Poetry magazines.

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This site contains Poetry Library’s free access non-profit-making online archive of English 20th and 21st century poetry magazines which is part of the library’s ongoing digitisation project funded by the Arts Council England.

The Poetry Library launched www.poetrymagazines.org.uk in 2003. It aims to reach new audiences and preserve the magazines for the future.

It already holds more than 6,000 poems published in over 50 different magazines, with work by Fleur Adcock, Jen Hadfield, Seamus Heaney, Michael Horovitz, Jackie Kay, Edwin Morgan, Paul Muldoon, Les Murray, Sheenagh Pugh, Owen Sheers, Fiona Sampson, Penelope Shuttle and many more.

The website has been selected by the British Library to be archived by its digital heritage web archiving project, the UK Web Archive.

Source: The South Bank Poetry Library.

Some old, some new and some departed.

In the Loop on Radio Wildfire.

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There’s a new format for The Loop on Radio Wildfire – and there’s a longer than ever selection of stories, satires, poetry, spoken word, music and interview playing 24/7@ www.radiowildfire.com.

For the first time ever The Loop now features a repeat of the whole of the latest edition of our re:Lit programme (from Monday January 7th 2013). Responding to listener comments, that means you can catch up with tracks from cds by Bradford’s Nick Toczek and Poetry Cornwall’s Les Merton with The Moontones. Plus tracks uploaded to the Submit page of the Radio Wildfire website by Mark Goodwin; Gable Ratchet; Bissecta and Kinsâme from Montpellier; 6&8 with poet Jessica Peace and Rory McCormick; Savaran with Danish poet Sarah Maria Raun; and The Antipoet – a feast of poetry with a plethora of musical styles and ambient backing, plus all the chat between.

Also in the programme you can hear the winners of the Narrated Tales competition that we have been running in conjunction with the online fiction community Burrst.com, with stories from Massimo Marino, Jessica Sepple and Robbie MacInnes. And we have an intriguing new story from Ireland Shergar in the Fairy Ring written and read by Catherine Vallely – the show is introduced, as usual, by Dave Reeves.

PLUS The Loop has a rerun of Tony Judge’s satire A Brief and Approximate Guide to Space – which means there’s over two hours of listening.

So join us and listen by going to www.radiowildfire.com and clicking on The Loop.

(And don’t forget, you can upload soundfiles of your own work to the ‘Submit’ page of the Radio Wildfire website. Mp3s are our preferred format. You can also ensure you always get reminders of upcoming shows on Radio Wildfire by following us on Twitter.)

The Loop is curated by Vaughn Reeves and will play online continuously for the next month (approximately), except during our live broadcast on Monday 4th February starting at 8.00pm UK time with a full programme of pre-recorded tracks, live studio guests and conversation.

We hope you enjoy it.

Best wishes from the folk at Radio Wildfire.

WHAT IS RADIO WILDFIRE?

Radio Wildfire is an independent online radio station which blends spoken word, poetry, performance literature, comedy, storytelling, short stories and more with a novel selection of word/music fusion and an eclectic mix of musical styles. www.radiowildfire.com currently broadcasts live 8.00-10.00pm (UK time) on the first Monday of every month.

—
Listen to Radio Wildfire at www.radiowildfire.com where The Loop plays 24 hours a day.

Faber offers poetry e-books with audio.

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Faber has launched a series of digital-only poetry e-books being described as “a new way to appreciate poetry”.

The Faber Voices series of e-books presents selections of each poet’s work with a line-by-line synchronised recording of the author reading their own poems.

The series, launching with work from Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin and Wendy Cope, is built with Epub 3.0 and available on the Apple iBooks platform.

Henry Volans, head of digital at Faber, said: “Faber Voices has the potential to bring poetry in its spoken form—read by the poets—to a larger audience than ever before. In harnessing the recordings to the written works in a single e-book we believe we are presenting a new way to appreciate poetry.”

The four launch titles are just the start of what Volans promised would be “a significant new list designed to grow as e-books themselves become ever more sophisticated”.

