As I mentioned in my April Diary, I was working hard to develop more poetry contacts in Cornwall during my stay there recently. The programme for Penzance Literary Festival (2-7 July 2024) is now online. It was great to do a reading, On the Edge, at the Miners and Mechanics Institute St Agnes on 9th May with Sue Johns, Anne Symons together with Mor poets Ella Wadsworth-Bell, Hannah Temme and Kate Barden. It is a lovely venue with a terrific range of activities. It was very encouraging to find that a large number of libraries were very willing to advertise the MMI event. We had a good evening although with a smaller audience than we had hoped, probably because it was so sunny! Anne has her debut pamphlet, Shifting Sands, out with Suffolk-based publisher Littoral Press.

Back in Suffolk, I have been catching up with hearing news about the 200^th anniversary concert of Ipswich Choral Society, which went very well and also the 150^th anniversary of Ipswich Art Society. The latter have a number of exhibitions over the summer. My mother, Anne Paterson-Wallace, who was their President at one point, has a painting on display in an exhibition about the history of the society at Suffolk Archives, so that was very heart-warming to see. She would have been delighted, had she still been around. I was interested to learn recently that the painter Rowland Suddaby (1912-1972) had strong links to both Cornwall and East Anglia. I have a painting of his of trees overhanging water, probably at Dedham, Essex. He painted in Cornwall in the 1930’s but lived in Sudbury, Suffolk, after the Second World War.

I have been spending a lot of thinking time finalising the last ten poems to send to my mentor Rebecca Goss, making the grand total of 60 poems since October (this endeavour is courtesy of an Arts Council Developing Your Creative Practice grant.) The final stage in June/July is to review the body of work. I will be looking at the flow of poems, subthemes, reviewing titles, consistency across poems, and spotting any duplication. It has been a very rewarding process working with Rebecca.  I will also in June be working with Palewell Press on the forthcoming publication of my next pamphlet, Once There Was Colour, which will be exciting.

I enjoyed being one of Suffolk Poetry Society’s Festival team on 11 May in Stowmarket. It was lovely to catch up with poetry friends and make new acquaintances at the Festival. I read a poem in the initial vibrant open mic session. Annie Freud and MW Bewick were the headliners. I bought Annie’s book ‘The Remains’ which has some lovely illustrations by her in it, as well as great poems.

If you are in London on 22 May, do come along to a reading I am doing with Alex Josephy for Talking Rhythm!, run by Bernadette Reed. This takes place at the Prince of Greenwich Pub in Greenwich, London from 7pm. It should be a great evening. There is an open mic and music by Pytchwood too.

If you would like to contact me to comment or follow up, please send me an email via the contact box on my website . You can also contact me to buy a signed copy my books

Sleeping Under Clouds (Clayhanger Press) and A City Waking Up (Dempsey and Windle). My third pamphlet, Once There Was Colour comes out with Palewell Press 27 September 2024.