Showing posts with label StAnza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label StAnza. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 February 2019
StAnza 2019
It's that time of year again – from March 6th to 10th, St Andrews plays host to StAnza, Scotland's poetry festival. You can browse the many events here (they actually start on March 5th) – if you get the chance, go along. I can recommend it very heartily.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
StAnza afterword
There are photos, podcasts, videos, interviews and reviews from StAnza 2011 here - enjoy!
Friday, 25 March 2011
Listen to StAnza 2011
There are loads of good recordings of poets reading at last week's festival here - I can particularly recommend Billy Letford, and especially his startling There's hunners o burds on the roofs. I think there are more recordings being added all the time, too, so keep going back to check for updates.
Monday, 21 March 2011
StAnza 2011 and States of Independence 2
I've spent the best part of the last week thoroughly immersed in poetry, and it's really not a bad place to be (provided it's good poetry, of course).
It all started, of course, with StAnza 2011. It was my first visit to Scotland's top poetry festival, but it won't be my last. It's an extremely friendly event, for starters, in a great location that's compact enough to make it easy to dash around between events. And like any festival, it's excellent for catching up with old friends, or meeting others who you've only previously known through a computer screen or their writing. So, in between events, I managed a couple of pints with HappenStancer James W Wood (he's got a novel coming out soon - more on that later), a rushed coffee with Rob Mackenzie, a quick word with Penelope Shuttle, plenty of chat with poetry dynamo Jo Bell, and many more.
But of course, that would all count for nothing if the events weren't up to scratch. Not a problem, though. Highlights included readings by Billy Letford (both at the first night's open mic, and at the Young Poets' Showcase) and Iraqi poet Adnan Al-Sayegh, the rest of the aforementioned Showcase (with Claire Askew, Sarah Howe and Ellen Cranitch), and two fine 'round table readings', by Tom Pow and Paul Farley. The former read from his work on dying villages, but also delved deeper into the subject, while Farley bravely presented us with the drafts of his poem Treacle and considered various aspects of the creative process.
My own reading, with Dawn Wood, went well. There seemed to be just the right amount of overlap between us where subject matter was concerned, the audience were excellent, and the books seemed to sell well. Anyway, more on StAnza in the weeks to come - I've got a few pics to sort out.
On Saturday, I was at States of Independence at De Montfort University in Leicester. It's a chance for small presses to parade their wares, but again a lot of its value is also in allowing you to meet people and simply get some idea of the wealth of talent out there outside the big presses. I did a brief reading as part of the Nine Arches Press talk, and also heard a fine reading by CJ Allen and Alan Baker (unfortunately Ernesto Priego couldn't make it).
Finally, I spent the rest of the weekend browsing the pile of books and panphlets I bought at the two events. They were:
StAnza
The Deleted Part - Adnan Al-Sayegh
A Certain Chinese Encyclopedia - Sarah Howe
The Mermaid And The Sailors - Claire Askew
Songs From A Dying Village - Tom Pow
States of Independence
Connoisseur - Dawn Wood
The Present Day - Ernesto Priego
The Road To Murreigh - Paul McLoughlin
Variations On Painting A Room: Poems 2000-2010 - Alan Baker
A Strange Arrangement: New And Selected Poems - C J Allen
All My Eye & Betty Martin - John Lucas (not poetry, this one, but excellent)
It all started, of course, with StAnza 2011. It was my first visit to Scotland's top poetry festival, but it won't be my last. It's an extremely friendly event, for starters, in a great location that's compact enough to make it easy to dash around between events. And like any festival, it's excellent for catching up with old friends, or meeting others who you've only previously known through a computer screen or their writing. So, in between events, I managed a couple of pints with HappenStancer James W Wood (he's got a novel coming out soon - more on that later), a rushed coffee with Rob Mackenzie, a quick word with Penelope Shuttle, plenty of chat with poetry dynamo Jo Bell, and many more.
But of course, that would all count for nothing if the events weren't up to scratch. Not a problem, though. Highlights included readings by Billy Letford (both at the first night's open mic, and at the Young Poets' Showcase) and Iraqi poet Adnan Al-Sayegh, the rest of the aforementioned Showcase (with Claire Askew, Sarah Howe and Ellen Cranitch), and two fine 'round table readings', by Tom Pow and Paul Farley. The former read from his work on dying villages, but also delved deeper into the subject, while Farley bravely presented us with the drafts of his poem Treacle and considered various aspects of the creative process.
My own reading, with Dawn Wood, went well. There seemed to be just the right amount of overlap between us where subject matter was concerned, the audience were excellent, and the books seemed to sell well. Anyway, more on StAnza in the weeks to come - I've got a few pics to sort out.
On Saturday, I was at States of Independence at De Montfort University in Leicester. It's a chance for small presses to parade their wares, but again a lot of its value is also in allowing you to meet people and simply get some idea of the wealth of talent out there outside the big presses. I did a brief reading as part of the Nine Arches Press talk, and also heard a fine reading by CJ Allen and Alan Baker (unfortunately Ernesto Priego couldn't make it).
