Catching up on the blogosphere after a computerless few days, I came across this on Matthew Stewart's excellent Rogue Strands.
I'm much indebted to him for his very positive assessment, and I only hope I can live up to it! But, never one to let a plug like that go begging, I'll also take this opportunity to remind you that Troy Town is available here or direct from me (email me at the link on the right), and that I also have a very few copies of Making The Most Of The Light left (but going fast).
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Missed again
I was away for most of the weekend, but got back in time to try to twitch the male Ring Ouzel that's been in a field off Charley Lane, near Bawdon Castle Farm. It was bitterly cold, more like February than May, and the wind was strong. I arrived just about at the same time as Dave Gray, and although we both gave the field in question a thorough grilling, we had no luck. Dave did find several Wheatears including a Greenland bird, and had heard Curlew calling nearby. It doesn't help, though, that the field contains several half-buried black plastic sacks, guaranteed to momentarily raise your hopes when you see them move in the wind at a certain angle.
I even went back this morning on the way to work, but again no sign of the Ouzel. There were at least two Curlew calling over towards Beacon Hill though, and a couple of the Wheatears were still around. But as if those black sacks weren't enough, two male Blackbirds occasionally appeared near the house at the top of the field to again raise hopes. I seem destined to keep missing Ring Ouzels this year, though.
I even went back this morning on the way to work, but again no sign of the Ouzel. There were at least two Curlew calling over towards Beacon Hill though, and a couple of the Wheatears were still around. But as if those black sacks weren't enough, two male Blackbirds occasionally appeared near the house at the top of the field to again raise hopes. I seem destined to keep missing Ring Ouzels this year, though.
Friday, 1 May 2009
Breaking news....
It's been one of the worst-kept secrets in the UK for the last week or so, but Carol Ann Duffy has just been named the new Poet Laureate, the first woman and indeed the first Scot to get the job.
Not sure if there's really any truth in the story about her being passed over last time, but I don't think there'll be too much quibbling with the choice this time around. She is one of the relatively few current poets to be both popular and critically well thought-of, so there's little chance of the decision to choose a woman being dismissed as tokenism.
I've got mixed feelings about her poetry, liking some of it a lot, and disliking some of it equally (on the whole I prefer her earlier collections), but I think she'll make an excellent public advocate of poetry, which it seems to me is the main justification for maintaining the role these days. Andrew Motion did that part of the job very well, and I think CAD will maintain that momentum.
Not sure if there's really any truth in the story about her being passed over last time, but I don't think there'll be too much quibbling with the choice this time around. She is one of the relatively few current poets to be both popular and critically well thought-of, so there's little chance of the decision to choose a woman being dismissed as tokenism.
I've got mixed feelings about her poetry, liking some of it a lot, and disliking some of it equally (on the whole I prefer her earlier collections), but I think she'll make an excellent public advocate of poetry, which it seems to me is the main justification for maintaining the role these days. Andrew Motion did that part of the job very well, and I think CAD will maintain that momentum.
Name change
Poetry Nottingham is to change its name to ASSENT, as a result of securing new funding from the University of Derby.
The move came after the magazine had its Arts Council grant cancelled in 2007, so the new money ensures the survival and development of one of the real stalwarts of the small mag scene.
Editor Adrian Buckner said that the new name would "combine nuances of openness and aspiration to excellence", but added "if you are interested in the clinching 'that's it!' moment of decision, I would point you to Elizabeth Bishop's poem Anaphora".
Anyway, as a long-time reader of the magazine, as well as someone who has appeared in it a number of times, I'm delighted to see that it's moving ahead under Adrian's leadership.
The move came after the magazine had its Arts Council grant cancelled in 2007, so the new money ensures the survival and development of one of the real stalwarts of the small mag scene.
Editor Adrian Buckner said that the new name would "combine nuances of openness and aspiration to excellence", but added "if you are interested in the clinching 'that's it!' moment of decision, I would point you to Elizabeth Bishop's poem Anaphora".
Anyway, as a long-time reader of the magazine, as well as someone who has appeared in it a number of times, I'm delighted to see that it's moving ahead under Adrian's leadership.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Birthday party
Nine Arches Press celebrates its first birthday next week with a party/reading/shindig at The Capital Centre, Milburn House, Milburn Hill Road, University of Warwick (actually nearer Coventry).
It’s on Tuesday (May 5th), from 7pm-10pm, it’s free, and will mark the press’s first year in the poetry-publishing business. There’ll be a selection of Midlands poets, including the likes of Jane Holland, George Ttoouli, Matt Nunn and Simon Turner, and there’s an open mic for any up and coming poetry talent.
Oh, and as if that’s not enough, there’s cake too.
