It was a dark and stormy night...

...but that didn't seem to deter many from making the trip to last night's New Walk launch reading at the University of Leicester, part of Literary Leicester.

There was a really good turnout, which meant that I was a bit on the nervous side when I got up to kick off the readings. Lovely lecture theatre to read in, though, with really good acoustics. It's always nice reading first, too, because it means you can sit back and enjoy the rest of the event.

I must admit I didn't know all that much of Grevel Lindop's poetry before last night, although he's a very familiar name as a perceptive reviewer. But anyway, I enjoyed his reading, and bought his Selected Poems later to bring myself up to speed.

Alice Oswald, on the other hand, is someone I've read avidly in the past, but even so I was surprised by just how surefooted her set was (I was probably expecting more of a stereotypical floaty, vague 'nature' poet). And what a great reading voice!

I was surprised, too, that the highlight was the new material - from her forthcoming 'selective' translation of The Iliad - rather than the stuff I know well.

Of course, readings are also a great place to put faces to names, so it was lovely to meet the team behind the magazine, including co-editor Rory Waterman. They've done a really superb job, and it sounds like Issue Two will build on and surpass the debut.

Among others I chatted with were DA Prince and Roy Marshall, who has two finely honed poems in Issue One. Oh, and a friend that I've barely seen since university showed up, too - turns out he lives and works in Leicester. A good night all round.

And finally, my setlist:
Prelude for Glass Harmonica
Windjammers
Dotterel
The Meeting Place
Summer Breeze
Birdsong
The Limits
Trees
West Leicester Lullaby
Cahoots

New Walk launch tonight

Leicester-based literary magazine New Walk (you can read a really good review of the first issue at Rogue Strands) will be officially launched tonight (Thursday, November 11th), with a reading at the Library Lecture Theatre, University of Leicester, starting at 6pm. Alice Oswald will be reading, along with Grevel Lindop and myself.

If you plan to attend, you need tickets, although they're free. Call 0116 252 2320, or email pw108@le.ac.uk with your name and address.

Oh, and the picture is of New Walk itself, by the way. One of my favourite bits of Leicester.

Current reading

The latest issue of Tears In The Fence arrived the other day - so far I've only had time to browse it, but I've enjoyed good poems from the likes of Ian Seed, Jane Commane and Sheila Hamilton.

As always, too, a lot of the pleasure is in the reviews - they're given the space they deserve, which isn't always the case in magazines.

Over at Peony Moon, meanwhile, there are some excellent poems by Ruth Larbey, whose Nine Arches Press chapbook Funglish is out now. Enjoy...

EDIT: Oh, and there's four fine poems from Helen Ivory's The Breakfast Machine over at Dan Wyke's Other Lives, too. I may get round to some work, later.

Damn fine viewing

Just noticed that the Horror Channel is showing Twin Peaks from the beginning, starting at 9pm tonight. I'm one of those sad people who, even if they've got a series on DVD, feels obliged to watch it when it turns up on the TV (finally). In fact, it seems to be on at 9pm every night this week, so it's time to buy in a supply of coffee and doughnuts (never a big fan of cherry pie), and veg out in front of what I reckon might be one of the most influential TV series of all time.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

Shorter days do at least mean more time for catching up with reading, and that's pretty much all I've managed to do today.

Before I got onto the Sunday papers, I still had yesterday's Guardian Review to read. Now the Guardian's far from perfect, but it's still the only one of the broadsheets that takes poetry remotely seriously (to the extent of actually running at least one review each week, I mean - most of the others manage a once-a-month round-up).

Yesterday's main review was of Hodge, the fifth collection by Welsh poet Oliver Reynolds. As reviewer David Wheatley points out, it's not exactly hot on the heels of his fourth book, which came out in 1999, and Reynolds seems to be living proof that winning an Eric Gregory Award and being published by Faber isn't always a charm against obscurity.

But anyway, I've always had a soft spot for Reynolds. I bought his first three collections in a secondhand bookshop in Leicester quite a few years ago, when I really didn't know anything about him (or the contemporary British poetry scene). I then ordered his fourth book, Almost (his best, in my opinion), and I've enjoyed all four a couple of times each. If he re-emerges into the limelight a little, I won't be complaining.

