The Group Of Seven – Links to websites on the Group of Seven Artists.

http://www.mcmichael.com/collection/seven/index.cfm

http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/visual_arts/topics/754/

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings in February

Feb 21st – The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Feb 24th – Spoken Worlds – Burton
Feb 28th – Poetry Alight at the Spark Café – Lichfield.

Readings in March.

March 6th – Night Blue Fruit – Coventry – Guest Poet Jan Watts.
March 17th – The Goblin Poetry and Folk Club – Ashby
March 24th – Spoken Worlds – Burton
March 27th – The Fizz – Polesworth – Guest Poet Barry Patterson.
March 30th – Leukaemia Research Fund Raiser – Progressive Club – Tamworth.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

The COLD wind.

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

The Edit.

LISTENING TO:

Exile on Main St – Rolling Stones.

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

KREATIVE BLOGGER AWARD.

I have been awarded a KREATIVE BLOGGER AWARD by my friend and fellow writer Maria Smith, whose excellent blog First Draft Café describes her goals and thoughts as a dedicated writer practicing her craft. Maria also has written some really informative articles that are of interest to all writers. First Draft Café is a blog that I would recommend all writers follow.

You can access it here http://firstdraftcafe.blogspot.com/

So as part of the conditions of the award I have to reveal half a dozen random facts about myself that are not widely known.

1. My first published poem was “What Lurks in the Tunnel” – aged 11.

The Poet at the start of his career - it would be another 5 years before he is published

2. During the 1970’s I played rhythm guitar in the rock bands, Apollo, High Mileage and Strange Beings, I was not a good guitar player but I could write lyrics so my lack of technique was tolerated for my words.

The Poet on the right - tolerated for his words rather than his axe work.

3. I like to be beside the sea, but I am not a strong swimmer.

The Sea

4. The book that I have re-read more than any other is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey.

My well read copy

5.   I once performed Irish Dancing in the Shenanigans Bar in Munich.

You would not want to see the poet dance!

6. I like to drink Newcastle Brown Ale.

The Poet's tipple

And now I must pass the award forward. So Sarah James, Bernadette O’Dwyer and Gary Longden, please take the award, and share your randomness with us. Apologies if you’ve received it before, or if you do not wish to take it forward, do not feel obliged to share again, or at all. Unless you want to of course (photos are optional). If you do take part, then please, do let me know when you have posted so I can catch up with you.

Last week saw me rushing around as seems to be the case these days.

Monday saw me listening in to the Radio Wildfire broadcast and what an excellent show it was with a mix of music, poetry, plays and a monologue. I was pleased with my interview which was far more relaxed than my previous experience on the show – the nervous broadcast of my first lost poet Michael Drayton was also included.

Tuesday saw the return of Night Blue Fruit in Coventry, which saw some excellent readings of new poems from Janet Smith, Antony Owen and Barry Patterson plus some new voices who brought some brilliant performances to the evening. The next Night Blue Fruit is on March 6th with Birmingham Poet Laureate Jan Watts as the guest poet.

Wednesday saw the Mad Hatters Writers meeting in Atherstone, which saw a mix of poems, from Charles, Gina and Myself, a short story from Janis and chapter from Alex Simpson’s excellent autobiography.

Thursday and I was out again this time in Hinckley for a meeting with Team Steampunk to discuss the plans and progress of the book launch of Mars on the Rise by Rae Gee, which will take place on May 12 at the Century Theatre in Snibston.

The Mars on the Rise 100 is growing but there is still time for you to sign up to sponsor the event, for the sum of £20 you will get a invite to the launch for you and guest, a signed copy of the book with a pack of steampunk related items plus the launch with two live bands – not to be missed contact me at maldewhirst@yahoo.co.uk  if you want to be included.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent on the edit of the film Double Booked, which has seen much improvement on my previous edits and I am now getting to feel that it is coming together – I only have a meeting of the Runaway Writers this week so I will be at my editing desk most evenings.

Yesterday, I had cause to head to Sutton Coldfield, to sort out my Iphone which seemed to have shut down; the cause was too many apps open in the background and was quickly fixed by the assistant in the phone shop.

Having resolved what could have been my annoyance of the week; I ventured to one of the chain coffee shops for a quick latte and was witness to what I can only describe as Reality Theatre. I have seen street theatre many times when performers deliver an act to a passing audience. But this was Reality Theatre, a performance like reality TV of an altercation between an elderly mother and her middle aged daughter.

The poor old lady had to take a stream of criticism from her daughter, whose life was apparently ruined because as a child she had to wear cheap clothes from C&A and never from Marks and Spencer’s. The daughter as a result only now bought chicken for her cat from Sainsbury’s as she would not buy cheap any more.

The more the mother tried to point out that money was tight, that she did her best, the louder her daughter got, not wanting to listen. The poor mother just sat and took it.

The daughter was playing to an audience of other customers in the coffee shop, neither of them had bought a drink, they just sat as the daughter berated her mother. The daughter was a nasty, vile, ungrateful person towards her mother. It was a sad little play that saw the daughter leave as her mother struggled to follow her.

If the daughter wanted to raise sympathy for herself, then she failed, all sympathies were with the mother who did not deserve this treatment but took it with a certain amount of dignity.

This was a short piece of Reality Theatre, which could not have been scripted any better to show the shortcomings of the daughter as she tried to lay the blame on to her mother’s shoulders. It showed all the drama of relationships that have soured because children do not appreciate what their parents did for them, that you have to understand the times and hardships when events occurred, that you cannot measure the opportunities of today with lack of them back then.

Sadly these two were not actors, who can exit the scene stage left and return to another life, for this mother and daughter, this is life.

More on my lost poets in a next week.

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings in February

Feb 21st – The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Feb 24th – Spoken Worlds – Burton
Feb 28th – Poetry Alight at the Spark Café – Lichfield.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

The sound of TV Ads

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

Some New Poems

LISTENING TO:

Walkin Man – The best of Seasick Steve.

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

This last week has produced some new poems and seen the first recordings of my Lost Poets for Radio Wildfire and the continued work on editing Double Booked.

The poems are for a new production of Pink Floyd’s – The Wall which is being staged in Tamworth in June. The production is being developed as a collaboration of community groups and local theatre groups and will use the original material from Pink Floyd with additional material including some poetry from myself.

The poems are in the very early stages of development and I have put the first drafts out to some of my fellow poets for critique which has been fed back to me over the weekend and I will work upon further during the coming week.