It’s on Tuesday (May 5th), from 7pm-10pm, it’s free, and will mark the press’s first year in the poetry-publishing business. There’ll be a selection of Midlands poets, including the likes of Jane Holland, George Ttoouli, Matt Nunn and Simon Turner, and there’s an open mic for any up and coming poetry talent.
Oh, and as if that’s not enough, there’s cake too.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Digi-binned bustard
While in Portugal last week, I spent a day birding around Cape St Vincent, right at the south-west extremity of the country (and the continent, I suppose), with the expert help of German tour guide and Algarve resident Georg Schreier. We'd already seen a couple of Little Bustards (OK, OK, no sniggering at the back there) at a fair distance, when the one above popped up not far from the track we were driving along.He's a male, so he was spending all his time ruffling up his neck feathers and making a strange 'prrrt' noise, a bit like someone trying to blow a raspberry but failing miserably. As we paused there watching him, I thought I'd try to digi-bin him (ie. take photos using a compact camera held up to the eyepiece of my binoculars, which were resting on the door of the car). I was never going to manage anything of any great quality, because I have little experience of the technique, and because it was so windy that the car was shaking like crazy. Still, I did get a few record shots, such as the one shown, with a Fuji F31d and a pair of Bushnell Elite 8x43s.
Georg, meanwhile, digi-scoped (same technique, but using a telescope) the much better picture below, despite also having to rest his scope on the car door.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Birds in poems
Thanks to Caroline Gill for bringing this to my attention over at the Poetry Society's website. I started off pretty well, but struggled quite a bit later on.
Still, there's a few of my favourite bird poems in there - The Sandpiper, The Windhover and Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird among them.
Other favourites of mine include Bernard O'Donoghue's The Nuthatch, any number of John Clare poems, and the Anglo-Saxon elegy The Seafarer, which includes such specific bird references that at least one expert pinned the location down to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth in April.
Still, there's a few of my favourite bird poems in there - The Sandpiper, The Windhover and Thirteen Ways Of Looking At A Blackbird among them.
Other favourites of mine include Bernard O'Donoghue's The Nuthatch, any number of John Clare poems, and the Anglo-Saxon elegy The Seafarer, which includes such specific bird references that at least one expert pinned the location down to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth in April.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Ramblings
Things have been a little quiet here at Polyolbion recently, but it's the calm before the storm, because I've got a whole load of half-written pieces ready to finish and post up.For starters, there's reviews of Rob A Mackenzie's The Opposite Of Cabbage and Andrew Philip's The Ambulance Box, both from Salt, and both very fine books indeed. I've read and re-read them several times, and keep going back to revise my original thoughts, but I'll get something completed over the bank holiday weekend.
Speaking of my fellow HappenStancers, I'll be reading with Rob, Andrew and James Wood at the Word Power bookshop in Edinburgh, at noon on June 20th, so come along if you can. Edinburgh's always a pleasure, but it'll be great to catch up with the others and talk poetry.
I've also been reading The Salt Companion To Lee Harwood, edited by Robert Sheppard, and Not The Full Story: Six Interviews With Lee Harwood, by Kelvin Corcoran. Harwood's a poet I enjoy a lot, and it's been fun looking deeper into his work with the help of these two books.
And finally, I spent last week on a working trip to the Algarve. The sun shone, and the birding was excellent. Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Spectacled Warbler, Rock Bunting, Crested Tit, masses of Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Kentish Plovers and Whimbrels (the latter not a bird I see often over here), loads of Little Terns, and a big fall of migrants at Cape St Vincent, including Golden Oriole, some very smart Pied Flycatchers, and absolutely masses of Spotted Flycatchers.
Oh, and there was a close-range Otter, and a very showy displaying Little Bustard, which I managed to digi-bin. I haven't downloaded and tidied up the pics yet, but I'll post them later. In the meantime, enjoy that gratuitous shot of two Bee-eaters (not mine), just because we saw loads and they're a glorious bird.
I almost forgot. I got home to find that some great rarities had turned up on my local birding patch, so I dashed around yesterday seeing a Pectoral Sandpiper at Cossington Meadows, and two Whiskered Terns at Willington Gravel Pits (there had been eight earlier in the day, but a Peregrine spooked them).
Monday, 20 April 2009
The Titanic Cafe closes its doors and hits the rocks or: Knife, fork and bulldozerultra modern retail outlet complex development scenario with flowers
The Titanic Cafe closes its doors and hits the rocks or: Knife, fork and bulldozerultra modern retail outlet complex development scenario with flowers - David Hart, Nine Arches Press
I've mentioned before on Polyolbion that, despite the image its generally had in the UK, as the butt of every comedian's jokes, I like Birmingham.
I like it even more now that I've read this new long poem by David Hart, which takes the demise of the Titanic Cafe ("still the best tea in the UK") as the spur for a long, poetic ramble through some of the unseen corners of the West Midlands. And I mean ramble in the very best sense - Hart's sharp eye for detail picks out all sorts of little nuggets that the rest of us rush past in our haste to be somewhere else. This is poetry as urban archaeology, and that's no bad thing in my book.
