I phoned David Francis, who placed this ad, a couple of months ago; he said that this event was not running regularly, but in fact quite rarely. I've asked him to put an email contact on here but he hasn't. Also the address is slightly wrong, it's Newton Lane, not street. So if your reading this David, please sort it out.
Review is about Spoken Word & Music on 14 Sep 2013 (event)
What a tragic waste of such a talented individual's life, and of those of all affected by this.
Comment is about African poet Kofi Awoonor among Kenya massacre victims (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I can't listen to the audio right now, but yep, agree that to keep it authentic, the offensive slogans need to be kept in there. And this really IS realistic - as Greg says, you can smell this one!
Comment is about Cottage Sleaze (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Cheers Paul
This actually happened to me - the dream of the unknown poem that I was going to write. And I did dream it twice. It plagued me, so I had to get it out of my head, and then started thinking of the correlation between it and Kubla Khan - hence this... :)
Comment is about Fragment (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
Philipos
Tue 24th Sep 2013 10:03
Apparently John Donne wrote loo poetry, so you are really up there with the top men (bottomly speaking of course). As Greg points out, this poem has an ammonia whiff to it. I take it you wrote it during your recent break in Sussex. Nothing bog standard about this etc, etc. But starkly enjoyable anyway.
Thank you for the kind comments on 'Pebble on Bournemouth Beach'.
Comment is about Cottage Sleaze (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
<Deleted User> (11459)
Tue 24th Sep 2013 09:31
Those who praise,
are great personalities!
Generous hearts,
creative mentalities!!
Those who are grateful
are wise and healthy,
thank you, the playful,
with heart so wealthy!
Comment is about Nigel Astell (poet profile)
Original item by Nigel Astell
Very witty, flows like water
Comment is about I'm The Urbane Statesman (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Many thanks for your comment Jane. Though I am an atheist at heart, I see some of the sage advice in religious text as important in attempting to create a moral society.Though religion is becoming increasingly irrelevent among brits today. I see that the consequences of that being a more immoral society with problems such as greed and corruption, and though I personally don't believe in god and some of the far flung stories included in the bible, I believe that it should be read on a theological level and garnering a moral framework with standards to live by.
Comment is about Religious Dogma (blog)
Hey Starfish, thanks for looking in on 'poem for a friend'
Like Jonnie I'd like to see more in your biography (not thats there's much in mine)but I am nosy ,do I do see a sort of American influence in your work . .?
Steve
Comment is about Starfish (poet profile)
Original item by Starfish
You don't have any photos of your feet, do you?
Comment is about Life's a Blast (blog)
Original item by Starfish
hello Starfish,
Many thanks for your kind comments on "The Masterly Strategy..."
Not my usual genre but I felt rather strongly about the lack of action which seemed to be the public mood.
(I have reverted to type in my latest offering!)
Comment is about Starfish (poet profile)
Original item by Starfish
An excellent piece of work Cynthia and one which reflects my own feelings about poetry so well. The title says it all . .
Comment is about 'Poetry can't exist without rhythm. Don't be academically bullied into dropping rhymes' (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
what ho, Izzy,
Thankyou for commenting on "The Masterly Strategy ..."
I agree that consequences are unpredictable and possibly dire. They were when we declared war on Germany for invading Poland. But what would the consequences have been if we had not?
Comment is about Isobel (poet profile)
Original item by Isobel
Hello MC,
Thanks for your thoughts on "The Masterly Strategy..."
I agree the situation is complex, not least because aiding the rebels might bite us on the bum. And it is wise to consider consequences.
There are, though, in my opinion, some actions so vile that the right thing to do is to do the right thing and live with the consequences.
Comment is about M.C. Newberry (poet profile)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Hello Jane,
Thanks for your thoughts on "Hugging Candles".
Yes, I too feel an enormous weight of history (as well as an enormous weight of timber!) when I open and close up each day. The West door of the Abbey doesn't have a lock; it's secured by an enormous wooden beam I have to lift in pace each night. Very medieval!
"Hugging" = trimming them with a knife so they fit the holders.
Comment is about jane wilcock (poet profile)
Original item by jane wilcock
Yes, I did wonder about the racist slogans. But authenticity got the better of me.
(The one about "Nigger's Out" I pinched from Lynne Truss's "Eats, Shoots and Leaves". She tells the story - it's all about misuse of the apostrophe - of a black garage owner in the States who had "Nigger's Out" scrawled on his workshop door. When he saw it he wrote underneath it something to the effect of, "but he'll be back after lunch". Very disarming!)
Comment is about Cottage Sleaze (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Powerful Ian especially "I trace my finger through you, wishing you were here". Much sympathy if it's current.
You might be interested in another poem about dust (thought-provoking stuff)
http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=16842
Comment is about dust (blog)
Original item by Ian Whiteley
Could have done without the racist slogans, John, but then I suppose you'd argue it wouldn't be authentic. You need every dodgy apostrophe, too. There aren't many poems that you can smell, but this one you can.
