Sunday 6 November 2011

From the WWC mailbox



Old English post box

Launch of DAW's One Act Playwriting Competition 2012

Monday 17th October 2011. Today, DAW launched its annual Playwriting Competition. The competition aims to encourage the writing of plays for theatre in English and Welsh. Previous prizewinners have been published and performed as a result of promotion through our New Writing Scheme.

THE WINNING PLAY IN EACH CATEGORY

WILL RECEIVE A CASH PRIZE OF £250

AND WILL BE PUBLISHED

PLAYING TIME: 20-50 MINS – A MINIMUM CAST OF TWO

An Adjudicating Panel appointed by the Drama Association of Wales will read and consider the plays entered into the Competition and will award the following prizes:

• Best Play for a Youth Cast (16-25 years) - £250

• Best Play in the Open Category - £250

• Best Play in the Welsh Language - £250

• plus commemorative Prizewinners Medals

The above plays will also be published by DAW Publications


• Also:

• The Best Play from a Wales Based Playwright will be awarded a bursary to T? Newydd, the National Writers’ Centre for Wales


TO CONTINUE THE SUCCESS OF LAST YEARS SERVICE...

If you would like to make use of DAW’s Script Reading Service whilst your play is with us, please send £37.50 as the combined price of both competition entry - £17.50 and Script Reading Service - £20.00

For a hard copy of the application form, please contact Teresa on Cardiff +44 (0) 29 2045 2200 or

email: teresa@dramawales.org.uk


For a downloadable entry form by pdf or word format, visit our website: www.dramawales.org.uk/pages/playwritingcompetition.html

Closing date: 31st January 2012

THE COMPETITION IS OPEN TO EVERYONE. DON'T BE DISCOURAGED FROM ENTERING IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE WALES - WE RECEIVE ENTRIES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.


With special thanks this year to Christchurch Theatre Club, Dorset


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Dear Writers:

I would be very pleased to offer your group a free writing workshop at one of your regular meetings. I have taught writing for many years and so perhaps I will be able to offer something of interest.

I will make no charge, but only ask if I might be allowed to bring the new book that I have written, Freeing My Sisters, Olympia Publishers, for your members to see and buy if they wish.

Some possible topics you may wish to consider for the workshop are Building a Character, The Importance of Setting, Point of View (or Viewpoint). Naturally, if you have a specific topic you would like assistance with, please let me know.

With all best wishes,

Wilma Hayes


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Discover the pleasures of poetry with the T S Eliot Prize reading groups!

Now in its second year, this scheme is based on the shortlist for the 2011 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry, announced on 20 October.

The judges, Chair Gillian Clarke, Stephen Knight and Dennis O’Driscoll, have agreed on the ten-book shortlist:

Black Cat Bone John Burnside Cape

The Bees Carol Ann Duffy Picador

Profit and Loss Leontia Flynn Jonathan Cape

Night David Harsent Faber

Armour John Kinsella Picador

Grace Esther Morgan Bloodaxe

Tippoo Sultan’s Incredible Daljit Nagra Faber

White-Man-Eating Tiger

Toy-Machine!!!

November Sean O’Brien Picador

Farmers Cross Bernard O’Donoghue Faber

Memorial Alice Oswald Faber

From today groups can download three poems from each book, together with reading group notes on the poems, a biography and photo of each poet.

The PBS website will offer readers the opportunity to vote for their favourite poet and to take part in discussion of the shortlist on our facebook page. The result of the reading groups’ vote will be announced at the award ceremony.

Anxious about poetry? Who’s Afraid of T S Eliot? is an article suggesting ways in which you can overcome any anxieties you may have and free yourself up to enjoy poetry. The article offers some helpful comparisons along the lines of ‘if you like this… (novel) you might like to try that… (poetry collection)’.

Generous reading group discounts are available and readers can sign up for a weekly email which will cover the ten poets in turn and keep you up-to-date with news on the Prize.

There will also be a prize draw for tickets for the celebratory T S Eliot Prize Readings in the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank on Sunday 15 January 2012.