Because of that, it's inevitably going to get compared to some of Roy Fisher's work, but while there are traces of his influence in Hart's sharp, witty and frequently funny free verse, it's never overpowering. That's partly thanks to Hart's use of song and even playground-style rhymes, I think, as he uses them skilfully to hang a certain amount of found material and reported speech on (they also make sure that there's no danger of this becoming po-faced or dry).
It also brought Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns to mind, but while Hart isn't afraid to bring the distant past into his work, he's primarily concerned with the present, no matter how unpromising it might seem. Throughout the poem, he seems to be asking the same question - "Can this be beautiful?" - even if it's only voiced explicitly just the once. And the answer seems to be yes, even if it's an unexpected beauty that he finds in the everyday.
The poem works well with the series of Hart's photos that are published alongside, and the extensive footnotes are a good read in themselves, but of course it's the poem itself that matters most. Its very nature means that Hart doesn't reach for easy effect (hence my reluctance to quote from it, because you really need to read the whole poem), but it's both highly readable and extremely multi-layered - I defy you not to read it straight through again immediately you finish it.
David Hart's THE TITANIC CAFE CLOSES ITS DOORS AND HITS THE ROCKS or: Knife, fork and bulldozer ultra modern retail outlet complex development scenario with flowers is launched on Thursday 23rd April, from 7pm onwards, at The Quaker Central Hall, The Priory Rooms, 40 Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AF. It's all free!
I've mentioned before on Polyolbion that, despite the image its generally had in the UK, as the butt of every comedian's jokes, I like Birmingham.
I like it even more now that I've read this new long poem by David Hart, which takes the demise of the Titanic Cafe ("still the best tea in the UK") as the spur for a long, poetic ramble through some of the unseen corners of the West Midlands. And I mean ramble in the very best sense - Hart's sharp eye for detail picks out all sorts of little nuggets that the rest of us rush past in our haste to be somewhere else. This is poetry as urban archaeology, and that's no bad thing in my book.
Because of that, it's inevitably going to get compared to some of Roy Fisher's work, but while there are traces of his influence in Hart's sharp, witty and frequently funny free verse, it's never overpowering. That's partly thanks to Hart's use of song and even playground-style rhymes, I think, as he uses them skilfully to hang a certain amount of found material and reported speech on (they also make sure that there's no danger of this becoming po-faced or dry).
It also brought Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns to mind, but while Hart isn't afraid to bring the distant past into his work, he's primarily concerned with the present, no matter how unpromising it might seem. Throughout the poem, he seems to be asking the same question - "Can this be beautiful?" - even if it's only voiced explicitly just the once. And the answer seems to be yes, even if it's an unexpected beauty that he finds in the everyday.
The poem works well with the series of Hart's photos that are published alongside, and the extensive footnotes are a good read in themselves, but of course it's the poem itself that matters most. Its very nature means that Hart doesn't reach for easy effect (hence my reluctance to quote from it, because you really need to read the whole poem), but it's both highly readable and extremely multi-layered - I defy you not to read it straight through again immediately you finish it.
David Hart's THE TITANIC CAFE CLOSES ITS DOORS AND HITS THE ROCKS or: Knife, fork and bulldozer ultra modern retail outlet complex development scenario with flowers is launched on Thursday 23rd April, from 7pm onwards, at The Quaker Central Hall, The Priory Rooms, 40 Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AF. It's all free!
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Sphinx 10
The latest issue of Sphinx is just about out, featuring an interview with George Simmers, of Snakeskin, in heroic couplets, plus features on Worple, Grey Hen, bluechrome, and my interview with Jane Commane and Matt Nunn of Nine Arches Press.
There are also the usual reviews and the wonderful Savage Chickens cartoons, and the magazine's online reviews include four by me - Jane Holland's Lament of the Wanderer, Frances Corkey Thompson's The Long Acre and Anne Caldwell's Slug Language (those two both from HappenStance), and Gordon Jarvie's Watching The Sun and Other Poems.
I won't spoil them for you, but I will say that I enjoyed all four chapbooks - Jane Holland's and Frances Corkey Thompson's were particularly memorable.
There are also the usual reviews and the wonderful Savage Chickens cartoons, and the magazine's online reviews include four by me - Jane Holland's Lament of the Wanderer, Frances Corkey Thompson's The Long Acre and Anne Caldwell's Slug Language (those two both from HappenStance), and Gordon Jarvie's Watching The Sun and Other Poems.
