Publication, open mic, and a new course

 

It's strange how things come together at the same time, but that's life. After a long waiting time, Stoat Poetry was launched at the end of last month. This is a new journal, and if you would like to buy a copy just follow the link. This issue contains two of my poems. After a leaner period of submitting last year, it was good to end the year on a high when I heard my poems would appear this year. It was good to finally see them in print.

After writing a lot of fiction over the last year or so, the chance to read poetry at an open mic event, was one to grab. This meant searching through my poems to see what to take. Choosing three was difficult. How to pitch it? I began by searching through some loose poems I had read elsewhere or just happened to have printed off. One I came across I'd not seen in a long time and straightaway after reading through it again, I knew I was taking with me. That would be my opener. Another was a lighthearted poem entitled A Chance Encounter with Marmite, and finally one about clothes on a line.

Having chosen my poems, I had a longing to write poetry again, but writing poems uses a different muscle to writing fiction, and I had got out of the habit. What to do about that?

Anyway, the date for the open mic appeared. It was a daytime event - a Saturday afternoon at Whitehall House in Cheam Village. Whitehall House is a gorgeous old building with a lot of history. I had been there before some years back and is really worth looking around. The open mic was held on the first floor, and I knew a few other people from Sutton Writers who were reading.

Our host/organiser was the poet Sara Nesbitt Gibbons, and she read some poems from her book And They Are Clapping, and yes, I did buy the book! There were eleven readers in all (I was first in the second half). The poetry was really good, and this is the point where I wondered if my work was as good. My little demon, that negative voice, was sitting on my shoulder asking why I am here. However, that feeling changed. I was given a full introduction, the fact that I wrote fiction as well as poetry, and Sara mentioned some of the publications I could be found in. I've never had an intro like that. Once I began to read, I settled down and remembered my own advice to others about not rushing! People laughed in all the right places, and I got a cheer at the end. That's a good feeling. I am now on Sara's mailing list.

Having read at the open mic, my interest in poetry peaked again. Maybe it started when I went along to the Free Verse Poetry & Magazine Book Fair. Anyway, I was looking for a way back into poetry writing, yet I needed a push, something to give me that kick-start. Searching online, I found Sue Burge who runs courses via email and has taught at The Poetry School. The course that drew me was Tales of the City, all about London, the city I love. I signed up. The course runs for four weeks, and for a little extra, I will have feedback on four to six poems.

I began the course on Monday and I am hooked. This first week is all about the River Thames, my other passion. The resources are brilliant - articles, music, readings and printed poetry, plus freewrites and prompts. One prompt really was a challenge, but one I was keen to try. This is writing a poem using just one vowel! I got there in the end. The process was all consuming but fun.

Sometimes I can kick-start my own poetry back into life, yet this time I knew I needed something more, and after trolling through several courses, this was the one that spoke to me, and I'm thrilled with it. There is lots of potential for more writing using the resources supplied. I feel a theme coming on!

So, right now I am knee deep in poetry books and studying away on new ways to write.

The Poetry Book & Magazine Fair

Inside the hall

 Yesterday was my day to stock up on poetry books and do a little networking. I'd missed this fair for the last couple of years for one reason or another, now it was in a different venue to the one I remember. So I set off for Knightsbridge in London and St Columba's Hall (St Columba's Church of Scotland).

The Free Verse Poetry Book & Magazine Fair is a great place to meet people running small press magazines and books and is sponsored by The Poetry Society. Expect a crush of people and the heat! To be honest, it is always hard to know where to start. There are so many stalls (there were 69 this year) and lots of nice people to chat to. I recognised some publishers like Two Rivers Press, Shearsman Books, Magma and The Long Poem Magazine, yet others I had never come across. Even though I had a programme I still managed to miss Out-Spoken and Poetry London.However, I have the list and can look them up.

When I first attended this event hardly anyone took cards. I remember having to get cash out and carefully keeping an eye on what I spending, and watching the cash run out far too quickly. Now nearly everyone has a card a machine (only one publisher preferred cash yesterday). But as I told one exhibitor, paying by card you lose track of what you are spending!

