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Although I’ll never get used to a hot Christmas, I do prefer January here than in the UK, but regardless of where I am it’s still a good time to review what’s important and declutter.
One of the first things I did was unsubscribe to a myriad of poetry/books/writing newsletters. I figure if I want something, I’ll look for it, rather than trawling through emails to the point where I just hit delete. I also want to explore my creative side more, hence my plain writer’s diary that I decorated with stickers above (loved doing this!) and learning to play the piano, something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve also started burlesque classes for something a little different as I do like to dance.
But back to writing. So my year kicked off attending Clare Shaw’s and Kim Moore’s January Writing Hours where over the course of an hour via Zoom, we look at different poems and are given prompts to get us writing. I signed up for a week and it’s a fine way to generate words, until I realised my problem is not not being able to write but not having the time and/or head space to write, which is where some fabulous news comes in…
I’ve won a fellowship to develop my next collection! Through Writers SA, the week-long residency is at Varuna National Writers’ House in the Blue Mountains, a place completely dedicated to writers, their writing and everything in between to support them. I’ve booked to go in May and plan to take some time either side to get organised and come back down to earth, as I know my head will be buzzing when I return.
I’ve also signed up to do another online course through the Poetry School – Darkness into Light: Poetry for the Waxing Year with Jessica Traynor – to draft further poems for my new collection that’s slowly taking shape. Targeting where I submit my work is another approach I’m taking, speaking of which I’ve got two submissions due in the next couple of days, so best get on with these and finish this post!
Workshops, courses and newsletters are brilliant ways to develop your poetry and stay in the loop, so just thought I’d share a few I’ve completed and signed up for.
The Poetry School has an amazing program each term and I’m halfway through Myth, Magic and Monsters: Ancient Stories, New Truths with fabulous UK-based writer Catherine Smith. This fits perfectly with the poems I’m working on at the moment for my next book and I love Catherine’s work, her short story collection The Biting Point being one of my favourites.
Earlier this month I attended Sophie Mackintosh‘s Modern Fairy Tale and Speculation workshop facilitated by Red Room Poetry. Held in two parts online and aimed at writers rather than poets, the topic was too timely to pass up and generated many ideas. Another UK-based author, Sophie’s The Water Cure was nominated for the 2018 Man Booker Prize I have yet to read.
As for newsletters, I’ve recently signed up to Fly on the Wall‘s one, an indie press based in Manchester ran by Isabelle Kenyon, which is how I discovered the stunning work of Scottish poet Morag Anderson. These are sharp poems with sharp things to say – “concealed violence, love and everything in between” – leaving their teeth marks long after I’d finished them.
UK-based poets Clare Shaw and Kim Moore have started their own newsletter sharing process, thoughts and prompts to keep the conversation going. Science Write Now is also worth noting with a focus on science-inspired creative writing headed up by Australian-based writers Amanda Niehaus, Jessica White and Taylor Mitchell. Another favourite is Katrina Naomi‘s Short and Sweet that offers hints and tips and recommended reads, with Katrina’s next collection Battery Rocks due out soon.
Other workshops coming up include Pascale Petit‘s Into the Wild via The Poetry Business next week and Rules in the Poetry Game with Kate Potts on Cath Drake’s Verandah in July. I’m also planning a writing retreat at Island View Writers’ House in August offered by the fantastic Heather Taylor Johnson, more on that to follow.
There have been a couple of Canadian publications I’ve been trying to get into for a while and it just so happens both accepted a poem of mine within a month of each other. Coincidence or luck? Perhaps a bit of both.
Juniper is an online poetry journal based in Toronto, publishing three issues a year since 2017 and edited by Lisa Young. I find much of the work has a haunting quality about it, with a focus on place and connection, and it’s here I discovered the stunning poetry of Ayehsa Chatterjee and Lorna Crozier, both Canadian with several collections between them. My poem, ‘Earth turn‘, is in the current issue alongside many fine others and interestingly required little editing.
Arc Poetry Magazine has been running for a number of years with its 100th issue up next, which will celebrate previous work through the curation of new in the form of ekphrasis. Publishing a diverse variety of poetry and art, it’s an eclectic read and my poem, ‘Weathering’, responds to a piece by Winnie Truong, a Toronto-based artist who renders exquisite work. This will be my first published ekphrastic poem, so I’m excited it’s appearing in such a prestigious magazine.
And then of course there’s Margaret Atwood with her extensive repertoire, whose latest collection Dearly I’ve yet to read, but whose outlook on life and work I find fascinating having listened to many of her interviews and readings. Anne Carson and Rupi Kaur are also Canadian, but whose work I’m currently unfamiliar with.
Visiting Canada is on my to do list. With its spectacular landscape, perhaps it’s easy to see why there’s a plethora of brilliance flowing from there.
It’s been a difficult year. For everyone. Just before the pandemic hit I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Shocked wasn’t the word. But it was the best kind apparently and hadn’t spread beyond a few lymph nodes. Just to be sure, we threw everything at it – chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy and medication – and now I can honestly say I’m a different person. The experience has changed me. For the better I think.
And throughout this time, a world of action became a world of words. I turned to poetry, as many of us did, found comfort in writing about what I was going through to make sense of it all. When I told my boss the news, amongst other things she said ‘just think of it as fodder for your next collection!’ So true and one I’m currently working on (a poem from it has recently been published in StylusLit).
