Caroline Bird
Happy Friday Ladies. In need of a new reading list? You can’t go far wrong with the third longlist for the now annual University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize; announced earlier this week. Rachel Trezise and Nam Le have taken the gong previously. Standards are high.
This year the seven-strong panel of judges chaired by Hay Literature Festival founder Peter Florence has selected 16 literary works, which includes poetry, novels and a play. The £30,000 prize is open to any published writer in the English language under the age of 30 and the 2010 longlisted writers span four continents with five hailing from the UK.
I’m over the moon for English poet Caroline Bird, now aged 23, who was shortlisted for the 2008 University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize, is once again in contention for the award with her third collection of poems, Watering Can (Carcanet). She has to be one of my favourite poets of the day — witty, acerbic and inventive. Multi-award winning New Zealander Eleanor Catton (The Rehearsal, Granta) and Desmond Elliott Prize winner Ali Shaw (The Girl With The Glass Feet, Atlantic Books) are also in the running.
The shortlist will be announced in September.
.jpg "How to Pour Madness into a Teacup")
Forward? Me?
Another good week for Cinnamon Press. How to Pour Madness into a Teacup by Abegail Morley has been short listed for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. The title has been a winner from the outset – first winning the Cinnamon Press Poetry Collection Award. The collection is described as ‘a compelling first collection from a poet whose exploration of mental illness is acutely observed, wry, poignant, dark and humane.’
With submissions beginning to pour in ahead of the Poetry Competition deadline on Monday, the volume of the Competition is currently amped up to a manageable (yet busy) seven. But within the space of a day this could easily be propelled to an oh-my-god-how-are-we-ever-going-to-process-all-these-poems ten. It’s fair to say, some hectic days lay ahead.
How do I (and Martha our admin saviour while Office Manager Helen is off on maternity leave) best prepare for an intimidating workload? Cinema. A couple of hours of mind-blowing (or even mindless) entertainment does wonders for the psyche. And we can only praise the film gods that Pixar have chosen now to release the third edition in one of my most adored franchises of all time – Toy Story 3.
When the Toy Story was released back in 1995 I was nine-years-old and knew nothing of CGI. I remember a huge buzz (pardon the pun) around the film that was tipped to change cinema forever. Immediately I disliked Toy Story and vowed never to see it. Irrational I know, but at nine I’d just really discovered film and now someone was telling me it was all going to be different from now on. Poppycock. I would have none of it.
Well things did change but it wasn’t the demolition of classic cinema convention I feared. In fact I came to realise that without Toy Story there would have been no Lord of the Rings, Finding Nemo or Avatar. A few years ago I gave in to overwhelming curiousity and finally watched Toy Story – it was brilliant, a classic, completely heartbreaking.
So now I can’t wait to get myself in that seat tonight. Popcorn in hand, 3D glasses on (although they leave sore red marks on my nose) and mind open, I’ll be waiting to be wowed. I’ve never not loved a Pixar film and am not ready to start now. A little over-excited? Yeah. But a bit of escapism will have me ready to face anything the Poetry Competition throws up. Anyone else feel the Buzz (I had to get it in again)? Let us know what you think of the film or anything else out there at the moment. Inception: brilliant or baffling?
Vicky x
Tyler Keevil
Terry Hetherington Awards
I returned to Swansea from my travels around the South West just in time to attend the third memorial evening for the late Neath writer Terry Hetherington on Wednesday 7 July. The evening, hosted by the Dylan Thomas Centre, saw readings and tributes from his friends, and doubled as the award night for the second Terry Hetherington Bursary to a promising young writer from Wales.
I went along to support my fellow Bright Young Thing Tyler Keevil (mid-Wales) who was granted Joint Second Place for his short story alongside the poetry of Anna Lewis (Cardiff). Team Parthian Books were all absent on their summer holidays, so it seemed only fair. Plus I really enjoy Tyler’s readings and it was a shame to have to wrap up the night early, all winners at the mercy of train timetables.
The judges, led by Terry’s long-time partner Aida Birch, were impressed by the quantity and quality of the entries. Jonathan Edwards of Newport took the First Prize of £1,000 for his quirky poems, while Ben James of Llanelli was Highly Commended. All winners performed their work in the second half, and were joined by last year’s winner, Rose Widlake, who spoke of how the bursary had helped her both with her confidence as a writer and with furthering her studies at university, and in funding a publishing course she planned to take after completing her degree.