Yesterday saw me battle through the snow to get to the old gun quarter of Birmingham, where Radio Wildfire have their studio. This was for the first recordings of my Lost Poets series that will be broadcast on this popular internet radio station over the coming months.

Birmingham's Gun Quarter

Owing to the snow I set out early and as luck would have it the roads were pretty clear with not much traffic and so I arrived early and was able to catch up with Gary Longden who was recording his Longden’s listings, the monthly list of poetry and spoken word gigs in the English Midlands. Birmingham Poet Laureate, Jan Watts was also there, recording her monthly laureate’s diary.

Radio Wildfire broadcasts live, once per month and then the broadcast is put onto a loop (normally two weeks after the live broadcast) making it available on line throughout the rest of the month.

The next live broadcast is tonight 6th Feb at 8:00 – 10:00pm (UK Time). Dave Reeves who is the mastermind behind Radio Wildfire is assisted by his son Vaughn who produces the show and manages all the recordings.

Radio Wildfire Production Team in Action

The show consists of a variety of poetry and music from all over the world, plus interviews with poets and writers that Dave conducts mainly in the studio although more and more he is getting out on the road, catching people at gigs and recording material for inclusion in the show.

My piece started with an interview with Dave where we discussed the progress on the poets trail, the Fizz and the idea behind the lost poets’ series that I started on this blog last year and to date have covered 28 poets. It was a much better, more relaxed interview than the last one I did with Dave a few years ago, before the first phase of the poets trail was completed. That had been live and I felt I stumbled over my words and did not put on a good show. I later realised that wearing headphones and hearing the interview in such an unfamiliar way, especially my own voice had been off putting which had only added to my nerves.

This time we were not live and I chose not to wear the headset and so it just became a natural conversation between Dave and myself – Of course I have not heard it back yet so I will be listening in tonight to see how I can improve.

Recording Lost Poets without the headphones

I went on to record two lost poets Michael Drayton and Banjo Patterson, one of which will be added to the post show broadcast and then the loop of tonight’s broadcast.

I will be returning to the studio next month to record some more and will continue to develop the series over the coming months.

I am also really pleased that the theme music to my Lost Poets’ series is one of my son Jimi’s compositions. Dave will also be playing some of the music that Jimi composed for my films Pollysworda and Yell.

I am also hoping to do an interview with Dave on Radio Wildfire to publish on this blog in the coming weeks.

Radio Wildfire is promoting writers and poets from all over the world and is well worth a listen.

You can listen in tonight at 8pm at http://radiowildfire.com/ or to the loop at anytime outside the live broadcast.

Night Blue Fruit returns tomorrow at Taylor John’s in the Canal Basin in Coventry. This spoken word evening has been running for about seven years now and has seen many great poets read there. It was started by Jonathan Morley and the Heaventree Press and is the link to Cork for the Coventry Cork literature exchange. It is led by Antony Owen and Barry Patterson, two great poets from the city who both have had excellent collections published in recent years.

Antony was guest poet at the Fizz last September, when he delivered a very well received set accompanied by an ambient soundtrack. It was one of the best Fizz events that we have had at Polesworth and I look forward to having him back with new set in the future.

Barry is the guest poet at the next Fizz in March. Barry is one of the Poets Trail poets, who always delivers an engaging set with all the skills of the natural story teller, his words and voice resonate a lasting ambience of Natures Mystic.

Both will no doubt be at Night Blue Fruit tomorrow and look out for the posters for the Fizz on this blog in the coming weeks.

I am continuing with the edit on Double Booked which is probably the most time consuming aspect of film making. The opening, establishing shots are done as a rough edit, visually I want to tighten them up and the sound needs to be mastered to achieve a smooth transition between shot locations. At the moment it sounds like the change from the film to the TV Ads, I never understand why the sound levels increase when the broadcast goes into the transition between programme and TV ad, (well I do really, they want to make sure we are awake when the ads come on) – it annoys me and I more likely to hit the mute button until the programme returns.

That aside – my film at the moment has the same sound transition, pitch and roll between scenes, so this needs to be fixed.

I am currently working on the main dialogue scene, cutting in close ups to the main dialogue – this at the moment involves a lot of viewing, looking at the main film and deciding where and when to put in close ups – some of it easy – especially for the longer speeches other areas are more difficult. What I don’t want to do is have it flicking around too much that the visuals take away from the excellent dialogue that was written by Keith Large.

Keith’s excellent Radio play Talkers and Doers – which stars David (Dai) Bradley, who played Billy Casper in the film Kes, will also be broadcast on Radio Wildfire during tonight’s broadcast. So another great reason to listen in.

More on my lost poets in a couple of weeks.

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings in February

Feb 7th – Night Bluefruit – Coventry.
Feb 21st – The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Feb 24th – Spoken Worlds – Burton
Feb 28th – Poetry Alight at the Spark Café – Lichfield.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

The Fast is too slow and the Slow is too fast!

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

Breathing Spaces

LISTENING TO:

Hot Rocks – The Rolling Stones

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

Last week was exceptionally busy – with the film Double Booked still in the edit stage, I also managed to fit in a meeting on the Poets Trail, two Poetry evenings, a writers group and a meeting on a new project in Tamworth based around Pink Floyd’s Magnus opus The Wall.

I also found some time to add a page to this blog for THE FIZZ see the tab above – it gives a brief outline of The History of the event and some of the guest poets who have read at past events. There is more on the latest Fizz below.

The poets trail designs for the second phase are more or less signed off and being printed on to the aluminium sheets, ready to be fixed into the Oak lecterns which will be installed on site over the coming weeks.

In fact there are only three to be finalised and these are no taking the standard form of the lectern so require a little more work.

I was able to share some of the designs with the Poets at the Fizz on Tuesday and what a fine start to the poetry season with readings from Gary Carr and eleven readers from the floor.

THE FIZZ with guest poet – Gary Carr.

Gary split his set in two parts and read on themes from his life that were very personal to him. It was good to hear the range of Gary’s poetry in one place at one time brought together as a set rather than individual poems read out of context. Gary included many poems from his back catalogue, including Not having a ball and Octopus. He also did his children’s poem Marmite on Toast, which I use with Primary School Children to start off my Poetry Kite workshops, it always goes down well. His poetry ranges from serious to the whimsical and is delivered in tones suitable to the piece, exploring rhythms that demonstrate Gary’s love of music, sometimes verging on Rap.