I won't spoil them for you, but I will say that I enjoyed all four chapbooks - Jane Holland's and Frances Corkey Thompson's were particularly memorable.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Back on dry land
The best part of my job, I’d have to say, is that you get to travel a bit. Not only to the far ends of the earth, occasionally, but also to parts of Britain you might otherwise never get to.
Over the Easter weekend, I was on a wildlife cruise around Bute, Arran and Loch Fyne, in western Scotland. We were lucky enough to get some lovely weather, the birding was good, and the company excellent. You could spend a lifetime exploring this area and still not see the half of it, because there are so many little sea lochs, inlets, islands and hidden valleys tucked away, but let's just say that the scenery is frequently breathtaking and leave it at that.
It was actually reasonably quiet, bird-wise, as we didn't get lucky and see the Golden Eagles nesting near the Arran distillery at Loch Ranza, but there was plenty of interesting stuff. Black Guillemots, for instance, known locally as Dookers - very neat, attractive little birds. Or Hooded Crows paired up with Carrion Crows - we must have been just about on the dividing line between the two species. Flypast Black-throated and Red-throated Divers too.
Obviously, I had to sample a few single malts while on board ship (strictly to ward off seasickness, obviously). Lagavulin and Laphroaig are always a treat, but I'd never come across Caol Ila or Arran before, and neither suffered by comparison with their better-known fellow islanders.
But anyway, I'm hooked now. I'll definitely have to return sometime very soon.
Over the Easter weekend, I was on a wildlife cruise around Bute, Arran and Loch Fyne, in western Scotland. We were lucky enough to get some lovely weather, the birding was good, and the company excellent. You could spend a lifetime exploring this area and still not see the half of it, because there are so many little sea lochs, inlets, islands and hidden valleys tucked away, but let's just say that the scenery is frequently breathtaking and leave it at that.
It was actually reasonably quiet, bird-wise, as we didn't get lucky and see the Golden Eagles nesting near the Arran distillery at Loch Ranza, but there was plenty of interesting stuff. Black Guillemots, for instance, known locally as Dookers - very neat, attractive little birds. Or Hooded Crows paired up with Carrion Crows - we must have been just about on the dividing line between the two species. Flypast Black-throated and Red-throated Divers too.
Obviously, I had to sample a few single malts while on board ship (strictly to ward off seasickness, obviously). Lagavulin and Laphroaig are always a treat, but I'd never come across Caol Ila or Arran before, and neither suffered by comparison with their better-known fellow islanders.
But anyway, I'm hooked now. I'll definitely have to return sometime very soon.
A classic
I’ve just finished reading David Peace’s much talked-about novel The Damned United (I might make it to see the film this weekend). It’s excellent, and part of the enjoyment, I think, is wondering just how much is fact and how much is fiction. I can understand why the Clough family might be a bit annoyed at the portrayal of Brian Clough in it, but I don’t think he comes out of it badly (in fact, I reckon only Don Revie, his backroom staff, and Billy Bremner really do). In essence, the book seems a sort of love story, or rather two love stories – between Brian Clough and football, and Brian Clough and Peter Taylor. It’s as a portrayal of a platonic male friendship that it works best.
But anyway, at the back of the book, Peace includes a list of sources and background reading. On it is The Goalkeeper’s Revenge, by Bill Naughton (best known as the writer of the Michael Caine film Alfie).
When I was a kid, I reckon I read that book more than just about any other. It’s a collection of short stories, mostly set in industrial Lancashire between the wars, although one or two also draw on Naughton’s family background in Ireland. And although they’re aimed at children, they work well enough for adults too. I started reading them again last night, and they didn’t disappoint. A little unsung masterpiece, I reckon.
But anyway, at the back of the book, Peace includes a list of sources and background reading. On it is The Goalkeeper’s Revenge, by Bill Naughton (best known as the writer of the Michael Caine film Alfie).
When I was a kid, I reckon I read that book more than just about any other. It’s a collection of short stories, mostly set in industrial Lancashire between the wars, although one or two also draw on Naughton’s family background in Ireland. And although they’re aimed at children, they work well enough for adults too. I started reading them again last night, and they didn’t disappoint. A little unsung masterpiece, I reckon.
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Polyverse Poetry Festival
Polyverse Poetry Festival is taking place in Loughborough at the end of July, and will feature a host of writers from across the Midlands and further afield. I'll be reading and running a workshop, and I also hope to catch up with quite a few of the other events.
Loughborough's a compact but lively university town with good bus and train links to Leicester and Nottingham, so if you're anywhere in the area, come along and pick and choose a few events to attend.
Oh, and in the grand tradition of special offers, if you see me at the festival, I'll be selling Troy Town at £7 (that's £2 off). I might have a few copies of Making The Most Of The Light left too.
Friday, July 24th, 2009, through to Sunday July 26th, 2009.
Loughborough's a compact but lively university town with good bus and train links to Leicester and Nottingham, so if you're anywhere in the area, come along and pick and choose a few events to attend.