The evening also saw the launch of the accompanying publication Cheval 3 featuring the bursary winners and other selected writing by and about Terry.
Oxfam Cymru Readathon 2010
One week later it was my turn to take to the stage. I had been asked to perform at the Oxfam Cymru Readathon in Milgi Lounge, Cardiff and I was happy to support their cause. This happiness gave way to intimidation and nerves when I saw the running order. It went like this:
6.30pm Philip Gross AKA this year’s winner of both the TS Eliot Prize and Wales Book of the Year
6.45pm Susie Wild
7.00pm Peter Finch, Head of Academi
The amazing line-up continued until 11pm without any breaks. It was immense. After seeing the line-up I opted to read prose instead of poetry. Philip gave a great performance reading from a selection of his work, including the two winning titles. He donated a pamphlet, a first edition of his first printed poems, and was every bit as down-to-earth as before his accolades. One of his students from Glamorgan University confided ‘he’s exactly the same performing as he is in class, he’s completely himself.’ It calmed my nerves unlike the bank of cameras and journalists lined up in front of the microphone. My turn. I read a couple of extracts of stories from The Art of Contraception as well as a piece of microfiction I’d written for the current issue of Buzz Magazine (page 50) based on Couvade Syndrome. It seemed to go down well. Peter Finch later commented on my FaceBook: ‘Susie Wild sounded like she knew what she was doing to me. An excellent performance.’ Thanking you.
The stellar cast of the evening also name-checked these wonders: Jo Verity, Patrick Jones, Alexandra Claire, David E. Oprava, Jon Gower, Deborah Kay Davies, Rhys Thomas, Matthew Scott, John Williams, Sule Rimi, and Rachel Trezise. After our performances we were all led up the garden shed, one-by-one to sit in the dark and be interviewed for Radio Cardiff, helping to illuminate the journalist’s questions by pressing the button on her mobile intermittently to make the light shine. See, such glamorous lives we lead.
Highlights of the night for me including performances by and chats with up-and-coming talent Alexandra Claire and my favourite woman writer in Wales, the ever stylish Deborah Kay Davies. A former contemporary dancer and choreographer, Alexandra began writing about five years ago and Parthian published her first, and then only, story. She discussed the difficulties of finding writing time as a working parent, as well as her first publishing accolades: ‘I’ve now had four short stories for adults published. I received an Academi New Writer’s Bursary award in 2007 and am now trying to get the urban science fiction novel I’ve written published – Random Walk.’ If the reading she gave from it is any indication, it shouldn’t be long before the novel is snapped up. Deborah Kay Davies immediately began a bubbly chat with me before realising she was soon due to take her turn, ushered into the Yurt by the Oxfam Bookfest crew. I followed, excited to hear the first extract from her new Canongate novel, True Things About Me. It was wonderful and I can’t wait for my copy of the book to arrive, Deborah assures me I won’t be waiting long. All-in-all a delightful evening.
In Chapters: Beaches
The next evening it was my turn to relax and enjoy other people’s performances at the fourth instalment of In Chapters, the music and spoken word collaborative evening hosted at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff by the writer John Williams and musician Richard James. Joined by my lovely creative writer tutor friend Briony, we were lucky enough to get seats, unlike the standing many, and be entertained by top Welsh talent, with all creative work thematically linked to the seaside.
As with all previous instalments, the standard of performance was high, but the number of women artists was low. A point of contention amidst the later bar chatters of many of the women writers in attendance in the audience. Still writer and folk musician Charlotte Greig performed a song, and Lindsey Leven also offered us some psychedelic pop in which she played seashells and was accompanied by a very beardy Guto Pryce (Super Furry Animals).
The rest of the evening was dominated by the male. Top Welsh-noir writer Rob Lewis reading from his second novel Swansea Terminal (on the eve of publication of his third and final in the crime trilogy, The Bank of the Black Sheep). Surfer Tom Anderson read about his experiences of waves at Cape Cod as documented in his book Chasing Dean, and John Williams read his own surf-themed extract featuring Porthcawl from his novel Cardiff Dead.
