May 2019 Meetings

Meeting of 7th. May − Paradox

Prior to the meeting this appeared to be a daunting task but the twelve members who attended were equal to it. A poem by Veronica Tamending was actually called ‘The Paradox.’ There were two poems by John Donne, one of which was also called ‘The Paradox’ and the comment was made that sonnets, by their nature, end or sometimes even begin with paradox.

During the course of the afternoon, W. B. Yeats rubbed shoulders with Grace Nichols and Raymond Carver with Wilfred Owen. Alexander Pope came into his own, as did TS Eliot.

Meeting of 24th. May – Commonwealth Poets from UK and Abroad

For this meeting we were joined by Wendy Williams and another member of the Dulwich Library Poetry Group with whom we exchange visits. There was of course quite a spread of offerings with Australia being represented by Les Murray and Clive James, Canada by Margaret Atwood and New Zealand by Katherine Mansfield together with poems by Vikram Seth, Fred D’Aguir, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Roger Robinson and Jean Binta Breeze among others from different parts of the Commonwealth.

 

 

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Starting The Summer Term April 23rd 2019

We started the Summer Term on April 23rd. with an Open Choice Session. It had not escaped members that this was St. George’s Day and was also the supposed birthday of William Shakespeare. In several cases a member’s choice of poem reflected this.

But first a fascinating account from Anne Stewart of the Hindu Epic Mahabharata and its modern retelling by Carole Satyamurti who adapted iambic pentameter to re-narrate this remarkable poem in all its complexity, displaying a real feeling for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Programme 2019

Diary dates for the Autumn Term 2019

10th. & 24th. Sept.
8th. & 22nd. Oct.
12th. & 26th. Nov.
10th. Dec

Members News and Events March 2019

Events

One member attended an event organised by The Poetry society at King’s Place, near King’s Cross, This was to celebrate 40 years of the National Poetry Competition with readings from poets who had either won the competition or been successful. Ten poets gave readings, not just of the poem that had earned their success, but also a specially commissioned poem each. These poems had to incorporate two words – one which had commonly appeared in National Poetry Competition entries, the other a more unusual word from those same poems. There was a free anthology given out containing the ten commissioned poems.

The poets were:-
Liz Berry, Mary Jean Chan, Ian Duhig, Fran Lock, Sinėad Morrissey, Mark Pajak, Caleb Parkin , Stephen Saxton and Jo Shapcott.

Members’ News

While members are thoroughly enjoying Anne Stewart’s latest book ‘.The Last Parent,’ Anne has also had one of her poems featured as ‘Poem Of The Month’ by Enfield Poets. This appears on a poster with graphics by designer Jools Barret The poem is called ‘Across The Aisle’ and the poster is displayed in the window of The Dugdale Centre, Enfield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isabel Turvey (aka Bermudez) is to have two pamphlets published this year, one by the journal ‘Coast to Coast to Coast.

SUMMER 2019 | COMPETITION WINNERS

ISABEL BERMUDEZ
LYDIA HARRIS
The winners of the second Coast to Coast to Coast mini-portfolio competition for individual-poet journals were Isabel Bermudez and Lydia Harris. Their journals will be created and published in Summer 2019.

Isabel Bermudez worked in Colombia in television, specialising in documentary, as a Producer/Director and Camerawoman (1998–2001). In Sri Lanka, she worked in educational television and as a Special Correspondent for the Island Newspaper. (1993–1995).

Her poems are widely published. She was shortlisted six times for the Bridport Prize and was most recently commended in the 2018 Winchester Poetry Prize. Her collections are Extranjeros, (Flarestack Poets 2015), Small Disturbances (Rockingham Press, 2016) and Sanctuary (Rockingham Press, 2018). She lives in Orpington, Kent.

March Meetings 2019

AGM 12th. March 2019.

This was attended by fifteen members with three apologies for absence. Despite having to say goodbye to members who have moved or are in the process of moving, the SPC still has a steady and loyal core of members. We hope for the return of Lesley McLetchie when her medical difficulties have been resolved.

Our Treasurer, Jane Knight, announced another sound and uncomplicated year for our finances and our Membership Secretary, Christine Pope, gave out a questionnaire for members’ response with ideas for attracting new members. We have recently gained one new full member and two associates but it would be nice to have more.

Isabel Turvey was thanked for undertaking the duties of Secretary both of the writers’ and readers’ groups. It is only increased work hours that have made it difficult for Isabel to continue in these roles.

Following the main meeting, members read one short poem each.

Meeting of March 26th.

The topic of this meeting was The Seven Deadly Sins. Lust was the sin that figured most in the poems that were chosen, followed by Wrath, Avarice, Envy, Gluttony and Sloth which was celebrated (if that’s the word) in only one poem.