So who did I speak to? Well, I met Tommaso Olivero who runs Osso Prints. He makes little booklets, some of which are sewn up by hand. I like the approach, and we had a chat about how he runs his business with the personal touch. I also spoke to Tuba Press and Paekakarisi Press, the latter from whom I bought two books of poetry about London (they offered me a deal!) I also managed to pick one free book of poetry from another publisher. It's not often you get something for free, but the guy was moving and couldn't take everything with him.

I had to limit myself to what I bought. I think I ended up with six books and a freebie, something like that. When I used to attend this event there would be sessions of events, discussions, and poetry readings going on throughout the day. I arrived too late for the first event on Publishing New Poetry and the talk following, The readings were not until 7pm and I couldn't stay that long. So, I was a little disappointed. Listening to poetry is always evocative and can pull me enough for me to want to purchase a book by that poet. 

My poetry book haul!

It was a great pleasure to meet a lady from Banshee Press. They have published a couple of my flash stories. Based in Ireland, they publish writers from across the world. We had a lovely chat, and of course I bought one of their books, though they had already run out of their journal.

Having not written any new poetry for a while, I thought visiting the fair might kick-start my creative juices. I've certainly accumulated enough material to read, and nice to see so many tiny presses still hanging in there, as so many have gone to the wall over the last few years. For some small presses, these fairs are a lifeline as they cannot afford publicity, and are often run by volunteers who dedicate their time to the love poetry. They need our support.

So, I think that's my poetry reading sorted for another year! I hope all the presses had a good day yesterday. I certainly did. If you want to know what's being published and have the chance to chat to those running the presses, this is a good place to start. I shall try to remember to post the date for the next fair when it comes around again.

The venue for the book fair

Let's talk about poetry

Photo: Nick Fewings on Unsplash

 We all have questions about poetry, like how to write the best opening line, titles, poetry forms and why some poetry leaves us cold while other rave about it.

These, and other questions, were discussed last night in a Poetry Toolkit Zoom by Bridport Prize, hosted by the lovely Liz Berry. Liz spoke to two poets, Michael Lavers and Kizziah Burton. All three read a poem they had written, and Liz explained how she edited her poem, workshopping it with a group and with another poet. I don't know why, but I just thought that well-known poets don't need to do that. They've made it. They know their craft. So this was a bit of an eye-opener for me. Am I really that innocent? Seems I am! This editing process was fantastic to watch, and included which parts she changed and what was important in her poem that she felt should stay. Liz showed examples of the edits before it reached completion.

So, first lines. These were described as being:

• an arrow in flight
• mysterious
• surprising
• something to engage with the reader (whether they agree/disagree or feel curious about)
• a question
• beginning mid-story or conversation giving info to locate so the reader can enter the poem

What a poem should not be:

• boring (what you did on holiday - what is known as postcard poem)
• predictable (in spring the daffs bloom)
• too obvious or on the nose
• cliched
• a run-up to a poem (I've been thinking about trees or when I was young we had....)

The good thing is that a bad first line can be transformed.

Suggestions:

• read your poem aloud
• Refine, add detail, the more the better
• come to the poem with questions not answers (you don't need to know the ending of your poem before you begin)

Now about those submissions to competitions or magazines:

It is all subjective. A poet once entered the same poem twice to the National Poetry Competition. The first year it didn't even make the longlist. The second year he won the competition. It was down to different judges and what they liked. So don't beat yourtself up the rejections. There are many reasons for a 'no'. Which brings us on to those poems we cannot understand and think we must be an idiot when so many people rave about it.

Liz Berry suggested we compare it to music. We all have different tastes. Some genres of music we may really dislike, others we love, yet our friends may feel totally different about our musical choices. Poetry is the same. Suddenly, after hearing this things began to make sense. So, it doesn't matter if you 'don't get it', that you think the poem you've read is obscure and doesn't touch you, while others think it's the best thing since sliced bread.We all have preferences. I also think this is like art. I visit many galleries and exhibitions. Some pieces move me (and some I can't even say why, except maybe the colour choices - I'm no art expert), while other pieces look as if they have been painted by a kid in nursery, and why is it so popular?

