Tree Treasure

Blog silence is due to much midday and midnight oil burned whilst writing & proofing a collection about my 2 years of laureateering. The book's working title is You Are Here. It'll be launched in September and I'll be handing over to a new DPL on 8th October, National Poetry Day.

I've also been spending time in the 'deep south' of Derbyshire, at Rosliston Forestry Centre, part of the National Forest , a 'forest in the making' that covers 200 square miles of Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. I've been writing poems with Year 4 from St Edward's Catholic Primary School, Swadlincote (here's a pic of us hard at work in the Meadow), and writing a trail that will lead visitors from place to place, and tree to tree. Thanks to Kate Allies and her hard-working team for all their friendliness and hospitality.

The poem trail will be installed this autumn, but in the meantime the cracking poems written by the St Edward's crew will be on display at Swad Library and Rosliston.

Photo: Carol Rowntree Jones, Media Relations Officer, National Forest Company

Amy, Pet Laureate

Beloved cat companion Amy was put to sleep on 25th June. She had been poorly for several months. Over 12 years she often collaborated in writing, by walking across the keyboard or by making muddy pawprints on draft poems.

In honour of animal companions everywhere here are some links:

Alison Brackenbury's Cat Poems (scroll down the page)

Curiosity by Alastair Reid

There's also a cracking interview & poem by recent TS Eliot prize-winner Jen Hadfield, in the recent Mslexia (Jul 09): 'In the same way' about her cat Sophie.

And here's one of mine, for Amy and the pets of Derbyshire and beyond who remind us what's really important in life.

2.53 a.m.

Leave your rush-hour sweat and classroom roar.

Leave your sprint towards the train door,

double-bookings, lost notes, stagnant mail,

your desk pitched in its papery white grave.

For miles around you sense collective weight

of heads on pillows, dreams' cast-lists.

Nothing can be done. No-one to phone;

even the West Coast's on the freeway heading home.

Water slides into a glass like well-earned sleep

and as you slump across the sofa, dark takes shape;

insists you curl up, make a lap. Sink now

to purring and the deep fur of the night. Be cat.

Looking for a Laureate

Could you be Derbyshire's next Poet Laureate? I'll be handing the baton over to the next DPL on National Poetry Day in October. The laureateship is open to all who live, work or study in Derbyshire. Download the application details here. Closing date is 17th July.

Hooray for Holmewood

It was sunny all round today for the launch of the Holmewood songs and poems written by The Holmewood Team at the Macintyre Centre. A brilliant performance by everyone - even the audience! Thanks to everyone who took part. Here are some pics of the performers starring in the Ten Days of Holmewood, the display being unveiled and most importantly - the cakes!

The Magic Attic

It lived up to its name! A dozen of us spent a most enjoyable day using the resources of this amazing local and family history archive as inspiration for writing. A big thank-you to Graham Nutt who's been a volunteer at the Attic for over 20 years, and to Marion and Jackie who assisted on the day. The Attic can be found online here and at Sharpe's Pottery Museum, West St, Swadlincote SE11 9DG. It is a mine of information about South Derbyshire, N.W. Leicestershire and East Staffs, with newspapers dating back to 1782, local family records from 1640, maps and 22,000 photos from 1842 onwards.
(Photo from the Attic's collection:
Gresley Fire Brick clay mine c.1956)

Bibliophiles in Borrowash

On the hottest day of the year, a fine crowd came to the reading at Borrowash Library this week. The librarians had laid on home-made cakes, including butterfly buns! The cakes came a very close second to the poetry on the evaluation forms.

Next week will find me at the Magic Attic, Swadlincote on Wednesday for a writing workshop using the Attic's fantastic family and local history archives. On Friday I'll be at Buxton Library for a workshop as part of National Carers' Week. If you are a carer, come along 10 am - 12 for some positive reflections & gentle writing about your experiences.

It's full steam ahead with the upcoming Celebration of Holmewood on 15th June, when the Holmewood Team from the Macintyre Centre will be helping me to perform five songs and poems they have written celebrating community life.

Congratulations to Carol Ann Duffy!

... the UK's first female poet laureate since the laureateship was created 341 years ago ... Here's a short interview with the Guardian, and the Wikipedia entry.

Mixed with the happy news is the sad news that the much-loved poet UA Fanthorpe died last week at the age of 79. She was the first real poet I met, when she came to give a reading at my school many moons ago. Premonitions is Carol Ann's recent poem dedicated to her memory.