Others were more imaginative, writing new work fitting the theme specifically for the event, well done to the crazy dreams of Des Barry and the fantastic poetry and music collaborative performance between Richard James and ace Cardiff poet David E. Oprava.
Other than niggles about gender balance In Chapters utterly charmed Briony and I once again. More please.
Friday’s rolled around again offering a weekend of excitement, relaxation and – in the North East at least – lots of blustery gales. I’m planning on seeing Inception the first chance I get, and I’m also looking forward to listening to the new Kate Nash album on the strong recommendation of A Friend Who Knows. Plus, I’ll be reading Tana French’s new thriller, Faithful Place.
Any other downtime will be focused on my new favourite blog, hyperbole and a half, where oddities, delights and wonderful brain-ticklers such as the entertaining Alot and the Sneaky Hate Spiral await those who venture there.
Happy Friday everyone – and have a wonderful weekend!
Hello!
The latest magazine is well and truly out, now, so do get in touch if you are expecting a copy but haven’t yet received it.
I just thought I’d drop in with a couple of snippets of international poetry news I’ve come across on my online travels. First up, congratulations to WS Merwin, who has been announced as the 17th US Poet Laureate and follows in the footsteps of Kay Ryan, Mark Strand, Billy Collins and Charles Simic, among others. Let’s hope the role in the States allows for as much influence, fun and profile-raising as Carol Ann Duffy is exerting and exuding in her role in this country.
It still amazes me how little genuine crossover there is from US to UK poetry (and vice versa, I’m sure) – it seems like only the big hitters really get across the pond. I’ve found quite a good way to rectify this in my own life is by signing up to the Poem-a-Day email. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but it really is worth a look. Run by the Academy of American Poets, it has recently been extended to continue throughout the year, rather than just for a the US National Poetry Month in April. It’s a great eclectic mix of poems delivered straight to your inbox. Also, the American Poetry Society website is a wonderful window into the poetic life of the USA.
An admission: I’ve been hankering for a visit to New Zealand for ages, after Wendy’s passion for it and the fantastic descriptions of wildlife and scenery and community and culture and attitude. As if there wasn’t enough temptation, now they’ve also gone and set up a poetry archive over there, full to the brim with New Zealand poetry, and open for people to arrange visits for reading, research, tutorials and to soak up the surroundings. You can see a tantalising pdf list of what’s available in the archive on their website. Yet another country whose famous poets very rarely cross over to this continent, so I wish I could visit PANZA and discover all there is to discover.
Sophie xx
For all our subscribers out there, you can expect to be receiving your issue 46 around about now! Vicky, Martha and Helen have all been working hard to get them sent out to you all, so do bear with us for a couple of days if you haven’t quite received it yet – it should be on its way. If you think there’s a problem with your subscription (or you’ve changed address and need to let us know!) do get in touch.
So sad to hear about Beryl Bainbridge, who died last Friday. A bit of a national treasure, there, and one who was described by Debbie Taylor in an interview with her in 2003 as someone who “works, rests and plays with equal passion.” Read her Guardian obituary here, and see her life in images here.
Hello Summer! After storytelling my way through a heat wave of a Glastonbury Festival I’m now spending some time by the sea in Cornwall reading, writing and celebrating relative’s birthdays — we are a family of many cancerians — from my own, to my Film-Star-Glamourous Nan’s 80th. Wales must be missing me, but fear not readers, I am still in the loop of literary happenings there. Let me fill you in on the news…
And the winner is…
Philip Gross won Wales Book of the Year 2010 for I Spy Pinhole Eye (Cinnamon Press), a collaborative work between poet (Gross) and photographer (Simon Denison)! Certainly a good year for the man on the prizes front. The poet was presented with the £10,000 prize by Minister for Heritage Alun Ffred Jones at a glitzy ceremony at the St David’s Hotel in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday 30 June. The runners up on the English-language Short List were Terri Wiltshire for her novel Carry Me Home (Macmillan) and Nikolai Tolstoy’s The Compilation of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi (The Edwin Mellen Press), each taking cheques for £1000 home with them.