Themes from the discomfort of facing a microphone, to a poetry gig where the audience was too loud or was he too fast, to the sadness of a family that play computer games and pile up dirty plates.

He also read the two poems he submitted for the poets trail, STOP and Them up there don’t know use down here exist, the latter being the selected poem for the trail.

Gary delivered them in a style that was easy to the ear and so you captured every word, the pace was right for the listener to reflect on every nuance and turn of phrase. Gary gives a fresh view of the world from a poet whose observations are sharp and sometimes off the wall that take you to look at some of the harsher things in life but in such a way you do not shy away from them.

A truly brilliant poet and performance, I look forward to Gary’s first collection brought together from this material.

I filmed Gary’s performance as I will with all the guest poets as a legacy of the Fizz, I am not sure as to yet how I will present these films, but I will let you know through this blog when Gary’s performance is available to view.

The Next Fizz is on 27th March when the Guest Poet will be Barry Patterson.

Gary’s own Spoken Worlds at the Old Cottage Tavern in Burton on Trent on Friday was another excellent evening. With its now famous three halves with all readings from the floor, you never know what you are going to get. Friday’s readings were excellent with readers in fine form and delivering to the highest standards, engaging the audience into a range of thoughtful places. There were exceptional readings from Gary Longden, Tom Wyre, Margaret Torr and a great sketch from Terri and Ray Jolland.

The new blog and website for the Runaway Writers is attracting a lot of attention, with readers from beyond the group some from overseas who are enjoying the writing exercise – the first is on Food.

I seem to be posting things daily on the Runaway’s blog as information comes in on events, competitions and useful websites for writers. Hopefully interest will be sustained and the blog will become another useful resource for writers.

You can view the blog at http://runawaywriters.wordpress.com

My Lost Poet this week MARINA TSVETAEVA (1892-1941)

I came across Marina when I was researching another of my lost poets Osip Mandelstam, with whom she had a love affair. She is considered as being one of the finest Russian Modernist poets and has been compared with Sylvia Plath, Marina’s themes often transferring her emotions on to others, who she uses as her muse. Her prolific, highly original style, with its masculine monosyllabic eruptions does however give her a voice that is distinctly her own.

Belinda Cooke in her article on Marina describes her as “The Poet of the Extreme.” She certainly is passionate about her life and loves, in her time she has many affairs and writes of failed unrequited love, never quite finding the contentment of sharing her life with one person. Her passions taking her to the deepest of places, with idolatry and obsession driving her away from finding such contentment.

Marina Tsvetaeva was born in Moscow, into a family of cultured academics, her father was a professor of fine art and her mother a concert pianist. Her life as child was a relatively comfortable, bourgeois one, although the disagreements between her and her siblings were often violent. Her mother discouraged her early leaning toward Poetry, describing it as a poor interest and wishing her daughter to become a pianist.

Marina was educated Lausanne and later studied at the Sorbonne. Following the death of her mother in 1906, Marina renewed her passion for poetry and made it the major focus of the rest of her life. It was at a time when Russian Poetry was in a major transformation with the rise of the Russian Symbolist Movement which was to influence her later work. Her first collection was self published in 1910 under the title Evening Album, it received much critical acclaim and marked her out as a poet of some substance, although in retrospect much of early work is seen as bland in comparison to her writing in later life.

She fell in love and married Sergei Efron an army cadet in 1912, the next few years were to see Russia go through Revolution which Marina and Sergei found them on the opposing side to the revolutionary Bolsheviks, both supporters of the White Russians.

Throughout her married life she was involved with many love affairs; much of the passion of her poetry is transferred on to her muse lovers.

By 1917 Marina had two daughters Alya and Irana. Whilst living in the poverty of the Moscow famine, Marina continued to write in support of the old regime, both poetry and plays, her works including “The Encampment of the White Swans” and the “Tsarist Maiden”. She was desperate to find a means of supporting her family; Sergei was away fighting with the White Army. She surrendered her children to the State orphanage in the mistaken belief that they would be better cared for. When Alya became ill, Marina removed her from the State care, Irana, succumbed to malnutrition in 1920 dying in the Orphanage. Marina was devastated, blamed her self and in a poem accuses herself of infanticide.

I stand accused of infanticide
unkind and weak.
And in hell I ask you,
‘My dear one what did I do to you?’

(from Marina Tsvetaeva Poet of the extreme. article by Belinda Cook)
By 1922 life in Moscow was unbearable and this led to their exile initially Berlin then to Prague and later to Paris, living within the émigrés of the White Russian community in exile. It was during this period that her son Georgy nicknamed Mur was born. Though she continued to write in support of the White Russian cause, her compatriots found her to be not White Russian enough and dismissed her work. She spent 14 unhappy years in Paris, finding comfort in correspondence with major writers, such as Boris Pasternak and Rainer Maria Rilke.

Sergei, began to feel homesick for Russia and started developing Soviet sympathies, but was unsure of the welcome he would receive in Soviet Russia; their daughter Alya also followed his views. He began spying for the NKVD the forerunner of the KGB although Marina seems never to have known of his spying activities.

On the return to Russia in 1938 Sergei is arrested and implicated in the murder of Bolsheviks for which he was found guilty and shot, his daughter Alya is also implicated and sent to prison for eight years.
Marina and Mur return to Russia in 1939 as the tensions in Europe are rising. She too is arrested and knowing nothing of the charges that were brought against her husband, proceeds to quote French Poetry to her interrogators. Who formed the conclusion that she was mad and not implicated in the charges brought against her husband and daughter.

Marina finds it hard; she cannot find work because of her past support of the White Russian regime. Established writers shun her. She does find the occasional translation work as she has become fluent in many European languages during her exile.

She is further exiled to Yelabuga away from the main literary influences where in 1941 she hangs herself, some believe it was her situation and a wish to release her son from her past, others believe that it was the death of Sergei. Pasternak felt that he had personally failed her.

Following the death of Stalin. Her work was finally published and studied in Russia in 1961, where she received the acknowledgement as one of the Great Russian Modernists.

Composer Dmitri Shostakovich set six of Tsvetaeva’s poems to music, there are recordings here.
Poem 1 http://youtu.be/Cy79p3u7-uo
Poem 2 http://youtu.be/cXh0h862cRo
Poem 3 http://youtu.be/L-Ri2wFl62A
Poem 4 http://youtu.be/6fC8TLR-DM8
Poem 5 http://youtu.be/bn7-VgrKg38
Poem 6 http://youtu.be/bFb2dOBGizI

These are all sung in Russian but some have the English Translations in the comments.