Comment is about Cottage Sleaze (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Only just found this and loved it. They do often settle where they go to uni - handy if it's London!
Comment is about Independence Day (blog)
Original item by jane wilcock
well you've certainly surpissed yourself this time mr. coopey - another good 'un in your own inimitable style :-)
Ian
Comment is about Cottage Sleaze (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Clutching at the straws as they fall out of the birds nest of sleep, combusting in the daylight just out of reach. So often this happens, nicely captured
Comment is about Fragment (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
I love your title Cynthia! I would amend it to read 'Good poetry can't exist without rhythm.....'
I see plenty of examples of poetry (some of it highly acclaimed) which I find totally un-poetic. For me to like a poem, there needs to be rhythm, which I often call flow. That flow can be found in non rhyming poetry but it's much harder to achieve and harder to explain.
Comment is about 'Poetry can't exist without rhythm. Don't be academically bullied into dropping rhymes' (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Like the look of The Mystery Kidnapper
One day in a graveyard,two evil twins appeared.
They popped up out of a grave.
Comment is about Creative Input Required (blog)
Original item by Stockport WoL
I'll bet a new pound to an old penny that the
media were assuming that modern sensibilities
would equate "sluts" with "tarts" or "whores".
Enough said!
Harry - thanks for the comments and the observation on the stanza in question.
Comment is about FADING BLOOM (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Looking at your initials and your style, I'm reminded of another excellent blogger who used to appear on this site. Whoever, this is an excellent poem. Apologies that I can't find anything to fault!
Comment is about Rebecca's (blog)
What a great piece, thanks Cynthia! I love this part, it is sooo true:
"If any single word, or phrase, stumbles out awkwardly, then change those words. They are not right for that part of the poem, and your mouth knows it. Trust the lips, the teeth and the tip of the tongue!"
Fantastic, should be made a sticky on the site this!
Comment is about 'Poetry can't exist without rhythm. Don't be academically bullied into dropping rhymes' (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Excellent piece.
The juxtaposition of accent needing to be consistent and consonants must be included seems to me at odds. Perhaps, as you have said elsewhere the key is their deliberacy of inclusion and omission.
As for consistency of accent... well again it is about purpose, accuracy and control.
Mine is far from consistent but it does have plenty of purpose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHE4-psmwL0
Comment is about 'Poetry can't exist without rhythm. Don't be academically bullied into dropping rhymes' (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Apologies to Gemma and whoever turned out last night. Apparently I was down as guest poet. I've sacked my tour manager and bought a new diary. Actually I thought it was next week. Unforgiveable. I'm sure you had a good time anyway.
Dave Morgan
Review is about Write Out Loud - Middleton on 25 Aug 2013 (event)
Congratulations to the Poetry Book Society for organising this commendable tour, and to the Arts Council for backing it. Sounds like it was a very good night at Oldham.
Comment is about Grand performances as TS Eliot tour drops in at Oldham library (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
That's rather a hefty entry fee...
I do find a lot of these comps iffy. If the only prize is getting yourself published then I'm guessing the entry fees are funding this.
Would the 36 lines have something to do with page length for the printer - why should the poems be limited?
Comment is about Chance to have collection published in Geoff Stevens memorial competition (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I'm guessing that the winners will be invited to provide additional poems to form a full collection, Freda, once they are selected.
Comment is about Chance to have collection published in Geoff Stevens memorial competition (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
I do find competitions puzzling.
This one asks for 10 poems of not more than 36 lines. Then it says '5. The two winners will receive 25 copies of their collection which will comprise 56 perfect bound pages'.
Does this mean the ten poems totaling max: 360 lines will be spread over at least 50 pages, (given a few end-papers)? That is an average of 7.2 lines to a page. Five pages for each poem.
Am I reading this wrongly?
Comment is about Chance to have collection published in Geoff Stevens memorial competition (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
It isn't apparent at the moment that the poem shortlisted for the Forward prize was plagiarised, Freda, and indeed CJ Allen maintains it wasn't. The allegations relate to other poems. But those accusations and plagiarisms have cast a shadow, and I am sure the organisers are relieved that CJ Allen has done the decent thing, at least as far as the Forward shortlist is concerned. I also find it somewhat interesting that the judges thought so highly of it, when it had only been placed third in the Troubadour contest. As one of the other judges, Sheenagh Pugh, has pointed out, it wasn't on everyone's shortlist.
Comment is about Poet accused of plagiarism pulls out of Forward shortlist (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Jeanette Winterson, chairman of the 2013 Forward Prizes judging panel, says: “We thought the poem had depth, wit, truth and elegance. Maybe CJ Allen is a shyster, maybe not.. Our job wasn’t to pass judgment on people or process, but to find good poems.”
This is a bit of a cop out to my mind. It is not difficult to do a search on phrases of a poem and discover if it has been published online by someone else. In the previous discussion of plagiarism some people found a lot of examples by doing a search. Harder I admit if the poem has only been paper-published by someone else but I think it would not be difficult for any competition manager to do a search at least of a shortlisted group of poems.
