Wanted - London Poets and UK Artists!

A new project for 2013. 

Jaybird Live Literature and Southbank Centre are planning a large scale poetry commissioning project for Summer and Autumn 2013.

They are going to find one poet connected to each of London's 33 boroughs* and ask them to create a new poem inspired or provoked by that borough.

They will then introduce each poet to an artist (visual, theatrical or digital) who will interpret the new poem and send it out into the world: launching it from a relevant borough location, from a space in Southbank Centre as part of the 2013 Neighbourhood Festival, and from the web.

They need poets, one of them connected to every London borough. Poets can be well established or just starting out, they can write in English or other languages, they can be native or adopted Londoners, they can be page or performance poets - but they must be able to respond to a specific commission creatively and professionally. It is unlikely that we will select poets who are still unpublished beyond magazine level, or who have as yet only given a couple of performances. A poet's connection with a borough may be that s/he lives /d there, was born there, works/ed there or experienced some genuinely significant life event there. (What's my borough? Check here.)

They need artists who can work imaginatively with text, whether visually, theatrically or digitally. They must be UK based, but they do not need to be London based. Artists can be individuals, partners or collectives, they can be well established or just starting out - but they must be able respond to a specific commission creatively and professionally and create an interpretation of an existing poem which is sympathetic to the qualities of that poem, and which is conceptually and / or physically robust. We are unlikely to select artists with no track record of delivering similar work.

If you can project a giant poem in light up the side of a wall, if you can make a poem grow in moss graffiti, if you can send a poem in morse code to search for extra terrestrial life (or similar!) we'd like to hear from you. We are looking for performances, happenings, large and small-scale installations, takeaways ... whatever delights us. Please bear in mind that while some interpretations will have a budget of £1,000s, most will have budget of £100s. We need your ideas and skills to carry our newly commissioned poems into the hearts of Londoners throughout 2013.

This new project will be managed by Julia Bird of Jaybird Live Literature; and Bea Colley, Participation Producer at Southbank Centre and one of the organisers of Poetry Parnassus in 2012.

How to Recommend ...
Poets and poet recommenders: please email Julia and Bea at 33boroughspoetry@gmail.com with your / the poet's name, your / their borough if you know it, and a link to your / their website or online presence. We do not need detailed CVs or suggestions at this stage, just enough information to be able to follow up if we choose. Please title your email 'Poet Recommendation'.

Artists and artist recommenders: please email Julia and Bea at 33boroughspoetry@gmail.com with your / the artist's or collective's name and a link to your / their website or online presence. We do not need detailed CVs or suggestions at this stage, just enough information to be able to follow up if we choose. Please title your email 'Artist Recommendation'.

A more detailed brief will be provided for poets and artists who are selected to take part.

All recommendations must be received by 18th February 2013.

The delivery of this project will take place in three stages over Summer and Autumn 2013 and the poets and artists we select will be notified within plenty of notice of any commissioning deadline. Because of the expected volume of recommendations, we will probably not be able to respond individually to the poets and artists we don't select. Details of the selected poets and artists will be announced on this website.

Please note 1: Organisers are expecting to receive many more recommendations than there are opportunities. Between them, Jaybird and Southbank Centre manage many poetry-related projects so all individuals will be borne in mind for possible future projects even if they are not selected to take part in this one.

Please note 2: This project depends in part on a successful Arts Council England funding bid. The poets' and artists' commissions will be paid opportunities, but no-one will be officially commissioned until the funding is in place.

* 32 boroughs, plus the City of London

Source: The Poetry Library

Tom Palmer, Author, Latest News ...

I am currently on the final editing stage of my new children's book, "Ghost Stadium" for Barrington Stoke, out in June. You can find out more here.

In the meantime, there are some exciting international dates coming up this term linked to my children's books and please sign up to my newsletter for FREE literacy resources that will encourage reading for pleasure in your school or library.

To order your free poster pack or for any further information please do email admin.tompalmer@talktalk.net.
   
Dates for your Diary
       
Six Nations Rugby tournament: 2nd February-16th March

Free Resource : Rugby Reading and Love Rugby: Love Reading Two free packs full of ideas to help you get children into reading for pleasure through rugby

Read : Scrum!  A passion for rugby and a dilemma about it too lies at the heart of this touching story of a boy with a big decision to make.

You can also read my blog about using the Six Nations to promote reading.


Fairtrade Fortnight: 25th February-10th March

Free Resource : Fair Play teaching pack based on my research trip to Ghana is about Fair trade, football and literacy.

Read : Foul Play 3-Offside  Young detective Danny Harte helps a young footballer from a Ghanian cocoa farming family who is trafficked to the UK

Climate Change week: 4th March-10th March

Free Resource : The Pack Ideas for thinking about ecological issues including the melting ice in the Arctic and the scramble for the oil and gas underneath the seabed of the Arctic Circle.

