Silence is golden – or goading!
Silence may be as important as sound in poems but it is less invigorating when one is waiting to hear back on submissions and competitions... as no news often tends to be bad news!
After coming runner-up in the Writers Bureau Writer of the Year 2009 contest (I suppose I ought to mention that), my 'writing' year has been rather slow and silent so far. Three poems which made the second longlist in the Plough short poem contest being the best external achievement so far on the poetry front. (Just as well I have the list of last year's poetry achievements for my WB award to boost my confidence!)
Still, I'm trying to persuade myself it's like marathon training (two of my friend's are busy preparing for this year's London Marathon). Every extra two miles is agony but I'll get there in the end – though I fear it's going to be a lot longer training for 'perfect' poetry than for a marathon!
On a personal level on the poetry front, it has been a productive couple of months. I've managed to shape my muddle of poems into one pamphlet collection of 27 poems and am part way through editing another pamphlet collection of 25. Obviously, this is far from publishing them. But the individual poems have benefited from the editing process involved and I feel that I'm restoring some vague sense of order to the mounting pile of poems!
Reading-wise, I'm in danger of wrinkling fast as my favourite reading spot is the bath and I'm currently particularly enjoying Tiffany Atkinson's Kink and Particle, as well as Shaindel Beers' A Brief History of Time and Ros Barber's Material, not to mention that I really ought to get on with re-reading the Legend Press Remarkable Everyday anthology (which includes one of my short stories), as I'm supposed to be leading a local reading group discussion of it after Easter...
PS or should I say Ppst!: The results of the Polesworth Poetry Trail contest have recently been announced, with eight winning poems due to be permanently installed along the new trail around the village near Tamworth. If you live in or near Polesworth, a further 12 highly commended poems are up on display in the village library so local people can vote for their favourite, which will be used for a temporary instillation at the library. And for those of us who don't live locally, it might be worth checking out later in the year when some of the artwork/poems are up.
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· http://www.writelink.co.uk/blogs/marilyn Don't know how you manage to read in the bath, though - don't the pages wrinkle and get soggy?
Do you enjoy the editing process? When editing poetry after they've been put aside for a while, it's amazing how much better they seem after a break from them. Trouble is, I never know when to stop! Looking forward to reading your book of poems.
P.S. The poet Stephen Beattie was mentioned in one of the Writers magazines, too. Again, there was a collation of tips from poets on poetry competitions. Stephen suggested (as a joke of course) plying the judges with chocolate - I might try that.
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2009-03-07 @ 10:17 · http://www.milltech-systems.co.uk I'd have loved to have got further with the Plough, but was glad to have at least made it through several rounds.
I don't put the books in the bath - just me! Touch wood the books usually survive okay!
I love inspiration. The editing part is not my most favourite part, though occasionally a poem will suddenly veer off in a different, exciting, new direction. Mostly I find this part hard though cos I'm so indecisive and never know when to stop fiddling!
If you find the answer to winning comps I'd love to know. Chocolate sounds great in theory but I'd be sure to pick the judge with a cocoa allergy! ;-)
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2009-03-08 @ 07:54