Autumn courses - back to school!

Okay folks, this is the time to start thinking about writing courses.  There are plenty out there for all levels of writers and all types of writing.  Local Adult Education classes are a good place to start - sometimes they run taster days so you can see if it is for you.  Maybe you would consider a course through The Poetry School.  They run day workshops throughout the UK as well as courses running for a whole term (or longer) and interactive online courses with between 3 and 5 sessions.  Stand-alone downloadable courses are available at reasonable prices.  Another route would be to take a Creative Writing course with a University, including the Open University who run short courses as well as Level 2 and 3 courses as part of a degree (though there is nothing to stop you taking these as stand alone).

Have a look at what there is, gather your brochures and download anything interesting from the internet then go through it all and decide what is right for you and your budget.  But hurry, places are getting booked up quickly already!

What will you be doing to improve your writing this autumn - let me know.

Magma Poetry Competition

Magma will be launching a new poetry competition in October to be judged by TS Eliot prizewinner George Szirtes.  Entries can be submitted from 16th October. Visit Magma's website for more information (additional link on side bar).

And still on the subject of writing a Villanelle......

Here is a site - WiseBadger- that explains in more detail how to plan and write your wonderful poem.  I told you there was planning involved...this idea uses a spreadsheet!  Good luck and why not share your efforts - come on be brave.l

Villanelle revisited

Recently I posted a piece on writing a Villanelle with links to sites with poetry examples.  I thought I might now share with you my only effort into this form of poetry, written a few years ago. It might encourage you to have a go.  I'd say that first you need to think of words with many rhyming alternatives - if you pick something obscure  you will struggle!  Write out all the words that rhyme first and think of lines that can be used several times over without it changing the context of the poem.  This form of poetry (like some others) has a system which at first I felt took away the creativeness of writing (for one who likes free verse).  However, it is a good discipline to try.  It is challenging but highly satisfying when you get to the end!  Think of it like a crossword.  Leave it , go back to it, change it.  Tackle it with a light heart - don't let it get to you.  Now, go to it!

Passing Years

To think that once my legs would shake

My body glow, my pulses race

What difference passing years can make

I used to think my heart would break

Each time you welcomed her embrace

To think that once my legs would shake

And all I saw and heard was fake

For she was always in my place

What difference passing years can make

There always seemed so much at stake

I wondered, did you read my face?

To think that once my legs would shake

I left you but for my own sake

Departing from this fruitless chase

What difference passing years can make

And now there is no dulling ache

I hold my head with pride and grace

To think that once my legs would shake

What difference passing years can make

___________

Borrowing from the words of Monty Python....And now for something completely different.  Reading the title poem from Wendy Cope's poetry book Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis reminded me of a dream I had a few nights ago so I wrote these few lines in similar fashion....aplologies to Wendy Cope (and yes I do often have weird dreams!)

Writing a Song for Coldplay

Last night I had a dream that 

I wrote a song for Coldplay

It's not a classic poem

But the title's rather quirky

(I never said it was good!)

Who should you read?

Margaret Atwood

Is there a writer you haven't read - never got round to but want to or a writer you think you should read but don't actually want to?  In the first category I'd say Margaret Atwood, though yesterday I was at the library and have borrowed a book of her poetry which I am really enjoying. She reminds me a little of Carol Ann Duffy in her writing.  Perhaps I should now read some of her fiction.  In the second category I'd say there are a lot of classics I haven't read, though in the last few years I have ventured into a few but I am not sure I am ready to tackle War & Peace yet!  Why is it that we feel we should read a classics?  Will it educate us?  What is missing from our lives if we don't read it?  Who says it's a classic? And is it a snob factor to say you have read it !?  Mm...something to ponder.

While I was at the library I also borrowed Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis by Wendy Cope whose poetry always cheers me up and as the library had a 'borrow two for the price of one' on DVD's I took out This Is It (Michael Jackson) and The Young Victoria - a bargain at £1.50 the pair!

Pam Ayres - They Should Have Asked My Husband.mpg

Looking for inspiration

From my garden

I've been reading other people's writing blogs....getting a feel for what they write, what they do.....but I waste a lot of time doing it.......I call it research!

I didn't win the micro fiction competition I entered.   Nor was I a runner up.  I shouldn't be surprised as I have less experience with fiction and have entered very few story competitions. In fact it might only be the third one!  I have been collecting the vouchers from Best magazine to enter their short story competition but right now I don't even have an idea.  The stories they publish vary - some I like, others I think aren't that great but whether I could do better - now that's the question.

Meantime I am reading through the Winter edition of Poetry Review and not exactly enjoying the poems!  One was so long I lost interest and gave up.  There was nothing to grip me. The poet must have something going for him as he's been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize.  What am I  missing?

My own writing has come to a stop....it's August and it's on holiday!  Well, that's my excuse.  Sometimes phrases or descriptions go through my head and I should write them down because I never remember them later.  I usually carry a notebook but the handbag I'm using at the moment is so ruddy small there's no room. Excuses, excuses....it's no good, I'll just have to get my act together.  I know one shouldn't wait for inspiration but right  now that's what I'm doing.  Any ideas?

My winnings have arrived!

I received a cheque for my winning poem the other day - £10. 

The poem (below) had to be called This English Summer and written in the style of Gerald Manley Hopkins. The editor of Areopagus stated that I 'resisted the temptation to over-play the stylistic imitation to the extent that it might appear a caricature.  The resulting poem has a succinctness about it too, and thoughtful imagery which has great appeal' (Oooh!)

This English Summer

Pastures thirsting, sun’s ruling ray

Metallic sky, a drench, summer’s sway

Blessed rain volleys, clay soil sings

Of sultry nights and restless, sleepless things.

Sunbursts drag white vapours from the fence

Like strands of prayer which only God can sense

Days in jacquard pattern, loosely knit

Seasoned - water, fire, rainbow lit.