I do love to be beside the seaside! (Part 2)

My next seaside adventure involves Worthing Pier, where the community arts group Creative Waves has set up a fabulous exhibition on all things coastal. My poem ‘Morning After’ joins a host of other maritime poems, flash, photos and drawings exhibited along the pier’s walkway.

Tens of thousands visit Worthing Pier each year, and the exhibition is scheduled to remain on the pier until the end of 2023, bringing local voices and visitors together in a delightful blend of image and word.

A big shout out for Jessica Gill, who took the beautiful sunset photo of a murmuration over Worthing Pier which sits alongside my poem.

The brains and brawn behind ‘Creative Waves’ are co-founders and directors Nadia Chalk (left) and Vanessa Breen (right). They set up ‘Art on the Pier’ back in 2012, and with their team of volunteers, aim to transform places, and connect communities through arts and culture, heritage and natural environments.

If you’d like to know more about Creative Waves‘ many projects and free workshops, including their beautiful community garden, then please click on the following link: https://www.creativewaves.co.uk/

Here Comes the Sun!

The days are growing longer already. It’s as if they’ve just picked up a copy of the Arachne Press Tymes Goe By Turnes anthology of writing inspired by Robert Southall’s poem, and decided to embrace the spirit of change.

On December 21st, The Solstice Shorts Festival, usually spread across several venues in various countries, was forced to go online. Contributors whose work was performed to camera include Jane Aldous, AJ Bermudez, Julian Bishop, Claire Booker, Elinor Brooks, Sean Carney, Kelly Davis, Neil Lawrence, Ness Owen, Brooke Stanicki and Laila Sumpton. The event was hosted by editor, Cherry Potts.

Why not treat yourself to a copy of this paeon to optimism? Let stories and poems whisk you away on a railway journey across America, to Turner’s World Of Twirls or piano lessons for the reluctant child. Let them introduce you to wolf-dogs, to memories of salty bodies and strawberries, cats that love fish skins and poems that ask intriguing questions of the soil, such as: “when did you forget you were a flower?” Everyone could do with Pippa Gladhill’s Twelve Point Plan – a perfect list of do’s and don’ts for lockdown – or a dip into spring bulbs, plum trees, rewilding.

You can watch the whole two hour show in segments by visiting the Arachne Press website, and selecting ‘Solstice Shorts’. Or click on the link below to watch actress Annalie Wilson read my poem Piano Lessons (11 minutes into the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN86K-qS-vM

If you’d like to buy a copy of the anthology (£8.99) go direct to Arachne Press at: http://www.arachnepress.com

Arachne Press has a number of projects brewing and are currently interested in hearing from writers who come from Wales, those who are D/deaf, and UK writers of BAME origin.

The Wax Paper + Lighten Up Online

I love submitting my work to new or unusual literary publications. Here are two I tried earlier.

The Wax Paper is an American broadsheet distributed in Chicago, Brooklyn, Mankato (I had to look that one up – it’s in Minnesota) and Los Angeles. I had two short dramas published there a few years ago, but would they take my poetry? The answer can be found in issue 11. Editor Hans Hetrick is hugely welcoming to all in ‘The Wax Paper family’ (it’s a forever family once your piece has appeared). And there’s a mouth-watering variety of work on show: flash, short stories, dramas, poetry, photography, artwork, essays, interviews, and hybrids (I love Ryan Drendel’s ‘Long Distance Relationship as Unsolved Sudoku’). The broadsheet is delivered to you wrapped and sealed with red wax – how neat is that?

As to be expected from an American lit mag, the writing is punchy, unpretentious and pulsing with life. The Wax Paper accepts simultaneous submissions and previously published items (but requests First North American Serial Rights for 30 days, after which all rights are returned). To submit, subscribe or find out more, visit: www.thewaxpaper.com

For sheer, unadulterated fun, Lighten Up On line (or LUPO to the cognoscenti) takes some beating.

It’s not for the faint-hearted, however. Be prepared for wit, satire, limericks, verbal prat-falls and in-your-face puns. If it rhymes, all the better. Editor Jerome Betts makes no bones about it:

We believe that light verse is very far from being the poor relation of “proper” poetry. On this site you will find work by light verse specialists as well as by some of the many “proper” poets who enjoy it and write it and agree that light verse deserves a wider audience than it is normally given.

In this post-Christmas no-man’s land, why not indulge your funny-bone with work from Claire Booker, Orla Fay, DA Prince, Shikhandin, Tom Vaughan and many others. Perhaps even pick up your pen and craft some rib-ticklers yourself. Check it out at: https://www.lightenup-online.co.uk/index.php/issue-51-september-2020

Popshot 21 – the Dream Issue

I dreamt I had a poem published in Popshot then woke up and found I really did!  A quarterly magazine of flash fiction, poetry and short stories mouth-wateringly illustrated by more than 20 cutting-edge artists – that’s what dreams are made of.

Each issue of Popshot works to a theme and draws submissions from across the globe. I find myself returning to old issues time and time again. It’s a picture book for adults with imagination and flair – a genuine treat to read, pulsing with the unexpected.

The current (Dream) issue is headlined by Hodder author Lydia Ruffles. There are haunting stories about hemiplegia, a giant squid and a Texan ghost by Jeremy Adam Smith, Jenny Holden and Joe Giordano ; flash fiction by Alice Ash and Jack Somers; as well as poetry by Claire Booker, Rachel Bower, Jo Brandon, Helen Cox, Michelle Marie Earl, Audrey Molloy and Emma Tilley, among others.

Plus so many gorgeous illustrations – among my favourites Adamastor Studio’s depiction of my poem ‘Butterfly Night’ (see above); Elisa Puglielli’s neat block work; the fluid lines of Joanna Layla’s ‘Chosen’; black & white pointillist portraits by Renzo Razzetto; Charlie Davis’ ravishing colour palette; and the surreal impact of Jorn Kaspuhl’s work. Not to mention those cute otter cubs gambolling over front and back cover by Vector That Fox.

A £20 subscription buys you four issues a year plus free access to Popshot’s digital archives of more than 500 stories.  Can you afford to be without it?

Editor Laura Silverman and Art Editor Alicia Fernandes operate submissions windows and would love to see your work (words or visual) as soon as the next theme is set.

For updates go to @popshotmag, or email hello@popshotpopshot.com, or visit: Popshot Magazine

Stand Magazine – a rolling landscape of lines

If page shape, layout and typeset matter in the enjoyment of reading poetry (which I believe they do), then Stand is surely one of the most pleasurable of literary magazines. I simply love the generous, landscape look of it, with space enough for the longest of line lengths.

Of course, content is crucial too. The winter issue offers an eclectic mix of poems from Gary Allen, Claire Booker, Sean O’Brien, Vahni Capildeo, Anne Fitzgerald, John Gohorry, mystic poet Hafez (translated by Mario Petrucci), Matt Howard, Dan MacIsaac, David Redgrave, Anne Stevenson and J. Twm, among others.

There are thought-provoking, cross-genre offerings, including Anne Stevenson’s piece of prose (or is it poetry?) (or both?) which examines the context of her poem Sandi Russell Sings. Another genre-bending piece is David Sheshkin’s intriguing Modern Art which concocts four reviews of an avant-garde artist, so close to the real thing, that I’m still left wondering.

Associate editor, David Latane, reminds us that ‘little magazines’ can often punch above their weight, giving examples of Wyndham Lewis’ Blast and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s Germ to illustrate his point. Thanks to founding editor, John Silkin’s original premise, Stand has been a significant player in the world of contemporary literature since 1952.

Stand is produced by The University of Leeds’ English Department, so it’s no surprise to find an article about their very own Poetry Professor, Simon Armitage, in this issue, including facsimile copies of pages from his red notebook used when walking the Pennine Way.

There are some muscular and entertaining pieces of flash by Michael Cadnum, a short story by John Siberry and reviews by Martin Malone, Rachel Bower and Tony Roberts.

To buy a copy of Issue 15 (4), take out a subscription or find out how to submit your work, please click on the following link: Stand Magazine

Popshot gets ‘Curious’ with Fiction, Poetry and Illustration

A man in a blue gabardine and trilby is walking through a yellow wall. Curious?

Then buy a copy of Popshot (issue 14) and follow the trail of weird and wonderful things within its latest pages. From tales of deep sea mysteries and time-loops to poems on blue hen’s eggs, leeks that rustle and planetary stalkers, Popshot will have your eyes popping.

Poets featured in the ‘Curious Issue’ include Claire Booker, Rosie Garland, Nancy Carol Moody and Catherine Venn. And there are great stories from Danielle Carey, Jane Wright and Dan Coxon among others, including a brilliant imagining by Rob Stuart on what might happen if humans create a super-powerful artificial intelligence. Be surprised. Be very surprised.

And of course, the glorious illustrations (17 in all) make Popshot such a joy to hold in the hand or view on screen.  Colour-rich or monchrome, figurative or pop-art, there’s something for every taste – each one a potential collectors’ item.

Popshot editor, Jacob Denno, selects short fiction and poetry from thousands of submissions, then hands them over to cutting edge artists to absorb. Once they’re all fired up, it’s down to the drawing board!

It’s a dream come true to know that my poem ‘Clair de Lune’ has inspired an evocative illustration by Mathieu Persan which appears along side it in the magazine. There’s something mesmeric about that moonlit scene that keeps drawing me in.

For more information on Mathieu Persan’s work, please check his website at: www.barbudesign.com

Other illustrators in Popshot’s Curious issue  include Joey Guidone, Alys Hobbs, Kate O’Hara and Carolina Burdon. The cover illustration (top) is by Jörn Kaspuhl at kaspuhl.com.

Popshot continues to grow a community of readers, with copies of the magazine now available in 22 countries. If you want to see why, have a flick through a few spreads here in the Curious Issue.

You can buy a single issue for £6 + p&p or subscribe for £10 a year and get issue 14 as your initial copy, followed by the next two issues over the coming year, plus free access to the digital edition which contains every issue Popshot have ever published.

New York has a new Literary Magazine

There’s a new lit mag on the block and it’s scouting for poetry, short fiction and art work for its second issue.

The Beechwood Review is available in digital and print format. While many of its writers are American, New York-based editor Richard Heby is open to contributions from across the globe – including two of my poems which appear in issue 1.

He’s on a mission to share quality work that is concise but packs a punch. Haiku and Tanka are welcome (issue 1 contains  some lovely work by Bukusai Ashagawa and Corey D. Cook) but longer poems (free verse or form) are also welcome so long as they are tight and expressive.

The short fiction is quirky and full of surprises, from Chella Coutington’s 12 line The Pond Heron to Zain Saeed’s enigmatic Madeleine Moment Via Found Phone.

And there’s artwork too – eclectic and delightful, from photography and pop art to work in oils such as W. Jack Savage’s I Followed The GPS and Look Where We Are.

The front cover image is Organic Art #8 by Brandon Glazier, and the back cover (right) is Flores de Granada by Ilsa E Garcia Gonzalez.

To order your collector’s copy of the first edition, please visit:

 www.beechwoodreview.com

To submit work for the next issue, send it in the body of an email to Richard Heby at: beechwoodreview@gmail.com

Loose Muse hits Manchester, London and Cornwall with Women’s New Writing

MMMmmm, luscious cover and when you open it – what an assortment! So many melt-in-your mouth fabulous poems and short stories to choose from.

It’s Loose Muse’s fifth anthology – triple-launched in London, Manchester and Cornwall and celebrating the creative talents of 50 women British and international writers aged between 20 and 91!

Some of my favourites? Balaba Aseka’s ‘The Boda Boda Rider’; Anne Macaulay’s terrifying ‘The Dive’; Sue John’s powerfully damning ‘Instructions for a Summer Wedding’; Nancy Charley’s touching ‘Finding Gold’; the street-wise ‘Dyke Spotting’ by Emma Wootton; the witty ‘Apple’ by SaraMae Tuson; plus some great stories by Hilaire,  Isabel White, Fiona Read and Joolz Sparkes.

I’m lucky enough to  have had three of my own poems included, together with my short play ‘Enemy’ (set on the Russian Front in 1943) which was performed at The Lost Theatre Company’s 5 Minute Play Festival last December.

To view a film of the play, click on: http://youtu.be/7yvt1Z34rEo

Loose Muse is London’s only regular women’s writers night which has been running continuously since 2005 at The Poetry Cafe, Covent Garden, London. It meets at 8pm on the second Wednesday of each month (except August). It offers a friendly and fun atmosphere for women to perform open mic. Men are always welcome to make up the audience!

To buy copies of the latest anthology (or back-copies of the previous four) go to: www.loose-muse.com or contact Agnes Meadows at agnespoet@gmail.com The anthologies are also available to read in the reference section of The Saison Poetry Library in the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London.

The anthology’s front cover artwork is ‘Dismantled’ by Lorraine Clarke, who has also designed all the previous Loose Muse covers.

A Tale of Two Cities – Loose Muse hits London and Manchester!

Loose Muse has just launched its third anthology of new writing by women, including work by Ivy Alvarez, Claire Booker, Miriam Halahmy, Sue Johns, Sarah Reilly and Janice Windle.

And only days after a lively launch party at Cotton’s in Clerkenwell, the All Woman Writers’ Night spread its wings and flew north to Manchester for the first of (hopefully) many Loose Muse events organised in that city by local poet and activist Steph Pike. Guest performers invited to Manchester included Agnes Meadows and Claire Booker.

Local poet Aryamati with Agnes Meadows at Manchester’s Loose Muse Night

Thanks to the sheer get-up-and-go savvy of Agnes and her editorial team, the Loose Muse anthology is packed with an eclectic mix of contributions from writers across the UK as well as Greece, Spain, Holland, Finland and Australia.

Celebrating her ninth year as Loose Muse co-ordinator and host, Agnes Meadows is rightly proud of the anthology: “It’s a diverse mix of high quality poetry, short stories and short plays, clearly showing that women can write with strength, passion, humour and imagination.”

Claire Booker performs ‘Last Man in Watford’ at London launch

My own contribution includes a 5 minute comedy called ‘Last Man in Watford’ set in a (dystopian?) future when women rule the world and the few remaining men are exhibited in zoos!                                     To order copies of the anthology (published by Morgan’s Eye Press) or to find out more about Loose Muse events in London or Manchester, please contact Agnes Meadows at agnespoet@gmail.com or ring her on 07789 901 667.  You can also check out the latest updates on Loose Muse by clicking the following link: http://www.loose-muse.com

Poet Angela Brodie at London launch

For more information on Lorraine Clarke whose amazing art-work features on all three Loose Muse covers, please click: http://www.clarke-art.co.uk

For information on Steph Pike and Manchester Loose Muse click: http://www.about.me/stephpike                            

Appreciative audience for Caroline Vero at London launch

Natasha Morgan reads ‘This Sharp Edge’

Claire Booker in Popshot Magazine

It’s been on the Observer’s ‘Cool List’. It was named “one of the fresh breed of literary magazines” by The Independent.

Issue Eight of Popshot Magazine

It’s Popshot Magazine!  A visual feast of illustration, flash fiction and poetry, beautifully designed on top quality paper.

Issue eight offers a rich mix of words and artwork on the theme of ‘Birth’ and includes two of Claire Booker’s poems.  Buy a copy, you won’t regret it!

http://www.popshotpopshot.com