Out and about

As I mentioned in my first-ever post on this blog, one of my New Year resolutions, where poetry is concerned at least, is to get out and do more readings. I intend to get down to The Troubadour in London for at least two or three Monday night sessions, but it’s also time I read on my own patch.
It was a lovely surprise, then, to get an invitation from Adrian Buckner, editor of Poetry Nottingham, to read at the launch of the magazine’s next issue. I’ve got a couple of poems going in – Café Italia and Sweet Spot – and I’ll be reading with Mark Gilbert and Davina Prince at The Mechanics Institute, North Sherwood Street, Nottingham, on February 24th.
The most surprising thing of all about it is that I’m getting paid £50 plus expenses. It’d be a pleasure to do anyway – this way, it’s even more of a pleasure, as my other New Year resolution is to spend any money made from poetry on poetry.
It was a productive weekend for writing. I ‘finished’ a couple of pieces, and sent stuff out to Envoi, Poetry Wales and Magma. I’m still waiting to hear from Red Ink – five months now; another four weeks and I’ll take that as a ‘no’!
The bird lists are slowly but surely growing. Recent additions to both include a very showy Cetti’s Warbler, Caspian Gull, a possible Mediterranean Gull (hopefully it will hang around long enough to let me get back to Swithland Reservoir and firm up identification), and huge numbers of Bramblings and Golden Plovers.
The score stands at Patch List 62, UK List 65, but the UK List will streak ahead tomorrow. I’m off to Snettisham and Titchwell in North Norfolk for work, with goodies like Shore Lark, Snow Bunting and Lesser Yellowlegs around, not to mention the usual Marsh Harriers, Avocets and a host of waders.