When it comes to your writing, write how you want. There is a sudden trend for abstract poetry, big gaps, long drawn out concrete poetry. All three poets have noticed this trend, and they seem to be winning prizes, but I hate it. Often I don't even read it. The way it sits on a page does my head in! But that's my preference. Some of you reading this may well really like it, and that's fine. It was suggested that as poets wee can play with these ideas. Give it go, but you don't need to adopt it, just because it's the trend. Trends change.

Still on forms, it was suggested that we consider the form we use and how it works for our poems. I wonder how many of us reading this use a set form for our poetry. I love free verse, but do sometimes write a sonnet or villanelle. I do like to experiment now and again. I'm a big fan of Brian Bilston who writes a lot of amusing poetry and was known as the Twitter poet. Once he wrote a poem in the form of a spreadsheet. I loved that idea and got the idea for my Sudoku poem from him.Thanks Brian. I had it published!

Finally, that old chestnut - how do you know when a poem is finished? Most poets will tell you that a poem is never finished, and I understand this. I've had poems published and gone back to them and thought, 'I can do this better now'. And it's always going to be like that. Kizziah Burton said that with her, some poems seem to lock the door on her and refuse to let her edit anymore. Again, I understand this. One of my best poems (it was a runner-up in a competition) was written in one long stream of consciousness. After some editing, I was totally happy with it, and though it had been out on submission a few times with no takers, I would not alter one word of it. I backed it as it was, and it came good in the end. Other poems, Kizziah said had loose threads in them that needed attending to. According to Michael Lavers, he said the finished poem came when he was sick of it! I think we have all been there!

Liz Berry said that some poems never get finished, and that she had lots like that. They just don't work however much she edits them. Again, that sounds familiar.

And those pesky titles? Each poet said titles for poems was hard, so we are in good company. Keep going!

There was time for a quick Q&A and then the hour was up. I learned a great deal from this Zoom and will have to check out my first lines.Maybe compare the ones that made it to publications against the ones that haven't. But at the end of the day reading a poem is subjective, so our poetry takes a chance, and we hope it gets to a person who appreciates what and how we write.

Updating

 Having talked about technology and social media last time, I've been thinking about how I can update my website (again) and my other accounts. So early this morning I put all my published books together and took photos. The best one I uploaded to this blog  see above and on About and Publiciation History pages) and I also updated X and my author page on Facebook. It is a little thing and I don't know why I didn't do it earlier. At least this is something I could manage. 

Then I read a post from a penpal of mine who had used Copilot to make some lovely writing paper. Why can't I do these things? Of course she is much younger than me! My son once put a synopsis of one of my stories into AI and it came back with a cover. It wasn't quite right, but I must say I was blown away by what it could do. Maybe I will have to lean on my son more. He'll love that!

Maybe there is a course I can go on to learn this stuff. I've not looked into that. It annoys me that I cannot use these tools, not just for what it might be able to do for my publicity, but just being able to understand this stuff. 

When I was younger, I was good at this. I could install a new video recorder for my mum and dad, change plugs, and at work I was the one people called on to sort out paper jams on the copier and change the toner and paper rolls. When the audio machines went wrong, I was the one who tried to rectify the problem before calling the engineer, who had the audacity to ask if I had switched the machine on!

Then technology went crazy. Videos and DVD players became complicated. How many people, I wonder, ever used all those little extras written in the instructions? We didn't. I even find some microwaves complicated. Ours for instance. I just use the basic buttons and up the time by 30secs rather than use the programme which I just don't get. I know I'm not the only one. A friend and I guessed using a microwave while staying in an apartment. (Please leave instructions for appliances!). As I said, if the food is piping hot it's done.

Does any of this ring a bell with you? Or maybe you are of that age of growing up with fast technology. Don't even get me started on apps!

My son kindly bought me a refurbished Google Pixel mobile just over a year ago. He said it would be easier as I use Google and I wanted a better camera. Well, Google tries to take over everything. I take tons of photos, and it wants to back up everything, which means I run out of storage. But I back up all my photos on my laptop and a secondary device, so I had to Google how to switch off backup. But they don't like it. They keep reminding you that you might lose your photos. I miss my old phone, which had an SD card. When that was nearly full, I'd replace it. And then for this mobile, I had to buy an adaptor to plug in my earphones as there was no separate socket. I suppose this is because everyone wears Bluetooth ones (yes I do know what means, strangely!), but I'd be worried of them falling out and losing them.

