We were delighted to welcome Alison Carr and our old friend Andy Croft from Smokestack Books to our annual Poetry Evening. Andy has previously worked with Alison, a playwright and poet from the North-East, and assisted her in publishing her first volume of poetry, ‘Corner Shop Cowgirl’. In it she combined to great effect the language of the industrial North-East with the vocabulary of cowboy stories. Andy is supporting Alison on an Arts Council funded project which includes another series of workshops.
Alison is now working on ‘Black Bullets in the Sweet Jar’. a collection harking back to her childhood but with regret and loss being more prominent than nostalgia. Alison was involved in a serious accident around the age of ten and expressing herself through writing has been a vital component of her recovery. She refers to the process as ‘getting herself through the black mists’. Throughout the evening, Alison read out material already collected for her new book. Touches of this darkness in her work are balanced out with happier elements of childhood.
The Group was invited to attempt two writing exercises. The first involved choosing a sense, and then suggesting its effects without actually naming it. The second had to be based on an object from the natural world, the task set being to bring out another possible meaning in three or four lines.
Plenty of time for discussion and useful help with our own work also contributed to making the evening a success. Thank you very much, Alison and Andy.
Tim Flanagan of the Stray Ferret, seen above presenting the Jack Moss rose bowl to Susan Perkins, did a very thorough job for us this year. Maggie Cobbett was in second place and Solvig Choi in third.
The theme of writing was widely interpreted by the different entrants with Tim’s comments précised as follows:
If It’s Not Written Down, It Never Happened: A well-constructed entry exploring the use of writing from both a professional and personal perspective. It draws on the writer’s experience of the perils attached to professional recordings when working in Children’s Social Services. It also gives their reflections on the recording of mundane events in family life and their belief that writing can be a powerful tool.
Some Writers and a Reader: This piece addresses why books get written and the way the reader reacts to them. A wide range of literature is considered in this well-researched and structured piece. Some of the books mentioned were read as a result of reviews in The Times or The Sunday Times, and Tim felt this writer would make a good book reviewer themselves.
Writing: What’s It For?: A beautifully-written piece supported by examples ranging from a Biblical text to a recipe for a Christmas pudding, all giving a different perspective on the purpose of writing. Tim decided that the skilful use of the supporting materials along with the blending in of personal anecdotes made this the winning entry.
Ideas Are Where You Find Them: Tim enjoyed this piece from a writer who admitted to being an unashamed eavesdropper, as from a journalist’s perspective a story often develops from something overheard. He enjoyed the concise and entertaining way in which the author described how they found and used their sources of inspiration.
He awarded it second place in the competition.
A Sprinkling of Latin: This piece explored the premise that the root of evil is greed, and takes the reader on an international journey that looks at bribery, freedom of the press and journalistic practices. It contains a mixture of references from the jailing of journalists to the tales of Chaucer and is well-constructed and thought-provoking. He awarded it third place in the competition.
Blood on the Typewriter: the reference to the typewriter took Tim back to his early days in journalism, and relates to an Ernest Hemingway quote about writing being easy. You just sit down at the typewriter and bleed. The piece is based on the author’s selection of eight books to take to a desert island and the function of writing in each of this broad-based collection.
Don’t Write Yourself Off!: a well-researched, informative and thought-provoking piece about writing being a living, breathing thing that is constantly expanding. It considers word selection and how a writer can retain the interest of their reader. Tim felt it was important to consider exactly who their reader was and agreed with the author how important it was that we all learnt from the writing of others.
Entries not read out during the evening will be given precedence at the meeting on 11th October, which will be for members’ manuscripts and a book sale.
We were well represented in this year’s anthology, with Sheila among the judges and poems by Solvig, Maggie, Ian, Carol, Christine and Denis included.
This afternoon saw us at Thorpe Prebend for our annual showcase, introduced by well known Ripon poet Paul Mills. Ian, Kate, Ros, Sheila and Maggie read a selection of their poems, both serious and humorous. Maggie also deputised for Carol and Pam for Peter, neither of whom was well enough to join us. In addition, audience members Caroline and Bill asked if they might read and we were happy to invite them to take a turn.
It has been a busy weekend, with some of us also attending other events in the packed festival programme, including the posthumous launch of David McAndrew’s ‘Collected Poems’. He and the late Elizabeth Spearman, both long term members of RWG, were two of the leading lights behind the First Ripon Poetry Festival and will always remain in our thoughts.
Just a reminder to members that nominations for the 2022/3 Committee open tomorrow.
Please take a look at the Constitution if you’re unsure about what is required and check whether the person you wish to nominate for a particular position is willing to stand.
Here is our Chairman as you’ve never seen her before and (with luck) never will again. Fortunately, it was only for a few hours as part of the fancy dress evening – Another Night at the Movies.
Ian cut a more respectable figure, seen here receiving his trophy from our former Treasurer and current Chair of Swanwick, Cathy Grimmer. Coming first in the short story competition was a great achievement.
Both had a very busy time down in Derbyshire and will, no doubt, have a great deal to say about their experiences at the next meeting.
Her ‘extra’ life has often figured in Maggie’s contributions to our meetings over the years, and now she’s put together many of her experiences in this memoir, available from Amazon as a download or in paperback.
As she has often said, for a writer with the ears of a bat, eyes (albeit through specs or contact lenses) of a hawk and an ever ready notebook, the job has afforded plenty of inspiration for stories and articles.
Many congratulations to Ian Gouge, winner of this year’s ‘Swanwick’ short story competition, the theme of which was ‘community’. We shall look forward to hearing Ian’s story in due course.
Following in the footsteps of other RWG members past and present, Ian will be enjoying a free place at the Writers’ Summer School next month and will, we’re sure, derive a lot of benefit from it.
Well done, Ian!
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