Oh, and in the grand tradition of special offers, if you see me at the festival, I'll be selling Troy Town at £7 (that's £2 off). I might have a few copies of Making The Most Of The Light left too.
Friday, July 24th, 2009, through to Sunday July 26th, 2009.
English & Drama Department of Loughborough University,
Leicestershire,
LE11 3TT
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ea/
Leicestershire,
LE11 3TT
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ea/
TICKETS: Will be available imminently. £20 covers whole festival, including all events and a workshop. Other ticket types will be announced shortly.
All ticket enquiries to Ruth Salt, telephone 01509 222 761 (overseas: +44 1509 222 761) between 9am-5pm BST, or e-mail R.Salt@lboro.ac.uk
All ticket enquiries to Ruth Salt, telephone 01509 222 761 (overseas: +44 1509 222 761) between 9am-5pm BST, or e-mail R.Salt@lboro.ac.uk
SPECIAL EVENTS:
DREAMS OF MAY - first public performance of this critically acclaimed one-woman play outside London. It takes place on a train where the woman’s memory is triggered by objects causing her to look over her life and confront her demons. This internal conversation is revealed to the audience through poetry and music. Written by SUE GUINEY http://www.sueguiney.com/
STORIES DRUMMED TO POLAR SKIES by Siobhan Logan.
Exclusive and specially rewritten version of the dazzling fusion of poetry and science spectacular. The original version was performed at the National Science Museum and the Richard Attenborough Centre.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/siobhan.logan1/
STORIES DRUMMED TO POLAR SKIES by Siobhan Logan.
Exclusive and specially rewritten version of the dazzling fusion of poetry and science spectacular. The original version was performed at the National Science Museum and the Richard Attenborough Centre.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/siobhan.logan1/
ROSIE LUGOSI, renowned vampire poetess, brings her hair-raising poetic cabaret. Be very scared - you might laugh your way to a cracked ribcage.
http://www.rosielugosi.com/
If you want to attend a FREE workshop with Rosie Lugosi, ask for the Rosie Garland one. Details of how to book appear below.
http://www.rosielugosi.com/
If you want to attend a FREE workshop with Rosie Lugosi, ask for the Rosie Garland one. Details of how to book appear below.
POETS CONFIRMED TO READ/PERFORM: Gail Ashton, Carole Baldock, Tina Bass, David Bircumshaw, Julie Boden, Wayne Burrows, Nick Carbo, Sally Clark, Jane Commane, Rosemary Dun, John Elson, Andy Fletcher, Angela France, Mark Goodwin, Radcliff Gregory, Oz Hardwick, Brendan Hawthorne, Sonia Hendy-Isaac, Martin Holroyd, Christopher James, Pat Jourdan, Chris Kinsey, Emma Lee, Paul Lee, Sheree Mack, Bob Mee, Matt Merritt, Ian Morgan, Matt Nunn, Kerry Oramnge, Tony Petch, Leskley Quayle, Susan Richardson, Steve Rooney, Sam Smith, Gillian Spraggs, Ben Stainton, Geoff Stevens, Jon Stone, Carol Thistlethwaite, Pam Thompson, Lydia Towsey, Deborah Tyler-Bennett and Mike Wilson.
ALL WORKSHOPS ARE COMPLETELY FREE!
However, you will need to buy a ticket for the festival to be eligible. You will need book your workshop space in advance if you want to be guaranteed a place.
At present, you can only attend one free workshop, although this may change, depending on demand. To book a workshop, contact Ruth Salt (details below) by e-mail or telephone, and let her know your three most preferred choices. You will then be allocated to your most preferred workshop(s) with spaces left.
All workshop enquiries to Ruth Salt, telephone 01509 222 761 (overseas: +44 1509 222 761) between 9am-5pm BST, or e-mail R.Salt@lboro.ac.uk.
CONFIRMED TO GIVE WORKSHOPS:
Carole Baldock, Sally Clark, Angela France, Nick Carbo, Rosemary Dun, Rosie Garland (aka Rosie Lugosi!), Sonia Hendy-Isaac, Matt Merritt, Mike Wilson.
Full details: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9528966169#/group.php?gid=9528966169
Full details: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9528966169#/group.php?gid=9528966169
Weekend birding
It's that time of year when you can leave the house to do a bit of birding and reasonably expect to find new migrants dropping in all over the place, so I spent the weekend looking for some of those new arrivals.
On Saturday, a male Ring Ouzel was reported at Warren Hills, only a couple of minutes' drive from my house, so I headed over there, only to find out from another birder that we were both ten minutes too late. It hadn't been seen flying off, but it seemed to have disappeared behind a distant, and inaccessible, bush. I spent a while looking, then walked round to Charnwood Lodge reserve, to see if it was visible looking up the hill.
