I’m not really taking part in #NaPoWriMo this year although I do feel steeped in poetry. I have attempted to write (or at least start) a poem a day in the past and found it fun and exhilarating. I promised to review some poetry books for a magazine so I’ve been reading those and making slow headway with the reviews. I wish I was quicker! Amazingly, two new poems sprang to life while I was agonising over what to say, so my brain is doing its strange work, that’s something. I’ve already sent them off to a magazine.
Talking of magazines, it was a ‘no’ from The Butchers Dog and a ‘no’ too from all of the comps I’ve entered this year and from The Emma’s Press’s callout for poems for children. Wah! But I was happy to be a runner-up in The Poetry School’s Emily Dickinson Instagram Poetry comp with my poem/collage ‘Tell all the Truth’ which has won me two complimentary tickets to see Terence Davies’ film A Quiet Passion. Entrants were asked to imagine what Emily Dickinson’s Instagram feed might look like. There are some amazing results – worth having a look at the #aquietpassionpoetrycompetition hashtag.
This week I’ve had another piece of good news which I’m not allowed to talk about yet (!) but I will in due course. 🙂
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been asked to read at Greenbelt later this year which I’m really looking forward to. In addition, Bath Festivals have got in touch with me as the organiser of Town Hall Poets, the Poetry Society Stanza group in Trowbridge, to ask our group to read on the outdoor stages on May 20th. So I’ve been organising that, which takes a lot of organising! Many emails, meetings scheduled,venues (for rehearsals) to organise. It’s our monthly meeting tomorrow (Monday, 10th April) so it will be good to bring everyone up to speed.
In other poetic news, I head Denise Riley read at Burdall’s Yard, Bath Spa University’s reading space (very beautiful it is, too, a really terrific venue). Her style of delivery, and her poetry, is very different to the kind I’m used to listening to and reading. How healthy and invigorating to hear someone different.
And, finally, an anthology I have a poem in, Remembering Oluwale, has been shortlisted as Best Anthology in the Saboteur Awards. Do give the book a vote if you can. Winning would help even more people know about the story of David Oluwale. You can vote by clicking on this link which will take you to the Saboteur Awards website.
No other news to report. I’ve been enjoying getting out and about around rural Wiltshire, now that the days are growing longer and the weather has taken a turn for the better. Only this evening, we stepped out before coming home for dinner. It’s beautiful out there.
Josephine Corcoran 