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

Not quite poetry but still art

Imperial War Museum, London

I hadn't intended to go to the Imperial War Museum yesterday, but I was a little early for the Morley College Winter Fair, so I nipped over the road just to kill some time. I ended up spending about an hour there taking in the free exhibition Culture Under Attack, which is split into three sections - Art in Exile (the choosing of which art works in museums and galleries to store away during World War II), What Remains (why culture and heritage is attacked during war) and Rebel Sounds (how musicians used music to resist and speak out against war and oppression).

I found these exhibitions really interesting. The first thing of note was whose paintings were saved. Mainly William Orpen as he was highly thought of. Paul Nash (a favourite of mine) had just three paintings saved (his prestige is higher these days and it was admitted that more of his work would be saved now!). What's in a name one might ask!

I'm sure we all remember seeing artifacts and historic buildings being smashed by Isis. I still remember how that made me feel. This was what was looked at in What Remains along with other war destruction like Dresden in WWII. History and culture are important. It's where we come from, our roots and can leave us devastated at the sheer mindless destruction. At the end of each exhibition is a chance for visitors to vote on different questions, like is it important that buildings should be restored? Even...would you die to save a building? When you vote you get to see the percentage of people who agree or do not agree with you. It's a nice interactive task.

In the Rebel Sounds exhibition there are videos and info about various conflicts and the part music played to rebel. From the Hot Club in Frankfurt during the war, The Undertones (Teenage Kicks) from Belfast in the Troubles, Public Enemy and a group from Africa. The Taliban banned music but people still listened despite the consequences of being beaten. I certainly remember when my hubby and I were in Belfast our guide talked about the Punk era in Belfast. Our guide was friends with the DJ Terri Hooley (featured in the exhibition). Punk was a backlash to the Troubles.

The room where you can sit and listen to four tracks is great. It has the sound of the stylus making contact with vinyl (you can't beat it). The bass notes vibrate through the benches so you really feel the music! I loved it. I did my voting in the end room and I heard Teenage Kicks playing again next door, and yes I did do a little dance (I love that song and I have it on vinyl). It probably gave the CCTV security guy something to smile about! I just can't keep still when music is playing.

What does this have to do with writing? Well, certainly a lot of poetry was written during the wars. Like the war artists I'm sure some was censored. Many paintings were rejected because they didn't want the folks back home to see what war was really like (not good for morale). Poets and painters told it like it was. It was their way of expressing their emotions. Sometimes writing poetry is the only way you can do that. It's cathartic.

Anyway, this turned out to be a nice little diversion yesterday. A good hour well spent. The exhibition is on until 5th January if I've whetted your appetite.

The collection to save during WWII

Paul Nash - The Ypres Salient at Night  (1918)

Outside the Imperial War Museum

The face of Freud

The nearest I got to the Gormley exhibition was this in the
courtyard of the RA

Yesterday I went along to the Royal Academy in the hope of getting in to see the Antony Gormley exhibition. It was sold out for the whole day. My second choice was Lucian Freud Self Portraits. No trouble getting a ticket for that and I went straight in. It was busy, and I'd not normally go to exhibitions at the weekends for that reason. However, time is short and my diary is filling!

The exhibition is quite short (in fact I went round a second time!) but interesting. Freud has always been obsessed with his face, it seems, and he began doing self portraits early on and continued throughout his life. Even when he painted portraits of others he often appears in the painting somewhere, either through a mirror reflection or a window. He even has his shadow in one! However, like photographs it shows the aging process, warts and all (he was never one to shy away from those). There is a full length nude of his son and a rather disturbing one of his wife in a hotel room with him looking down on her. The painting of two Irishmen was interesting, but it was the background that fascinated me. Through the window behind the men is a city in great detail and so well done, not something I'd normally associate with Lucian Freud (detailed backgrounds). Technique changed over time to from flatter painting to impasto and towards the end of his life his paintings became even more what I'd call rough textured. I almost wanted to touch it and feel all the bumps and dots.

An early self-portrait

And a later one

Not sure you can see the background terribly well on the photo, but its very detailed.

Hercules

The Poster Bar

Inside the RA

Having finished the exhibition earlier than I thought I had a bit of wander around the RA, realising that I'd not done that before. There were some student exhibits and a great Hercules statute in the connecting halls. I also found the Poster Bar for the first time (no, I didn't stop for quick one!).

Wondering what to do next I headed over to St James', Piccadilly and went into Cafe Nero for a hot chocolate and a look at the map (I usually carry one - I'm old school) to see what I could do. A lady sat down next to me and we got chatting. Turned out she lives in the town next door to me and goes to St James' Church. It wasn't long before we were swapping Christmas shopping tips and the perils of buying clothing for people only for them not to like it! Yes, been there, done that. No longer!

I couldn't decide what to do next so I just headed out and went my feet took me (oh I can be so wayward!). Ended up by the old Scotland Yard building and Whitehall Gardens before crossing the river at Embankment (Hungerford Bridge) and heading for the station.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar windows

Churchyard, St James', Piccadilly

The Listening Hut, St James' Church, Piccadilly

St James' Park

By Horse Guards Parade

Whitehall Gardens

Statue of William Tyndale, first person to translate
the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into English, Whitehall Gardens

River Thames from Hungerford Bridge

And yes, there is a writing point here, never fear. I was thinking about painters and their obsessions - Freud with his face, Monet with his series of paintings of the same building, Gormley with bodies and Hockney with trees. And there is mine for writing about the same subjects in my poetry! There you go, every experience can generate a piece of writing.

As for Antony Gormley, I decided to book a ticket and I'm going tomorrow afternoon. I'll let you know my thoughts then.

Meanwhile I've been marking up my words for choir with the good old pink highlighter, a job I should have done last week.

A bit of homework!

Rain of Poems, London

Jubilee Gardens, London.......waiting!

First poem drop

On Tuesday I was part of something really special - the Rain of Poems which took place over Jubilee Gardens on London's South Bank.  The gardens were packed with people waiting for the helicopter to arrive and drop 100,000 poems into the sky. These poems would include poets from every country competing at the Olympics next month. At 9.15pm the helicopter arrived to cheers from the crowd, hovered and then the first batch of poems were let loose like a black mass of flies.  The low dark clouds made it difficult to see at times, then suddenly bookmark shaped poems ticker-taped down and everyone began to run trying to catch one.  It helped to be tall and pushy!  I was far too polite to begin with then realised that I was going to miss out if I didn't just go for it.  Even so people seemed to get there before me. It was everyone for themselves and you took your life in your hands!  I complained to one guy who snapped up a poem just before me, that he had loads and I had none.  He must have felt sorry for me because he handed me one!  I still wanted to get one for myself so I went with the crowds as more poems were released (this happened over the period of half an hour).  I am embarrassed to say that as I jumped a bank/wall I fell in my hurry to get a poem I saw drop.  I scrambled up and grabbed it almost on my knees!!  Later I managed to get another by putting my foot on one. 

Then it was all over and everyone clapped as the helicopter whirred away from us.  My husband managed to get two poems (I ended up with three).  Hope you like the photos and the video from YouTube.  The experience was great - something I will remember forever.  Rain of Poems has happened in other countries including Poland and Berlin.  What a unique idea and such fun.


Bookmark poems coming closer



Watching and waiting to pounce

I have my 'finds'