Each title is priced at £2.99.

Source: The Bookseller.

The new issue of Flash (international short story mag) is now available.

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The October 2012 issue of Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine features stories by Craig Raine, Etgar Keret, Jon McGregor, Tania Hershman, Elise Blackwell, Robin Greene, Ihab Hassan, Allan Kolski Horwitz, Pamela Painter, and others.

For further information, please visit the Flash website: http://www.chester.ac.uk/flash.magazine

Copies can now be ordered online from the University of Chester Shopfront: http://shopfront.chester.ac.uk/

With best wishes,

Peter Blair and Ashley Chantler

(Editors)

Writing competitions, events and grants in the East Midlands.

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Some of the following may be of interest. They’re all from the current email newsletter from Writing East Midlands. I’m afraid the links have been stripped out, so I suggest you sign up for their newsletter to get it delivered direct to your inbox.

NOTTINGHAM FESTIVAL OF WORDS FLASH FICTION COMPETITION
To celebrate National Storytelling Week (Saturday 26 Jan – Saturday 02 Feb) Nottingham Festival of Words is launching a flash fiction competition!
The best stories will be published on the festival website, with one lucky winner receiving a pair of weekend passes to the festival.
Deadline for submissions is 11pm on Tuesday 29 January 2013
More

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW FOR THE NOTTINGHAM FESTIVAL OF WORDS
The first Nottingham Festival of Words welcomes all lovers of words to Nottingham.
Events will be taking place at Newstead Abbey, Nottingham Trent University’s Newton Building, Nottingham Playhouse, Lakeside Arts Centre, Wollaton Hall, Debbie Bryan’s shop, Jam Cafe, Broadway and other venues around the city.
More
Sign up to the Nottingham Festival of Words newsletter here.

COURSES AND WORKSHOPS

Writing School Leicester starts its new term of courses in January.

ADVANCED SHORT STORY WRITING WITH DEBORAH TYLER BENNETT
This course is aimed at practising short fiction writers who want to experiment with different narrative forms and gain new skills. You will look at how short stories are told, who tells them and why, and how to explore different types of narrative perspective. You will also consider switches in narrative voice and uses of imagery in short stories.
4 Sessions from Monday 14th January
10am-noon
Price: £50
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POETRY TOOLKIT WITH ALISON DUNNE
A robust and energetic approach to developing your work with lots of ideas and exercises to cultivate your essential poetry toolkit. A look at defeating the blank page, editing your work, form and content and other tricks of the trade.
5 Sessions from Monday 18th February
10am – noon
Price: £60
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NOVEL WRITING WORKSHOP ROD DUNCAN / MAXINE LINNELL
Working on a Novel? Rod and Maxine will lead you through exercises that will make the process of writing and editing more enjoyable.
9 sessions from Tuesday 15th January 2013
7-9pm
Price: £110
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STARTING TO WRITE A CHILDREN’S BOOK WITH DEBBIE WHITE
“I think I’d like to write for children.” Sounds easy enough! But what age group? A picture book perhaps or a chapter book for 5-8 year olds. Maybe an 80,000 word teenage novel? Phew! And if you go for the teen novel, what genre? Science Fiction, Romance, Historical, Fantasy, Crime?
4 sessions from 16 January 2013
10am-12pm
Price:£50
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WRITING ROMANTIC FICTION WITH SUE MOORCROFT
A Valentine’s Day Special
14th February 2013
10am-4pm
Price: £35
Want to write your love story? Join this Valentine’s Day Special with Sue Moorcroft.
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ADVANCED EBOOK PUBLISHING WORKSHOP WITH PIPPA HENNESSY
This half day workshop gives you the chance to extend your ebook production skills to include an understanding of how ebooks really work ‘under the hood’.
Saturday 2nd March
10.30am – 3.00pm with a 30 minute lunch break
(Lunch not included)
Price: £50 (4% PayPal booking fee if booking online)
To find out more and book your place, click here.

