Some things you might like

Perhaps you already know about the following but in case you don’t:

• Places of Poetry is open to everyone.  It’s an online place, a map of England and Wales, for you to pin your poem about place, on the place it’s about.  Read more about what the project is about here.  I know that a lot of you have already pinned your poems on the map because I’ve seen many mentions on social media.  I pinned my poem about Trowbridge Town Hall, a poem I wrote for children and for people of all ages when I was Poet in Residence at Trowbridge Town Hall a few years ago.  I wrote it for National Poetry Day because the theme that year was ‘messages’.  You can use the search facility on the map to read my poem if you like and even like it if you like it.  I’ve been visiting a few poems and liking them, sometimes because I do genuinely like them and sometimes because I want to give the poet a little heart as a sign of encouragement.  All hearts gladly received, let’s face it, don’t we all need a little love in these times??
• International Wrapper-Rhyme Challenge (#HapWrap) – This is an opportunity for your poetry rhymes to be featured in an exhibition at next year’s Stanza Poetry Festival in Scotland.  It’s a kind of free to enter competition ( read the rules!  ) run by poet and publisher Helena Nelson and it’s a chance for you to write your rhyming poem on a wrapper (food/beverage/product) and share your work on your blog or social media (or simply send it into the comp). I’ve seen a few sample poems shared on Instagram and Twitter and they are ingenious! Believe me, I’ve washed a wrapper and am currently cogitating in rhyme.  Watch this space. Or better still, submit your #HapWrap.
• Arvon 5-Day Poetry Challenge with Jen Hadfield – sign up here for five days of free poetry prompts.  This starts TODAY (June 24) and the first prompt has already given my notebook high hopes.  A little snippet from today’s prompt to give you a flavour of what to expect:

…to write a half-decent poem, we still have to work in an exceedingly analogue way, one word at a time…

and

…the activities I offer you this week will allow as much room for intuition as for design.  Each attend to a different stage of the writing process, and each gives you permission to slow down and work in a way that is unashamedly analogue.

I hope there’s something here to take your fancy.  Let me know if you’re taking part in all or any of these initiatives.