There was also a piece by Nicholas Lezard about the anthology A Poet's Guide To Britain, edited by Owen Sheers. I haven't read the book, and in all honesty I doubt I'll buy it, however much I enjoyed Sheers' TV series on the same theme last year. One of its strengths was that he didn't always go for the most obvious choices, but Lezard makes the point that the anthology leaves out Geoffrey Hill and Basil Bunting, which suggests it might be steering clear of what's seen as 'difficult' territory. Still, one to flick through next time I'm in a bookshop.

hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica

I've got a couple of launch readings for my new Nine Arches Press collection, hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica, lined up.The first is with David Morley, Robin Vaughan-Williams and Sarah Jackson at the next Nottingham Shindig, at the Jam Cafe on November 21st. David Morley is always a fine reader, and it's nice to have another HappenStance poet (Robin) on the bill.

That's also the case at the next Leicester Shindig, at The Looking Glass, Braunstone Gate, on December 13th, where Marilyn Ricci will also be reading, along with Nottingham-based poet Alan Baker and Malcolm Dewhirst, the man behind the Polesworth Poets Trail.

As always, there'll be open mic slots available at both events.

The book itself will be priced £9 - keep an eye on this blog for more details of it over the next fortnight or so.

A bit of browsing...

Short of poetry reading over the weekend? Here's a few things that have caught my eye...

Alan Baker takes a look at the Roy Fisher/Matthew Welton reading at the Flying Goose last week over at Litterbug. There are links to a couple of good Fisher reviews, too.

Over at the Salt blog, meanwhile, there's a fine interview of Tony Williams by Mark Burnhope. Very thought-provoking (not least where 19th century novels are concerned).

Finally, at Michelle McGrane's Peony Moon, Nine Arches poet Milorad Krystanovich's Improvising Memory is featured, with an excellent selection of pieces.

Whale Sound

My poem The Quickening is featured today over at Nic Sebastian's rather wonderful Whale Sound. It's a great idea for a website, with Nic selecting a wide range of poetry to read aloud. I think any only really alive when read aloud, whether that be in the privacy of your own living-room, at a reading, or wherever, but hearing someone else read your poem adds another dimension altogether.

I've been trawling through the past posts, too, and there's an absolute plethora of great stuff on there, so have a look, and enjoy!

New Walk launch

Just a quick reminder that Leicester-based literary magazine New Walk will be officially launched next Thursday, November 11th, with a reading at the Library Lecture Theatre, University of Leicester, starting at 6pm.

Alice Oswald will be reading, along with Grevel Lindop and myself.

If you plan to attend, you need tickets, although they're free. Call 0116 252 2320, or email pw108@le.ac.uk with your name and address.

If you're anywhere near Polesworth tonight...

Just a quick reminder that tonight, Polesworth Abbey Church is the venue for Fizz 4, which features four poets from Cork - Paul Casey, Joseph Horgan, Billy Ramsell and Sue Cosgrave – plus an open mic. The evening starts at 7.30pm and entrance is free. Refreshments are available.

Umbrella Issue 14

I have a poem - Coolidge - in the Fall/Winter 2010-11 issue of Umbrella. As always, it's a pleasure and an honour to be included in what's one of my favourite online poetry mags - editor Kate Bernadette Benedict does a consistently fine job, as you'll see if you trawl through a few back issues.

Incidentally, the poem appears in my new collection, hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica, which will be published by Nine Arches Press in a couple of weeks.

Electric Polyolbion

Thanks to Alison Brackenbury for pointing out that BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting this - The Electric Polyolbion - at 4.30pm tomorrow. I'd heard that Paul Farley was working on a modern version of our hero Drayton's enormous poem, so it'll be interesting to hear what he comes up with.

EDIT: I did listen to it, and very interesting it was, too. I should also be thanking Paul Farley as, no doubt as a result of the programme, visitors to this blog have increased massively over the last few days.

Fisher and Welton

It was standing room only at the Flying Goose last night - I got there at about 7.15 and was one of the last to be allowed in, I think.

I'm glad I made it, though. Matthew Welton and Roy Fisher read two shortish sets each, and both were excellent.

Welton's published two collections with Carcanet - The Book of Matthew and We needed coffee but... (it's the longest title collection ever - Google it), both of them highly praised. On this evidence, I can see why. He's interested in patterns and repetition, in the mathematics of poetry, but not in some dry, dusty way. In fact, virtually all of what he read - in a quiet, Nottingham accent, and from memory - struck me as extremely musical. I need to read more of his work, I think.