Reading groups can download the poems from the site and incorporate them into their reading plans, or order books from the PBS if they wish to read further. We also hope to encourage the setting-up of new poetry reading groups. Pam Johnson’s article on the site shows how to go about it and describes how her own group enjoyed reading last year’s shortlist.

The winner of the 2011 T S Eliot Prize will be announced at the award ceremony on Monday 16 January 2012, when Mrs Valerie Eliot will present the winner with a cheque for £15,000. The shortlisted poets will each receive £1,000.

For further information please go to www.poetrybooks.co.uk/projects

or contact: Hilary Davidson or Chris Holifield at the Poetry Book Society

tel 020 7831 7468 emails hilary@poetrybooks.co.uk and chris@poetrybooks.co.uk

Competition Listings

Events Listings


Festivals around the UK

Aldeburgh International Poetry Festival

www.thepoetrytrust.org


London History Festival

14th to 24th November 2011 at Kensington Central Library and Waterstone's Kensington

www.londonhistoryfestival.com


Dylan Thomas Festival

The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea

http://www.dylanthomas.com/index.cfm?articleid=8653


Richmond Upon Thames Literature Festival

2011 will see the 20th Richmond literary festival. http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/leisure_and_culture/arts/literature_festival.htm


Cambridge Winter Wordfest

At the ADC Theatre in Cambridge

http://www.cambridgewordfest.co.uk/


Southwold Literature Festival

Part of the Ways with Words series of literature festivals, held in the lovely seaside resort of Southwold, Suffolk

http://www.wayswithwords.co.uk


Competition Listings for November


Closing November 1st

Bridge House Short Story Competition

Prizes: 1st - Six months one-to-one mentoring; runner-up - five short story critiques. A total of fifteen winners will also have their stories published in a collection.

Entry fee: £5.


4Screenwriting Competition

Free to enter. looking for 12 talented, original writers who currently have no broadcast credit but want to write for television drama. Run by Channel 4, over a 5 month period participants will work on their own 1 hour script for an original series or serial, and attend two weekend talks and script-meetings.

http://4talent.channel4.com/extra/4SC


Closing November 5th


Words With Jam/Cornerstones Literary Consultancy

Prize: Win a free General Report on a manuscript up to 100,000 words in length. Entry is Free. Send the opening paragraph (no more than 100 words) of your as yet unpublished novel. Further details on web site. wordswithjam.co.uk/compcornercornerstones


Closing November 15th


Creative competitor

Free to enter competition for stories upto 300 words.

http://creativecompetitor.com/competitions/new-competitions/free-writing-competition/

Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival Fiction Contest (USA) Grand Prize: $1500, domestic airfare (up to $500) and French Quarter accommodations to attend the 26th annual Festival in New Orleans (21-25 March 2012), VIP all-access Festival Pass for 2012 (value $500), public reading at a literary panel at the 2012 Festival, and publication in Louisiana Literature. For original short stories up to 7000 words in length. Visit www.tennesseewilliams.net/contests for full guidelines.


The London School of Liberal Arts

The Subversive Image Competition, Prizes: 1st prize: £200, 2nd prize: £100. Entry is Free. Visit the competition page on our website for guidelines. libartslondon.co.uk/portfolio/competition/


221b Magazine Winter Annual

Free to enter competition for detective stories up to 12,000 words. email to editor221b@yahoo.co.uk. For full details please see our website: 221bmagazine.co.uk/


Closing November 18th

The Women’s Empowerment Project Book Prize

Entry is £20. The competition winner will have their book published and receive competitive royalties.

Full details on web site. twepbookprize.wordpress.com/


Closing November 30th

The Betty Trask Prize

Free to enter competition for novelists under 35. Prize fund of £20,000.

