Thank you very much, Yvonne, Tony and Hugh, much appreciated. :o)
Comment is about Georgie Porgey (blog)
Original item by Lynn Dye
This is a bit of a long-shot (literally, in terms of miles!), but an article in the local Stockport freesheet was all about a town called Edgeley in North Dakota,USA, being linked with our own Edgeley (just down the road from our beloved Art Gallery)...........and I wondered, since the local council here seem keen to forge links with our American cousins, whether we might find this of benefit to us at Stockport WOL??? - if nothing else, it might raise the profile of the Art Gallery (and what activities go on there) to people in general?......
Yes, I know, a long shot..............but is it worth pursuing?.........
Over to all of you! - the article is on page 14 of the freesheet................if you don't have it to hand, I can bring my copy to our next meeting, if you would like me to!
Until our next meeting, then, hope you all had a great Christmas and new year..........and hope that Maggie is feeling much better now!...
Happy writing/reading!!! - love from D,x
Comment is about Stockport Council; Museums & Cultural Attractions Consultation (blog)
Original item by Stockport WoL
What has society brought upon itself in its self rightuous search for self-aggrandisement?
Banished 'pro bono', worshipped 'pro ego'.
This is a dire prediction of the future for so many of the next generations.History repeats itself. The Rise and Fall of the Western Empires. xx
Comment is about A callous and cowardly crime committed in Greenford, West London - 19/11/12. (blog)
Original item by hugh
If anyone doesn't know where the Tudor is, just follow the music - you'll be able to hear it all over Wigan :)
Comment is about Tributes and a piper at Write Out Loud Wigan (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
It's good of you to take on board another Comp Dave - people do seem to like them once the ball gets rolling.
This is an unusual theme and one I would never have thought of writing about. As I'm not feeling very creative at the moment, perhaps I should try working the words into one of my very many unfinished pieces - though maybe not the one on suicide ;)
Comment is about Cat. Prize competition (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
tony sheridan
Sat 5th Jan 2013 10:16
I like this. Well done. Take care, Tony.
Comment is about NEW YEAR THOUGHTS (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
Ah, John 'prodigious' work Thanks for the ray of humour in your usual inimitable style. Guess what I'll be humming all day now. xx
Comment is about Mr Gabardine Man - Part 2 (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I am not sure how I missed this one... Wonderful messages that if everyone took to heart - would make a much kinder and peaceful world.
Comment is about Christmas (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
A beautiful verse which everyone should read and the world would be a better place. Well done.Brief but soo effective.
Comment is about NEW YEAR THOUGHTS (blog)
Original item by M.C. Newberry
I am really liking these themes, Dave!
Looking forward to reading the entries :-D
Bonne année et meilleurs vœux !
Comment is about Cat. Prize competition (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Good return to form Ann. Happy New Year, regards,
Graham
Comment is about dead sheep (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
Happy New Year Greg and many thanks for your comments on the Man and the Willow. Would you believe me if I said that I actually wrote that poem in a willow tree?
regards,
Graham
Comment is about Greg Freeman (poet profile)
Original item by Greg Freeman
This is very sad news. Janet was one of the first people I met at the Tudor in Wigan when I started reading at WOL. She was very friendly and supportive and had a warm sense of humour.
Comment is about Death of north-west poet Janet Ramsden (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
A few decades ago, I used to drink in a busy and popular pub, one of whose customers was "Kit" - a lady of considerable vintage, always smart and worth chatting to...one of C.B. Cochrane's original chorus girls it was said. Then one night she was mugged for her handbag in a nearby backstreet and it was the end of her trips to the pub - and in more tragic fashion, the end of her life as she and we knew it. A big city tragedy that is worth recalling as a London Green Party member calls today for the disbandment of police Territorial Support Units because they "alienate" young people. I think Kit would have rather seen a TSG unit in that lonely street the night she was terrifyingly hurried towards a premature exit from a life in which she had been an adornment, and a joy to know. Well done, Hugh, for reminding us of the jackals that slink around our streets in search of the real victims of this grotesquely skewed world of ours.
Comment is about A callous and cowardly crime committed in Greenford, West London - 19/11/12. (blog)
Original item by hugh
Thanks, Dave, for kicking off 2013 with a new Write Out Loud competition. And a new voting system, too! Does Nick Clegg know?
