NEWS FOR 2012
FEBRUARY 2012
14th February 2012... Well, Nigella didn't win this one - oh well! But I am very excited to announce that Allen Ashley and I will be performing some jazz poetry with the fantastic Special Edition at the Dugdale Centre in Enfield on the evening of Monday 12th March, when (I can hardly believe it) Carol Ann Duffy is the guest poet of Salisbury House Poets. I am beyond excited!!
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3rd February 2012... Nigella is on the Flash 500 shortlist!
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JANUARY 2012
31st January 2012... I have spent a couple of evenings over the past week volunteering for the RNIB, where I have been reading aloud and recording the poems entered into their poetry competition, for the judges to listen to. It has been an enjoyable and rewarding experience, and I look forward to discovering which of the poems entered have been placed.
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30th January 2012... My poem, Ode to Nigella Lawson, is on the longlist (of 21 poems) of the most recent Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition. I am really pleased, and am keeping my fingers crossed...!
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17th January 2012... I have received my copy of the Pre-Raphaelite Society's Review, which includes my first-placed competition entry, Reflections of Ophelia. It is lovely to see another of my Waterhouse poems in print, along with my written explanation of the poem's inspiration. Also published are the second placed poem, and three further runner-up poems, the standards of which are so high that I am even more honoured to have been selected as the competition's winner.
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7th January 2012... I have received my contributors copy of the British Fantasy Society's BFS Journal, in which another of my Waterhouse-inspired poems, "Lamia, Alone", has been published, as well as an article, "The First Con is the Deepest". It is a lovely-looking publication, with a beautifully magical snow-globe on the cover, and I am very proud to be featured within its pages.
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NEWS FOR 2011
DECEMBER 2011
I will be reading at the Big Green Bookshop's "Textual Tourist" poetry evening on Wednesday, 14th December at 7pm, which I am looking forward to. And I am very excited to have been approached to guest at the Millfield Theatre's DENNAWADDIS poetry/music event next March as part of the celebrations for International Women's Day. More nearer the time....
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1st December... I received my contributor copies of Ian Hunter's magazine Unspoken Water today, featuring my poem The Magic Circle, which was inspired by a Waterhouse painting of the same name, and will form part of my eventual collection. Great to see it in print! The whole magazine looks very interesting, and I will enjoy settling down over Christmas for a good read of it....
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NOVEMBER 2011
28th November... It was a very enjoyable evening, reading with Highgate Poets at the uniquely quirky Torriano Meeting House in Kentish Town last night. I read, among others, my recent prize-winning poem Reflections of Ophelia, as well as Crush, a wry and humourous take on unrequited love, which always goes down very well with audiences. I hope that Highgate Poets may have made a few new friends last night, and that perhaps this reading may lead to further appearances for the group at Torriano.
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16th November 2011... I was delighted to learn that I am one of five winners in Forty Hall's "I Just Wanted To Tell You..." postcard competition. The brief was to submit either an image or up to 30 words which in some way encapsulated an aspect of Enfield's stately Forty Hall. I submitted a four-line poem (30 words exactly, including title - I am nothing if not accurate!). This will be produced as either an e-card or a print card and distributed next year some time as part of the celebrations relaunching Forty Hall once its restoration is complete. As a frequent visitor to Forty Hall, I was really chuffed to have been amongst the competition's winners.
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Allen and I gave another full reading of Dreaming Spheres: Poems of the Solar System on Sunday the 13th of November, this time at Torriano Poets in Kentish Town, London. We had a really enjoyable evening, and I would like to thank all those who attended. I love that people enjoy trying to guess who wrote which poems - especially as it cannot be assumed that because one of us is reading a poem, we also wrote it! This will be the last performance of Dreaming Spheres this year, but we hope to once again be traversing the night skies, poetically speaking, some time in 2012....
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OCTOBER 2011
29th October 2011... Yesterday evening, I attended BAZ Theatre Productions' presentation of Macbeth at the Crypt Theatre in Holborn, where I read my two shortlisted poems during the interval, with another poet and three of the company's actors also reading. It was a lovely experience, with a very supportive audience, and I really enjoyed hearing the other poems. The production of Macbeth itself is absolutely brilliant - so energetic and fresh, with the most innovative and original use of space in a very atmospheric venue. The production runs until 5th November, and I would encourage anyone who is able to get along to go and see it.
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24th October 2011... Allen and I are just back from the most fantastic weekend at the Torbay Poetry Festival in Torquay, where we gave a full reading of Dreaming Spheres: Poems of the Solar System on Saturday 22nd. Everyone at the Festival was so friendy, whether organisers, other readers or festival goers, and we received such positive and generous comments about our reading, from so many people, that it really was a very special experience for us. It was also an enormous pleasure to have the opportunity to hear so many other poetic voices over the course of the Festival, such as Kit Wright, David Morphet, Katherine Towers and Elaine Feinstein, to name just a few. Great also to see poetry being celebrated in all its gloriously diverse forms, from free verse to sonnet, ballad to limerick. Other enjoyable activities included participating in a lively debate (the subject: "poetry and politics do not mix"), losing spectacularly in the poetry quiz and taking part in the 'Festival Challenge' to write the best political limerick, as judged by the audience. This latter was one by Allen, who now bears the title 'Festival Champion' - and very proud he was, too! It was a privilege to participate in the Festival, and I extend deep thanks to all involved for inviting us - we hope to return.
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17th October 2011... Although I did not win, I had two poems make it onto the final shortlist of ten to be BAZ Theatre Production's Poet-in-Residence (with Wendy Cope on the judging panel). The remit was to write a poem that incorporated iambic pentameter and was about a character from Macbeth. The lovely people at BAZ have invited me to read these two poems at a pre-performance poetry event at the Crypt Theatre, St Andrews, Holborn, at 6.00pm on the evening of Friday 28th October, along with another shortlisted poet, as well as three of the company's actors reading other shortlisted poems. It should be a great event, and I am really looking forward to it. I will give an account of the evening on this page in due course.
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5th October 2011... I have this week learned that my poem Reflections of Ophelia has won the inaugural Pre-Raphaelite Society Poetry Prize! This was an open competition, and I am thrilled and honoured at the news. I will look forward to seeing the poem published in the Review of the Pre-Raphaelite Society.
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SEPTEMBER 2011
20th September 2011... Allen and I gave a full reading of Dreaming Spheres at Ver Poets in St Albans last Friday, and what a great experience we had. The group was very warm and welcoming, and proved to be an appreciative and perceptive audience. The question and answer session after the reading gave us an opportunity to talk about our writing and to receive some feedback, and we also really enjoyed listening to the group read in the second half of the evening. It is gratifying to see such a well-supported, thriving poetry group, and we will certainly re-visit Ver Poets in the future. In the meantime, many thanks to all who helped organise the evening, and to those who attended.
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9th September 2011... I am delighted that I have just had my poem The Magic Circle accepted for publication in the second edition of a new magazine, Unspoken Water, founded and edited by Ian Hunter. The poem was written this summer, and was inspired by a wonderful painting of the same name by John William Waterhouse.
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