Polyolbion

I had a very similar experience with a Tawny Owl t...

2012-05-22T23:38:07.645Z

I had a very similar experience with a Tawny Owl tonight. I was driving home along a country B road near Hereford when I spotted something in the road ahead. As I got near I saw it was a beautiful Tawny Owl stood in the middle of the other side of the road, bolt upright and looking straight at me. Those big eyes were unmistakable but the bird appeared rooted to the spot. I was worried that it might be injured and there was another car in the distance behind me, so I turned around and headed back up the road at a slow pace. However, the Tawny was nowhere to be seen, so I hope that he flew off safely.

But it brings us back to the point of whether the headlights confuse or daze the owl, because it did not flinch at all as I headed towards it. It was lucky that nothing was coming from the opposite direction. What a beautiful sight though, I was really stunned and so amazed to have seen it. I had an owl experience earlier in the year at a Owl centre, and handled a Barn Owl and a huge European Eagle Owl - such amazing and lovely creatures.

Yeats did the same as well, especially in the late...

2012-05-18T13:19:26.063Z

Yeats did the same as well, especially in the later work, "Sailing to Byzantium" et al. James Wood

Thank you for alerting us, Matt.

2012-05-14T22:12:53.443Z

Thank you for alerting us, Matt.

Apparently it was Robert Frost who suggested that ...

2012-05-10T16:53:46.633Z

Apparently it was Robert Frost who suggested that Edward Thomas do that - it's so interesting. And so are these comments., and your original post, Matt. I've found the same (writing poems out of prose) - having not written many poems for ages, I found material in prose I'd written, particularly long emails to a good friend. I find prose liberating too - and the longer I write, the more I find this - it's as if there's sometimes too much at stake in writing poems, whereas I take prose less seriously and therefore end up writing something that turns into a poem that I wouldn't otherwise have written.

I tend to agree, Alan, and I think some of the pie...

2012-05-03T12:15:13.035Z

I tend to agree, Alan, and I think some of the pieces I've been working on will certainly stay as prose. As much as anything, I think it was good simply to get away from imagining the structure and shape of a poem as I was writing it.

I like that idea, Tim, and it's similar to something I've done before. I suppose in may case, it's that I have a tendency to get stuck in a rut, where writing processes are concerned, whereas, as Andrew says, with Redgrove it became a strict method that entirely suited such a prolific writer.

I haven't read the Hollis book yet, Roy, but will certainly get hold of it. I know Thomas started out very much as a prose writer, but I've never read much about how the one fed into the other.

I think Browning, Poe, Goldsmith and Coleridge all...

2012-05-03T11:21:30.892Z

I think Browning, Poe, Goldsmith and Coleridge all did prose drafts of their poetry sometimes, and weren't averse to de-versing a troublesome section of a poem-in-progress, working on it and then re-versing it back into poetry.

When I'm in trouble with a draft, I sometimes print it, cut each stanza out, and shuffle them around. The final result might be prose (I too feel no requirement to re-cast it back to poetry) or even (though rarely) a 2-dimensional, splattered format.

Personally, I find writing prose to be liberating ...

2012-05-02T18:02:29.843Z

Personally, I find writing prose to be liberating - it seems to free me from writerly self-consciousness, and the temptation to be too poetical. In my case, I often like to leave the prose as prose...

Interesting Matt. I recently read the excellent &#...

2012-05-02T13:18:23.266Z

Interesting Matt. I recently read the excellent 'Now All Roads Lead to France' by Matthew Hollis and it seems Edward Thomas also wrote prose which he tranlated into poetry.

I've seen those notebooks! There's an idea...

2012-05-02T12:53:37.208Z

I've seen those notebooks! There's an idea that the first one contains snippets and scratches which expand into a second where they receive some further work, often in prose forms, then a third where they get their line breaks, and a fourth for final versions. And the notebooks have to be full before they get raided for the next stage, with much incubation between - you need to be as fecund as he was to keep the belt moving, I think. There's more in an earlier Neil Roberts bit in Poetry Review, a clip of which here: http://rother.shef.ac.uk/redgrove/workmeth.htm

My pleasure! I think that's one of the things ...