February Meetings 2019

Meeting of 12th. Feb. Meetings and Encounters

This was a fertile subject although surprisingly no-one read any poems by Wordsworth. Browning’s ‘Meeting At Night ‘ was read and Thomas Hardy’s ‘At The Drapers’ while there were two poems by Wendell Berry. George Macbeth had what might have been his first airing at one of our meetings.

Our guest, Christina Webster, read ‘Meeting You At An Underground Station’ by Gillian Allnutt. and Elizabeth Bishop was represented by ‘Manners For A child in 1918.’ It is always good to have a mixture of old and new.

Meeting of 26th. Feb.

This meeting was preceded by a talk from Angela Brodie who, together with Caroline Vero, provides a venue for both local and established poets to read and be enjoyed. At present Angela and Caroline are taking a break as the The Gipsy Tavern needs the space for preparing and serving food.

It is hoped that ‘Beyond Words’ will continue in another venue as it has been so stimulating and friendly with some of the best modern poets coming to read from their work. Four members of the SPC have attended ‘Beyond Words’ events regularly and will be very pleased to see its return.

Angela is a poet in her own right and also talked about the writing of ‘Salt Music,’ a sequence of poems she has written about the Hull trawling community, reading some excerpts so we could get a flavour of her work. ‘Salt Music’ has been read here and in Hull itself and has also been put to music by Steve Halliwell from ‘Little Machine,’

During the rest of the meeting members read poems by H W Longfellow, Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman with Longfellow dominating the afternoon. There was one poem by Edgar Allen Poe, two by Walt Whitman and Anne Stewart treated us to a poem by Peter Veale which was an answer to ‘The Raven’ by Poe.

Plans For The Summer Celebration 2019

In the Spring Term we choose and invite the poets we would like to read at our Summer Celebration which this year is to be held on June 25th.

We can hardly believe our good luck as we have managed to secure two very highly esteemed poets for this year’s Summer Celebration. These are Mimi Khalvati and Myra Schneider :-

Mimi Khalvati – (from pages at www.poetrypf.co.uk)

Mimi Khalvati

Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran, Iran, and grew up in England. She has published eight collections with Carcanet Press, including The Meanest Flower, shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize 2007, and Child: New and Selected Poems 1991-2011, a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation.

She was poet in residence at the Royal Mail and has held fellowships with the Royal Literary Fund at City University and at the International Writing Program in Iowa. She is also the founder of The Poetry School. Her awards include a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors, a major Arts Council Writer’s Award and she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of The English Society. Her most recent collection, The Weather Wheel, is a Poetry Book Society recommendation. Her new pamphlet, Very Selected Poems, is forthcoming from Smith|Doorstop Press in 2017.

(see sample poems and more at www.poetrypf.co.uk/mimikhalvatipage.shtml/ and http://www.mimikhalvati.co.uk/)

Myra Schneider – (from pages at www.poetrypf.co.uk)

Myra Schneider

Myra Schneider was born in North London and grew up in Gourock on the West coast of Scotland, South London and Chichester, West Sussex. She studied English at London University. Myra started writing stories, poems and plays as a child and from the age of nine, was a compulsive writer. She is married to a computer consultant (now retired) and her son works as a freelance computer consultant as I.T. Guy. She has worked as a publicity assistant in an educational publishing firm, a teacher in a comprehensive school and as a private tutor to adolescents and an adult with literacy problems.

This last led to an interest in dealing with learning difficulties and 25 years in sessional work with severely disabled adults. For several years she wrote mainly fiction and her first published book was a novel for children called Marigold’s Monster (Heinemann 1976).

This was followed by two novels for teenagers: If Only I could Walk and Will The Real Pete Roberts Stand Up. Towards the end of the Seventies she began to write more poetry and, since her first collection of poetry was published in 1984, she has concentrated on writing poetry. Her work, as well as interviews with Myra, has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Radio 2 and the BBC World Service.

Writing for Self-Discovery, written with John Killick (Element Books 1998), had an immediate success and was reprinted after six months. It was also published in the USA (Barnes and Noble 1998). Writing My Way Through Cancer (Jessica Kingsley, 2003) is Myra’s fleshed-out journal for the year 2000 and contains poem notes, poems and therapeutic writing ideas. 2000 is the year in which she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she turned to writing to help her come to terms with the experience. The book offers practical support in the form of therapeutic writing suggestions for cancer sufferers, whether they are experienced authors or have never written before.

She is co-editor of several anthologies see Second Light books. Myra is consultant to the Second Light Network of women poets. She runs writing workshops and courses and is a tutor for the Poetry School.

(see sample poems and more at www.poetrypf.co.uk and www.myraschneider.co.uk/)