Mind that road!

It was a quiet night at The Sherston Inn last Monday. We were therefore invited to hold our meeting in the dining room instead of out in the skittle alley.

We welcomed a newcomer to the group, Karin Baynes, and look forward to hearing some of her work in future.

Paul was in the chair and had chosen “Speed” as a theme. This post’s title is taken from Sara’s first poem. Other poems on the topic came from Paul, Andy, Mark and (memorably) Neil with “Edwin Morgan at Brand’s Hatch”. Neil’s second poem, “The Art of Marking”  (with more than a nod to Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art“) was a beautifully-constructed and very funny villanelle.

Off-topic, we had poems about mothers from Ewa and Ewan, a couple of tender funny and insightful poems from Annette, a wry look at overheard mobile-phone conversations from Pamela, closely-observed birds from Morag and Pamela, and a memory of a landscape-changing event from Paul, “When the Pipeline came”.

Rachael was in lyrical mood with “The Veil” and “Paradise Recalled”, David G’s poems included “Contemplating the Tower-clock”, and  Ama wrote about time and distance, which she hoped would somehow produce speed! Jinny’s short poems have a knack of taking us by the hand, leading us into another place and then leaving us with a line that reverberates like a struck bell.

Wendy’s “Dinnahefta” was a very entertaining poem in her native Geordie dialect in the style of Longfellow’s “Hiawatha”. I think there may be requests for a repeat performance! Wendy has produced another book! It’s just as delightful as her previous works.

On Thursday Rachael’s “Redpoll” appeared on the Stanza blog’s Poetry Map of Scotland.

Next month (March 9th) the theme will be “Water” and Sara will be in charge. By then the six Fountain poets who are also Bath Cafe poets will have performed their sound-collage “Waterwoven” at the Bath Litfest on March 7th.

We are here to cultivate the marvellous, to woo the new from ourselves, to commune with otherness. – Dean Young

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The Book of Love and Loss

This is a book many poets, and indeed most other readers, would appreciate. It is beautifully edited and presented in cloth-bound edition by Dr Rosie Bailey and June Hall, and includes work by nearly two hundred poets, including U.A. Fanthorpe, Andrew Motion, Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay and Wendy Cope, and has a foreword by Maureen Lipman. It includes work by Fountain poets Rosalie Challis, Claire Coleman and Rachael Clyne.

The Book of Love and Loss could become a classic resource for anyone seeking comfort through poetry. It covers many aspects of loss: the poignant, the humorous, the practical, spiritual and stark. It is dedicated to the memory of U.A. Fanthorpe and all proceeds go to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

“Clear through to the core”

The venue for our September meeting was The King’s Head. Ama was in the chair and our topic was “Friends and Other Strangers”, which produced a wonderful variety of mostly true stories of people we have known – playground bullies, friends both faithful and treacherous, imaginary friends, colleagues, neighbours and strangers observed. My title is taken from Rosalie Challis’s poem “Role-call” which explored the relationship between a portrait-painter and his model.

Wendy Nicholson, our local Beatrix Potter, has produced a new book. It’s beautifully written and illustrated and absurdly cheap at £2, which goes to  Northern Red Squirrels. It would make a lovely present for a child of any age.

This year’s Bradford-on-Avon Poetry Competition has resulted in a set of ten beer-mats featuring the short-listed short poems on the subject of Light. What a great idea! They can be found in pubs in and around Bradford-on-Avon, and the set can be purchased for £5 from the organiser, Dawn Gorman, dawngorman37(at)virginmedia(dot)com.

There is an evening of poetry, including memories of Laurie Lee, on Saturday September 20th at The Red Brick Building in Glastonbury. For details see the RBB website.

On Wednesday October 1st at 7.30pm in the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute in Queen Square, local poets Rosie Jackson and Jeremy Young will be launching their début pamphlets; do go along and support them if you can!

Our next meeting will be at The White Hart Hotel in Sadler Street on Monday 13th October. The room is on the ground floor at the back. It will be in use by another group until 7.30, so if you arrive early please wait in the bar. For those coming from Glastonbury and Street there is parking nearby in the Market Place. If you’re coming from Bristol/Bath/Frome a more convenient parking place is St Andrew Street, alongside Cathedral Green. Walk through the archway onto Sadler Street and the White Hart is directly opposite.

Rachael will be in the chair and has chosen “Nearly” as an optional theme. Off-topic poems are welcome too, of course.

 “Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

 

February fill-dyke

In spite of unprecedented rainfall in the last few weeks, twenty-two poets made it to the Fountain last Monday. We heard a flood of weather-related poems – and a shower of Valentines, too! Richard was especially prolific, having written apt and amusing Valentine tributes to many members of the group.

It was good to see Mark again, thanks to the improved bus time-table, and Andrew too, whose migration pattern so seldom enables him to be with us. He read his wonderful poem about Lorca. Anyone who has a copy of our 2008 anthology can find it on page 28. I still have a few copies of the 2013 anthology – clearance sale price £3 – contact me if you’d like one.

Wendy Nicholson (see her page in Poets’ Pages, above) brought along a few copies of her pamphlet Along Woodland Ways, a touching poem about the endangered native Red Squirrel, with Wendy’s own delightful colour illustrations on every page. It is ridiculously good value and will be sold to swell the funds of Northern Red Squirrels.

Rachael Clyne read a poem from her forthcoming pamphlet, Singing at the Bone Tree, which will be published in June. Congratulations to Rachael, who was one of two winners of the Indigo Dreams Pamphlet Competition.

Other members deserving congratulations include Jo Waterworth, who has a poem in the Poetry Space Winter Showcase anthology, Jane Williams who has a poem in the Plough Prize long list, and Clare Diprose and Ama Bolton, who have poems in the Plough Prize short list. Ama had a poem (heard at the Fountain in November) highly commended in the Charles Causley competition, and will be at Keats House in Hampstead on February 25th to receive a runner-up prize in the Magma Editors Prize Competition.

If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.

– Juan Ramon Jimenez, poet, Nobel prizewinner

November 2013

Our next meeting at The Fountain will be on Monday 4 November. Jo will be in the chair and has given us an optional theme: “Frost”, but not a landscape poem.

The October meeting went well, with some memorable work from around twenty poets. Welcome to newcomers Rowena and Nicky. And congratulations to Ewan, whose poem “Immortal Chemistry” was in the short list for the Wells Litfest Poetry Competition. This poem can be read in the Fountain Poets’ latest Anthology, which will be available on Monday, and at the December meeting, at £5 each or five for £20. Don’t forget your cheque book!

“Poetry: the best way you get it is through the voice, and the second best is to see it well printed and designed on a page…”

–   Gray Zeitz, Larkspur Press, Lexington Kentucky.

Pigeon Lock

I have just received a copy of David Green’s first collection, Pigeon Lock, published by Silverwood Books. It is a beautiful little book with very attractive illustrations by David’s daughter Anna and a cover image by Abigail Baker.

I enjoyed reading these honest, well-crafted poems. David has an eye for landscape, whether in the Middle East, Africa, India or closer to home, and writes with a deep love and knowledge of the Oxfordshire countryside where he grew up.

He observes war and injustice with passion and compassion and often with a touch of irony. His interest in wildlife is evident: lizards in Java, black-throated divers “sleeking through the sea”, the “dervish geometry” of massed starlings on the Somerset Levels, the “protecting song” of cicadas in Accra. He delights in the details of daily life and the quirks of human nature.

David can turn a perfect sonnet but is not afraid to experiment with form, metre and rhyme, giving a refreshing variety to this impressive collection.

This post was written by Ama.