2012-04-24T12:01:06.849Z

My pleasure! I think that's one of the things I'd get at in a longer review - I might have expected some of the pieces to seem more slight than the usual, but they didn't at all. It all fitted together seamlessly.

Thanks Matt and very perceptive of you. Yes, the p...

2012-04-24T11:30:56.338Z

Thanks Matt and very perceptive of you. Yes, the poetry is different from the stuff which exists only on the page - and by the same token, these poems can seem rather slight out of context. And also yes, we did ask rather a lot of the audience in giving them a fairly dense, wordy show. We decided to limit it to an hour for that reason, and I'm so glad you thought it worked!

Thanks, Matt, for the tip-off ...

2012-04-16T10:19:37.452Z

Thanks, Matt, for the tip-off ...

Sadly not yet - me and Tom Bailey, the photographe...

2012-04-03T16:39:55.599Z

Sadly not yet - me and Tom Bailey, the photographer involved, have it all ready to go, but we're still looking for a publisher.

I was at Newton today, and found your post via goo...

2012-04-03T16:22:10.428Z

I was at Newton today, and found your post via google.

Have you published the book you mention?

Thanks very much, Caroline - I'll post links t...

2012-03-06T16:59:50.766Z

Thanks very much, Caroline - I'll post links to some much better pics by the real photographers on the trip when they post them online.

I usually find it takes about a year or 18 months before things like this spark off poems. I think it must take that long to really sink in.

Beautiful photography. What an expedition ... in t...

2012-03-01T09:39:04.063Z

Beautiful photography. What an expedition ... in the cause of 'work'! I imagine this will fire some poems.

Hi Matt, I posted a reply to your question, but i...

2012-02-07T16:24:17.164Z

Hi Matt,

I posted a reply to your question, but it seems not to have come through on screen! I'm busy on the States of Independence weekend - but wish all the HappenStance poets involved a good gig -

All the best,

Greg

Thanks very much, Andrew. I do remember your spot....

2012-02-02T17:34:51.772Z

Thanks very much, Andrew. I do remember your spot. I thought the poems were excellent. It was a high standard of open mic all round. I'll struggle to make it to the next one, but should ecrtainly be able to get to the Clare Best reading.

Thanks too, Greg. Are you doing the HappenStance reading at States of Independence?

Hi Matt, Saw you read at the Kitchen Garden- parti...

2012-02-02T16:06:07.960Z

Hi Matt,
Saw you read at the Kitchen Garden- particularly enjoyed the "harmonica" stuff. You possibly won't remember but I did a floor spot myself (A gracious Thanks to Wavell T and Recurring Dreams)- Hope to see you down this way again sometime.

Cheers

Andrew

I'm glad to hear the Poetry Bites gig went wel...

2012-01-30T23:23:39.571Z

I'm glad to hear the Poetry Bites gig went well, Matt - I couldn't make it that night, but will no doubt hear you read some other time.

All the best,

Greg

Always a pleasure to be back down there, Caroline....

2012-01-30T17:28:54.459Z

Always a pleasure to be back down there, Caroline. I've got a lot of good memories of South Wales, both from childhood and from when I worked in Cardiff.

Suffolk's not a bad place to be, though!

Glad you enjoyed the poetry and wildlife in my old...

2012-01-30T16:16:27.505Z

Glad you enjoyed the poetry and wildlife in my old stomping ground (South Wales), Matt.

We are pleased to be part of the Suffolk Poetry Society now, and are delighted to share the county with Avocets (for at least part of the year!).

Thanks Roy. Yes, it was one that I started during ...

2012-01-18T09:24:28.661Z

Thanks Roy. Yes, it was one that I started during NaPoWriMo.

Lovely poem Matt. It seems familiar. Is it based o...

2012-01-17T22:10:45.198Z

Lovely poem Matt. It seems familiar. Is it based on one of your the NaPoWriMo poems you posted here last year?

Great interveiw Matt, full of good questions and i...

2011-12-22T14:58:32.010Z

Great interveiw Matt, full of good questions and interesting answers.