Roy Fisher was everything you'd hope for, really. He's an elder statesman of the British poetry scene now, and to some extent he's become the non-mainstream poet that virtually all mainstream poets read and praise, but hearing him, I was struck by the same thing that hit me when I first read his excellent collected works, The Long And The Short Of It. Which is to say, it's strange that he should have previously been marginalised for so long - he strikes me simply as a very fine poet who's willing to use whatever subject matter, and whatever tools, come to hand.

Anyway, it was a great way to close the Beeston Poetry Festival, and for those of us who haven't been to the Flying Goose before, a good advert for a really nice venue. I don't think I'll make it to the regular reading there next month, but I'll definitely get to the Alexander Hutchison reading on December 14th.

Oops, nearly forgot. There are pictures and videos of all the Festival readings here.

Don't miss this!

Just a quick reminder that Roy Fisher and Matthew Welton are reading as part of the Beeston Poetry Festival tomorrow night (Thursday the 28th) at the Flying Goose Cafe. It starts at 7.30pm and entrance is £3.

Fisher's one of those poets who manages the difficult act of straddling the so-called mainstream/avant-garde divide, although I'd have to say that the main reason I started reading him was that he's such a distinctively Midlands poet (rarer than you might think). Whatever - he's a real giant of the UK poetry scene, and I'm looking forward to hearing him a lot.

I have to admit that I've encountered very little of Matthew Welton's poetry, but I've heard nothing but good things about it from people whose opinion I trust. And it's always good to hear someone new. Anyway, get along to the Flying Goose if you can - you won't be disappointed.

More PNG

If you want a more in-depth look at Papua New Guinea, with much better pictures, take a look at Bill Thompson III's excellent Bill of the Birds over the next few weeks.

The first instalment has reminded me just what a horrendously long journey Bill faced from his home in Ohio. By comparison, our route (Birmingham-Amsterdam-Singapore-Port Moresby) was a breeze.

Incidentally, just after the photo of us in the airport lounge at PM was taken, I fulfilled my obligations as a British birder by eating a chicken pie from the cafe there. It wasn't bad at all - plenty of meat, nice gravy, and good shortcrust pastry. Mr Ginster please take note.

EDIT: I see Bill has just added a second instalment, in the first picture of which, taken at Tabubil, way up in the highlands, we're also tucking into pies (lamb this time with chips). We did do something other than eat pies during the trip, honestly.

Unusual Kestrel behaviour?

I spent most of my birding time over the weekend at various Charnwood Forest sites, looking for Waxwings, Bramblings and Snow Buntings, but without any luck.

As I was returning home yesterday afternoon, though, along the road between Oaks-in-Charnwood and Whitwick, I caught sight of a raptor flying low over a field at High Sharpley. Partly in the hope that it might be a Merlin, I stopped the car and got the bins on it just in time to see it land on a low rocky outcrop, and could see that it was in fact a female Kestrel.

Over the next 10 minutes or so, it repeatedly glided from this perch, landed on the bare earth of the field, then flew back to its vantage point again carrying a large worm or an insect of some sort. At times, while grounded, it walked around a considerable amount. It was all very reminiscent of the Red-footed Falcon at Ingleby a couple of years ago.

Thinking about it, I've seen an awful lot of Kestrels these past couple of weeks, but that may be partly down to the fact that my journeys to and from work currently coincide with the hour after and before dark.

A taste of Papua New Guinea

I'm gradually wading through the pics from my recent trip to Papua New Guinea (the view from Ambua Lodge, in the Western Highlands, is pictured above). They need a bit of work on them, because I'm really not much of a photographer. There are a few decent bird record shots though, all digiscoped or, in the case of the three I'll post here today, digibinned. I used my ancient Fuji f-31, a Swarovski scope, and Swarovski 8.5 x 42 ELs.



First up is a Brown Sicklebill Bird of Paradise, snapped on the 'table' (actually a huge platform) at Kumul Lodge in the Western Highlands. This place was a photographer's heaven - all sorts of great birds come in to feed. As an added bonus, we had what amounted to an en suite BoP - a Crested Bird of Paradise appeared in the tree just outside our cabin window.




Next we have two Belford's Melidectes, one of the more striking honeyeaters we saw. Again it's at Kumul.



The third bird is a Superb Fruit Dove, taken near Walindi on New Britain. I love the band across its breast, imitative of shadow and adding a bit of camouflage to a bird that otherwise looks as if it was painted by a small child.

Lastly, here's a few of us enjoying an early morning start near Ambua - you'll notice that wellies were the essential fashion item of the tour!

