Melts in the mouth

Some things look good enough to eat and, although they may never produce a poem, they remain in childhood memory for ever.

So if you write a story, and want to get those taste buds dribbling, just mention the oldfashioned metal foil that used to wrap a certain brand of chocolate. Plastic just doesn't work for me.

There is one place everyone should visit once in a lifetime. I say once, because, until the next generation (children, grandchildren, aunts), I wrap up all that sweetness inside a big tin to share at Christmas.

But there is much more to Bournville than chocolate. Well, not really, because we all know that life revolves around chocolate. Certainly when all the railings and signs are a shade of chocolate wrapper. When there is nothing and nowhere else to eat, but chocolate. The scent gets everywhere.

http://www.bournville.in/

If you must visit the land of milk and cocoa, don't miss out on the village of Bournville; it is as moorish as the chocolate (wild invading force?). And where better to find a picture to adorn the oldfashioned chocolate box, than in the village itself? Idyllic as Anne Hathaway's cottage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hathaway

Writers should always check their facts, so before you decide who Shakespeare bequeathed his second best bed to, check out Wikipedia (above).

And since context is all - the only thing left to say on this blog, is: They used to give you a huge bar of chocolate as you left the factory tour - now you just emerge into the biggest sweetie shop, tempted to spend yet more money, if your pores aren't secreting chocolate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F0vq-0jUhc

And, far from Gorillas in the Mist, this was the best part of the exhibition; if you exclude the more recent advert, which sees all children in the party raising their eyebrows in time to the music.

So now you - may - know what my next Blog is about. And if you want a lovely wrapping, the scent of words as broad as the Highlands of Scotland, FIRES OF MEMORY, prize-winning pamphlet competition winner, James Knox Whittet's collection is now available. It only costs £2.50 (post free UK), and I promise it will only make you fat with dreams and memories.

WARNING: This blog will, however, have you running to the sweet shop or the - chocolate - biscuit tin....

round about now!

Right place, right poem

Writers are gluttons for punishment; given ten rejections, what do most writers do? Sulk. Scream. Vow, never again.

And then go right on, sending out another ten submissions. So are writers born or made?

They certainly don't choose the angst. There is one essential difference between a writer and a non-writer...
guess what?


Writing. So arriving in Cornwall, a place littered with editors, past and present, my Land's End (pictured) poem wrote itself...
as did every other place I visited.

Brentor (pic) inspired a whole new vere form - and that was following a morning climb in thick mist.


But some places demand a whole collection of poems, like Malta (out now, book and CD) and like Swansea. The Writing Shed is not for me, unlike Dylan Thomas (pic); I write more like Bob Dylan, scribbling on the napkin mid coffee, mid conversation. So how did I find time for a family holiday (sun, sea and sand), yet still have a finished collection on touchdown in the UK?


A shed and a blank page gives many people writers' block; but arrive with nothing but a postcard sized envelope and the muse strikes instantly - even in the interval, after hearing the former poet laureate spouting forth.

Since it also led to my complete absorption with Bob Dylan, I must have been a mighty dry desert with an oasis.

Places and poems inspire the muse; so do postcards. So thankyou, Caroline, for a beautiful PC from the Highlands - the resiulting poem is trying its luck in a competition. And if it is the wrong place or the wrong time, I know the poem will find a home. Inspired poems usually do.

So when a poetry article inspired an approach to writing - and I thought the poem was about a sweetie shop - should I be surprised that my latest expedition to the dentist raised a chill of toothache into a nice poem. But finding the right magazine? In the south, the west, north, or even the east?

And to show that good things spread... try this website; that came as a nice surprise!
http://carolinegillpoetry.blogspot.com/2009/10/magazine-moment-5-wendy-webbs-tips-for.html

And just to show that not all writing involves exotic travel, or stuck at home or a coffee shop; try Greenwich Theatre on 31st October, for performance poetry - where the poets muse from the audience, while actors do all the hard work...

I could get used to this...

see you there?

Rooms with a view, Norwich

There are many rooms with a view in Norwich: a perspective on Norfolk's wealthy history, which now provide a place to rest awhile; to relax and enjoy lunch or a cuppa. The world is your oyster for food in Norwich, so I'm beginning at the MAID'S HEAD (pictured) opposite Norwich Cathedral. Try the Courtyard Restaurant for as much ambience as you can manage; then imagine the stage coaches that would have arrived over the centuries. Or walk down the side road beneath Tombland, where you will find King of Hearts, for lunch with the arts.

The Cathedral has a grand new refectory above its ancient cloisters. And Tombland, site of the ancient market, which caused the locals to riot when the church needed lands to build its Salisburyesque Cathedral by the Wensum.

