More Jazz, Poetry and States of Independence 2014.

It's been another busy week. Am starting to really miss actually writing poetry, though in the last seven days I've certainly heard a great deal of poetry. Seven days ago I read with poet, colleague and all round kind soul Simon Perril at 'Jazz and Poetry' in Nottingham. We also read with some local student poets and the jazz came from John Lucas' band 'Four in a Bar.' Geddit? Simon read from his new Shearsman book 'Archilocus on the Moon.' I've said it before and I'll say it again that Simon's collections are some of the most cohesive I've every read. So the readings went on and jazz was played between them and the Hotel Deux was an intriguing venue. A former hotel, with the downstairs divided into different rooms and the 'jazz room' itself had lots of fascinating instruments pinned to the wall. There was even a bouzouki, my dad would've loved it. I met my first Liverpudlian poet of the week as well, Andrew Taylor, and want to read more of his work. If you'd like too see video evidence of Simon and I reading then click here. It's on Facebook. Event organiser David Belbin was the camera man.

Then Saturday and De Montfort held it's fifth annual book festival 'States of Independence'. There were lots of interesting panels and book stalls. I ended up buying loads of things. States was also the venue where I met my second Liverpudlian poet of the week, Sarah Crewe. She was reading with Alan Baker and my other colleague Kathy Bell, as part of a panel of Oystercatcher readers. Sarah's poems were a breath of fresh air for me. Alan's were full of intricacy. There was so much energy in that room and it was great to hear poems from Kathy's new pamphlet 'At the Memory Exchange.' I also attended the Soundswrite panel. They're a local group of women writers who meet up regularly in Leicester. Caroline Cook delivered a strong reading from her new Soundswrite pamphlet 'Primer' and there was a host of other poets reading too, including Jayne Stanton who will soon have a pamphlet out with Soundswrite as well. Also went to Deborah Tyler Bennett's and Ann Featherstone's Music Hall panel. For a few moments I dreamed of being Vesta Tilley, wouldn't that be an interesting way to live?

I also hosted a panel with Rich Goodson, Cora Greenhill and Gregory Woods about 'The Poetry of Sex' anthology. We read poems about and around the theme. Some more 'about' than others! We all have poems in the anthology of the same name. There were some mixed feelings about the book aired in the panel. Suppose all anthologies run that risk. I don't really write about sex directly (is this sometimes a 'female' thing?), so I placed the work in the context of my upbringing, life and culture. One of the poem's I read was 'Ante' which appeared in New Walk magazine last year, and was about the decision to have children:

Ante

Our children are only a blueprint. We imagine their milky bodies

flickering in a sonogram. We unpack our cases. They’re hiding

under our crisp bed in the hotel. The sun sinks into a cocktail glass.

Mouth the Spanish word for blood, think out loud: there will be

so many things to learn. Drink one guilty mouthful; let bubbles

fizz between your teeth. Mark this occasion of knowing in silence.

You no longer recognise the tilted face on the curve of your glass. 

Obviously that decision changed mine and my husband's life considerably! Our twins were also at States and were jubilant at having won a box of chocolates in the WORD! raffle and having a go at printing out letters courtesy of Cleeve Press. There were many stalls and it was great to see Jane at the Nine Arches Press one, as well as Jacqui Rowe at Flarestack. Brought three pamphlets! Was good to see 'The Interpreter's House' on sale too. Editor Martin Malone was selling copies of the magazine and the latest issue (55) is great. Also nice to see the poet David Clarke over from Cheltenham, we chatted about the pleasures and pains of poetry reviewing during lunch. There were lots of things I wanted to attend, but it was impossible as the sessions were back to back. Roy Marshall and Rory Waterman would've been a treat, as would've Renni Parker and the WORD! Crew. Sorry I couldn't cover everything!

Ok, so here's my obligatory shot of all the books I brought..actually they're pamphlets:

It's good to go to such events! Especially at a time when I'm finding little time for my own writing. The small presses save the day... again.

p.s. I have two poems on Josephine Corcoran's excellent blog 'And Other Poems' including the one about a certain actor, which you can read here.

Housekeeping...

This is a misleading entry. On the surface it may appear informative, but actually it's an attempt by me to keep tracks. So, this month sees the next Leicester Shindig! This will be held on June 27th at The The Western Pub, 70 Western Road. Doors open at 7:30 and if you want to read get there early, you know the drill. Guest readers include: Luke Kennard, Joel Lane, Simon Perrill and Lydia Towsey. Simon's collection Nitrate, published by Salt, is wonderful, I've written a review on it, which should appear in the next issue of Under The Radar.

