You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘more than here’ tag.
Last week I read twice – Wednesday at No Wave hosted in The Wheatsheaf Hotel and Sunday as guest poet at Hills Poets in the Aldgate Pump Hotel.
No Wave is a series of poetry readings held on the first Wednesday of each month, the brainchild of brilliant local poet, Dominic Symes. Four poets are invited to read for ten minutes. I was first, with two relatively new poems on a seasonal theme, followed by one from each part of more than here, then a few more new ones. Next up was Dylan Rowen who shared a brave, poignant poem about his mum and the atmospheric ‘Twilight Men’. After the break was Louise Nicholas, a talented poet and friend, reading ‘At Faber and Faber’ about her recent workshop experience and another on drinking in poetry, very entertaining. Paul Turley closed the set reading a series of short poems, one of which was ‘In the Fish Tank’, a goldfish’s perspective.
I’ve been guest poet at Hills Poets before, so it was great to be invited back. Jill Gower convenes the monthly poetry group, another wonderful local poet with her latest collection, Winkle Pickers & Brothel Creepers, also published by Ginninderra Press. After a poem had been shared by each member, Jill introduced me. I started with both the first and last poems from A bellyful of roses followed by four poems from more than here (a different four to No Wave), but finishing with the same new ones. A break followed with another round of poems from all, spanning a combination of styles, content and meter.
As well as the readings, I have some poems upcoming in Ache Magazine, Coffin Bell Journal and The Poeming Pigeon, about endometriosis, strange encounters and the moon respectively. It’s good to be busy. With words.
Yesterday I joined the panel on Words Out Loud, a regular slot on PBA FM, Salisbury’s community radio station.
Hosted by Joanne Baker, the focus is to promote local writing and literary events with featured writers talking about their latest publications, so I went along to chat about more than here. With tip of the day, the five-word challenge and a roundup of recent and future events, there was a lot to cover in the half-hour slot.
Joanne opened the show by introducing the panel (I joined Carolyn Cordon and Gordon McPherson on this one, both poets), who shared news of local writing groups followed by the tip of the day. Next up me. I explained how my collection came about, spoke about the different themed-sections and read a poem from the first with a focus on family.
Before the show, we were asked to complete the five-word challenge from the previous week to incorporate ‘intensity’, ‘nomadic’, ‘fire’, ‘unreal’ and ‘open’. It produced some interesting pieces that we shared on air, after which point I chose five words from more than here for the next challenge
Thankfully it was pre-recorded for Joanne to work her editing magic. The program will be broadcast next Tuesday at 11:30am after the weekly Well Versed readings, which I was also proud to be involved in (my poem’s scheduled to air Tuesday 12 March along with Joanne’s). I wasn’t able to attend the launch unfortunately, which by all accounts was a success and well attended, but my visit to the station did allow me to buy the full set on USB.
Being interviewed on radio was a first for me, one that I hope to repeat if opportunity allows. Next to finalise the launch of the collection. Watch this space!
J V Birch 