Her work has been translated into English by many poets and writers including Elaine Feinstein whose Marina Tsvetaeva – Selected poems was published by the Oxford University Press in 1993.
A newer translation is available see:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bride-Ice-New-Selected-Poems/dp/1847770606/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1327931270&sr=8-7

You can find Belinda Cooke’s article Poet of the Extreme here:
http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=15049

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings in February

Feb 5th – Recording of The Lost Poets – Radio Wildfire.
Feb 7th – Night Bluefruit – Coventry.
Feb 21st – The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Feb 24th – Spoken Worlds – Burton
Feb 28th – Poetry Alight at the Spark Café – Lichfield.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

The Drizzle

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

My Projects

LISTENING TO:

Jimi Trax

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club last Tuesday provided a great start to my year of readings. I read my Skipton poems from the walk of Lady Anne Clifford’s Way, a couple of years ago. It was good to see some familiar faces who have now become regulars at this event and also some new faces who really enjoyed the mix of song and poetry. Brian Langtry led the way with a couple of songs starting with Streets of London; we also had The House of the Rising Sun from Pete followed by some of the blues of John Lee Hooker. The poetry was a mix of memories from family to working in the clay pits.

Jigs and Reels at the Goblin Folk and Poetry Club

Brian gave away copies of his CD – Some of my Songs (he may well have some copies left to give out at the Fizz), he also handed out a flyer for his next production Connie Francis Musical Memories which is touring the Midlands during the Spring. I will put more details on this show in my next blog.

You can check out Brian’s work and past productions on his website at
http://www.leglessproductions.co.uk/home.htm

I have recently taken over the role of Secretary for the Runaway Writers. It is a role that is not too arduous and mainly involves communicating with members and the wider world of opportunities and events that may be of interest in the pursuit of our individual literary careers.

As some one who finds blogging a pleasure, I have set up the Runaway Writers blog with various pages that explain what the group does and how to link to the members.

The blog is at: http://runawaywriters.wordpress.com

I chose this approach because it allows followers to manage their own subscription, rather than relying on an email distribution list, which gets out of date very easily. The blog also allows non members of the group to keep up to date with the groups activities, with a view that they might want to join and share their work with the group.

The blog will not only promote the Runaway Writers but also events that may be of interest to the members and the wider audience.

My early posts have included The Fizz and Spoken Worlds as events organised by members, but I have also included Poetry at the Spark Café in Lichfield and The Pure and The Good and The Right in Leamington as these are events that members may well be interested in attending.

Take a look at the Runaway’s blog as it will cover more events and promotions than I can cover on this blog.

Tomorrow sees THE FIZZ – as I said last week I will keep plugging the Fizz until the day – 24th January at 7:30pm at Polesworth Abbey with guest poet Gary Carr – plus Open Mic. – Admission is Free.

I am keen to create a permanent legacy of The Fizz and will be filming the guest poets (with their permission) – I am not sure how this will be accessed as an archive of yet, but that does not stop me filming it whilst I work out the details.

Followed on Friday 27th with Gary’s own evening – Spoken Worlds at The Old Cottage Tavern, Bykerley St in Burton on Trent – Starts at 7:30pm – Sign up for reading slots in the Spoken Worlds famous 3 halves.

The Secret Writer blew her cover this weekend, though I am sure many people knew it was one of the Poetry Trail poets, Bernadette O’Dwyer. So how did she relinquish her anonymity – She published her short story – A Front Row Seat as a Kindle version.

The short story form is very much under rated and overlooked in my opinion, Magazines and Competitions offer more or less the only outlet for them and this often contrived through formulaic styles and themes. The freedom to write using the writers own styles and themes is often stifled by these contrivances.

Bernadette’s approach to use the latest technology to put an individual short story out into the readership at reasonable price is surely a good one – Her following will surely grow as she seeks a publisher for her novel “HER”, thus making her more attractive proposition to potential publishers.

She is an excellent writer, but without an outlet for her work how do people get to know her writing. Poets have the open mic events and poetry magazines as a way to get their work out and to attract potential publishers of a full collection – Novelists don’t have these options – The short story on Kindle is a great way for them to build their reputation.

Check out this story at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-front-row-seat-ebook/dp/B006ZP0QD0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327316962&sr=8-1

A Front Row Seat – By Bernadette O’Dwyer. The police van had been parked there all night. Likewise, I had been parked in my armchair, not daring to move, for fear of missing the proceedings.

Bernadette’s blog is at: http://secretwriter1.blogspot.com/

My lost poet, I am researching a Russian Poet, whose life was very complex. I am therefore still researching the themes for my lost poet piece and will hopefully have it completed for next week.

I am also working on turning my lost poets into the radio broadcast material for Radio Wildfire, the first of which I will record in a couple of weeks. Dave Reeves is keen to make these a ten minute feature which will run as a stand alone piece. I will let you know how the recording goes in early February.

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings

Jan 24th – THE FIZZ – Polesworth – Guest Gary Carr.
Jan 27th – Spoken Worlds – Burton

Feb 7th – Night Bluefruit – Coventry.
Feb 21st – The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Feb 24th – Spoken Worlds – Burton
Feb 28th – Poetry Alight at the Spark Café – Lichfield.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

TV Commercials

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

BBC 4 Programme on The Story of Musical Halls with Michael Grade

LISTENING TO:

Old Time Musical Hall music.

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

And so to the Edit – This has been the major activity of this last week and so it will continue for a while at least. The film Double Booked has moved into post production, which sees me sitting for hours in front on a computer screen.

In between the edits I have fitted in an interview with Maria Smith which she has published on her blog First Draft Café, along with some of the fantastic photograph collages that she put together from the stills she took on the night of the shoot.

(C) Maria Smith - 2012

You can read the interview and see more photographs here: http://t.co/ggoW8M4y

I have not written a poem for at least three months, but this is not worrying me as I have been busy on other things that have been discussed in this blog. I think it is good to take a break from writing in your normal medium. It is a chance to gain new experiences, a chance to consciously or sub consciously to take another view of the world that I write about. When I am ready to write again, which won’t be too long I am looking forward to see how my approach has changed.