Read : Squad 2-White Fear  Teenage spies are summoned to the deadly and frozen land of the Arctic Circle by the British Prime Minister prevent international war breaking out.

World Book Day: 7th March 2013

Free Resource : Award or start my Series Reading Challenge, with sticker books and progress charts and signed & personally dedicated certificates for any child reading all of my Football Academy or Foul Play series.

Find all my free resources here.

(Thanks to Tom Palmer for this info.)

Award-winning Irish poet Maurice Riordan is the new Editor of Poetry Review

The Poetry Society are delighted to announce that award-winning Irish poet Maurice Riordan is the new Editor of Poetry Review. Maurice will take up the role later in the year, beginning with the autumn issue of the magazine, which will be published in September 2013.

Looking forward to his Editorship of the Review, Maurice said: “It’s a good moment for poetry now the century is gathering pace. I sense a disturbing and creative energy in the air, alongside the vast new reach of our science and technologies. I’d want to plug in to that – and also to re-establish links with what’s happening in poetry elsewhere, initially in North America.”

An experienced poetry editor as well as an acclaimed poet, Maurice has edited numerous anthologies and was Editor of Poetry London from 2005 to 2009. He is currently Professor of Poetry at Sheffield Hallam University. 

Riordan’s poetry collections (all published by Faber) include A Word from the Loki (1995), a Poetry Book Society choice and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize; and Floods (2000), which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award. The Holy Land won the 2007 Michael Hartnett Award. A new collection, The Water Stealer, will be published this year. 

Guest Editors Moniza Alvi & Esther Morgan are producing the spring issue of the magazine, to be published at the end of March. The summer 2013 issue of Poetry Review will be guest edited by the leading poet, translator and novelist Patrick McGuinness.

Find out more via the Poetry Society media room at: www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/mediaroom/

Source: Poetry Society Member Newsletter

The Second Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Author is Announced!

Eleven Doctors. Eleven months. Eleven authors. Eleven stories.

A year long celebration for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who!

The second instalment in a sensational series of stories celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is written by Michael Scott, New York Times best-selling author of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.

Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi TV show in the world and celebrates its 50th anniversary on 23rd November 2013. To celebrate, Puffin – in partnership with BBC Worldwide – is publishing an exclusive series of eleven ebook short stories each based on one of the Eleven Doctors, priced at £1.99 and released on the 23rd of each month from January to November 2013. Each story is written by a different author, bringing together some of the most exciting names in children’s fiction, from commercial blockbusters to literary award-winners. These authors will each bring their own interpretation and reimagining of their chosen Doctor to create a unique Doctor Who adventure in their own inimitable style.

On 23rd January, Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer launched the series with A Big Hand For The Doctor, his short story about the First Doctor, played by William Hartnell.

The authors of the subsequent eshorts will continue to be unveiled on the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who Facebook page on the first Tuesday of every month throughout the year.  A promotional video featuring the author will be released on the 11th of each month on the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who YouTube channel.

Puffin is thrilled that Michael Scott has written the second instalment in this series based on the Second Doctor. The author commented: “Everyone has their ‘own’ Doctor – usually the one they first started watching. Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor, was mine and so writing this story was an opportunity to revisit a really important part of my childhood. There are elements of Patrick Troughton in every Doctor who followed – that's how influential and important he is.”

When Jamie McCrimmon brings the Doctor a mysterious book, little does he realise the danger contained within its pages. The book transports the TARDIS to a terrifying glass city on a distant world, where the Archons are intent on getting revenge on the Time Lord for an ancient grudge.

Photo by Perry Hagopian

About Michael Scott

Michael Scott (@flamelauthor) is one of Ireland's most successful and prolific writers for both children and adults. Michael has over 100 titles to his credit and has written in a variety of genres including fantasy, science fiction and horror, and is considered an authority on mythology and folklore.  In 2007, The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, the first in a ground-breaking young adult fantasy series, launched straight into the New York Times bestseller’s list, spending 16 weeks in the top ten. All six books in the series have been New York Times bestsellers and the series is now published in 37 countries. He lives in Dublin. For more information visit www.dillonscott.com.

Source: Press release.

Guest Blog by Pete 'Cardinal Cox', Poet

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. As Poet-in-Residence for a church I managed to write around a dozen poems inspired by Christmas, some religious, some historical, some reflecting a handful of the minorities of Peterborough. I wangled a performance at one carol service, though some ask why I might go to such a thing being an atheist, I point out that my love of mince pies outweighs any ethical or philosophical objections I might otherwise have. The church also hosts the annual Holocaust Memorial Service and so I penned a poem for that too.