Details on the web: http://www.societyofauthors.org/betty-trask


Cafe Writers Open Poetry Comp

For poems with a maximum of 40 lines there are generous prizes of up to £1000

Details on the web: http://cafewriters.awardspace.com/competitions.htm


Cinnamon Press Poetry/ Short Story/ Novella

Three categories with great prizes. Details on the web: http://www.cinnamonpress.com/competitions/


Fish Publishing Short Story

For stories up to 5000 words. Details on the web: http://www.fishpublishing.com/short-story-competition-contest.php


Inktears Short Story Competition 2011 (UK)

For short stories on any theme between 1000 and 3000 words in length. Stories may be previously published (prior to 30 April 2011) or unpublished. Visit www.inktears.com for full details.


Leaf Books First Chapter

Submit the first 2000 words of your novel to win.post Leaf Books Ltd, 2 Hastings Place, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, U.K. CF64 2TD


Magma 50th Issue Poetry Competition (UK)

For unpublished poems up to 80 lines on any subject. Poems will be judged by George Szirtes. Poems of up to 10 lines will also be considered for the Magma Editor's Prize (first prize of £500, second£200).Visit www.magmapoetry.com/competition for full details and to download postal entry form, or to enter online from 16 October onwards.


Mary Gornell Memorial Short Story Comp

For stories up to 2000 words. Details on the web: http://www.ashbywritersclub.com/


The New Writer Prose and Poetry Prize

Story: 500-5000 wds. Micro Fiction: 500 wds. Poems: Single poems up to 40 lines. Collections 6-10 poems. Articles (literary theme) 2000 wds. Email admin@thenewwriter.com with queries) The New Writer, PO Box 60, CRANBROOK, TN17 2RE


The Plough Poetry Prize

Prizes up to £1000. Details on the web: http://www.theploughprize.co.uk/


Soul-Making Literary Competition (USA)

The competition now has 12 categories which include short story, flash fiction, young adult writers prose, humour, and novel excerpt. Address: The Webhallow House, 1544 Sweetwood Drive, Broadmoor Vlg., CA 94015-1717, USA. Visit www.soulmakingcontest.us for more information and complete rules.


Swanezine - Short Story Competition 2011

Free to enter with a 1000 word max no minimum.To enter go to the website. swanezine/short-story-competition


The New Writer Prose and Poetry Competition - Fiction

Short stories 500 to 5,000 words, micro fiction up to 500 words; on any subject or theme. Details on the web: thenewwriter.com/


Sunday 23 October 2011

Sunday humor

Play in a Day


Saturday, October 22 · 10:00am - 8:00pm
Worcesterer Arts Workshop
21 Sansome Street

This is a full day event for actors and writers of all ages. Starting at 10am, the writers will be given a plot summary which they must use to create a short script, and they will direct the actors to bring their vision to life! This play will have a spooky, Halloween theme, giving writers a chance to create a fantasy world of monsters and ghouls, and actors a chance to explore their paranormal alter egos!

The performance itself will be at 7:30pm for those who just want to watch the end result!

Sebastian Peake

Sebastian Peake

TICKETS ON SALE NOW for Gormenghast: The Life And Work Of Mervyn Peake

The Worcestershire Literary Festival are delighted to be bringing Sebastian Peake back to Worcester on Saturday 29th October 2011, 7.30pm at The Fownes Hotel to reprise his talk “The Life And Work Of Mervyn Peake”. For more information and to buy tickets click here.

Tickets can be purchased via the box office Worcester Live on 01905 611427, by visiting the Worcester Live box office in the Crowngate Shopping Centre in Worcester or online by visitingwww.worcslitfest.com/gormenghast/ and paying via paypal.

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Have you ever ....

Meow



Been to one of those work meetings?

I am going to assume, that it is simply the universe's way of motivating individuals like myself to keep writing, hoping and dreaming.






6 days and counting... for the Booker Prize!

The Man Booker Prize


The six books, selected from the longlist of 13, are:

Julian Barnes The Sense of an Ending (Jonathan Cape - Random House)

Carol Birch Jamrach’s Menagerie (Canongate Books)

Patrick deWitt The Sisters Brothers (Granta)

Esi Edugyan Half Blood Blues (Serpent’s Tail)

Stephen Kelman Pigeon English (Bloomsbury)

A.D. Miller Snowdrops (Atlantic)

Chair of judges, Dame Stella Rimington, comments: “Inevitably it was hard to whittle down the longlist to six titles. We were sorry to lose some great books. But, when push came to shove, we quickly agreed that these six very different titles were the best.

The winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction will be announced on Tuesday 18 October at a dinner at London’s Guildhall and will be broadcast on the BBC. The winner will receive £50,000 and each of the six shortlisted authors, including the winner, will receive £2,500 and a designer bound edition of their book. Last year’s winner, The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, has sold over 250,000 copies in the UK alone.

Monday 10 October 2011

A flash of flash fiction

Flash (Wally West)


LWC Flash Fiction Slam 2011

The Limerick Writers' Centre is running its second international flash fiction contest this month.

This year, writers are being asked to submit pieces of up to 500 words (not including title), with the prompt being '2011'. They say that the stories could be about anything: '2011 could be number or a year. The pieces must be stories with a beginning, a middle and an end - not poetry or vignettes.'

Entries must be submitted by email by the closing date of 30 October 2011. A short-list of 10 entries will be announced on or around 15 November. Each shortlisted entrant will have the opportunity to read their piece (or have it read by an actor) at the 2nd Annual LWC Flash Fiction Slam in December 2011. On the night, there will be a small prize selected by the judges and a small prize voted on by the audience.


Reader's Digest UK 100-Word Short Story Contest

This contest for stories of exactly 100 words has a top prize of 1,000 UK pounds - a pretty good rate per word! It's open to UK and Irish writers only - sorry if that doesn't apply to you.

There are three categories: one for adults, and two schools’ categories: one for children aged 12 to 18, and one for children under 12. In the adult category, the entry voted best by the panel of judges will receive £1,000, and two runners-up will receive £100 in book tokens. In each of the school categories, the prize for the winner is £500 of high-street vouchers of their choice, and £500 for their school. Winning entries will be published in a future issue of Reader's Digest.

The closing date is January 31, 2012, and entries have to be submitted by email.

Miranda Dickinson Flash Fiction Contest

This contest for aspiring novelists, from the HarperCollins Authonomy website, invites you to create a 416-word story, beginning with the words, 'It started with a kiss'.

The contest is being held to celebrate the release of the third novel 'It Started With a Kiss' by UK romantic fiction author
Miranda Dickinson. A near-neighbour of mine, Miranda was originally 'discovered' via the Authonomy site, and is now one of HarperCollins' star authors.

The winning entrant will be invited to submit the first 20,000 words of their novel manuscript (which need not be related to the contest story) to be reviewed by Miranda’s own editor. They, alongside four runners up, will also receive a signed copy of Miranda’s new novel, publishing November 10 2011. The contest is open world-wide. The closing date is 16 October 2011, so you'd better get writing now!


From the WWC Mailbox

Discover the pleasures of poetry with the T S Eliot Prize reading groups

Poetry was recently described by the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy as ‘a necessary and nourishing part of our lives’. The Poetry Book Society wholeheartedly agrees and we’d like to offer you the chance to engage with the best in contemporary poetry through the T S Eliot Prize reading groups. The scheme is based on the shortlist for the 2011 T S Eliot Prize for Poetry. We hope to encourage fiction reading groups to try poetry, using the work of the poets shortlisted for the Prize.

The judges, Chair Gillian Clarke, Stephen Knight and Dennis O’Driscoll, will meet in mid October to decide on the ten-book shortlist, which will be announced on Thursday 20 October. From that day, reading groups will be able to download a biography and photo of each poet and three poems from their book, together with reading group notes on the poems, from www.poetrybooks.co.uk/projects/13. The PBS website will offer readers the opportunity to vote for their favourite poet online, the result of which will be announced at the award ceremony.

Generous reading group discounts will also be available. Readers can also sign up for a weekly email which will cover the ten poets in turn and keep them up-to-date with news on the Prize.

There will also be a prize draw for tickets for the celebratory T S Eliot Prize Readings in the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank on Sunday 15 January 2012. The 2010 Readings were a great success, attracting one of the biggest audiences for a single poetry event of recent times.