So nothing new to read as I attend the first of this years readings tonight. The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club is at 7:30pm-ish at the Giggling Goblin Café in Ashby de la Zouch. This has turned out to be a wonderful mix of poetry, song and the occasional story telling. The host is Brian Langtry who has written many plays and musicals in his time, including one about the miners strike in the1980’s which tells the story of the 30 Leicestershire miners who held out in the strike action against the tide of East Midlands miners who returned to work. Brian often sings songs from these shows. The Goblin Folk and Poetry Club really good addition to the poetry calendar. Not to be missed.

Next week sees THE FIZZ – as said last week I will keep plugging the Fizz until the day – 24th January at 7:30pm at Polesworth Abbey with guest poet Gary Carr – plus Open Mic. – Admission is Free.

Followed on Friday 27th with Gary’s own evening – Spoken Worlds at The Old Cottage Tavern, Bykerley St in Burton OnTrent – Starts at 7:30pm – Sign up for reading slots in the Spoken Worlds famous 3 halves.

Over the weekend I caught a programme on the Story of Music Halls with Michael Grade. http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/the_story_of_music_hall/

1875 The Oxford Music Hall

It was wonderful to see how these fantastic palaces developed from bars into great architectural, sculptures. Palaces such as the Britannia Panopticon in Glasgow that had stars such as Stan Laurel perform on the stage. You can still visit following the work of activists such as Judith Bowers who realised the magical significance of the place and took it on to save and refurbish it. http://www.britanniapanopticon.org/1.html

Other Music halls such as Wilton’s in Stepney also survived due to forward thinking people who had an eye for the past. http://www.wiltons.org.uk/

It was my adventures into steampunk that drew my interest to the programme, my only previous experience of music hall was The Good Old Days, which I never really got as a teenager – but then this was the world of my parents – you don’t get that as a teenager.

But the musical hall stars were the rebel rock stars of their day. They we singing songs about sex before we thought it was invented. I never realised that songs such as Daddy wouldn’t buy me a bow wow were crude. Then there was Marie Lloyd, who was the punk rocker of her day, her material being far too risqué for the first Royal Variety performance, despite her being at the height of her career.

Other artists, dressed as the Victorian equivalent of Glam rockers, such as Champagne Charlie who performed drinking Moet & Chandon, who it later turned out, sponsored him to be seen with their champagne. Corporate Sponsorship is nothing new.

I saw similarities between the old time music halls and today’s poetry events which are held in bars and cafes and I wonder if we will ever see these develop into Poetry Palaces or better still, we reclaim these wonderful old music hall like Judith Bowers did and hold poetry events on the same stages that hosted Harry Lauder, Marie Lloyd, Vesta Tilley, Stan Laurel, Charlie Chaplin and Arthur Lloyd.

I am returning to MY LOST POETS this week,
with a Music Hall singer and songwriter ARTHUR LLOYD (1839 – 1904)

Now before you raise the question of whether this is poetry, I would like to qualify why I have chosen a music hall song writer as a lost poet. I know that the lyrics with their comic metaphors and innuendo are not high poetic art, but they were popular with people, indeed I could sing along to many of the popular music hall songs, they were catchy tunes and lyrics, they passed the Tinpan Alley old grey whistle test. So they have a quality about them, a charm that I want to understand.

Arthur Lloyd was born in Edinburgh, the son of a music hall actor and comedian, Horatio Lloyd and his wife Eliza Horncastle an opera singer. He was the third child of what became a very large family with many of his siblings becoming music hall performers.

Arthur developed an interest in becoming a music hall performer at an early age but was discouraged by his father who declared he would succumb to the demon drink and end up a drunk. The music hall was synonymous with drink. Entry was often free to the public with prices of the drinks stumped up to cover the costs. The performers had their own private bars just beyond the stage door, known as green rooms where they would rest between their turns; the temptation of drink was ever present.

However when Arthur was 15 his father relented and sent him to Plymouth to learn the ropes with Arthur’s Uncle Fred. It was during this time that Arthur ventured into his first Music Hall performances, he was given due reverence on his first turn due to him being the son of the famous Horatio, but by his third turn, the audience was less forgiving of this inexperienced performer. But Arthur persevered; eventually returning to Scotland to become part of his Father’s touring company. This was fine during the touring season but Arthur soon became disenchanted by only earning £2 per week and started to get his own engagements eventually securing a contract with the Whitebait concert hall in Glasgow that paid him twice as much.

He began by singing existing songs, such as song called Married to a Mermaid which was sung to the tune of Rule Britannia and was first performed as part of an 18th century musical play. His break through came with a performance of a song written by Sam Cowell (I’ve heard that name somewhere before!), The Railway Porter was a hit for Arthur, Importantly Arthur always credited Sam who had given him permission to use it. Copyright was always an important issue to Arthur.

Arthur’s career as a performer developed from here with performances all over the country at the music halls in Birmingham, Manchester and London. By 1863 he had started writing his own songs and became the most prolific of the songwriter performers writing and publishing over 190 songs.

His songs were comic, written the lot of the working class man the woes of his daily lives and the obstacles of attracting girls.

Songs such as:

Cruel Mary Holder (1866)
Not for Joseph (1868)
Constantinople (1870)
Take it, Bob (1880)

Arthur married Katty King in 1871 and they had seven children several of who followed them into the music hall, including Harry and Annie who both performed with their father.

Arthur continued to tour the provinces throughout his life and often appeared in the London Music Halls, he performed at several command performances for the Prince of Wales.

Katty died in 1891 and Arthur died in 1904 at the home of his daughter in Edinburgh and is buried in the Newington Cemetery in the city.

Arthur’s songs though popular in their day are in the main no longer sung anymore. The Music Halls went into decline between the 1st and 2nd world wars, the rise of cinema, radio and then television saw entertainment for the masses change and many of the music halls fell into disrepair and many were pulled down.

Pantomime is a remnant of the great age of music hall. Arthur’s songs were said to have a pantomime quality about them.

Whether they are considered as good poetry or not, they certainly give an insight in to what entertained people in the last half of the 19th century and early into 20th.

There is a fantastic archive of Arthur Lloyd – compiled by his Great Grandson Matthew.
http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings

Jan 17th – Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Jan 24th – THE FIZZ – Polesworth – Guest Gary Carr.
Jan 27th – Spoken Worlds – Burton

Feb 7th – Night Bluefruit – Coventry.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

The size of the boot in my car.

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

STILL – The Film shoot last Saturday

LISTENING TO:

Radio4 Comedy.

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

It all went as well as I had hoped, well better if I am honest, the film shoot on Saturday that is. With a limited number of hours in which to set up and gather the footage it was a tight schedule for the cast and crew who all came together and made it happen.