The Media Wales People’s Choice Prize, which was voted for by the public via an online poll, was awarded to another poet! Richard Marggraf Turley took the prize for his collection Wan Hu’s Flying Chair (Salt). The Welsh Language Reader’s Prize went to Manon Steffan Ros for her novel Fel Aderyn (Y Lolfa).
Still talking prizes, Carys Davies has won the Olive Cook Short Story Award for her story ‘The Quiet’. Carys was announced as the £1000 winner at the Society of Authors’ 2010 Awards in London on Tuesday 15 June 2010. Carys’s first collection Some New Ambush (Salt, 2007) was on the 2008 Wales Book of the Year Long List, nominated for the 2008 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize, was a Finalist for the 2008 Calvino Prize and was shortlisted for the 2009 Roland Mathias Prize. Just a bit good then?
Writers’ Day at the Dylan Thomas Centre
The auditorium was packed for the free writer’s conference in Swansea on 17 June 2010. Organised in partnership between the Dragon Initative and the creative writing programmes at Swansea University and Trinity College, Carmarthen the day offered insight into the publishing industry. Sessions geave advice on many aspects of getting your book published from the relationship between writer and editor (Fflur Dafydd and Gwen Davies of Alcemi), the role of the small publisher (Dominic Williams, Parthian Books), the life of a poet (Paul Henry, Seren) and how to become or get a literary agent (Euan Thorneycroft , A M Heath) as well as plenty of time for questions both during the sessions, and, more informally over lunch. Well done to a very pregnant Fflur Dafydd for curating the event, it was a wonderful success.
Ledbury Poetry Festival
‘A rare genuine joining of place, poetry and people’ — Carol Ann Duffy
Philip Gross, winner of Wales Book of the Year 2010 and the TS Elliot Prize will be headlining this year’s Ledbury poetry extravaganza. They say:
“We present a huge range of events from readings, to talks, walks, open mics and performances combining poetry with music, dance and good food. There will be many opportunities for discussion, laughter, creativity, as well as revelry and dancing!”
The Guardian wrote, “This celebration of verse is the largest of its kind in the UK and also the most energised, giving a real sense of poetry as an important living, contemporary literary form.” I’d second that. Pack a bag and go and wax lyrical.
Visit the festival website for more information.
Beyond The Borders
The international storytelling festival returns to the fairytale coastal setting of St Donats this weekend. Three packed days of tales from the best traditional storytellers from around the world.
This year’s themes include 1001 Nights, African Scatterlings and Tales to Sustain. A wide range of authors, storytellers and musicians will be taking part include Chirine El Ansary, Jan Blake, Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara, Sianed Davies, Xanthe Gresham, Ben Haggarty, Michael Harvey, Robert Irwin, Armenia’s Kotchnak Ensemble, Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden, Georgia’s Mteibi Choir, and Chris Wood. The festival also hosts market stalls, international cuisine and morning story walks.
For more information, including how to book tickets, visit the festival website or call St Donats Arts Centre Box Office: 01446 799100
A Kind of Loving
To celebrate 50 years since the publication of Stan Barstow’s cult classic A Kind of Loving Parthian Books are bringing out a new edition of the novel. The lad-lit forefather is a book about love, lust and loneliness has been adapted for the screen, stage and radio. A new adaptation by Diana Griffiths will be broadcast on Woman’s Hour in 15-minute episodes. Episodes 1-5 will be broadcast from 12-16 July at 10.45am. Episodes 6-10 will be broadcast from 19-23 July at the same time.
My holiday reading list:
- Salt Blue – Gillian Morgan (Honno)
- Paper Spurs – Olga Merino (Parthian)
- The Deer Wedding – Penny Simpson (Alcemi)
***Bumper review blog coming soon!***
Right enough typing, time for a stroll along a three-mile beach me thinks.
Happy summer all,
Susie Q x
Hello everyone.
I just thought I’d check in with an admission. There is more than one Star Trek fan in this office.
What this means: posting links to funny Star Trek clips is more representative than just for my own particular delight. If you are not a Star Trek fan yourself (for the record, I love everything except Enterprise, which I’ve tried desperately to because I love Scott Bakula) I apologise. I’ll only post a couple.