I don't think it is the responsibility of the judges, but they should expect it to be looked into.
Comment is about Poet accused of plagiarism pulls out of Forward shortlist (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Hello Jane , Hope you are well.
Thanks for your comment
my original poem for that is nice and was written by the sea on holiday
but the version on here was written in a city
my poems on here are jumbled examples of what i do
i always have trouble with swearing in poems in this case i swear out of desperation i think
Thanks for your message and i take your thoughts on board ! thanks
Comment is about jane wilcock (poet profile)
Original item by jane wilcock
Lads,
If `slut` means means doing the housework - un-beautified from last nights dance - as nearly all women still do (besides being a nice little outside earner) then I`m all for it...Call me a chauvinistic pig.
I`m all for it!
For pete`s sake boys, how do you think we`reall able to exist!
(so long as she doesn`t make too much noise as I`m watchin` this derby)
By the way M.C. that third stanza`s a metrical little corker!
Comment is about FADING BLOOM (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Brill. (I fell over a chair in a pile of chairs at a gallery once and was rebuked for it. Difficult to know where it should go back I said). One persons luggage is another persons trash!
Comment is about Liverpool Tate (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
a room of contrasts, I really found this thought provoking, great observational poetry.
Comment is about It's different (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Well, having read ahead today I think you have maybe spouted a number of theological poems of doferent types. Perhaps in these old words is a story? Personally I like sitting on old church pews and wondering who else has sat there and why.
Comment is about Hugging Candles (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Well said, a Unitarian maybe. The theological vs scientific dogma bores me: one resons and explains, the other is experiential but they also semm at times to overhang and blend at will.
Comment is about Religious Dogma (blog)
Thanks for contributing to the discussion and liking my poem Chris. I am glad that we are in agreement that this piece of work is reprehensible.
My poem was directed more at intellectuals within the art world - those who purchased this work and displayed it in their gallery. But if I'm to be honest, it's also for people who could watch this video without feeling the same rage and anguish that I feel.
I take your point that just because people don't say anything, doesn't mean they don't agree. I HAVE reacted to what I saw in quite an extreme way - possibly more extreme than most people would have. When you really feel something deep inside, sometimes it's hard to understand how others can't. I think I'm passionate by nature and hardwired to act in this way. I guess we are all different and that's what makes for an interesting world :)
I hear what you are saying about censorship but do not agree.I don't see the art world as being on a par with the film industry. I can't imagine that banning a video from a publicly funded art gallery would create a stampede of people wanting to see it in a privately funded gallery. Nor would the artist benefit financially from any voyeuristic curiosity via people on the internet.I take your point that agreeing on a set of principles might be trickier. I would be looking for a very simple formula. Just that no live person or creature should be hurt or exploited in the creation of a piece of art. I think that publicly funded institutions should be accountable to the public in some way - and that there should be channels we can go through when they cross the line. If we allow galleries to fund this kind of art, where will it end?
Thanks again for reading.
Isobel
Comment is about Turning Over Tables (blog)
Original item by Isobel
A point very well made. Hilarious.
Comment is about Liverpool Tate (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
Poignant stuff. Lovely read, but sad.
Starfish
Comment is about Poem For A Friend (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
I'll have some of that
Comment is about Roll up for Wirral Ode Show poetry contest (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Bloom behaved unlike the politicians we have
become used to - but I wonder how a certain
John Prescott (or George Brown of old) might
have reacted?
The BBC ran a ticker-tape news item on a continuous thread along the bottom of its News
24 screen accusing Bloom of describing women as
sluts. This misleading generalisation was the subject of my dissatisfaction with the type
of misleading reporting we get - less so,
the childish stuff about the cover of the UKIP brochure. Bloom should have merely smiled
and remarked how good the pictures were!
As for "sluts", he was speaking in the context of the conversation IN the room he occupied when
badinage/banter was understandable, albeit not
usually heard from a "politician". Slut, of
course, is defined as an untidy or slovenly
woman. He could have used the term "slattern"
and had the reporters scratching their heads!
All parties attract "fruitcakes". That's par
for the society we have created for ourselves
today, when we are so quick to take a position - and take offence...yet are so concerned about
giving offence we let kids and old folk die in vile circumstances because we don't want to challenge others for fear of being labelled this or that type of person. Baaaa!
Comment is about FADING BLOOM (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Come along this Thursday if you can make it, the quality of the poetry seems to keep improving and the group Little Machine always entertain.
Review is about Rhythm & Muse on 26 Sep 2013 (event)
Concerned, humane, looking outwards. I like the terse title, too. Well done, Dave.
Comment is about It's different (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
John Coopey
Tue 24th Sep 2013 13:49
I'm rather flattered that my poem is thought so sensual. Cottages hold a special place in my heart. I was fondled when I was about 12 by a bloke in Hucknall Market toilets while he spunked up in the next urinal. It was rather thrilling.
Comment is about Cottage Sleaze (blog)
Original item by John Coopey