The Film, Double Booked was developed from a script by Keith Large, who has also produced the film. It stars Kim Joyce as Bob Heap, the Night Porter at the Best Lodge Hotel who is determined not to let anything disturb his sleep and Helen Bolitho as Nina Cole, a guest who has a problem with a man in her room and expects Bob to sort it out, I won’t give anymore away about how it plays out than that other than it is very funny.

Both actors were true professionals who delivered their lines time and time again as we took the shots from various angles, face to face, close up on Kim, close up on Helen and over Helen’s shoulder.

Kim Joyce as Bob Heap - The Night Porter determined to get some sleep - Photo (C) Keith Large 2012

The day started with a crew meeting over brunch, going through the shots and the technical details, I was directing and operating the camera, Jimi was on sound and Jack was the production assistant doing all the running around and moving the equipment into position. With the team brief over and stomachs full we head to check and load the equipment into the car.

This included various props as well as the cameras, sound and lighting equipment it became apparent that a bigger car would have been in order and that maybe some of the equipment should have been take over to the location in Coalville earlier, but we managed to squeeze it all in and head over to meet with Keith and the two actors at the specified time of 3:00pm.

The shoot took place at Coalville Constitutional Club, an old building next to the railway line and set back a little from the road but not enough to remove all that noise of traffic which we were going to have to contend with. The Committee and Steward of the club had been exceptional in accommodating us; after all we would cause a certain amount of disruption. Putting up signs that created the hotel, moving things about, hiding objects that were not to be in shot and stopping people moving around the foyer area in their normal routine. Then upstairs in the function room, creating a hotel reception set. Nothing was too much trouble and they made us really welcome, certainly a place I would consider using again if a film called for such a building.

The shoot was in the evening as we could not access the rooms until 6:30pm, which was fine as the film takes place at just after midnight so it needed to be dark. We had allowed ourselves thirty minutes to dress the sets before Keith, Kim and Helen arrived to start the final run throughs. So we based ourselves in the Old hermitage Hotel who had kindly loaned us a conference room for a run through of the script. Initially around the table and then standing as Kim and Helen would be in the film. This was time well spent as it enabled Kim and Helen to get their lines right in terms of words and tone; it also developed expressions and interjections that worked well into the script. There were one or two slight wording changes that needed to be considered and with the adjustments made, we ensured we did not waste time in front of the camera. It also sorted out the practicalities of handling the props.

At 6:30pm, the crew headed to set up. The planning really paid off here, as the set dressing had been kept simple, in the main making use of what was already there and dressing it with ornaments. The main part of the set was to turn the DJ unit into a reception desk, which was done, using tow speakers, a shelf from B&Q, a poster created on PowerPoint and lots of gaffer tape and bluetac, even using bluetac to put a false light switch just inside the door – which caused some amusement at the end of the shoot when I removed it as it had been assumed that it was real and that it just did not operate the lights that we want to us. It took 20 minutes to turn a function room dance floor into a hotel reception, the art of deception may be a flimsy, taped together affair but it served our purposes.

The Crew review the footage - Photo (C) Keith Large 2012

We were joined by Maria Smith, a fellow Leicester writer who took stills of the production, some of which I will post here later when she has had time to sort them through. Harriet Warner, a performance poet and actress who supported as the second production assistant and was able to get the experience of working on a film shoot. Both were invaluable, Maria in creating a record of the shoot and Harriet through guarding doors and offering her thoughts on the footage.

The action started at around 7:15 with some establishing shots outside the building and then on to the shots in the foyer of the club so that we would be out of the way of the club users at the earliest opportunity. These in the can as they say, we move up to the function room for several hours and takes as we worked our way through the script and storyboard.

Lighting was the part I was least happy with and I need to spend far more time investigating this area of filming so that I can instinctively place a light and know what it is going to achieve in terms of coverage, warmth and shadow. It was very much trial and error, which to me delayed the process unnecessarily. With a small crew we have to double up in jobs, which is no excuse – the lighting was down to me and I think it could have been done better.

We filmed it over and again, over shooting as I felt it was better to have more footage to work with in the edit that less. Although we were viewing back the footage using a portable DVD player – one of the money saving tips I discussed on this blog before Christmas, I am sure that there will be something I will spot in the edit that will mean I need to use alternative shots, I am only too glad to have them.

Helen Bolitho as Nina Cole and Kim Joyce as Bob Heap - Discuss the situation - Photo (C) Keith Large 2012

Whilst I mention my money saving tips – the mic. boom made from a decorators pole was also excellent and in the end cost less that £20 to make.

Filming finished at around 11:30pm and we said our goodbyes shortly after that, with the crew of Jimi, Jack and I loading up the car and heading home.

This was my directing debut for a piece of comedy drama or any drama for that matter, those who know my previous films will know that I have never worked with actors, I am very grateful to Kim, Helen and Keith for their patience in working with me.

I am also very grateful to Jimi and Jack for their relentless work and to Maria and Harriet for support and effort on the evening.

Now to the Edit.

Here are some links to websites of those who were involved in this wonderful production.

Keith Large – Carrot Napper Productions:
http://www.carrotnapper.com/index.php

Helen Bolitho Website:
http://www.helenbolitho.com/

Kim Joyce at the casting network:
http://www.castingnetwork.co.uk/castactorcv.asp?actorid=-980278865&cdid=42949

Maria Smith’s Blog – First Draft Café:
http://firstdraftcafe.blogspot.com/

Harriet Warner features in the film KES MEETS MAURICE – as Gill in the radio play Talkers and Doers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfLgz_6kVms&feature=youtu.be

LOST POETS – I will return to my lost poets next week, as I am preparing to record some of last years lots poets as feature pieces for Radio Wildfire, which I will start recording with Dave Reeves in early February and will keep you informed of the broadcast dates through this blog.

THE FIZZ – I will keep plugging the Fizz until the day – 24th January at 7:30pm at Polesworth Abbey with guest poet Gary Carr – plus Open Mic. – Admission is Free.

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings

Jan 17th – Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Jan 24th – THE FIZZ – Polesworth – Guest Gary Carr.
Jan 27th – Spoken Worlds – Burton

Feb 7th – Night Bluefruit – Coventry.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

Slow PC

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

The film shoot on Saturday

LISTENING TO:

Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal – Island Records Compilation.

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

Happy New Year to all my readers, with the Festivities enjoyed we now return to our writing ambitions and opportunities that the New Year brings.