Near the Bishop's Gardens, try the Adam and Eve pub (pictured), which always looks packed on a balmy evening - and let's face it, how much rain do we get in East Anglia?

Opposite the Cathedral, you will find Ye Ancient Norwich, where Elm Hill (pictured) provides treasures and teddy bears. There are plenty of teashops in every delightful nook and cranny; some I am still discovering after years of walking over cobblestones.

No trip to Norwich is complete without a trip to Bonds (pictured) - although it has now been renamed John Lewis. Try the restaurant on the 3rd floor, where you can relax in comfort, or spy the rooftops of Norwich. Bonds is very close to Castle Mall; not to be confused with Chapelfields (the brand new shopping complex that was built on the site of the old Nestle factory).

If a cheap lunch is your choice, dropin to All Saints Centre, opposite Bonds, where down-and-outs can find warmth, a comfy sofa and basement prices on food and drink. Support this worthy cause.

And last, but not least, down a side alley opposite Debenhams and within sight of Loose's, try CAFE MORELLO. When I dropped in recently and showed the owner a poetry magazine (Weyfarers), he was delighted to discover my poem about the cafe, scribbled between menus one Christmas. You can find out more by visiting their website; then look down the page to find a link to my poem.

http://www.cafemorello.com/

So next time you dropin to Norwich, you will not be short of places to eat and drink -but if you visit Cafe Morello, say Hi to the owner, and say it was reading my poem that tempted you to good homely cooking.

Haddon and Michelangelo

Congratulations to the prize-winners in the Haddon Library Poetry Competition (Cambridge), including Norfolk Poet Caroline Gill of Swansea:

http://haddon.archanth.cam.ac.uk/poetry/index.html

It's surprising where a Michelangelo may be found - here in Malta, as the name of a restaurant. But the real work of art was sunset along the promenade every evening, with the view over St Paul's Bay.

Golden Bay, where they filmed Troy and where parasols and loungers could be hired, for a price.

FROM NEWCASTLE TO MALTA VIA LAND'S END is now back from the printer's, packed with poems of place, to warm you through the winter.

And now Tips for Writers (73) is printing and - where price is no object - eTIPS is available monthly, at no charge, to your email address.

Life has been too busy for blogging, but relaxing with a print publication has its attractions. And next in the pipeline is the collection by Tips Pamphlet Comp Winner, James Knox Whittet. FIRES OF MEMORY is full of vivid images, by a wordsmith who has achieved a lot of success in recent years.

Talking of winter firesides, writing a poem for the latest Reach anthology - the subject almost gave me writers' block (something that I am not known for...); but picking up the leaflet a day or two later, the poem arrived like a ton of bricks - coal, obviously!

So, opening a magazine, or receiving a postcard through the post, whatever creates that spark - picking up pen and paper when the Muse strikes is the fastest way I know to write a poem.

So next time you have a competition deadline, read the rules and theme and then sleep on it - you never know, the postman might be delivering your poem...

Live Canon and Folding Mirrors

Talking about folding mirrors, this poetry form devised by Marc Latham has been celebrating by indexing all poems on the website. So take a look and then try your own Folding Mirror: where every punctuation mark may be reflected in the poem.

http://fmpoetry.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/new-poems-on-this-site/

To mark the first month's anniversary, all poems on site have been indexed. All poems are written in the Folding Mirrors form, devised by Marc Latham. Includes poems by Caroline Gill, Norman Bissett, Wendy Webb and Claire Knight.

Talking of folding mirrors, not long ago I devised a poetry form inspired by the palindrone, a poetry form popular with Dylan Thomas, who wrote quite lengthy poems, where the end word was reversed in the second half of the poem. Having tried a poem of 104 lines, I can vouch for its complexity.

So when I wanted to devise a modern poetry form inspired by this effect, I married it with a simple well-loved form: the sonnet. The Palindromedary Sonnet was created, and at Live Canon this half term, you can see the result, as actors perform one of my poems onstage at Greenwich Theatre.

Join me, if you're free, tickets are available for purchase now, direct from the theatre:

livecanon

LIVE CANON: ‘Emerging Poets’
Greenwich Theatre, 31st October 2009, 1pm


Live Canon's brand new show features the work of 22 emerging poets, performed live on stage by actors from the Live Canon Ensemble. After working their way through performing the 'canon', Live Canon bring their fresh and accessible style to new work, in what promises to be an exciting programme. The performance also features the world premiere of three new settings of poems, by talented young composition students.