It wasn't. I scanned field after field, hope to find it sheltering from the now rather strong wind behind a drystone wall, but no luck. Turning for home, I walked past the point where a little stream goes under another stone wall and into the wood, and peered over, as I always do (I live in hope of finding a Dipper there). To my surprise, a pair of Mandarin were on the other side, in a tiny pool. They looked as startled as I was, and promptly flew away into the trees.
There are a few (maybe 30) of these absurdly ornate ducks in my area, but usually I see them only at long range at one of the reservoirs, so to see the male close up was a treat. More than made up for missing out on some of those migrants. And there's still plenty of time for Ouzels...
On Saturday, a male Ring Ouzel was reported at Warren Hills, only a couple of minutes' drive from my house, so I headed over there, only to find out from another birder that we were both ten minutes too late. It hadn't been seen flying off, but it seemed to have disappeared behind a distant, and inaccessible, bush. I spent a while looking, then walked round to Charnwood Lodge reserve, to see if it was visible looking up the hill.
It wasn't. I scanned field after field, hope to find it sheltering from the now rather strong wind behind a drystone wall, but no luck. Turning for home, I walked past the point where a little stream goes under another stone wall and into the wood, and peered over, as I always do (I live in hope of finding a Dipper there). To my surprise, a pair of Mandarin were on the other side, in a tiny pool. They looked as startled as I was, and promptly flew away into the trees.
There are a few (maybe 30) of these absurdly ornate ducks in my area, but usually I see them only at long range at one of the reservoirs, so to see the male close up was a treat. More than made up for missing out on some of those migrants. And there's still plenty of time for Ouzels...
Monday, 6 April 2009
Paper round
Saturday's Guardian contained this review, by David Wheatley, of Michael Donaghy's Collected Poems, out now from Picador.
I enjoyed it a lot, although my knowledge of Donaghy is fairly restricted, to Shibboleth and then a handful of other poems in anthologies. It's a gap I really ought to fill, and there's no better way than with a Collected.
Elsewhere, Rob Mackenzie's The Opposite of Cabbage, which I've been enjoying immensely and which I'll review soon, was reviewed in The Times. Great to see a national paper picking up on a first collection like that, and I hope it gives Rob the sales boost he deserves.
I enjoyed it a lot, although my knowledge of Donaghy is fairly restricted, to Shibboleth and then a handful of other poems in anthologies. It's a gap I really ought to fill, and there's no better way than with a Collected.
Elsewhere, Rob Mackenzie's The Opposite of Cabbage, which I've been enjoying immensely and which I'll review soon, was reviewed in The Times. Great to see a national paper picking up on a first collection like that, and I hope it gives Rob the sales boost he deserves.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Quiz time
I came across this quiz at the highly addictive website sporcle, and gave it a go. I even managed to get 20 out of 20, after some pondering, but what's more interesting than the quiz itself is the page showing you what percentage of people got each answer right (you have to complete the quiz first before it will let you go there). The results, I thought, were pretty surprising. Some of the poets I'd have thought of as better known were not identified, while one or two more obscure ones were apparently easily spotted.
The reason, I think, is probably the difference between school curriculums on either side of the Atlantic, but it's food for thought, and I suspect highlights how any poetic 'canon' is very much specific to the time and place of its making.
The reason, I think, is probably the difference between school curriculums on either side of the Atlantic, but it's food for thought, and I suspect highlights how any poetic 'canon' is very much specific to the time and place of its making.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Old Red Eyes is back
There's a Black-necked Grebe, in full, glorious summer plumage, like the one pictured, at Swithland Reservoir at the moment. It's relatively easy to see, but quite hard to get close to, because from the best viewing point, the railings on Kinchley Lane, there's far too much willow scrub in the way to get a decent view. A bit further down, towards the dam, though, it's possible to get long, unobstructed views of it at a reasonable distance, bobbbing around on the choppy waters with a few of the Goldeneyes that are still hanging around.There was a Black-necked in the same part of the reservoir early last autumn, so I wonder whether this is the same bird, stopping off again on its journey up to its breeding grounds. Whatever, it's a great bird to see on patch, with that bright red eye (in some parts of the country, it used to be known as Old Fiery Eye) standing out even at extreme range. In fact, although I've seen quite a few winter-plumaged birds relatively locally, this is the best summer-plumaged example I can recall.