View the full list of Writing School Leicester courses here
Writing School Leicester is now a subsidiary of Writing East Midlands.

WRITING HORROR STORIES WITH ALEX DAVIS
26th January
One day creative writing workshop.
Mackworth Library, Derby
£25, booking essential
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FIFTY SHADES OF PLAY
27th January
A day spent finding inspiration and playing with words, ideas and genres. This workshop will be perfect for you if you’d like to start writing but don’t know how to begin, or you’re stuck for ideas. Come and explore! What else do you have to do on a cold winter’s day?
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BOX OF PROPS POETRY WORKSHOPS
expresseum poetics will be delivering two series of page-performance poetry workshops at two of Leicestershire’s independent museums: Lutterworth Museum in the South of the county, and Kegworth Museum in the North.
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LET’S WRITE A BOOK
The perfect course for those people with an idea for a book but don’t know where to start, or just looking for that extra bit of motivation and guidance to complete their projects!
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WRITING TV DRAMA
This practical workshop led by Jim Hill offers an insight into writing for television drama
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INSCRIBE MASTERCLASS
SUBMITTING TO PUBLICATIONS with Kadija George
Sat. 23 February 2013, 11am – 5pm
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CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
A fun and informal workshop at Loughborough University
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CREATIVE WRITING FOR THE OVER 55S AT THE THEATRE ROYAL NOTTINGHAM
A nine week creative writing course, led by Cathy Grindrod, commencing Friday 18 January at the Theatre Royal Nottingham.
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MA SCRIPTWRITING & DEVELOPMENT – UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN
The MA in Playwriting and Script Development at the University of Lincoln is delivered by a professional team of script readers, editors, playwrights and academics. This practice-based Master’s programme, created especially for graduate students with a good honours degree who want to write for theatre, will train students in playwriting, alongside the important and transferable skills of script editing, dramaturgy and script development.
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COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS

“NOTTINGHAM LACE” CHILDREN’S WRITING COMPETITION
The Nottingham Lace Competition is open to anyone aged 18 or under living in Nottingham. There are three age groups (under 10, 11–14, and 15–18), and you can enter either a poem or a short story.
We’re looking for entries on the theme of LACE. Make lace. Wear Lace. Love lace. Lace words together. What does lace mean to you?
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NOTTINGHAM FESTIVAL OF WORDS FLASH FICTION COMPETITION
To celebrate National Storytelling Week (Saturday 26 Jan – Saturday 02 Feb) Nottingham Festival of Words is launching a flash fiction competition!
The best stories will be published on the festival website, with one lucky winner receiving a pair of weekend passes to the festival.
Deadline for submissions is 11pm on Tuesday 29 January 2013
More

THE ALAN SILLITOE OPEN POETRY COMPETITION
Closing date: 22nd January 2013
1st Prize: £200, 2nd Prize: £100, 3rd Prize: £50
All profits go to the Alan Sillitoe Memorial Fund
More

CALLING FOR SUBMISSIONS FROM PLAYWRIGHTS
A Play for the Nation’s Youth.
National competition launched to find a new play for young people.
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LOVE ON THE ROAD 2013
International writing competition seeks tales about making connections. Non-fiction or fiction.
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DARKER TIMES FICTION WRITING COMPETITIONS
Darker Times Fiction hosts three monthly writing competitions – short story, flash fiction and poetry, all on the theme of ‘darker times’ (this doesn’t necessarily have to be horror). Cash prize for winners and publication in an ebook and paperback Anthology as well as on the website.
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HOOKLINE NOVEL COMPETITION 2013
The competition is open only to students and graduates of MA writing programmes. But rather than select a winner ourselves, the judges are book group readers from around the UK
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HIPPOCRATES PRIZE FOR POETRY AND MEDICINE
The Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine is an annual international award for an unpublished poem on a medical subject
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GREY HEN POETRY COMPETITION 2013
Grey Hen is a small independent press. Our aim is to publish poetry by older women. For women over 60 only. Those who will reach 60 before the end of June 2013 are eligible.
More