Finally, I spent the rest of the weekend browsing the pile of books and panphlets I bought at the two events. They were:
StAnza
The Deleted Part - Adnan Al-Sayegh
A Certain Chinese Encyclopedia - Sarah Howe
The Mermaid And The Sailors - Claire Askew
Songs From A Dying Village - Tom Pow
States of Independence
Connoisseur - Dawn Wood
The Present Day - Ernesto Priego
The Road To Murreigh - Paul McLoughlin
Variations On Painting A Room: Poems 2000-2010 - Alan Baker
A Strange Arrangement: New And Selected Poems - C J Allen
All My Eye & Betty Martin - John Lucas (not poetry, this one, but excellent)
Monday, 14 March 2011
Keeping busy
Work and other commitments mean I can go weeks without going near a poetry event, but every now and then there's this sort of week, when everything comes at once.
Tomorrow night (Tuesday March 15th) I'll be at the Flying Goose in Beeston, Nottingham, for what will be the last poetry night there compered by John Lucas. Featured poets are Ann Atkinson, Poet Laureate of Derbyshire, who will read from her Smith/Doorstop book Drawing Water and other work, and Alan Baker, who'll read from his new Skysill Press book Variations on Painting a Room: Poems 2000-2010. The poetry starts at 7.30pm, and admission is £3 on the door.
On Wednesday, I'm off up to St Andrew's for StAnza 2011. I'm reading with Dawn Wood in the Supper Room at the Town Hall at 11.30 on Thursday - the rest of the time I plan to see as many of the events as possible, and blog and tweet about them as they happen.
I'd have stayed for the whole five days, but I have to be at a wedding reception on Saturday night, so have to dash back on Friday night. The good side of that is that I'll be able to be at States Of Independence at De Montfort University, Leicester, from 10.30am on Saturday. I'll be doing a short reading at 11am, and there's loads of good stuff lined up. I'm particularly looking forward to hearing Ernesto Priego at 1pm.
Tomorrow night (Tuesday March 15th) I'll be at the Flying Goose in Beeston, Nottingham, for what will be the last poetry night there compered by John Lucas. Featured poets are Ann Atkinson, Poet Laureate of Derbyshire, who will read from her Smith/Doorstop book Drawing Water and other work, and Alan Baker, who'll read from his new Skysill Press book Variations on Painting a Room: Poems 2000-2010. The poetry starts at 7.30pm, and admission is £3 on the door.
On Wednesday, I'm off up to St Andrew's for StAnza 2011. I'm reading with Dawn Wood in the Supper Room at the Town Hall at 11.30 on Thursday - the rest of the time I plan to see as many of the events as possible, and blog and tweet about them as they happen.
I'd have stayed for the whole five days, but I have to be at a wedding reception on Saturday night, so have to dash back on Friday night. The good side of that is that I'll be able to be at States Of Independence at De Montfort University, Leicester, from 10.30am on Saturday. I'll be doing a short reading at 11am, and there's loads of good stuff lined up. I'm particularly looking forward to hearing Ernesto Priego at 1pm.
Friday, 4 March 2011
StAnza 2011
It's only a couple of weeks until StAnza 2011, and I've got a piece up on the festival's blog today, connected with one of the theme's of this year's event – The Poet's Ark. Looking forward to it all a great deal now - fine poetry, good company, and sea air.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
StAnza 2011 brochure
As mentioned a couple of weeks back, I'm delighted to be reading at this year's StAnza, which runs from March 16th-20th. A full brochure is now online here.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
StAnza 2011
StAnza 2011, the 14th annual poetry festival at St Andrews, takes place from March 16th-20th, and the final, full programme is out now. Tickets are available from today.
I'm delighted to be a small part of this year's event. I'm reading on Thursday the 17th, with Dawn Wood, as part of a series of readings called Border Crossings. It's from 11.30am-12.30pm, in the Supper Room at the Town Hall. Incidentally, my fellow Nine Arches poet Mark Goodwin is doing a similar reading the following afternoon, so it'll be nice to be part of a Leicestershire contingent!
I'll certainly be there for the first three days, and hopefully the whole festival if I can manage it, so there'll be plenty of time to see some of the many fine poets in the line-up. They include Selima Hill, John Burnside, Paul Farley, Ciaran Carson, Penelope Shuttle, Don Paterson, Claire Crowther and Carrie Etter, to name but a few. It'll be a nice bonus that the Fife coast in mid-March should be pretty good for birding, too.
I'm delighted to be a small part of this year's event. I'm reading on Thursday the 17th, with Dawn Wood, as part of a series of readings called Border Crossings. It's from 11.30am-12.30pm, in the Supper Room at the Town Hall. Incidentally, my fellow Nine Arches poet Mark Goodwin is doing a similar reading the following afternoon, so it'll be nice to be part of a Leicestershire contingent!
I'll certainly be there for the first three days, and hopefully the whole festival if I can manage it, so there'll be plenty of time to see some of the many fine poets in the line-up. They include Selima Hill, John Burnside, Paul Farley, Ciaran Carson, Penelope Shuttle, Don Paterson, Claire Crowther and Carrie Etter, to name but a few. It'll be a nice bonus that the Fife coast in mid-March should be pretty good for birding, too.
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