Why can't things be simple?

I must apologise for a second rant about technology and I hope I haven't duplicated any of this! I will try and do better next time. Please do leave a comment about anything I talk about. It's a lonely business, this writing business. Hearing from others lets me know I'm not just talking to myself! And it's lovely to interact, isn't it?

Technology/social media friend or foe?

Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash

 I have to admit that technology and me don't mix. Some of my friends think I'm really good at it. It's just that they are worse than me! I have managed (sometimes) to help friends with their mobiles. Tthe most recent was when a friend couldn't pick up wi-fi except in the hotel where we were staying. I suggested turning the phone off and on again (a tip my son gave me...and hers apparently). It worked. Sons, what we do without them? Though they don't get why us oldies can't remember what they've said/shown us before. It will come back to haunt them one day!

Technology can do so much these days, if only one can understand it. I'm not good at reading instructions and prefer someone to physically show me how things work. And then I need notes. It takes time to learn new things, and too much at once overwhelms me.

Instagram, now that's another thing I can't seem to master. I used it years ago when my youngest went travelling. He was never the most communicative, but he did post to Instagram, so I joined for him. That way I'd knew he was safe. I used it myself very rarely. Recently, I thought I'd go back to it. It's changed. I have no idea what I am doing. I posted a couple of times and haven't bothered since. The whole thing confuses me. Writers use it a lot, so I thought it might work for me, but I'm out of my depth and I don't have the patience to get involved.

Goodreads is another place I thought I'd engage with. I've used it in the past to review books, so this time I decided to set up an author page. Three times I've tried, and I really thought I'd got there the last time, but no. I know a friend has left a review of my book there (and Watersones), but that's all that's been achieved there.

On Substack, I have a few followers, but not nearly as many as I have here, and like X I seem to attack US males who have no interest in books or writing. There is very little interaction on any media I choose. Am I just not doing it right, or does everyone have this problem? I've heard others complain about it, yet others have tons of followers. Sometimes I think it's just luck. And then I wonder whether it's all worth the bother.

Whether you are a traditionally published author or go down the indie or self-publishing route, most of the marketing/publicity is down to you. But if you cannot get your book across to people, what then? And as for book reviews...well. I had people tell me how much they loved my book and wanted a follow-up. I begged them to write a review. They said yes but I'm still waiting. I  know everyone hates writing reviews. I do too. I don't think readers think how difficult it is to get noticed. They just see all the books on shelves and how much these authors are making. Huh? Only a small minority make the kind of cash that one can give up the day job for. 

I would rather be writing than have to deal with all the business side of this game, especially as I am not savvy on social media. I do my best, and of course there are people you can pay to do this for you. That's more money I cannot afford to spend.

Sorry, this is a moany post. I envy the youngsters who know their way around apps and such like. All I want to do is write stories and hope people like them. Is that too much to ask?

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Books, glasses and writing

Signs of spring

 I've never been one to read a book to the end if it doesn't suit me. The Sea by John Banville was one of those. The book was adapted for TV, but I'd not watched it. The blurb on the back of the book made it sound my kind of read. Sadly, it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, it's beautifully written, but so slow. Description far outweighed dialogue (and I'm a dialogue kind of girl) and I'm afraid I gave it up after around 60 pages. Thankfully, this was a library book, so at least I'd not spent money on it. 

There is a backlog of books here at home waiting to be read, so I picked David Bellamy's autobiography, a book that belonged to my cousin and which I rescued when clearing her house last year. I'd grown up watching David Bellamy on TV and still own his book Botanic Man. Eveyone on TV in those days was doing impressions of David Ballmay romping through the foliage. He was just one of those guys. I even did it myself, along with my impression of David Attenborough and Alan Wicker (the Monty Python version). Yes, I am a sad person! Or is that mad?

Anyway, Jolly Green Giant is an apt title for David Bellamy's autobiography. I learned that he was born not that far from me in a place I love to visit - Carshalton, and he mentioned catching the 213 bus which runs all the way to Kingston (one of my bus routes).