OPPORTUNITIES

VOLUNTEER AT THE NOTTINGHAM FESTIVAL OF WORDS
The Nottingham Festival of Words is looking for volunteers who’d like to help, either during the Festival or in the run-up to it. Volunteering is a great way of getting involved in the literary scene in Nottingham, meeting other people, and developing skills in areas like event organisation, media, and marketing. You’ll also be playing an important role in bringing a new and much needed Festival to the city, one which we hope to establish as a key event in the region’s arts calendar.
If you’re interested, get in touch with Robin Vaughan-Williams, the Nottingham Writers’ Studio Develoment Director, who will send you further information about volunteering: admin@nottinghamwritersstudio.co.uk, 0115 959 7947.

For more information on the festival, visit the website at nottwords.org.uk

LEFTLION SEEKS VOLUNTEER REVIEWERS FOR NOTTINGHAM FESTIVAL OF WORDS
Interested in reviewing Nottingham Festival of Words Events for LeftLion Magazine and Website?
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BURSARY FOR ARTS STUDENTS AND RECENT GRADUATES
Saddled by student debt? Whether you’re a first-year student or a graduate, if you embarked on a BA or BMus in 2006* or later, you could benefit from having £9,000 wiped off your Student Loans Company balance by arts charity IdeasTap.
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THE LONDON UNPUBLISHED FICTION WRITERS OPEN READING 2013
Seeking writers of fiction
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PAID ARTS COLUMNIST OPPORTUNITY
Get paid to write a weekly arts column for online arts magazine, IdeasMag
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GET INTO READING PROJECT WORKER, THE READER ORGANISATION
This is a dynamic and varied job requiring you to promote, set-up, establish and facilitate a weekly Get Into Reading group in order to promote well-being and good mental for offenders/ex-offenders in the PD PIPE.
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FILM PRODUCER SEEKING A WRITER TO DEVELOP A FEATURE SCREENPLAY
An exciting opportunity to be attached to a feature film project which is currently in development.
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CALL FOR WORKSHOP LEADERS: MARKET BOSWORTH FESTIVAL
Market Bosworth Festival would be pleased to hear from artists who could offer workshops in schools.
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PENDROP CREATIVE WRITING GROUP
PENDROP … Blackdrop’s creative writing group, returning with our regular monthly workshops!
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FUNDING CENTRAL
Funding Central covers funding and finance opportunities for voluntary and community organisations operating in England from European, national, regional and local government and charitable sources.
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PHD FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: ANTHONY BURGESS FOUNDATION
Applications are invited for a PhD bursary, to support research into the literature or music of Anthony Burgess and his contemporaries
The bursary will support a scholar beginning his or her studies in the academic year 2013-14. The bursary is tenable anywhere in the world and offers up to £15,000 per annum for a maximum of three years.
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EVENTS

LISTEN WHILE YOU LUNCH-WITH TRAVEL WRITER LESLEY GOULD
21st January
12.10pm to 1pm
Fancy a break from the workplace or a sit down after doing the shopping? Join us for a talk by travel writer Lesley Gould.
Derby Central Library, free event.
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AN EVENING WITH DAVID ZELDER
23rd January
An illustrated talk by East Midlands writer David Zelder
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ALAN SILLITOE THEN AND NOW
26th January
A Five Leaves event at the Djanogly Art Gallery, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, as part of the Saturday Night and Sunday Morning exhibition
More

AN EVENING WITH PETER JAMES
28th January
Join us for an evening with Peter James one of the UK’s most treasured crime and thriller novelists.
Central Library, Derby
£10, including light refreshments, booking essential.
More

NOTTINGHAM STORY TELLERS
30th January
Bad and Bawdy Tales – Pete Davis and David Brailsford.
A selection of naughty stories told by two storytellers who should know better, but don’t. lots of laughs.
More