As part of a local circle of poets I performed at the Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival at the beginning of January. The festival is one largely of folk dance and music that also includes storytelling and (for the fourth year now) us performing our poetry in the local library. We always manage to attract an audience and always enjoy the day. However, any description of the festival has to include the phrase “Well, you know the film The Wicker Man …”

I was idly remembering a poetry festival I attended in Oxford ten years ago. On the Friday night I got to the venue early and so had a bit of a wander around to waste some time. When I returned I could see some people lounging around outside, apparently enjoying the evening air and sharing some liquid refreshment. Fortunately before I haled them as fellow poets I realised that they were actually using the homeless day centre next door. Well, it’s an easy mistake to make …

Sometimes you’ll get into a discussion about the relative merits of poets, and previously there has been no firm way to decide who is the better. I say previously because I’ve just bought the book “Poets Ranked by Beard Weight” by Upton Uxbridge Underwood, with commentary by Gilbert Alter-Gilbert (published by Skyhorse Publishing). No longer need we ponder over the relative merits of Lord Tennyson or Walt Whitman, as this tome clearly states Tennyson had the better beard. Sir Walter Raleigh or Dante Gabriel Rossetti? It’s the Pre-Raphaelite by a whisker (if you’ll excuse the pun). The introduction to the book is by Jack Passion, who won a title at the World Moustache and Beard Championships held in Brighton in 2007. By a curious co-incidence (and for reasons I’ll not go into here) I hi-jacked and took control of the photography lounge at that very championship.

Oundle Festival of Literature March Events

 

Rachel Joyce Event – 1st March

Rachel will be in conversation with Fiona Cumberpatch, Editor of Nene Valley Living.

1st March at 7.30pm in St Peter's Church, Oundle. Ticket prices £7 (£5)

They will be discussing her first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry has been shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Award and was also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2012. It was selected as one of Waterstone’s 11 for 2012.

 

William Nicholson Event - 16th March

16th March at 7.30pm in St Peter's Church, Oundle. Ticket prices £8 (£5)

 William has written many books for teenagers and adults .He will be talking about his new novel Motherland which will be released in February.

 This is a powerful story of a love triangle set in England, France, India, and Jamaica against the backdrop of World War II.
Motherland follows three characters sharing their hopes and dreams, love and losses amidst war and its aftermath.

Bill will also be talking about his career as a screenwriter. He has written award winning plays for television such as Shadowlands and Life Story, plus numerous films such as First Knight, Grey Owl, Gladiator, (as co-writer), and Les Misérables which has just been released to great acclaim.



 

A.F.Harrold Event - 17th March

17th March 2.00pm St Peter’s Church Oundle. Ticket price £4

A. F. Harrold is an English poet and performance poet who has performed at most of the Literary and Poetry Festivals, besides several Comedy Festivals and the Edinburgh Fringe.
He has won numerous poetry slams (live performance poetry competitions) including the Cheltenham Festival UK All-Stars title and was the Hammer and Tongue UK Champion two years running.

He has performed in Denmark, Canada, France and the USA, and his work is widely published in UK poetry magazines

He will be promoting three titles: Fizzlebert Stump: The Boy Who Ran Away From the Circus (And Joined The Library); Fizzlebert Stump & The Bearded Boy; and a poetry collection, I Eat Squirrels.


Tickets from Oundle Box Office Tel 01832 274734, online at www.oundlefestival.org.uk  Any queries contact Helen Shair at oundlelitfestival@hotmail.co.uk or telephone 01832 274134.

Featured Poem for February 2013 - 'Rocking Glockenspiel' by Gemma Lees

'Rocking Glockenspiel' by Gemma Lees

I wanted to rock on my glockenspiel
But Miss had only left two bars on
Not content with a droning dum, dum, dum, dum
With my baton I bashed irrhythmically
Possessed with a dyspraxic urgency
To make music with the others
But I were playing a different song to them
Lost in a perfect pitch posse
All chords played out precisely
On posh violins and flutes
And other clever things
I just wanted to rock on
But the glock was snatched from me
And I was forced to play
Triangle
With wand to cast a tune from three gleaming sides
I carried on
Even when Miss tried to hide
Me right at the back
Behind the chubby cymbals lad
And the trio of discordant recorder blowers
I ting, ting, tinged my way
To the top of the tune
And before I knew it
My status was lowered again
And I was demoted to split peas
Inside a taped-up Vitalite tub
I shook and shook and shook and shook
'Til the tape came undone
And the smarmy, private music lessons after school pack
Were pelted
Tiny split peas in eyes and hair and pockets and trombones
Which were fun for a minute but there’s nowhere to go
There’s nowhere lower than a split pea shaker
Except standing up front and holding Miss’ papers
And that’s how I became a sheet music stand
From standing with shiny triangle in hand
To showering assembled musicians with split peas
Not to mention the music room floor
The fourteen-year-old me
Wannabe glock rocker
Burned out too soon
And was
No more

  

© Gemma Lees 2013
Please do not use without the poet’s permission.

For further information about Gemma and her work please visit our website.