Coming soon...very soon

My second full collection, hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica, will be published by Nine Arches Press next month - there's a taste of what it looks like and what it's all about here.

Still a few tweaks to make, but it should be out by mid-November.

Polesworth poetry

Here at Polyolbion it's always good to be able to report that poetry is alive and well in Polesworth, original stamping-ground of Michael Drayton, the man who gave us the poem whose name I pinched.

On Wednesday, November 3rd, Polesworth Abbey Church is the venue for Fizz 4, which features four poets from Cork - Paul Casey, Joseph Horgan, Billy Ramsell and Sue Cosgrave – plus an open mic. The evening starts at 7.30pm.

Poetry for charity

I'm not always mad on the idea of actors reading poetry, but on the other hand, Peter Capaldi can rarely do any wrong, so this might be interesting...

Poems at Peony Moon

I'm delighted to have three poems - Gabble Ratchet; Wader Flock, Thornham Harbour; and The sea at Ashby de la Zouch - published over at Peony Moon, Michelle McGrane's fine webzine.

I've also got three - Summer Breeze; Dotterel; and Windjammers - in the first issue of New Walk, a new Leicester-based literary magazine. There's also work from Tom Leonard, Andrew Motion, CJ Allen, Rob Mackenzie, Hilary Menos, Jonathan Taylor, Leontia Flynn and Mark Ford, among others, some good (and satisfyingly lengthy) reviews, and a letter from Alison Brackenbury to Wilfred Owen.

The magazine launch takes place at the Library Lecture Theatre, University of Leicester, on November 11th. Alice Oswald will be reading, along with Grevel Lindop and myself.

Beeston International Poetry Festival

Beeston, a small town now swallowed up by the urban sprawl of Nottingham, might not seem like the obvious place for a poetry festival, but that's just what's happening there over the next couple of weeks.

Full details are here, with many of the events taking place at the excellent Flying Goose Cafe. At the very least, I'll make it along to the Roy Fisher reading on the 28th, but there are several other events there that look appealing.

Pocket Spellbook

The latest mini-anthology from Sidekick Books is out now - Pocket Spellbook contains work from a dazzling array of poets, including Mark Waldron, Rab Green, Rowyda Amin, Tony Williams, Jack Underwood, Ian McLachlan, Cliff Hammett, Sophie Mayer, Declan Ryan, Helena Nelson, Edward Mackay, John Clegg, Amy Key, Luke Kennard, Jack Underwood, i-lib, Alexandra Lazar, Oliver Townsend and Saroj Patel. At just £5 plus postage, it's an absolute bargain.

Incidentally, I notice that Tony Williams' splendid The Corner Of Arundel Lane and Charles Street is on the shortlist for the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. It's richly deserved recognition for a superb book, and it'd be nice to see it win.

East Midlands Book of the Year

I'm trying to catch up on some local poetry and writing news, so I'll be posting a few snippets here today...

Writing East Midlands has announced the first annual East Midlands Book Award. £1,000 will be given to a writer of fiction, creative non-fiction, or poetry. The aim of the award is to promote writers who live in the East Midlands, to raise the profile of the thriving literary scene in the region, and to reward exceptional work.

Nominations are invited from local and national publishers. A panel of judges will be chosen each year to shortlist submissions and make the final award.

A shortlist of up to eight books will be announced in April of each year and promoted through bookshops, libraries and reading groups. An award ceremony will be held each June – in the first year at the Lowdham Book Festival.

Actor Robert Lindsay joins BBC Nottingham’s John Holmes and Derbyshire County Council’s Jaci Brumwell, to judge the inaugural East Midlands Book Award.

Visit http://www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/awards/ for competition rules, and contact Aimee Wilkinson for further information at aimee@writingeastmidlands.co.uk or 0115 959 7929.

Back in circulation

I've not been posting much recently, mainly because I've spent the last three weeks in Papua New Guinea, on a trip for work. Although, work isn't really the right word. It was physically pretty demanding at times (4.30am starts every day, extreme heat and humidity, some very steep trails, and the inevitable mosquitoes), but the rewards were some astonishing views of 18 bird of paradise species, plus all sorts of other goodies, with the kingfishers, parrots and pigeons being the highlights. It's a fascinating country, too, with an amazing number of different languages and cultures.

I'll be posting much more about it over the next few weeks, along with a few digiscoped and digibinned photos - I'll also direct you to some much better images by some of my companions on the trip.