Comment is about Cat. Prize competition (blog)
Original item by Dave Bradley
Fascinating, troubling, inspiring - thanks Greg
Comment is about Poetry trails and poets jailed: stories that caught the eye last year (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
This made me go "Oo". Power in understatement, sparse yet vivid. Good one.
Comment is about dead sheep (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
tony sheridan
Fri 4th Jan 2013 20:27
Hi Ann. Nice one. Happy New Year. Take care, Tony.
Comment is about dead sheep (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
Not sure quite where this came from - except I've seen a couple of them recently, at field's edges.
Comment is about dead sheep (blog)
Original item by Ann Foxglove
tony sheridan
Fri 4th Jan 2013 19:25
Hi Hugh. Well done. More like this please? But still make me laugh sometimes! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about A callous and cowardly crime committed in Greenford, West London - 19/11/12. (blog)
Original item by hugh
Georgie Porgy pudding and pie,
A great poem written by Lynn Dye.
Comment is about Georgie Porgey (blog)
Original item by Lynn Dye
tony sheridan
Fri 4th Jan 2013 19:08
Hi Lynn. Fantastic! Love it! Take care, Tony.
Comment is about Georgie Porgey (blog)
Original item by Lynn Dye
<Deleted User> (9882)
Fri 4th Jan 2013 13:25
I love this poem,but not as much as the smile of your little saviour!x
Comment is about While you sleep (blog)
Original item by Ged Thompson
I have had a stonking year as it goes - one of the best of my life, and much of it to do with poetry - so once again, my heartfelt and eternal thanks to Julian and Dave for putting it in motion all those years ago. I reckon you've saved lives with this.
Performing at the Wigan Diggers festival was immense - a beautiful day, wonderful acts, all my poetry mates, and my first encounter with a non-poet crowd. Whoo! If I didn't already have the performance bug, I sure did after that ;D It's led to a fantastic opportunity too - more later, as they say!
Coming 3rd in the Wigan and Leigh Words Festie poetry comp was amazing - the 'do' at Haigh Hall was proper special, and I made a brilliant new mate in the amazing poet who won first prize. Got runner up in an international comp, and got published loads (and received about the same amount of rejections heh).
Played actual gigs this year, including Nantwich Words and Music Festival (which I'm getting to play a headline spot at next year!), and supporting the immense John the Baptist and the Second Coming - that's been ACE :)
The current government has been THE lowlight of the year. There are no lengths to which they will not go in order to serve their own needs, and fuck the rest of us. One good thing though...they did manage to radicalise huge chunks of the population, albeit unintentionally, and provided me with endless material to write and rant about ;)
Steve's poem is an amazing piece of work - one of a number of political pieces written in response to the omnishambles which is the UK at the moment, and all power to everyone who speaks out. Never let them silence us - No Pasarán!!
I took on the challenge of setting up a recognisable Facebook presence for us (WOL) and it's been way more successful than I thought it might be, which is nice :D
Onwards and upwards, as they say. I have a bodhran to teach myself this year, plus a cajon - one or both may appear on a stage with me at some point this year :D (if I manage to grow the balls big enough to do it!!)...ooo Laura, THAT'S not very ladylike ;D
Happy New Year y'all!!
Comment is about Year of the Red Wheelbarrow: but how was 2012 for you? (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Great round-up Greg. A happy new year to you and yours and a sincere thanks for all the work you've put in during the past year. Let's hope that 2013 proves to be just as productive and entertaining (and, hopefully, a trifle less damp!)
Regards,
A.E.
Comment is about Poetry trails and poets jailed: stories that caught the eye last year (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Aye, she'll be sadly missed. Was a real shock to see Isobel's note on FB about Janet - like many others, I have memories of her being really supportive to me when I first joined WOL.
RIP mate xxx
Comment is about Death of north-west poet Janet Ramsden (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Brilliant stuff to kick off 2013 Yvonne.
Comment is about The New Me (blog)
Original item by Yvonne Brunton
I know you wrote this a while ago but came across it while browsing. Excellent -especially the first verse. Best wishes, Steve
Comment is about Someone Else's Sorrow (blog)
Original item by Charlie Sparkinson
Yvonne, I'll never get over the thrill of writing something for WOL and finding comments waiting for me when I go back to it. Glad you liked 'That Place', best wishes, Steve
Comment is about Yvonne Brunton (poet profile)
Original item by Yvonne Brunton
Well I for one would LOVE the idea of a WOL week-end in Devon. Does it rain slightly less there? Perhaps we'd actually get to chat as well as listen to poetry. It's a hell of a drive but I'm sure some car sharing could go on - will have to chew Julian's ears off!