David charts his life through home, school and university and how he became a Don at Durham University. He married Rosemary and after a stream of miscarriages and baby deaths, they finally had a child. After that they adopted many children. As well as a being a botanist David taught, lectured and wrote so many books. I don't know how he found time while travelling all over the world for projects and TV shows. He campaigned widely on issues close to his heart, and he gave a speech on how he would like to see the future of this world. He died in 2019. David did so much to encourage others to take species loss and the damage to our planet seriously. He was one of the greats, a man I admire. He was funny, but serious about his aims. 

David talked about Gerald Durrell, another wonderful man. I first came across Durrell at school when we read one of his books. I think it was The Bafut Beagles. If I am right, and this was about 50 years ago, some of it was written in the pidgin English of the natives in Cameroon. For some reason we never finished the book. I wasn't a great reader in those days, but that book intrigued me. As an adult, I visited Gerald Durrell's zoo in Jersey and loved it and what he was doing. Of course, a few years back there was the wonderful TV series. I miss that.

I've always been interested in nature and in my later years have even been on protest marches standing up for the environment, but like David Ballamy says, sometimes it's like banging your head against a brick wall getting people to change. Having just watched the documentary called Dirty Business on Channel 4 about the state of our water, it brings it home to you how companies lie for profits. I hope the documentary (which was excellent - do watch it) changes something.

I needed a lighter book after all that, so I'm reading one from the Summer Mysteries series by LJ Ross.

I now have a pair of reading glasses. This is to make things easier when I use the laptop. They do help a little, but I think the main problem is that I cannot get the laptop at the right height. What I need is a separate screen and keyboard. Basically, I need a desktop. The alternative is to raise the laptop on some sort of platform and use a separate keyboard plugged into one of the USB ports. All this will take space I don't have, so I am persevering and making the best of it. It's a sad fact that my sight isn't ever going to be perfect. I've been wearing glasses since I was five years old, so I suppose I've not done bad all these years.

Meanwhile, back at the writing, I can tell you I am writing again and it's going well. I manage around 1,000 words or more a day, but because I don't want to put the kibosh on it, I'm not yet revealing what the project is.

I've just had the proofs through for two poems to be published by Stoat Poetry. The journal is going to the printer next week, I believe, so I should have something to report about it next time, I hope.

And here we are at the beginning of March. How did that happen? Easter will soon be upon us. If I get my act together I might even try and make a few Easter cards this year. See you next time.

New inspiration

 

I finally finished reading the book Why I Write Poetry. While I haven't been writing, I have been trying to catch up on reading. I have a backlog of Writing Magazine and Mslexia which I am now going through. And then two bits of inspiration came on the same day. Yeah, finally, thank you, Lord!

I was reading an essay by the Welsh poet Jonathan Edwards (in Why I Write Poetry) about how he writes about family in his poetry. This was a complete eye-opener. Over the years I have written about my family, but this gave me a new perspective on doing it. Suddenly, I had an idea for a poem about my grandfather and how he played piano in a bar and was paid in kind with beer! I have linked it with something that's not true, but, blimey, it works.

Edwards talked about how readers see poetry as being personal and true to what happened. We associate the poem with the poet's experience in a way we don't with fiction. This has opened up new possibilities for me. Think of it like a fiction writer's licence to exaggerate. Edwards illustrated this by two poems he'd written and then explaining which bits were true and which wasn't. Absolutely fascinating, and I loved his poetry. I exaggerate all the time in my fiction, obviously, but when writing about family in my poetry, I tend to stick to truths.

Why I Write Poetry contains essays by twenty-five different poets and they show new, fascinating ways to write, and each essay comes with an activity. I've attempted most of the exercises and have come away with poems I wouldn't normally write. I'm definitely going to rework my poem about my grandfather and see where it takes me. The prospect is exciting.

My other inspiration, as I said, came on the same day. I went along to my writing group where there were some picture prompts. I was drawn to an eerie snap of a dark place with fog swirling around. I began tentatively, not knowing quite where I was taking this and whose voice it was to be in, but gradually it opened up. Two hours later I had a complete story. Yes, it needs editing, but I was so pleased. This is the first new thing I have written since way before Christmas.

I'm going to be writing about picture prompts and other things in my next post on Substack. Now it's back to the reading and typing up my scribbled lines of poetry and fiction. See you next time.