The PBS is keen to encourage fiction groups to give poetry a go, so, to help you on your way, the poems will be available to download from the site so that you can incorporate them into your reading plans. You can also order books from the PBS if you wish to explore any of the poets in more depth. In addition, we’ll be providing helpful advice on how to set up and run a poetry reading group.

The winner of the 2011 T S Eliot Prize will be announced at the award ceremony on Monday 16 January 2012, when Mrs Valerie Eliot will present the winner with a cheque for £15,000. The shortlisted poets will each receive £1,000.

The four Poetry Book Society Choices from 2011 are automatically shortlisted for the Prize. This means we already know that Night by David Harsent (Faber), November by Sean O’Brien (Picador), Profit and Loss by Leontia Flynn (Jonathan Cape) and Armour by John Kinsella (Picador) will be on the shortlist.

The T S Eliot Prize was inaugurated in 1993 to celebrate the Poetry Book Society's 40th birthday, and to honour its founding poet. Now in its nineteenth year, the T S Eliot Prize is the ‘world’s top poetry award’ (Louise Jury, The Irish Independent). The Prize is awarded annually to the writer of the best new poetry collection published in the UK or Ireland. It is unique as it is always judged by a panel of established poets and it has been described by Sir Andrew Motion as ‘the Prize most poets want to win’. Last year’s winner was Derek Walcott, for his collection White Egrets (Faber).

Founded by T S Eliot and friends in 1953, the Poetry Book Society is a unique poetry organisation which provides its members with its Poet Selectors’ choice of the best new poetry books. The PBS has two websites; an online bookshop (www.poetrybookshoponline.com) offering 90,000 poetry books and CDs, including the Poetry Archive recordings, together with a wide range of poetry news, articles, reviews, information and events listings, and the PBS website, www.poetrybooks.co.uk, which has a special members’ section and houses the PBS’s projects, including the T S Eliot Prize and its Shadowing and reading group schemes.

For further information please go to www.poetrybooks.co.uk/projects

or contact: Hilary Davidson or Chris Holifield at the Poetry Book Society

tel 020 7831 7468 emails hilary@poetrybooks.co.uk and chris@poetrybooks.co.uk


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To The Worcestershire Writers


Our 100-word story competition was such a hit when we launched it last

year that we’ve decided to do it all over again.


So come on all you budding authors out there: this is your chance for

publishing glory and a shot at £1,000 prize money—as long as you can

write a compelling story in just 100 words, that is!


Send your entries, which should be original, unpublished and exactly

100 words long to theeditor@readersdigest.co.uk by January 31, 2012.

Please mark your entry “adult”.


For some inspiration to get your creative juices flowing, and initiate

some brainstorming at your next book club, visit:

http://www.readersdigest.co.uk/magazine/212-Your-RD/1391-Your-Books.html

to see last year’s winning and commended stories, as well as five

submissions from famous authors, which we feature in the October issue

of Reader’s Digest.


We look forward to reading your submissions,


Rachel

Editorial Assistant

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Dear Poetry Fans


Another in our limited series of autumn info-mails about poetry organisations (the highly-regarded Cinnamon Press, in this instance) who’ve agreed to mail news of our Fifth Troubadour International Poetry Prize to their poets and supporters, helping to support both poetry in general and, in particular, our ongoing mission to keep poetry alive and lively at London's longest-running and best-loved literary landmark venue...


For news of our Troubadour autumn readings, classes, and full prize details, see www.coffeehousepoetry.org


Anne-Marie Fyfe (Organiser)

coffee-house poetry at the troubadour

www.coffeehousepoetry.org

www.annemariefyfe.com

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About Cinnamon Press

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Cinnamon Press is an innovative, international small press, publishing quality poetry and fiction. Our books have won or been shortlisted for major awards, including two books from winners of our twice-yearly writing competitions being short-listed for the Forward Prize for best first collection.


You can find out more about Cinnamon Press and see a selection of our titles, including the poetry journal, 'Envoi', now in its 54th year, at our website www.cinnamonpress.com We currently have some great special offers on our new titles buy one of our newest books and for only £1 extra we will add a second book in the same genre, p+p included.


