March always seems a rather long month, almost five weeks. They have been busy weeks for me. I have been proof reading the text of my forthcoming poetry and art book Sleeping Under Clouds whilst my collaborating artist Sula Rubens has been checking the image quality. The book is available to pre-order now from Clayhanger Press for delivery towards the end of April. 

Usually in early March I go up north to St Andrews for the StAnza poetry festival. I studied for my first degree (in French) at St Andrews University so it is always lovely to go back. This year I had to content myself with Zoom over three days, as the date clashed with the AGM that I had to run for Suffolk Poetry Society. There were some great readings and I particularly enjoyed the StAnza lecture given by eco-poet Dr Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, a performative lecture with stunning photographs in the background. Her new book ‘Twelve Words for Moss’ comes out with Penguin Books in May. 

I was pleased to have a poem longlisted by Butchers Dog (no word yet on shortlisting). The number of entries they received (937, most with three poems) sounds daunting…. Nowadays it is always a boost , in my view, for a poet to be on a longlist or shortlist, given the level of competition out there. 

Rachel Piercey is the poet-in-residence at the Charles Causley Trust this spring. I attended a very stimulating online workshop she ran mid-month. She writes a lot of children’s poetry which is a particular skill. In the workshop, in response to prompts, I was very pleased that I managed to draft three poems. I would like to share the one I wrote ‘after Charles Causley’. It does not follow his form exactly but was inspired by it. It is a useful exercise to work closely with someone else’s poem as it can get the brain working in a different way. Glyn Maxwell’s new book The Big Calls, published by Live Canon, is a masterclass in ‘writing poems that closely shadow famous work’. The launch is on 29th March. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-launch-glyn-maxwell-the-big-calls-tickets-597677749237?aff=ebdssbdestsearch 

Tor 

after Morwenstow  

by Charles Causley 

 

Where do you come from, Tor, 

inhabiting the wind and rain, 

presenting your rugged face 

to ramblers passing by? 

 

Do you grow tired of solitude, Tor, 

wishing you could abandon 

your fixed position, join the earth, 

crumble? 

 

Do you wish your granite gleamed, 

a beacon of light piercing grey skies? 

Are you glad you have the weight 

of centuries beneath your skin? 

 

You have stood there, marked on maps 

for years and, before maps, 

you were written into memory 

as landmark, guide. 

 

When will you soften, Tor, 

accept you will be weathered 

over time, ground down 

to a mere pebble on the land? 

 

I recently joined The Society of Authors (SoA). I also stood for their Poetry and Spoken Word group which Katrina Naomi chairs. Congratulations to the three people who were voted on to the committee. I was pleased to get a respectable number of votes, though not enough! Thank you to anyone who voted for me.  I attended the online AGM which had some interesting statistics and then went on to listen to a very good online talk by four practitioners of Poetry and Film. Chaucer Cameron highlighted her website Poetry Film Live where you can read how to make poetry films. Readers in Cornwall and Suffolk might be interested to know that there is a Cornish chapter of the Society of Authors which meets in Truro  and an East Anglian one (East Anglian Writers) that meets in Norwich from time to time (details under local groups on the SoA website). 

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