And speaking of collections, this debut is a gem – Sorry about the mess by Heather Trickey – published by HappenStance. Heather received a cancer diagnosis around the same time I did and explores this in these poems along with family, loss and love. More than 200 people from across the world attended Heather’s Zoom launch and London Grip released a stunning review of the book.
I hope to post more regularly, about all things poetry, just thought I’d break the silence 🙂
Sending your poems out can be daunting. Some return like boomerangs; others are snaffled like truffles. And sometimes the boomerangs don’t come back, which goes to show right place, right time.
A good source of submission calls is Submittable’s weekly newsletter, Submishmash, which lists creative opportunities for anthologies, competitions or just general intake, aswell as residencies and fellowships. I’ve discovered quite a few publications in this – Coffin Bell, a journal with a focus on dark literature and District Lit, an online magazine seeking themed work, both based in the US.
Facebook is another great place to find out who’s looking for what, particularly being a member of writing groups. I’m in the Adelaide Poetry Gig Guide and Writers South Australia to name a couple, and recently found a host of publications seeking disability-related work thanks to one of the posts, so intend to submit some endometriosis poems.
Like most writers, I keep track of my submissions on a spreadsheet. Inevitably the declines outweigh the acceptances, but it’s a wonderful way to track your work and more importantly, to ensure that poems rejected by one place are not resent to them!
Delighted to have a poem here, a thought-provoking collection pulled together by Nina Lewis, the new Worcestershire Poet Laureate
https://worcestershirepoetlaureateninalewis.wordpress.com/2017/06/20/world-refugee-day-in-poetry/
Mind the gap: reading what isn’t there – http://wp.me/p9CkI-1tO
With National Poetry Day around the corner (Wednesday 6 October), I want to share a couple of thought-provoking quotes I’ve discovered recently through my poetry groups.
It’s often very easy for a poet to ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’ in their work, so this from Anton Chekhov is a beautiful reminder:
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
Chekhov was a 19th century Russian playwright and short story writer, who had a unique talent of that time to recreate and express what it means to be human. So I’ve printed this out in fancy writing and stuck it to our fridge to remind me every time I get milk, juice, wine, etc. to show and not tell.
Another quote to catch my attention was the following by Francis Ponge, speaking about poetry:
“You have first of all to side with your own spirit, and your own taste. Then take the time, and have the courage, to express all your thoughts on the subject at hand (not just keeping the expressions that seem brilliant or distinctive). Finally you have to say everything simply, not striving for charm, but conviction.”
Ponge was a 20th century French essayist and poet heavily influenced by surrealism, who developed a prose poem form which meticulously examined everyday objects. I like the self-exploration in this, the hunt to find a different angle from which to engage the reader.
As a poet I’m continually learning, developing and honing my skills, and participating in workshops, groups and courses is a fundamental way to do this. In addition to reading, editing, researching, experimenting, critiquing, sharing…you get the drift.
Being a public holiday here last weekend we went to Robe, a pretty coastal town in our state that we’d visited before but only briefly, hence the return trip to explore further.
We weren’t sure what the weather had in store for us, having left in one of the worst storms on record for Adelaide, flooding roads and washing out traffic lights, so we wanted to be prepared for any rainy days when we could be room-bound.
So after much thought, I opted to take a notebook (a Paperblanks, one of my favourite kinds) and a pencil over a tablet and book. Risky?! But it paid off, big time. I managed to write seven, yes seven, new poems, albeit not publishable at present but getting there, and it felt good scribbling raw, something I hadn’t done for a while. So here’s my advice – go back to basics when travelling, the old-fashioned way, but then with vistas like these…
what poet wouldn’t be inspired!
Well I saw the new year in with some of my favourite people…poets! And what better way to celebrate than with a chilled glass of wine (or three) and yummy food under a canopy of vine leaves in a beautiful home in the Adelaide Hills. Perfect.
And sticking with tradition, we were each asked to share achievements from the old year and aspirations for the new, which got me thinking…
2015
So looking back at the last 12 months, one major success stands out – the publication of my first collection – yay me! I must admit I’m rather proud of it and love catching a glimpse of it in our bookcase.
Being guest poet at Hills Poets is another memorable experience, aswell as reading at Lee Marvin alongside the greats (fingers crossed I get invited back!).
This blog has also proved it’s worth, with views from here, the UK and US – all 2,300 of them (is that any good?) – with the most popular post being my launch in pictures peaking at 95 views.
So going back to publishing, with acceptances inevitably come rejections, and looking at the stats I think I’ve had more than my fair share:
- 23 rejections across journals, magazines and anthologies
- 7 acceptances predominantly in journals and magazines both in print and online
There’s a ratio in there somewhere – and I don’t think it would look too good!
2016
So looking forwards, what’s on my agenda for this year?
I have a couple of ideas for further collections – one full length and the other possibly another chapbook, we’ll see.
And among the rejections are a few poetry journals and magazines I really want to appear in, namely RABBIT, Cordite and Mslexia, so plan to keep on improving and just keep on trying.
A longer term ambition is to get a room of my own for writing. Having stayed last night at a fellow poet’s house complete with study and writer’s cottage, it would be absolutely wonderful to have a space just for poetry – with books lining the walls, my writing journals piled on the desk, a view, inspirational photos, snippets, notes, etc…alas still a dream for the time being. One day 🙂
J V Birch 