Time for another word-cloud created on here!

So I've written twelve poems this year - not a huge amount, three of which I wrote last week which saved the end of the year for me!! I hate writing less than twelve in a year.
My word-cloud is made up of this year's poems so lots of water (as usual!) making an appearance, flowers and body parts!

My favorite reading this year has been by Anne Carson. I've been sadly disappointed by Sharon Olds' latest collection, Arias - the poems are so hit and miss. Not the spectacular collection that Stag's Leap was at all. Of course I'm still a huge fan of her work but wonder if she felt under pressure to bring out this collection or if she lost some objectivity over the editing process!!
I absolutely loved Kathleen Jamie's Surfacing - so beautifully written, I'll be re-reading these essays several times over.

The summer holidays are never a great time for writing and this year is no different. I have barely written a thing over the last six weeks, also not helped by health issues. But the kids are now back at school and I have the peace and quiet to work myself back into the writing zone.

I started by looking over the poems I've written over the last year or so, casting a fresh eye over them and editing where needed. I have also managed to finally fix my printer and have printed out all my post Madame Ecosse poems to start thinking about the direction of my writing and get a sense of what my next collection will look like.

It's an exciting thought, thinking about a next collection. I remember when I put my first pamphlet together and how a full collection then seemed to be an insurmountable challenge, and now I'm thinking about my third full collection!

It's funny how the germ of a poem can suddenly spring out of nowhere. The other day I was on the bus to work and happened to pass by an old telephone box with a spray of oak leaves lying on the shelf inside. I knew immediately it would lead to a poem and quickly jotted down some notes. So today, in blissful peace, I'm working on that poem whilst reading bits and pieces of Anne Carson. What I have grown to love about Carson's work is that she reminds me to stay true to myself in my writing no matter how weird it may be!

So I wrote my ballad poem and I'm pleased with how it turned out! I found Anne Carson's voice in her long poem The Glass Essay to be a useful sound in the back of my mind whilst writing it. Sometimes it seems so bizarre how the writing process / inspiration happens. My poem is nothing like Anne Carson's in any way but somehow hearing her 'voice' in the form of this poem stimulated my voice and helped unlock my poem for me.  

A couple of years ago on retreat at Moniack Mhor I read Anne Carson's translation of Antigone and thoroughly enjoyed it but apart from that I had never been drawn to her work. Yet recently when I started reading The Glass Essay I was completely absorbed by it, the voice in it caught me and drew me into its multiple parts. The voice is refreshing and yet familiar, her diction straightforward. A few years back I would have struggled to be engaged by this poem with its 'talky' rhythm and image-lite stanzas compared to my preferences then. 

The last month or so I've been plagued by physical ailments, and I can't concentrate on poems when I'm in pain, so I've done no writing since my ballad. Thankfully I'm feeling much better. 

I'm currently reading through a book of Scottish ballads and seeing which ones I'm drawn to and will perhaps become part of my project. 

Well it's been a busy month. A flying visit to London for the launch of Madame Ecosse - the launch went well, it was good to hear the other Eyewear poets read. I got to spend a few hours in the British Museum and in the British Library between train journeys.


Then it was a week up at beautiful Moniack Mhor with nine of this year's Scottish Book Trust New Writers awardees. It was an interesting week - we spent two of the evening reading some of our work. I particularly enjoyed hearing the prose writers as mostly I only go to poetry readings - lots of beautiful work being written.

It was great having access to the Moniack Mhor library and the northern branch of the Scottish Poetry Library which is there also.

My favourite discoveries were Anne Carson's Antigonick which is a gorgeous hardback with illustrations by Bianca Stone. Carson's translation of Sophocles' Antigone is hilarious, darkly comic and hard hitting. I loved it.
I also loved reading through the Selected Poems of Galway Kinnell and have since bought my own copy.

Between all of this, followed by a wee camping trip with the kids, I'm looking forward to not going anywhere else anytime soon!

Very happy to have my 'Twilight Sleep' poem showcased on Abigail Morley's The Poetry Shed which you can read here. It's from Madame Ecosse.