Recent Readings and Good Things

What’s good?

I’ve been knocking back prose again at last: 23,000 words into a novel and it’s flowing. I’ve missed this – exquisite agony.

What’s bad?

I’ve been knocking back prose again…

I lose track of the (real) world, time passes far too quickly and I feel guilty writing if it’s not the novel. (Hence lack of blog posts: apologies.)

Meanwhile, on the Good Things list, I have read at a lovely mixture of poetry events recently, leaving me a little gobsmacked to be involved in, er, such a lovely mixture of poetry events.

Worcester’s Oxfam bookshop hosted A Celebration for International Women’s Day on the evening of Friday 8 March. Organised by the superbly energetic Amanda Bonnick and Anna Cramm we enjoyed wine, cake, Anna Cramm’s Anagram ™ Competition and much more. I read – and sung the sing-y bits – of a poem I have written for Mark Burnhope’s protest against ATOS anthology (more about that soon, I hope). Not an easy poem to perform (or listen to, with me singing – luckily those bits are brief) but it went well; that “pin drop” silence is quite incredible as a performer: wow. (Yes, I am new to this kind of Good Thing but I am loving it.)

ConFab Cabaret was at Re-Con in Malvern on Tuesday 19 March organised by the fabulous Catherine Crosswell and Amy Rainbow. What can I say? except YEAH! It was a fantastic night out. We took some friends along. One isn’t a poetry type (if there is such a thing, anyway) but he could barely breathe he was laughing so much, tears streaming, in Spoz’s final set. There was excellent music, dance (belly dancing, no less – luckily not audience participation) and a good mix of spoken word. I braved a Prepare to Share two minute open mic slot and read poetry “found” on LinkedIn which got a big laugh. (Luckily it is a humorous poem, so that was a Good Thing.)

Photo by Paul Saunders

Unfortunately, Transition Worcester’s Earth Hour concert in St John’s church was cancelled due to global climate change dumping a foot of snow on the proceedings; rescheduled for 18 May. (Up here on t’hills in Malvern we were snowed-in  – as in unable to use car – for almost a week. Again.)

But Malvern Writers’ Circle managed our Spring Lunch – albeit reduced in numbers. I had to nab a lift as the car was still stuck in the snow drifts.

Last – but definitely not least – was Worcester’s 42′s second anniversary celebration at Drummond’s Bar (The Swan with Two Nicks) on Wednesday 27 March with themes of full moon/werewolves (as it was on the night of a full moon). 42 is a genre gothic/horror/sci-fi/fantasy monthly event. The weird and wonderful reign. What a mixture and variety of prose, poetry, genre! I could say it was a howl but that would be a terrible pun. I read two lyrical poems with moonlight references and then, as it relates to a form of horror (tenuous), my LinkedIn poem, which seems to be a dead (another bad pun) cert for a laugh. Review of the night HERE from horror author Adam Millard, also an incredibly Good – if rather scary – Thing Person.

April is NaPoWriMo again. I’m up to my neck in prose and day job so missing it this time but recommend it as a great way to learn to churn as it were; writing every day is a good discipline. Do as I say, not as I do…