And the new Derbyshire Poet Laureate is ...

Ann Atkinson! I'm delighted to be handing the helm of the Laureate Ship over to her and wish her a happy two years filled with poetic delights of every kind ... Here's Ann

“I have lived in Derbyshire in the Peak District for over thirty years. I grew up on Teesside in the fumes of the chemical industries, and went to school on Hartlepool’s Headland, and if now and then I admit to missing the sea, when I drive up over open moorland, the clear air, the familiar skyline of the Peaks never fails to lift my heart and call me home. In the same way, though I can trace my love of poetry to my childhood and a particular teacher, it is my home and family, the beautiful landscape and the people who live in it, that provide a constant source of inspiration.

Writing poetry, working with students and fellow writers, has been central to my life for many years. Recently, in my role as Poet Laureate of the Peak, I spent several days meeting people at Bakewell Show; this proved to be a rich source of material for a set of poems.
So I look forward to meeting more people, in more and more places in Derbyshire, people who have stories to tell and poems to write....and I hope I’ll be writing some too.”

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em ...

The Some Girls' Mothers crew (of which River - now ex-Derbyshire Poet Laureate - is proud to be a member) are running a writing workshop and performing on 18th October as part of Off The Shelf Festival. Tickets are booking fast so here are the links:

Writing workshop with Anne Caldwell & River Wolton

Performance with Anne Caldwell, Nell Farrell, Clare Shaw & River Wolton

We sold out Chesterfield Library Theatre in March, so hoping for a great turn-out in Sheff.

Though the authors are primarily poets, SGM is a collection of prose stories about mothers & daughters. Check out our Facebook page.

You Are Here

... is here! Thanks to everyone who came to Alfreton last week for the grand launch of the book, and celebration of the Laureate Ship and all who have sailed in her for the last two years. It was great to see so many familiar faces and to celebrate with everyone who's contributed. You Are Here will soon be available to borrow through Derbyshire libraries or you can find out how to buy a copy here.

National Poetry Day is on the horizon. This years theme is Heroes and Heroines. I'll be reading at Hear Women Poets, Here alongside 7 other poets - a poetry relay!

If you're a knitter or crochet-er you can join (this weekend) in creating the world's biggest knitted poem!

'The whole thing starts with a single knot
and needles. A word and pen.'
(from 'How to Knit a Poem' by Gwyneth Lewis)

Poetry Season is Here

As the damp squib of a summer fades it's time to gladden the heart with poems. There's plenty to choose from in the upcoming Manchester Literature Festival (15 - 25 Oct) and Sheffield's Off The Shelf Festival (10 - 31 Oct).

Closer to home, the Melbourne Arts Festival is underway (4th - 20th Sept) with a huge variety of live performances, as well as the Art and Architecture Trail. Wirksworth Festival (11th - 26th Sept) promises a wealth of contemporary visual art and performance.

If you're putting pen to paper, why not send an entry to the Big Issue in the North Poetry Competition, closing date 8th Oct, with the theme of Heroes & Heroines.

The National Poetry Competition (closing date 31 Oct) is particularly short on entries from Derbyshire and the East Midlands this year... so get writing!

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.