'What an extraordinary art form poetry is, and what justice Live Canon does to it......' Extra, Extra

This is a fantastic way to hear, see and experience poetry. For the avid poetry fan, the theatre goer, the music lover, or those just curious....

Live Canon is also publishing a volume of the shortlisted poems, which will be available for purchase at the performance.

Directed by Helen Eastman
Assistant Director Paul Stucker

The Greenwich Theatre
Crooms Hill
London, SE10 8ES
October 31st, 2009 1.30pm
Box Office – 020 8858 7755
Book online: https://www.purchaseticketsonline.co.uk/

...TO MALTA

Some trips fade in memory, while others warm as the weather cools... so I am looking forward to reviewing my photo album this winter.

MALTA was not entirely planned - we arrived at the travel agent's and asked for interest, history, not too too hot, but packed with culture, facilities and not too much nightlife...

So why did we end up in Malta, which has any sort of holiday you may choose, where I found myself sitting on an undetonated bomb... in Mosta. Fortunately, this is the replica - the 2nd World War bomb, and not my reaction.

What a mass shift of tourists, to be renowned as the European 3rd largest dome and site of an unexploded bomb that arrived during Sunday service. It has attracted tourists ever since and well worth the visit - not least because there is no entrance fee, and the art and architecture are stunning.














So does Malta have everything? From the prehistoric, through endless occupations, to heroism during the last War and, even, modern art (tastefully covered by my hat!), it's all here in Valletta.

There's even a ghost town, the former capital city at Mdina.

In just in case the treasures of the Mediterranean are out of reach for another year, try another bomb? work of art? souvenir? or entertainment through those Winter months.

There's a new poetry collection by small press poet Perry McDaid, RUBY SILVER, details on request.

Talking of weaponry -try joining Live Canon at Greenwich Theatre this half term, where a group of qualified actors and musicians are providing a repertoire of poetry and music, launching live canons on an unsuspecting public...

Hopefully not, since I will definitely be in the audience, as one of the shortlisted hopefuls, whose poem will be performed - on a London stage! Book your tickets before they run out - and say Hi. I shall be relaxing and enjoying the performances, but don't show me the stage or I might look like I'm sitting on a Live Canon, or wartime (detonated) replica!

So join me at Greenwich Theatre on 31st October at 1.30pm, and watch this innovative group of Live Canon at work.

(Tickets available, price £10 from Greenwich Theatre Box Office at:

020 8858 7755.

http://www.livecanon.com

http://www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk

From York to the plinth to...

I like rooms with a view, so discovering this delightful cafe on Lendal Bridge, York, was a real discovery - although, since there is only ONE table that squeezes into the window seat, you must choose your timing.

Open top buses - having tried them from NEWCASTLE to... the theme location of my new poetry collection (sun, sea, sand and s...), I could choose my favourite bus route with a view...

However, buses are only as good as the view; so if you have never been before, I can recommend them - anywhere in the world. Mind you, nothing beats a 50s Bedford around hairpin bends at speed - who needs a rollercoaster?

Room for a view from York Minster, but time waits for no man - and here, not even for a woman. So do not consider the effects of health and safety, when you are hurried down all those steps because the next tour is due to climb.

Much better, treat yourself to St Paul's Cathedral, where they sensibly have a different exit route - taking you past the roof where bombs fell during the War. Bombs also fell in the Med, so join my future blogs, when I will tell you more about Location, Location, Location, of my new poetry collection; where a bomb fell through the domed roof during Mass and...

Talking of blond bomshell -didn't Crysse do well...! Seeing the plinthathon in the news yesterday was a timely reminder - that if your solicitor is overworked, justice may prove lethally late.

A two hour delayed flight meant we could see nothing as we flew over London recently, heading south; however, with Nelson's blind eye (called insight) I could see it all laid out before me. The only other way to achieve this, is by a trip on London Eye by night.

Talking of London, IMAGES AND SYMBOLS is now printing, by 93 year old Margaret Cornish, who was a canal boatswoman during the War. So if you would like to aspire to a lifetime's poetry, then this is the poetry collection to choose; at just £3.50 it's packed with haiku and senryu, distilled from a lifetime's experience, and the brevity of thought when life slows to 93% proof.

So if you have read this far, as a special pre-publication offer, you may order your copy (UK offer) at just £3 post free and you can ask for a freebie back-title with your order. This offer is available for just two weeks from today.

And if you are now desperate for a last (or first) brew of the day - or something a little stronger - next blog I will take you a little further along the route to my newest poetry collection:

FROM NEWCASTLE TO... VIA...

By Trains, Planes, Boats, Buses, Flippers and Automobiles...