Do your neighbours or
work-colleagues know what you get up to on the third Tuesday of the month? What
about the first Tuesday? Or are you a closet poetryphile? Is it all kept close
to your chest or in that top drawer as you might keep the erotic novels?
I ask this, because only
recently I have started telling people I know about my poetic activities, our
poetic activities. As it’s such a minority interest, most people respond by
saying something along the lines of, ‘Hmmm, I’ve never been to a poetry
reading… what’s it like?” or “I hope
its nothing like what we had in school. That really turned me off poetry for
life.”
We get the most wonderful
poets to read to us here in Tunbridge Wells, and yet so few people in our area
know about our goings-on. So, here I am, taking advantage of my secretarial
platform, and asking each of you to be a bit more pro-active about spreading
the word. Next time you venture out on
a Tuesday night, ask a friend or two to join you. See what the response is.
Shake things up a bit.
When I get to this bit of
the secretary’s report, recapping the highlights of the year, it is always
intriguing to see what stands out in my mind most of all before digging a bit
deeper into the recesses.
Though so much of what we
do in the society has a contemporary feel to it, two events that stand out for
me over the past year have a historical bent. The first, was our autumn writing
week at the absolutely sumptuous Sheafhayne Manor House in East Devon. We never
know quite what to expect when we book a different large house each year with
ten bedrooms. And we never imagined such luxury at the price. We’re talking
walled garden, grand hall dining room, Aga, billiard room and two very modern
dishwashers (electric variety). The
place was so perfect, all those present agreed to book it again for this year,
but not surprisingly, it was already
booked. So we look forward to seeing what the next house with 10 bedrooms, ‘The
Barn’ in Dartmoor has in store for us next week.
The other historical
connection of the year was our July meeting at member Hazel Pope’s place in
Chiddingstone. Hazel lives in ancient property owned by the National Trust, and
graciously shared it with us this year. The huge fireplace, low-beamed ceilings
and central position in this beautiful village made it a total treat to
visit. We all brought poems on the
theme of ‘alcohols … things that carry you away’, for a memorable summer
evening.
Our society also broke with
history this year and for the first time combined the annual poetry competition
anthology with our annual member’s folio selection. It makes for an impressive
‘Poetry Folio 56’, and congratulations are due to Mary Gurr for winning the cup
with her poem, ‘Mirage’, and to Sally Carr for being our first prize open
competition winner with her poem ‘The Language of Oceans’.
These two annual events are
always well attended, and it’s not just the winning poems that stand out, but
the judge’s comments. Roddy Lumsden, who adjudicated our open competition this
year, said he was ‘looking for poems that surprised me, which delighted in
language, which used form, whether in a traditional sense or not.” Here here.
And take a tip from Roddy… don’t even be tempted to centre your text, colour
the font, or put ‘The End’ at the bottom - apparently all common mistakes when
entering competitions.
When pondering what makes
one poem better than another, Michael Laskey, our Folio adjudicator at the May
meeting , said “I want to be
immediately intrigued, then absorbed by the detail of the journey and to end up
somewhere I hadn’t anticipated. Line-endings particularly interest me with the
possibilities they offer for momentary uncertainties and ambiguities.”
Which brings us to the
highlights of this year’s poetry readings.
In January, we continued the tradition of inviting three of our own
members to read. This year it was the turn of Liz Dawes, Mara Bergman, and
Keith Francis. Three very different poets, styles and subject matters, and a
great opportunity to get to know their work better.
In February, John Stammers
held us open-mouthed with his often surreal, and humorous take on life, not
forgetting details of ‘what do you do on your week off’ as he read from his
collection, ‘Panoramic Lounge-bar’,
winner of the Forward Prize, Best First
Collection for 2001.
Greta Stoddard, who graced
our floors in November with a wonderful reading from her first collection, ‘At
Home in the Dark,’ was on the same short-list and is a friend of John
Stammers. Word has it, the two
contenders made a deal - the eventual winner would treat the other one to a
meal at a restaurant of their choice. I have it on good authority that Greta
chose the Oxo Tower, and John duly paid the bill.
One of our open-competition
winners, Sarah Wardle, was,
coincidentally, also booked the following month to read to our society, so not
only did we get to hear her prize-winning poem, ‘No Man’s Green in March, but
we enjoyed a whole evening the following month from this up-and-coming local
poet.
In June, an expectant
Katherine Pierpoint met her expectant audience with readings from her book Truffle Beds, and from her more recent work, not yet
in print. Her poetry was very moving and her delivery spot-on. Excuse the pun,
but the other delivery is officially down for the 23rd October. Her
husband, Nick, contributed to the poetry in his last update this week by
saying, “The rocket
is in the bottle and the fuse is lit'.”
In September, our most
recent reading, we indulged in not only the vivid poetry of Jem Poster, but
also an excerpt from his first novel, ‘Courting Shadows’. His insights into the genesis of his writing
got us all thinking about the creative process and how it works for us as
individuals. Fascinating.
Brain cells were working
overtime one Saturday in March when George Szirtes led our group of 14 through
its paces at the Beacon pub. As ever, George was in fine form. We were
challenged to take on new voices. Challenged to narrate pictures. Challenged to
write the first line of a novel. It is a rare opportunity to be stretched like that. Thank you George.
Our Christmas party was hosted for the first
time by Mary Barry and it was filled with unexpected delights. From the crispy
prawn won-tons to the magic of passing an unfinished story around a circle, and seeing where it leads. Then there were
those novel titles. Charades has never been so much fun.
Finally, I can’t wind this
report up, without saying thank you. Not only to all our readers and hosts and
judges, but also to our members for helping to make this society such a
friendly and lively group. To Lynne for doling out the wine with a smile each
month. To Mary for administering the open competition. To John for keeping the
publicity going and organising the autumn writing week every year. To Graham
for handling the funds, writing those cheques, and for contributing so
many bright ideas for the program. And
most of all to Clive, who year after year, keeps the wheels of this well-oiled
machine moving happily along. It’s been another satisfying and inspiring year
for poetry in Kent and Sussex.
Joyce Mandel Walter
Secretary, Kent and Sussex
Poetry Society
15th October,
2002