The event also sees the launch of the third issue of Hearing Voices which is out now and not available in book shops, but can be purchased via Amazon or send me a message. We've come to the end of the funded issues, there was only money for three. However, issue 4 looks like it's going ahead, following the fate of magazines up and down the country and across the world where there are no tramlines, just wings and prayers. So do buy if you like the sound of it. Here's a pic of issue 3, the front cover was designed by Helen Walsh:

Issue 3 has been guest edited by Alex Plasatis and Melissa Flowerdew-Clarke and features work from Kathleen Bell, Georgina Lock, Matt Merritt, James Walker, Geoff Stevens, and many others, including an 'other' called Maria Taylor.
Other things coming up include the Southwell festival, (can't go this year), featuring Simon Armitage and Matthew Welton. I haven't looked at the full schedule, but I'm sure there are some excellent things going on. Yes, and the Lowdham festival, I may be going in the capacity of woman-helping-out-on-stall-for-DMU, but the twins are coming so it may end up closer to origami, then book selling. There's a talk by John Lucas and a reading by Deborah Tyler-Bennett on June 25th at Lowdham too. My dearest, Jonathan Taylor, is also reading at the Swansea festival tonight, which I couldn't get to, on account of motherhood, but he's reading some of my work.

What else, competitions. Right, I have a phobia of competitions. I'm never sure if they're worth the hassle or not. So, why not just see them as a contribution to worthwhile organisations, such as Cheltenham Buzzwords, judged by Alison Brackebury. A worthy one I think. If you're a woman you could try Mslexia, judged by Jo Shapcott. I'm reading Of Mutability and it's excellent. The lucky woman will win herself £2,000, a week at a writing retreat and an afternoon with Fiona Sampson. There's lots of details on The Poetry Kit, about all these comps, many noteworthy ones are coming up such as the Keats-Shelley Prize, Bridport and others. There's one on Eyewear, celebrating six years of the blog. The prize is £6, there's a lot you can do with that amount, you could enter more competitions for one thing. Will I be entering any, I think not, I'll have to really persuade myself. What I would advise is that on the Mslexia and Poetry Society website, you can browse through the winning entries which is always interesting.

Updates for January - Reviews and more...

January still seems to be continuing. Okay, it's the 30th, still feels like a long month though. I've been reviewing quite a bit of late, just finished one for Under the Radar for Simon Perril's collection Nitrate. Picked up the new edition of Under the Radar which in a strangely synchronous way features my review of Roads Ahead published by Tindall Street Press. There is another one in the pipeline too.
A few poems are due to be appearing in various magazines as well and I'll probably mention them in due course. I do like reviewing, it's a different skill. It sometimes feels a bit like homework rather than writing of the creative kind. You normally have a sense of deadline and a word count, as well as the need for a formal structure. Having said that I always feel that bit more enriched by the process. You learn things. These recent reviews have been my first ones of poetry, I've written ones about prose and academic publications which have appeared in the TLS. It's always a treat when your free book (hurrah, free book!), comes tumbling through the letterbox in its padded envelope, like a present. There is that difficult bit in the middle when you actually have to write the thing and your drafts fail to make sense, but eventually after cups of tea and thoughtful bouts of staring out of windows, it normally falls into place. Hmmm, time to put the kettle on again, I think.

At the Altar of Shod

Monday night was Shodfest at the Looking Glass in Leicester; an event to celebrate the launch of Shod by Mark Goodwin, published by Nine Arches. The collection 'follows the trail 'of Sidney Realer, the new Shoe Messiah of the modern age. Mark had chosen an array of local poets to read from the book of Shod; Simon Perrill, Steve Carroll, Pam Thompson, Lydia Towsey, George Ttouli, Stevie Blue, Katie Daniels and Matt Merritt, with the man himself shoeing in here and there to read the odd poem. The methodology was ritualistic with the chosen ones being assigned a number from the holy rock shoe and having to read in a Kabbalaesque numerological style. (You following?)
What I really liked about this was the mix of different voices and reading styles, not unlike a church ceremony. I think praise had to go to Simon Perrill who read out the long list of 'begats' which frame the collection in a near trance like fashion - try reading them out. My favourite poem from the collection is 'The Barn of the Sinking Moon' which on the night I think was read by Pam, who was wearing a lovely pair of gold shoes.
Open mic was good and we were treated by the first ever reading on the open mic by Kathy Bell, who read two very strong poems.
May Shod be with you and to quote the Shoe Shine Psalm and so and so.