If you'd like to hear our writers perform their work we have a series of launches and events, many in London, the full programme is available at www.cinnamonpress.com/events/


The Cinnamon Press Writing Awards run twice each year with cash prizes and publication opportunities for poets (first collection), novelists and short story writers. The next deadline is November 30th 2011 and you can find full guidelines at www.cinnamonpress.com/competitions


We also have a rolling programme of mini competitions - just £3 to enter and leading to publication in our regular anthologies. You can find out about the latest mini competition on the competitions page of the website.


For those looking for support for their writing we run two courses each year at the beautiful Ty'n y Coed Farm in North Wales and also offer mentoring in association with Triskele Writes, a co-operative of three writer/tutors. You can find out more at www.cinnamonpress.com/writers-services/


We also have a regular newsletter to keep our readers informed of special offers, competitions, courses, events and more. If you'd like to be added simply send your email address to jan@cinnamonpress.com


For readers who want the best and writers who want to succeed see www.cinnamonpress.com


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Dear Poets


Just to remind you why you should be forwarding your best poems to the Troubadour Poetry Prize by Monday week:


- Top prize £2,500 thanks to generous sponsorship from Cegin Productions;

- You've up to Mon 17th Oct to submit (e-mail or post, payment via PayPal or cheque);

- Both judges will read all poems submitted;

- Prizewinners notified by Mon 21st Nov;

- Prizes awarded at Troubadour Prize Night on Mon 28th Nov;

- Results posted on www.coffeehousepoetry.org next day;


And, of course, you'd be helping keep literature live at London's longest-running and best-loved poetry venue.


Looking forward to lots more submissions over next two weeks.


And good luck!

Anne-Marie


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Please could you draw the attention of your members to the following:



THE H. E. BATES SHORT STORY WRITING COMPETITION 2011



Write us a short story on the subject of your choice.


* The competition is open to all writers.


* Entries must be no longer than 2000 words in length.


* 1st Prize £150; 2nd Prize £100; 3rd Prize £50


Special prize for the best story written by a Northamptonshire writer £50

(not awarded if the story has won 1st,2nd,or 3rd Prize)


In addition, a prize of £50 will be awarded for the best story by a writer who is

under 18 years old on the closing date for entries.


The entry fee is £4 for each story submitted - or £1 for each story submitted by

an Under 18 writer. Entrants are invited to submit as many stories as they wish.


The judging panel will comprise members of the Northampton Writers' Group.


We are delighted to announce that Katie Fforde will be the Head Judge. Katie is

the author of the best-selling books Summer Of Love, A Perfect Proposal, Living

Dangerously, and much else.


Closing date for entries is Thursday 1st December 2011.


Prizes will be awarded at a prize giving ceremony in the new year.

Date and venue to be announced.


There is no entry form. Simply send your story (typed please) with a first sheet

giving your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and title of story

(plus date of birth if entering the Under 18 competition) to H.E.Bates Competition,

19 Kingswell Road, Kingsthorpe, Northampton NN2 6QB. Please mark the envelope

"f.a.o Nick Hamlyn". Include a cheque (made out to N.Hamlyn) or a postal order.


Alternatively, you may e-mail your story in Word format, complete with a first sheet

as described above, to hebatescomp@gmail.com and pay by PayPal. In this case,

we will invoice you on receipt of your story.


Please note that stories will not be returned, so keep a copy!


Further info and full rules available at www.hebatescompetition.org.uk


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Dear Poetry Fans


Just to remind everyone, well in advance, that Coffee-House Poetry's Autumn 2011 programme starts with a Salmon Press poetry evening on Monday 17th October. Hope to see lots of you there for an exciting start to a great season!


Anne-Marie

___


mon 17 oct: celebrating thirty years of 'salmon poetry'

with julian stannard, lorna shaughnessy, todd swift, nessa o'mahony, alan jude moore, noel monahan, anne le marquand hartigan, (ed.) jessie lendennie and guitarist henry fajemirokun


Inspired by the Salmon of Knowledge in Celtic mythology, Salmon Press was established in Galway in 1981 as an alternative voice in Irish literature, and has published 300 volumes of poetry over the past 30 years.