THE LOST POETS ARE HEADING FOR RADIO, Radio Wildfire to be precise.

In early February I will start recording eleven articles on some of the lost poets I covered on this blog last year. These will be broadcast throughout the year.

Radio Wildfire is run by Dave Reeves, poet, writer, musician, broadcaster to name but a few of his skills. With a monthly live transmission followed by THE LOOP which runs through out the month and is updated from the live transmission.

This is Internet radio and so is available globally delivering not only interviews with Midland based Poets and writers but also an interesting mix of music and spoken word from around the world. Not forgetting Gary Longden’s monthly lists of Spoken Word events and The Birmingham Poet Laureates Monthly Review, this year with Jan Watts.

You can listen to Radio Wildfire using this link: http://radiowildfire.com/

I will be continuing with my lost poets throughout the year.

MY TASKS OVER THE HOLIDAY PERIOD SAW ME MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR THE FILM SHOOT which takes place this Saturday, The preparations are on schedule with the making of props and film equipment, I am really pleased with the Mic Boom that I made from a decorators pole.

The film Double Booked is a comedy short and has been commissioned by the writer Keith Large for his Carrot Napper Productions. It has enabled me to build my knowledge and skill set in film techniques through a real project and I very much welcome the opportunity for me to direct the small cast in the realisation of this excellent script.

With the main pre-production activities complete – I, of course, now, just want to get on with shooting and editing it.

I will blog about my experience next week.

You can get more information about Keith’s work and Carrot Napper Productions at http://www.carrotnapper.com/index.php

NEW TWITTER LIST – Maria Smith (@mariaAsmith) and Rosalind Adam (@RosalindAdam) have set up a twitter list at #UKwriters, which provides opportunities for UK Writers to connect with each other and share details of writing opportunities, conferences, competitions or anything that will be of interest to writers in the UK.

You can be added to the list by tweeting @mariaAsmith with “I’m in #UKwriters” and Maria will add you to the list.

You can always tweet me at @MalDewhirst – to talk about any writing or film projects.

THE POETS TRAIL DESIGNS ARE ARRIVING IN MY INBOX, following a real push at the end of last year to complete the design work and to complete the trail before the end of March. We had envisaged using a variety of materials to print the poems on too but we came to realise that some of these ideas were not sustainable and that the end result would fade to be a poor representation compared with the other poems printed on to aluminium. So we decided to stick with aluminium approach and to use photographic backgrounds to simulate leather, glass, and slate. Hence the designs have now been developed at a quickening pace.

POETS TRAIL PUBLICATION – With the new designs coming along we are discussing the way to promote the Trail along with the Pooley Country Park and The Gold Leaf Sculpture. I have been commissioned to write/compile and edit a publication that will bring all the elements and features of this wonderful landscape together.

We are not sure what form the publication will take as of yet, but it will include the new poems along with interpretations of the site, including its history and the regeneration of the natural landscape as the nature and the post industrial borders are constantly redefined.

I will let you know of progress as the ideas develop.

THE NEW FIZZ SEASON has started.

It is unfortunate that this year the dates for the Fizz and Poetry Bites clash, but I had to go with the dates that are available for the venue.

I am this year and on into next, going to be providing an opportunity for the Poets on the Poets Trail to have a guest spot. I am very proud of the group of poets that have poems on the trail and very much aware that we sometimes don’t get the opportunity to hear more from them beyond their Poets Trail poem.

The poets have much more than the single poem on the trail, many have published collections, and one or two have more than one collection. Whilst others are building their first collections – So I want to provide an opportunity for them to share their other work and may be sell a copy or ten of their books.

With this in mind the next Fizz is on 24th January at Polesworth Abbey Refectory at 7:30pm when the guest poet will be Gary Carr, who will no doubt share his poem from the Trail – “Them up there don’t know us down here exist” along with poems from his developing collection, which is wide and varied in subject matter, bringing a deep, thought provoking view of the world through sometimes wit and sometimes sorrow.

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

Readings

Jan 17th – Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
Jan 24th – THE FIZZ – Polesworth – Guest Gary Carr.
Jan 27th – Spoken Worlds – Burton

Feb 7th – Night Bluefruit – Coventry.

What is ANNOYING me this week?

NOTHING

What is DELIGHTING me this week?

EVERYTHING

LISTENING TO:

Christmas songs – they are everywhere.

SOME OF MY DOINGS:

This is my final blog of the year as I will take a break over the festive period so I have decided to do THE REVIEW OF MY YEAR – THROUGH LISTS.

This week I am selecting my top ten events of the year, which I posted about on this blog. I have decided that rather than make this a wordy post that I will list the events with a photo and links to the appropriate blog posts.

1. The Polesworth Poets Trail Workshops – Feb-March

The Poets Gather at Pooley

The posts for the trail workshops were all written in March you can view them here:
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/03/

2. The Trip to Memphis – April

Sun Studio's - No longer unassuming.

The trip to Memphis and Nashville was discussed in my blog post of the 7th April you can read it here:
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/if-you-can-keep-your-head-when-all-around-are-losing-theirs-then-you-are-not-fully-aware-of-the-situation/

3. The Lost Poets – Started in April.

Inspired by the Secret Writer’s April Fools List I have covered 26 of the 50 lost poets, there will more next year.
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/list-of-lost-poets/

4. The Nuneaton Summer Poetry Day – July

Mal Dewhirst, Gary Longden, Mark Niel, Alan Ottey, Rach Flowers

Nuneaton Summer Poetry day was the subject of my blog on 8th July you can read it here.
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/the-fruits-of-the-poetree/

5. The Great West Midlands Poetry Relay – July

This wonderful day was reviewed in my post of the 26th July and can be viewed here:
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/places-poets-poems-pigeons-and-pies-%e2%80%93-the-view-from-the-bus/

6. My trip to Cork – August.

Mal Dewhirst, The Lord Mayor of Cork - Cllr Terry Shannon, Paul Casey and Rosie O'Regan

Perhaps the Poetic Highlight of my year, a really wonderful time.
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/o-bheal-an-guth-fili-by-mouth-the-poets-voice/

7. Poet in Residence at Dig the Abbey – August

Pots and Pipes - Dig the Abbey 2011

My residency saw me produce some new poetry using the methods of Archaeology which have been well received – there will be more next year as I have been asked to organise more things poetic at next years dig.
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-mythological-layers-of-hallowed-earth/

8. The unveiling of Gold Leaf at Pooley. – October

GOLD LEAF by Dalziel and Scullion

The column of gold leaves was unveiled at Pooley along with 5 of the new poems, a wonderful day.
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/the-interpretation-of-sunlight/

9. The Return trip of the Cork Poets – November

Mal Dewhirst, Jennifer Matthews, Afric McGlinchey, Colm Scully and Antony Owen after the Fizz

It was great to host Afric, Colm and Jennifer at the Fizz and the first time poets have been asked for an encore.
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/the-clockwork-poet/

10. Lunch at the Ritz – November.

How the other half lives – for a few hours at any rate.
http://pollysworda.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/the-folk-singers-awards-lunch/

SOME MORE LISTS OF THE YEAR.