BALCKDROP
14th February
Your next ‘drop of goodness’ from BLACKDROP spoken-word is on Thurs 14th Feb 8-10pm £3 age 16+ at Canalhouse bar, Canal Street, Nottm.
More

SAY SUM THIN 4
15th February – 16th February
Poetry will collide with performance, music, dance and whatever else The Mouthy Poets can get their hands on. Come explore the theme of Love, Lace and Revolution as part of Nottingham Festival of Words.
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BUY MY COMIC
16th February
Jay Eales and Selina Lock, publishers of Violent! and The Girly Comic, are veterans of the UK comic publishing scene.
More

EMBA AUTHOR PANEL
17th February
To celebrate the East Midlands Book Award, now in its third year, previous winners Mark Goodwin and Anne Zouroudi will be joined by two shortlisted Nottinghamshire writers, Paula Rawsthorne and Gregory Woods, for readings, Q&A and book signings.
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AND FINALLY…

NOTTINGHAM BASED SELF PUBLISHED AUTHOR SUCCESS
Trevor Forest’s self published children’s books are doing extremely well and are being used in schools across Britain. Stanley Stickle Does Not Have A Girlfirend is being used as a set literary project by Hamilton College, Scotland. The school also uses Trevor’s book for older children, Peggy Larkin’s War, as a reference when they study the evacuation of children in WW2.
Find out more about Trevor’s children’s books here.

WATERSTONES SUCCESS FOR LOCAL AUTHOR
Ann Featherstone found her novel Newgate Jig on display in Nottingham Waterstones under ‘Fresh Blood’ and ‘Murders most Mysterious’.
Read an interview with Ann and read a sample of Newgate Jig here

Do you have anything you want to shout about? Any good news or successes? Writing East Midlands wants to hear from you! Help us celebrate the literature talent of the East Midlands.

Simply email hayley@writingeastmidlands.co.uk and tell us what’s been happening around you.

A collaborative Tarot poem sequence by current students.

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The following sequence was devised and created by current students on their own initiative via their Facebook group.

COLLABORATIVE TAROT SEQUENCE

The structure must be either a four line poem containing fourteen words, or a three line poem containing twenty-one words plus a one word title. The last word of the first line in each poem must rhyme with the last word of the poem above. The numbers come from the typical tarot deck which contains four suits of fourteen cards each and twenty-one trump cards plus one trump, which is The Fool. Only the poems of three lines comprised of twenty-one words are supposed to have titles. These titles, as inspired by The Fool card, are meant to be foolish.

Shirley Bell

‘I am fortune’s fool!’
cried Romeo as Juliet
reeled past, lashed
to fate’s wheel.

 

Steve Lint

FIREWORK

The hanged man thrust his fetid heel
towards the sun, moon and star,
who had blasted the tower of these lovers.

 

Cassandra Cash

Intoxicated by knowledge, he discovers
pleasures of seclusion
awaiting an honest spark
to ignite

 

Laura Clipson

CASTLE

Death rides and brings fright,
skeletal, brandishing a rose; none understand,
the old must die to make way for the new.

 

Tina Panface Daley

DINNER

Kneeling on stars of dew
she holds captive the essence of existence,
which oozes from chalices bringing life to the earth.

 

Matt Ellis

BLOSSOM

Rising from blood and mirth,
blade of silver arcs resplendent through ashes,
freeing the soul of his mephistophelean veil, unlatch, unleash.

 

Mido Elwaheidi

PALMIST

O death! Is contemplating in you like hashish?
No answer did I find, death is my fate
As it is yours

 

Joel Leverton

The heights of Everest, floors
Of canyon and cave,
Hanged men
See it all

 

Stewart Norvill

TIRAMISU

wait by the tree and leaves will fall
and grow and cards are just a game
until she wants her payment

 

Rosie Temple

ZEBRA

The Fool dines with Uncertainty, patient,
treading the watery pathways wept by a scheming orb.
On the banks, the wolf howls.

 

Ian Turner

Traitor on the prowl,
Judas with a gun,
In school,
Their time has come.

