As well as the poetry course at Swanwick, I was also asked to lead the two showcase events. These were essentially poetry readarounds – a rather more restrained atmosphere than a normal open mike, but along those lines.
There were other showcase sessions on at the same time, in fiction and non-fiction, but we had a good turn out and it looked as if there would be far more people reading than there was time for.
Continue reading “listening and reading”
It’s a while since I posted any poetry, so, since I’m in the process of moving things from the city to the village, this seems appropriate:
PACKING
The rip and fart of parcel tape; the tangle,
stick and cuss; the smell of dust,
mothballs and corrugated cardboard.
Drugstore detergent cartons
stuffed and trussed
and stacked in the spare room.
Both cats in heat and looking
for a mate, a nest, a fond caress…
They play at pigs in pokes, scrabble,
scratch and snag at boxes, plastic bags
and bundles, wail and waul.When finally I move, I’ll leave
fixtures and fittings
and two grown kittens.
We all know that it’s just about impossible to make a living from being a poet. So poets try and do other poetry-associated activities, such as workshops, readings and talks, to eke out a living.
Sometimes they get to visit schools and talk to the children about poetry and about being a writer.
Continue reading “quis custodiet…?”
Reading a friend’s book proposal ready to contribute my two penn’orth, I was startled to find my name appear in one of the sample chapters. (Amused, too, to find myself described as “the Welsh poet” as if I were the only one!)
People who know me will probably find it as bizarre as I do that I am being quoted in a parenting book aimed at new fathers.
Continue reading “other people’s projects”
I was down in Seville at the weekend, at the Feria del Libro, for a cuentacuentos session and book signing.
Of course, people go to bed very late – the women in the next room to me in the hotel clearly didn’t go out till after 11:00 on the Friday night and came back at about 4:30am. It seems odd, though, that the best part of the day – first thing after the sun gets up and while it’s all still fresh and cool – should be wasted. Particularly as, by lunch time, Seville heat can be suffocating.
Continue reading “books and their covers & a glimpse of fame”
don't confuse the narrator 