UPDATE: I think the grebe is still around at Swithland, but the longer evenings mean I can now do a bit of birding on the way home. Last night I stopped at Cossington Meadows - there were two Little Ringed Plovers on Plover Meadow, a couple of Redshanks there, plus four Lapwings, and a fine male Wheatear on the scrubby area at the top end of the main track. Oh, and a male Blackcap in the hedge opposite the entrance. Migration is well and truly on, I reckon.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
The Terrors - Tom Chivers
London poet Tom Chivers has a new chapbook – The Terrors – published by Nine Arches Press this week.It takes as its starting point the Newgate Calendar (which itself appeared partly in chapbook form, appropriately enough), with Chivers writing emails to some of the mad, bad and downright unlucky who ended up in the infamous London prison in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
He handles the obvious anachronism well, using the email device not as a gimmick, but to move rapidly back and forth between past and present and allow the reader to make up their own mind about the similarities between our own society and the one of 200 years ago. It’s very much a case of showing rather than telling, and it’s very effective.
That’s not to say that this is stodgy social comment, though. A real pleasure is the fact that the poems allow you, as you read, plenty of space to create your own back stories to the characters within (sometimes a mere name is enough to spark if off). For all my enjoyment of the history, it’s this aspect that’s the most appealing part of the work, I think, requiring as it does imagination on the part of both poet and reader.
The emails take the form of prose poems (without getting into that old debate about what a prose poem is). Another of the things I enjoyed most was the tension between the compressed, shorthand form of the typical email, and the poet’s instinct to wax lyrical. It results in a sense of language only just being kept under control (and at times it glimpses freedom and explodes into all sorts of unexpected allusions and associations). That tension, of course, mirrors the knife edge on which the gaol’s inmates are treading.
I've said before that I'm a sucker for most poetry/history crossovers, but this is one of the more successful I've come across, not least because Tom Chivers never loses sight of the fact that he's a poet. If he can win over a Londonphobe like me, what are you waiting for?
There's a launch reading for the book this Sunday - full details here.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Current reading
A couple of bits of non-poetry reading from the last few weeks...
Firstly, Blood And Roses, by Helen Castor. It looks at the famous Paston Letters, correspondence between members of a minor noble family in Norfolk in the 15th century. It's not exactly 'history-lite', but it's certainly not a dry academic text either, as Castor uses well-chosen excerpts from the letters to drive along a horrendously complex but very compelling narrative. She lets the characters of the family members come through, with the brave, indomitable Margaret and the patient, easy-going John III being particularly engaging. Above all, she foregrounds the surprising similarities between our own society and lives and those of 15th century England, without ever making any comparisons or labouring her point. Highly recommended.
Secondly, I've rediscovered this fine website, From Watford Gap To Camelot, after a few years away. It's a ramble across the middle of England, taking in all manner of historical and folkloric diversions (Fairport Convention even come into it, and that's never a bad thing). Again, well worth a few hours of your (employer's) time.
Firstly, Blood And Roses, by Helen Castor. It looks at the famous Paston Letters, correspondence between members of a minor noble family in Norfolk in the 15th century. It's not exactly 'history-lite', but it's certainly not a dry academic text either, as Castor uses well-chosen excerpts from the letters to drive along a horrendously complex but very compelling narrative. She lets the characters of the family members come through, with the brave, indomitable Margaret and the patient, easy-going John III being particularly engaging. Above all, she foregrounds the surprising similarities between our own society and lives and those of 15th century England, without ever making any comparisons or labouring her point. Highly recommended.
Secondly, I've rediscovered this fine website, From Watford Gap To Camelot, after a few years away. It's a ramble across the middle of England, taking in all manner of historical and folkloric diversions (Fairport Convention even come into it, and that's never a bad thing). Again, well worth a few hours of your (employer's) time.
Friday, 20 March 2009
A date for the diary
On Sunday, June 14th, I'll be reading at Norwich Arts Centre as part of an event called The Birds and the Trees, staged by Cafe Writers.
I'm on at 3pm, with Katrina Porteous, who I've enjoyed hearing reading on the radio in the past, and whose sequence of poems about the foot and mouth outbreaks (the title escapes me just now) I particularly liked.
Later in the day, at 6.30pm, acclaimed poet Paul Farley will be reading with Norfolk-based nature writer Mark Cocker, whose magnificent Birds Britannica I've sung the praises of on here many a time. I saw Paul Farley do a John Clare-themed reading a couple of years back, and he was excellent, so I'm looking forward to hearing him again.
So, if you're anywhere around Norwich that day, some along and listen. I'll be reminding you ad nauseum when we get nearer the date, but then you knew that, didn't you?!
I'm on at 3pm, with Katrina Porteous, who I've enjoyed hearing reading on the radio in the past, and whose sequence of poems about the foot and mouth outbreaks (the title escapes me just now) I particularly liked.
Later in the day, at 6.30pm, acclaimed poet Paul Farley will be reading with Norfolk-based nature writer Mark Cocker, whose magnificent Birds Britannica I've sung the praises of on here many a time. I saw Paul Farley do a John Clare-themed reading a couple of years back, and he was excellent, so I'm looking forward to hearing him again.