- Julian Stannard (see poem below) taught English & American Lit. at University of Genoa for many years - 'The Parrots of Villa Gruber Discover Lapis Lazuli' (2011) completes his Genoese trilogy;

- Lorna Shaughnessy has published translations of contemporary Mexican poetry - most recent poetry collection, 'Witness Trees'(2011);

- Todd Swift lectures in creative writing at Kingston University and is Oxfam poet-in-residence, collections include 'Seaway: New & Selected Poems' (2008);

- Nessa O'Mahony won the National Women's Poetry Competition - her verse-novel 'In Sight of Home' was published in 2009;

- Alan Jude Moore has been short-listed twice for the Hennessy Prize; his third collection is 'Strasbourg' (2011);

- Noel Monahan's fifth Salmon collection is 'Curve of the Moon' (2010) - his poetry is now prescribed text for Leaving Certificate English;

- Anne Le Marquand Hartigan's seventh collection will be 'Unsweet Dreams: Poems of Laughter, Wit and Sex' (Oct, 2011) - her prose includes Clearing The Space, the Why of Writing (1996);

- Salmon Poetry co-founder/editor Jessie Lendennie has edited anthologies, and a book of essays, 'Poetry: Reading It, Writing It, Publishing It' (2009) - latest poetry collection, 'Walking Here' (2011);

- with music from singer/guitarist Henry Fajemirokun.

___


'THE SEABIRDS OF PIMLICO HANKER AFTER SAPPHIRES'


I had a crazy idea we could have a good time

so you're flying in from Italy on Alitalia

and I'm booking a room in Edward Lear's old house

all sorted by my promiscuous credit card.

Then I take you to the Gay Hussar in Greek Street

where you can say anything you like

and because we're having a good time

I smile and offer you some Schnitzel.

Later, after I've paid the bill without flinching

we take a taxi to a discreet point on the Thames

where a boat is waiting full of elegant people.


It's a beautiful, limpid night and the orchestra

seems Welsh somehow. They're playing jazz but

they also throw in several Lieder. Everyone looks

good and so do you and apparently I do too

and before you know it we're dancing on the deck

a little Cole Porter and some Bunky Green

and our luminous children are following the boat

like mermaids but in actual fact they're boys

with your looks and my intelligence but

I close my mouth because the captain of the boat


deserves to live, the glittering orchestra deserves to live

and our earthly boys are hauling themselves

onto the deck as if they were part of an advert

and they see their parents dancing cheek to cheek

and before you know it we're sitting round a table

and the waiter's bringing audacious cocktails.

It feels so good it feels like cocaine but it isn't.

It feels as if all the Carabinieri and all the lawyers

have turned into seabirds flying off to Pimlico

and although it would be crazy to talk of love

the whole of London's lit up like a beating heart.



JULIAN STANNARD

First Prize in: Fourth International Troubadour Poetry Prize 2010

___


Anne-Marie Fyfe (Organiser)

coffee-house poetry at the troubadour

www.coffeehousepoetry.org

___


life, literature and the pursuit of happiness...

in the famous Troubadour cellar-club:

London's liveliest & best-loved poetry venue...

___


readings, mondays from 8 to 10 pm, tickets £7 concessions £6, season tickets 30% off...

classes, sundays 12-3.30 pm, £28 (concs. £24), advance booking only

cheques payable to Coffee-House Poetry, no credit cards


at 263-267 Old Brompton Road LONDON SW5

(no mail to this address, see correspondence address below)

nr. junct. Earls Court Rd & Old Brompton Rd

nearest Tube station: Earls Court (District & Piccadilly Lines)

for info, booking, season ticket & mailing list enquiries,

e:coffpoetry@aol.com w:www.coffeehousepoetry.org or write to

Anne-Marie Fyfe, Coffee-House Poetry, PO Box 16210, LONDON, W4 1ZP