When it comes to poetry nights, I'm sure anyone anywhere can open a poetry night and advertise it on WOL - and also brand it as a WOL venue, if they want to join the team - though you'd have to speak to Julian about the finer details of that. The roots of the site are in the North-West - but roots hopefully spread :)
Comment is about Year of the Red Wheelbarrow: but how was 2012 for you? (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
we are eternally searching to rediscover our own particular 'that place' and this poem really evokes those idyllic times which maybe only ever existed in our minds but were never more real to us. Great stuff. Bittersweet last verse brought a lump to my throat.
Comment is about That Place (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
HI John. thanksh for your commentsh on The New ME...hic
Comment is about John Coopey (poet profile)
Original item by John Coopey
<Deleted User> (10123)
Thu 3rd Jan 2013 22:46
...and my girlfiends all looked better the more I'd drunk.
Nice to see you posting again, Y.
Comment is about The New Me (blog)
Original item by Yvonne Brunton
Excellent poem and delivery. You are, of course, preaching to the converted.
http://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=29018
Comment is about Stress-EA (blog)
Original item by Karen Robinson
chilling! the line 'Small sweet architecture' so highlighted the enormity of the action.
Comment is about unwanted (blog)
<Deleted User> (6895)
Thu 3rd Jan 2013 22:18
oh those gone places and people eh Steve!
yet our sweet memories of them all come back to us in lovely poems like this!keep those valuable memories coming please!xx
Comment is about That Place (blog)
Original item by Steve Higgins
I love sell-by dates. It means I can buy loads of food at reduced prices, eat it now, freeze it or as you say - they didn't have sell by dates when we were young (!!) and we are still here - just look and sniff - use your common sense - because, of course, The Government hadn't cornered the market in that resource in Grandma's day. Strange that they commandeered it rather than taxing it though!
And a Happy New Year to you .
Comment is about Sell-By Dates - The Great Rip-Off (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
You can find more of my poetry by searching on SUBACCHI+POET
Comment is about UN CAFE E UN LIMONCELLO (blog)
Original item by David Subacchi
steve mellor
Thu 3rd Jan 2013 20:14
Why I continue to try and get to the Red Shed, I really don't know.
The first time I tried, was before the organisers had the grace to tell people that they only operated for 6 months of the year (not the July evening that I had gone along to)
In a state of pique, I kept away for a while. The second and third times I went along were most enjoyable.
On the 4th and 5th times, I wasn't even asked if I wanted to read in the open-mic (and on one of these occasions, there were only 4 other people in the room). Maybe they were trying to tell me something that none of my friends felt able to do
Tonight (probably only the 6th or 7th attempt I'd made), the room was double booked according to the bar-lady and one of the organisers who came along to confirm that there would be no Red Shed tonight
I give in.
How to attract an audience and influence people
Review is about Red Shed Readings on 3 Jan 2013 (event)
Sad to read this. I never met Janet in person but when she was around on WOL she always gave me encouragement; this was especially appreciated when I was new to the site. I looked forward to reading her poems too. An interesting and a warm character!
Comment is about Death of north-west poet Janet Ramsden (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Hi Tom - a rather belated welcome to WOL! Good to see you putting your work on the blog section. Hope you enjoy the site!
Comment is about Tom Chapman (poet profile)
Original item by Tom Chapman
Hi Ian - welcome to WOL. I like your poems - if you feel so incliuned you could put one on the blog section - more people see stuff when it's on there.
Comment is about Ian Whiteley (poet profile)
Original item by Ian Whiteley
Hi Timothy - welcome to WOL. Hope to see more of your poems on here soon :)
Comment is about Timothy Greenhalgh (poet profile)
Original item by Timothy Greenhalgh
Cynthia Buell Thomas
Sat 5th Jan 2013 17:36
Thanks, Greg,an excellent review. I wasn't so much involved this past year, but I'm looking forward to 2013 activity.
Comment is about Poetry trails and poets jailed: stories that caught the eye last year (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman