I’m delighted I’m going to be sharing some poetry in Ramsgate’s gorgeous Ellington Park as part of the Power of Women POW in the Park day on 21st June.

Join me for an open-air performance. I love performing ‘en plein air‘ ….(although I will have a mic / PA to assist audibility) … and this will be one of my performances of a poem ‘in situ’.

‘A Place to Park a Tale’ will tell the story / history (and herstory) – of this part of Ramsgate – ‘Ellington and St Lawrence. In poetry we’ll celebrate – share – enjoy – this lovely outdoor space, and take inspirations from echoes of before, and (perhaps) garner some community and solidarity amongst the trees as we catch a sense of new and old. The piece will be dedicated to Katherine Lewkenor (1613-1652).

I hope you’ll join me. The poem will only ever be performed ‘in situ’ – i.e. in Ellington Park – it will exist neither on page or in person anywhere other than the space – place – in which this tale will soon be parked. The run-time will be around 18 minutes. There’ll be place to perch, or stand – and take in the summer solstice sun (I have requested blue-skied sunshiney delight, of course: but cannot guarantee.) I’ll be doing a couple of performances of the piece between 11.00 – and 16,00 – so if you come along to the POW in the Park there’s lots of other great stuff to entertain you, aside from me.

And for those who are willing to give a listen and some attention to my ‘A Space to Park a Tale’ there will be a little bit of my written poetry for you to take away with you, with my blessing. I do hope to see you there.

“Kent, Sir, everyone knows Kent. Apples, cherries, hops and women” – Dickens. (Pickwick Papers.

I have just learned that October 21st each year – or thereabouts – is National Apple Day in England. One of the things Lisa – my partner – does like about having ended up here on this corner of Kent is that there’s lots of varieties of apples. Not as many as once of course – sadly – but still far more than in Notts. Apparently one third of all the apple varieties in the world are grown in Kent. It doesn’t really keep the doctor away, but Lisa does generally munch one a day.

I didn’t write my poem ‘Apples’ about Kent though: it’s an account of a walk I took one autumn day in Nottinghamshire. And this was at the time when Lisa had been very seriously ill, and we had become aware of the overall prognosis – and that life had suddenly changed irrevocably, for us both.

What an absolute pleasure its been to collaborate with Photographer Mike Goldwater. What a privilege to write a couple of poems to go in his stunning collection of Thanet photography. The book launch – with a short poetry reading by me – went better than we could have hoped, but I am not surprised the book is proving so successful as this is top photography indeed, a collection of 130 b&w photos by a master photographer. My poems are just a little aside, but I am immensely proud to have them ‘bookend’ this amazing sequence of images.

The book is A4, softcover, and superbly printed. Mike and I also agreed on the principle of trying to make this a high-end type photography book that could be affordable and accessible to folks who might not otherwise be able or willing to pay the cover price that this type of book might usually be sold at. Having sold out of the initial print run at the launch, we’re delighted now to have available some more copies. Moreover, the exhibition of 30 of the photos from the book in A3 size is still available to view at Sugar Rush, Ramsgate High Street (the old WH Smith building) – open this week from 10.00am – 2.00pm Mon- Fri (there’s a small cafe area there too) – and you can pick up a signed copy of ‘ISLAND’ for just £12 while you’re there.

I do have my favourite places for writing throughout Thanet. In Broadstairs one of these spots, particularly on a quiet winter’s day, is to be hunkered down with a glass of a nice ale among the shelves and shelves of books that line The Chapel’s walls. For those who maybe don’t know, this place has history, and history again. In recent times, for those of us who are over a certain age and have been in Thanet for some considerable time, there’s memories of this as the much-loved Albion Bookshop. And beyond that…. well there’s tales to tell here of the chapel that was before this chapel, and dating back to at least the 1300’s. Tales to tell of the shrine of ‘Our Lady of Bradstowe’ and of beacons, and of shipyards, and gateways.

I have a lovely memory of being sat in the chapel for a serious bout of writing a while ago, working on a poem commissioned at the time for the Power of Women festival. It was a cold December afternoon, and I had the good fortune to be able to seat myself at a table next to a shelf-full of poetry books. Taking John Masefield’s Collected Poems off the shelf was a delight, and an inspiration…. some lines of his shanty/chanty sea-themed poems doubtless found their way into my piece.

The Chapel has been host to my own sharing of my own poems too. There was a lovely open-mic poetry event here regularly some years ago – hosted by the wonderful Mark Holian – and in fact that’s where I first met the truly inspirational – and much-missed – Emile Sercombe. Also, along with some of the Write Women I’ve performed other bits of my poetry life and history here too, in the past. So, with all that said, I’m sure you’ll understand my delight at being invited by Nick Goodall to perform a few poems at The Chapel next week. It’s Broadstairs Folk Week – that annual Broadstairs extravaganza of music and myth – and The Chapel are putting on some of their own stuff at the same time. There’s music, of course, and – every day from 6pm to 6.30pm – Nick Goodall will be hosting a poetry set. Each day there’ll be poems from Nick, plus a different special guest each time.

I’ll be there for my slot on Thursday 15th – and, if you come along, you’ll learn a little more too, perhaps, of Our Lady of the Blue Light, and other such local-themed poems of mine. It’ll be fun. It’ll be entertaining. And there’ll be music too, and a glass or two of something nice for an August evening. I do hope to see you there. But if you can’t make the 15th, do try and get along to one of the other dates.

[ And for those of you who can manage to be ‘Poet-y’ in a morning, there’s also the excellent, friendly, convivial Poetry Breakfast from 10.00am to 11.00am, from the 10th August and for the duration of Folk Week, at the Smoked Street Kitchen and Bar, hosted by Maggie Harris. ]

Broadstairs awaits. 🙂

Apparently today is ‘World Oceans Day’. This seems particularly relevant to me at the moment as I’m volunteering at our wonderful Ramsgate Clock House, involved in the cataloguing and archiving / safe storage of lots of amazing museum items, including many many items from wrecks. Doubtless there’ll be some more poems from me as part of this Clock House project and (including my great fondness for Queen Mab, the Wherry…) so watch this space.

But in the meantime thoughts for today include considering the thousands and thousands of folk who have crossed and re-crossed, sailed or foundered in these waters for Millenia – seeking all sorts of things, including safety and a better life. In the light of a forthcoming election where ‘immigration’ – including the continued passages of sad dinghies – becomes once again thrust into our local consciousness, I thought I’d therefore make a nod to World Oceans Day, sharing this one –

Back in 1994 I wrote a poem, entitled ‘Portmahomack‘, after a holiday there. I still have the original draft in my notebook, as written, July 1994.- I’ve never changed a single word of it. Thirty years later, this poem now sees itself published in an anthology – Ourselves in Rivers and Oceans, published by the Wee Sparrow Press. Profits from their anthologies are donated to charity – this one will be raising money for Water Aid. So I am delighted that this poem – that recalls a particularly vivid experience that’s stored away in my memory-vault – has now found its own place. It’s in good company with some other very fine poems by some very fine poets. And there’s a lesson to budding Poets here methinks – don’t push too much; but wait. Wait for the right time. Wait for the unfolding, and the reveal. And then, enjoy.

As you’ll see, thirty years after that poem, I’m still writing them. This one a rough draft from this morning –

If you do want to read ‘Portmahomack’ in the Anthology, along with some other fine work by others, raising money for a really worthwhile cause, Ourselves in Rivers and Oceans is available from Amazon,

or from the Wee Sparrow Press directly – theweesparrowpoetrypress.com

Traditionally the time for ‘Resolutions’. The blogs of writing groups, poet-y social media networks and the multiple literary email newsletters that I subscribe to are full of the need to set one-self some writing ‘goals’, Or life goals. ( Although the goals I like best are football ones… :-))

Anyhow, there’s certainly a time and a place for some self-reflection, and some time spent trying to grab a little flare of one’s true aspirations, a glimpse of the writer self that would be, could be, that one wishes to be … if …

Yesterday I wrote this sonnet, and turned to it again this morning, judging it to be as good as it needs to be, for my purposes, now. It’s a sonnet merely because a few poetry friends I meet with from time to time agreed we should all have a bash at a New Year’s themed sonnet. So this is mine, at the start of…now. And the last line is, genuinely, a plea …. a hope that I do find, among the embers, sparks that can – will – fly –

      This Two-Faced New Year’s Day Provokes

Really looking forward to being at ARK, Cliftonville, next Saturday 11th, 7.30pm. Having lived just a couple of streets away as a child and teenager, this area holds special significance for me in terms of my poetry. I’ll be performing 15 minutes or so of my new piece – a work in progress – ‘Melba and Pavlova in Margate.’ Dame Nellie Melba, and Anna Pavlova both once performed at the Winter Gardens. Now its shut. And they’re both remembered as puddings. So as well as launching some of my new lines into the ether, I’ll get to spend an evening with some other quality performers trying out their stuff too. It’s great to see this project come alive, and the efforts ARK are making to renew a once disused building into a fully accessible arts and cultural venue. Do come and support us all – it’s free.

Delighted to have had a haiku of mine included in this lovely publication. ‘To Live Here’ – by Wee Sparrow Press – is a beautiful collection of haiku, with the publisher donating 100% of royalties to Salford Loaves and Fishes – a charity working with those who are without a home. Click on the link below for your copy.

“To Live Here”  –  a collection of haiku on the theme of home, which explores the many facets of human experience, from the mundane to the sublime. Featuring the work of talented poets from around the world, this anthology invites readers to reflect on the beauty and complexity of the world we inhabit. The original illustrations are by Scottish artist Colin Thom. All proceeds are donated to charity. To purchase a copy, just head over to www.theweesparrowpoetrypress.com

Social media tells me that today – February 2nd – is ‘World Wetlands Day‘. I didn’t know there was such a thing …. but it certainly does sound a good idea to try and highlight the plight of many of our world – and national – and local – wetland areas.

I’m lucky to live near Pegwell; and the marsh areas all around the eastern emptying of the River Stour into the sea, near here. A boat trip a couple of years ago from Grove Ferry all the way along the Stour until it reaches the sea at ‘my end’ inspired this poem, The Last Bulrush. I was really pleased it was commended in the Lord Whisky Animal Sanctuary Poetry Competition 2022 – supporting a local animal cause seems a fitting way to use my poetry.

And in this poem there are, of course, climate change echoes – warnings – along with the familiar and historical (and future?) sounds of our own wetland estuary. The glorious landscapes around Pegwell Bay, Sandwich Bay, and all the Thanet marshland along the Wantsum and the Stour are to be much valued, and need not only to be enjoyed, but cry out to be better understood. We really must treasure what we have, while we can.