So, if you're anywhere around Norwich that day, some along and listen. I'll be reminding you ad nauseum when we get nearer the date, but then you knew that, didn't you?!
Flat Earth News
I've been meaning for a while to link to this post by fellow journo and poet James Wood, at I Am One magazine. It's as good a look at Nick Davies' book, Flat Earth News, as I've seen, and raises quite a few points that I'll follow up on in a couple of weeks.
The newspaper industry, in England at least, is very much in a state of flux at the moment, with titles disappearing almost daily, and some companies using the excuse of the current economic situation to settle a few scores with unionised employees. But the trouble is, as James suggests, journalists are often too prone to looking back at some mythical golden age in which 'the truth' was the only objective. Now I'm not saying things haven't got worse, but things have never been as clear-cut as some, including Davies, might suggest.
The newspaper industry, in England at least, is very much in a state of flux at the moment, with titles disappearing almost daily, and some companies using the excuse of the current economic situation to settle a few scores with unionised employees. But the trouble is, as James suggests, journalists are often too prone to looking back at some mythical golden age in which 'the truth' was the only objective. Now I'm not saying things haven't got worse, but things have never been as clear-cut as some, including Davies, might suggest.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
More from the Philippines
I'm far too poor a photographer to take any worthwhile photos of birds, although I might post a few landscapes from my recent trip. But one of my fellow travellers, Bill Thompson III, editor of American magazine Bird Watcher's Digest, has been posting quite a few pics over at his blog, Bill of the Birds.
The falconet was a great bird, but the bee-eaters even better. To see a whole colony of them at such close quarters was a real treat, but keep an eye on Bill's blog, because there are plenty more to come.
The falconet was a great bird, but the bee-eaters even better. To see a whole colony of them at such close quarters was a real treat, but keep an eye on Bill's blog, because there are plenty more to come.
Monday, 16 March 2009
Horizon Review
Issue Two of Horizon Review is available now by clicking here - it contains a veritable cornucopia of poetry, fiction, translations, art, interviews and other articles, with contributors including Daljit Nagra and Fiona Sampson, among others. It looks like building on the high standards set by Issue One, so have a look.
I haven't had chance to read much of it yet, but I enjoyed Simon Turner's review of Geraldine Monk and Tim Atkins, particularly his point that sometimes it's only because people tell you that a certain poet's work is difficult that you think of it as so. Come to it without any preconceptions, and you might never know. It's a good point, and one that I'll come back to on here in the near future, I think.
Oh, and I've got three poems - English Literature; January; and Dio Boia - in there. Hope you enjoy them.
I haven't had chance to read much of it yet, but I enjoyed Simon Turner's review of Geraldine Monk and Tim Atkins, particularly his point that sometimes it's only because people tell you that a certain poet's work is difficult that you think of it as so. Come to it without any preconceptions, and you might never know. It's a good point, and one that I'll come back to on here in the near future, I think.
Oh, and I've got three poems - English Literature; January; and Dio Boia - in there. Hope you enjoy them.
The Smoking Poet
The Spring 2009 issue of The Smoking Poet is out now, and contains a couple of my poems (A Name For It and Live At The Hope & Anchor) among the usual variety of good new work. Have a read...
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Don't miss!
If you watch nothing else this week, make time for Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, on BBC2 at 10pm on Monday, the first of a new series.
It's been quite heavily written up in the papers over the past few days, with several of the writers wondering, as I have for years, why Lee has been off our screens for so long, but good on the BBC for seeing sense at last. I'd guess that the long absence has something to do with Lee's style - a distinct lack of actual gags, and a reliance instead on superb structure, timing and repetition - as much as his often controversial subject matter. But anyway, make the most of it.
Funnily enough, when I got back the other night, I went to see Lee's erstwhile comedy partner, Richard Herring, on his new tour, The Headmaster's Son. He's probably a more conventional comedian than Lee, but equally unafraid to tackle difficult subjects, and equally willing to trust his audience's intelligence. Like his last show (Oh F*ck I'm 40!), this one actually manages to be quite poignant in parts, but most of all, it's very funny.
It's been quite heavily written up in the papers over the past few days, with several of the writers wondering, as I have for years, why Lee has been off our screens for so long, but good on the BBC for seeing sense at last. I'd guess that the long absence has something to do with Lee's style - a distinct lack of actual gags, and a reliance instead on superb structure, timing and repetition - as much as his often controversial subject matter. But anyway, make the most of it.
Funnily enough, when I got back the other night, I went to see Lee's erstwhile comedy partner, Richard Herring, on his new tour, The Headmaster's Son. He's probably a more conventional comedian than Lee, but equally unafraid to tackle difficult subjects, and equally willing to trust his audience's intelligence. Like his last show (Oh F*ck I'm 40!), this one actually manages to be quite poignant in parts, but most of all, it's very funny.
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