THE FIZZ GUEST POETS IN 2011.

January – Sarah James
March – The Lichfield Poets
May – The Polesworth Poets Trail Poets.
July – Matt Merritt
September – Antony Owen
November – The Cork Poets – Afric McGlinchey, Colm Scully and Jennifer Matthews.

MY TOP FIVE READINGS OF THE YEAR.

Memoirs Poetry – Erdington Library hosted by Jan Watts 9th June.
Leamington Peace Festival – Hosted by Barry Patterson – 19th June
O’Bheal Cork –Hosted by Paul Casey – 8th August
Spoken Worlds Burton on Trent – Hosted by Gary Carr – 19th August
Shindig Leicester – Hosted by Matt Nunn – 24th October

MY TWELVE FAVOURITE POET PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR.

Sarah James – The Fizz – January
Fergus McGonigal – Spoken Worlds – May.
Gary Londgen – Memoirs Poetry Erdington 9th June.
Barry Patterson – The Fizz – July.
Elaine Feeney – Whitehouse Limerick – 10th August
Antony Owen – The Fizz – September
David Calcutt – Nightblue Fruit – 4th October.
Afric McGlinchey – The Fizz – November
Colm Scully – The Fizz – November
Jennifer Matthews – The Fizz – November
Janet Smith – Poetry Bites – November
Ash Dickinson – Spoken Worlds – December

FOUR NEW POETS OF THE YEAR.

Janis Kind
Gina Coates
Bernadette O’Dwyer
Barry Hunt

All achieving their first published poem on the Polesworth Poets Trail.

THE TEN EXISTING POEMS ON THE POLESWORTH POETS TRAIL.

God’s dance within us – Garrie Fletcher
Osanna – Penny Harper
The Polesworth Pact – Sarah Armstrong
Squab – Mal Dewhirst
Song 13 – Jonathan Morley
Listen – Gill Learner
The River Anker – Jane Holland
Famous Men – Helen Yendall
Power – Janine Warre
Memories of Pooley Mine – Raymond Hendy.

THE SEVENTEEN NEW POEMS TO GO ON THE POLESWORTH POETS TRAIL.

Brick Making Remembered – Peter Grey.
Pooley Hall – Gary Longden.
Unrippled – Sarah James.
Women’s Memories of Mining Menfolk – Dea Costelloe.
Jutt – Bernadette O’Dwyer
Advice to a Geordie Lad at Pooley – Barry Patterson.
Aloft – Janis Kind (INSTALLED)
Black Swan Possibility – Jacqui Rowe (INSTALLED)
A Cry – Janet Smith.
In their Footsteps – Marjorie Neilson
Pooley Pit Ponies – Margaret Torr
The Pooley Miner’s Tale – Barry Hunt (INSTALLED)
Living Echoes – Gina Coates
Reflected Strata – The Riddled Veins of Pooley Park – Hench-4
Them up there don’t know us down here exist – Gary Carr.
Ladies of the Woods – Terri Jolland (INSTALLED)
Kite – Mal Dewhirst in collaboration with The Year 3 Children at Birchwood Primary School 2011. (INSTALLED)

FIVE POETRY BOOKS – I BOUGHT IN 2011 FROM THE POET.
And they signed them.

The Dreaded Boy – Antony Owen
Troy Town – Matt Merritt
Where the Dagda Dances – Terry Murray
Where’s Katie – Elaine Feeney
Digging for Toys – Bobby Parker

THREE SMALL COLLECTIONS FROM MY PEN IN 2011.

Nuneaton – Poems from the Summer Poetry Day.
Cork Poems – From my trip to Cork.
Midland Purple – From my Residency at Dig the Abbey.

POETRY AWARDS OF NOTE.

Sarah James – The Rubery International Poetry Award – 3rd place for “In to the Yell”.
Antony Owen – The Wilfred Owen Story Award.

THE TEN POETS ON THE GREAT WEST MIDLANDS POETRY RELAY.
and their starting points.

Emma Purshouse – Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station.
Philip Monks – Burton-on-Trent Library.
Mal Dewhirst – Polesworth Abbey Green Park
Helen Yendall – Hatton Country World
Rohit Ballal – Worcester Arts Cafe
Adrian Johnson – The British Camp Malvern
Deborah Alma – Town Green Bromyard
Kurly McKetchie – Highley Leisure Centre
Dave Reeves – Telford Odeon
Roz Goddard. – The Pie and Ale House Stafford

Thank you to the team Jonathan Davidson and the team at Writing West Midlands for their organisation of the day.

You can hear the poems and follow the route here:
http://www.montyfunkpodcast.com/pages/poetrytrail.html

A FACT ABOUT TUESDAY

TUESDAY – The most popular day of the week for Midland Poetry Events.
THE FIZZ – NIGHT BLUE FRUIT – THE GOBLIN FOLK & POETRY CLUB – WORD WIZARDS – POETRY BITES
Though not all on the same Tuesday of the month so you can go to them all.

THINGS I DID IN 2011 THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD?

Visit Gracelands.
Get into Steampunk.
Read Poetry on the Streets of Nuneaton.
Have Lunch at the Ritz.
Get an Iphone.

DATES FOR THE FIZZ IN 2012

Tuesday 24th January Guest Gary Carr.
Tuesday 27th March
Tuesday 22nd May
Tuesday 24th July
Tuesday 25th September

All in the Refectory at Polesworth Abbey.

AND FINALLY

I would like to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Creative New Year.

SOME OF MY COMING SOON DOINGS

December Readings

27th Dec – Word Wizards – Buxton

January Readings.

Spoken Worlds – Burton
Goblin Folk and Poetry Club – Ashby
24th Jan – The Fizz – Polesworth – Gary Carr.