Here’s one (thanks Daneet) that requires speakers, and here’s another, altogether shorter, and quieter, but somehow more addictive…
Enjoy.
Sophie xx
P.S. Another Radio 4 poetical delight: A Doggerel Bard, an exploration of satirical verse, old and new, with stand-up poet and Saturday Live poet-in-residence Elvis McGonagall, and featuring other writers including Tony Harrison and Kate Fox. Throughout the documentary, Elvis also performs his piece ‘You Can Call Me Dave.’ It’s worth listening just for that. Pure satirical genius, and a joy to see live, if you ever get the chance.
Well, as Wendy and Daneet are away at the moment in Toronto, busy spreading our name and finding new names to know and love in the Canadian literature world, it’s been pretty quiet here despite the pending magazine production. All of my plants were wilting when I arrived in the office this morning, thanks to the lovely weekend weather (or at least, on Sunday). In fact my sunflowers at home were the wiltiest plants I have ever seen after my weekend away from home, but are thankfully all perked up this morning.
I wish I could say the same for myself!
So. The magazine is patiently waiting for all of the last minute bits and pieces to come together. I see it at this point as a friendly sleeping creature, just letting time pass with the odd part missing, smiling knowingly to itself as pages are taken, altered, saved, taken, altered, saved.. just for the sake of one comma someone happens to have noticed while skim reading it for the fourth time. Eventually it will all combine in the frenzy of finalisation and we’ll have the task of doubletriple checking and sending it leaping off into the world to be printed…with a bow in its hair.
But for now, why not listen to Radio 4’s ‘Off the Page: Poetry Schmoetry‘? (It’s available on iPlayer until Thursday afternoon.) The guests are Andrew Motion, Guy Browning and performance poet Rachel Pantechnicon. It’s an interesting discussion, so I don’t want to put you off, but some of the things they have to say about poetry really riled me, so I’d be interested to know if this is just me.
Sophie xx
Jane Aspinall (Second Prize)
Poetry Means Prizes. At least for some… and it is definitely prizes time for Welsh National Literature Development Agency and Society for Authors Academi this month. This time it is the turn of their 2010 Cardiff International Poetry Competition. The winning poets and their respective poems were announced by Poetry Wales editor and competition judge Zoë Skoulding and National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke at a posh lunch at St. David’s Hotel & Spa in Cardiff Bay yesterday.
The 2010 competition was judged by Zoë Skoulding and Jackie Kay, with Tiffany Atkinson as filter judge. Here’s who they chose as the best-best-best:
First Prize – £5,000! – was awarded to Giles Goodland from West London for his poem The Bees which the judges described as ‘not so much a poem about bees as a poem that does something bee-like, cross-pollinating words to make a landscape that sings in an unexpectedly fertile language.’ Giles, who works in Oxford as a lexicographer, has published a number of poetry collections the most recent being Near Myths (Oystercatcher, 2010).
Second Prize of £500 was awarded to Jane Aspinall, a university senior lecturer in law and management from the Wirral, for her poem Tambourine. A pamphlet of Jane’s poetry called American Shadow will be published by Smith Doorstop Books this June.
Marilyn Jenkins from Llantwit Fardre was awarded Third Prize of £250 for her poem Taking Delivery which the judges described as “a brilliant example of how a poem can work through letting objects do the emoting”. Marilyn, who is a member of Academi, had her first collection of poetry, Close Distances, published by Cinnamon Press in 2007.
The five runners-up in the competition each receiving £50 were:
- John Leslie Brooke from Worcestershire for his poem Tswana
- Naomi Foyle from Brighton for her poem Shaking the Bottle
- Atar Hadari from London for his poem Two Kids
- Jane Kirwan from London for her poem Lásko
- Hugh McMillan from Dumfries and Galloway for his poem My Father from Extant Sources
Academi Boss Peter Finch is never short of words at these occasions, and waxed lyrical about the competition, claiming it: ‘fixes the city of Cardiff right in the heart of the poetry world. 2010 was a bumper year in terms of both number of entries and the quality of the poems. The winner, Giles Goodland has proved himself to be a world class poet. Cardiff is a now cultural epicentre. In these guises long may they both continue.’
You can read all of this year’s winning poems on the Academi website.