 

Shirley Bell

SEAGULLS

Yet after horror there is always sun,
gilding the upturned faces of the flowers
and drying the tears of our children.

 

Steve Lint

HAMMOCK

The Blasted Tower, silly house and garden,
the danged bivouac, the flippin’ penthouse suite,
the blinking caravan, and the risible gite.

 

Cassandra Cash

Her trickery tastes sweet
the manipulation of velvet gloves
enchanting, deceptive,
the Magician’s assistant

 

Laura Clipson

The Hermit is distant,
hiding from dragons
of the real world;
isolation impedes growth.

 

Tina Panface Daley

IGLOO

Bread comes by the loaf,
Fruit comes by the pound, Gold comes by the ounce
And death comes by the hand.

 

Matt Ellis

DIMPLES

White feathers silver and grand,
herald of the doomed man’s fame,
loose the arrows in storm, ironic white flashes of scorn.

 

Mido Elwaheidi

Those opposing me will be torn
My decisions are irrevocable
no questions
no suggestions

 

Joel Leverton

I seek corrections
To alter my world.
These cards read directions;
Let future unfurl.

 

Stewart Norvill

WALRUS

passed up the Med from girl to girl
Harut and Marut’s paper trick
to lose you coins and empty cups alas

 

Rosie Temple

MEAT

Desolate eyes, harass!
Pester the heavens strewn with possibilities.
Find your sky shepherd and surrender your soul to be driven on.

 

Ian Turner

Devil be gone,
temptation and greed,
sing a new song,
find a new creed.

Writers predeceased by their works. Not that I’m trying to discourage you…

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Gibson went on to publish the most widely read book of (first world) war poetry by a non-combatant, including the very popular “Breakfast”, an instant candidate for any new edition of The Stuffed Owl. But in the wake of the war, and with the rise of modernism, his fame quickly faded. Poignantly, Gibson himself was only too conscious of his short lease. In 1934, according to Hollis, he wrote to Frost to say, “I am one of those unlucky writers whose books have predeceased him”.

Source: Guardian.

What’s the future of the e-book?

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Half a decade into the e-book revolution, though, the prognosis for traditional books is suddenly looking brighter. Hardcover books are displaying surprising resiliency. The growth in e-book sales is slowing markedly. And purchases of e-readers are actually shrinking, as consumers opt instead for multipurpose tablets. It may be that e-books, rather than replacing printed books, will ultimately serve a role more like that of audio books—a complement to traditional reading, not a substitute.

Source: Wall Street Journal.

When Bram met Walt.

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But Stoker wasn’t immune to the lure of fandom. He understood it very well. The object of his adoration wasn’t a bloodsucking creature of the night, but an aging American poet who had scandalized America. When he was twenty-two, Stoker read and fell in love with Walt Whitman’s poetry, finding solace and joy between the covers ofLeaves of Grass. And, like many fans, he wanted the connection that he felt to Whitman to be real. Late one night, cloaked in the comfort of darkness, Stoker poured his soul out to Whitman in a shockingly honest letter that described himself and his disposition. That letter, when Stoker finally mustered the courage to mail it, would begin an unexpected literary friendship that lasted until Whitman’s death.

Source: Humanities.

Mad Swiss Sherlock Holmes pilgrims.

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What is this really about? Perhaps the single most revealing fact I later discover is that Sherlock Holmes is the most often depicted fictional character on screen of all time. With over 250 different instances, Holmes surpasses his nearest rival, Hamlet, by some distance. His first outing is thought to be a 30-second silent movie, Sherlock Holmes Baffled, which appeared in the US in 1900. Hundreds of actors have since played the role. And, of course, his appeal is as direct and as fulsome and as lucrative today as ever it was. Indeed, we are now in the midst of a Sherlockian renaissance (not that he ever went away): the Guy Ritchie movies; the curiously apposite Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC adaptation; Elementary, a new series from the US; and the new “estate sanctioned” book.

Source: Prospect Magazine.