Words Poetical

Post-it Note Poetry Day 6

2020-02-06T07:30:00.000+10:30

old school door

peeling in the wind

- paperbarks

Post-it Note Poetry Day 5

2020-02-05T14:59:00.000+10:30

after the fire

a corona blossoms

in Wuhan

Post-it Note Poetry Day 4

2020-02-04T17:45:00.000+10:30

too late

the last sheet

on the toilet roll

Post-it Note Poetry Day 3

2020-02-03T07:01:00.000+10:30

piece by piece

my childhood

R.I.P Terry Jones

Post-it Note Poetry Day 2

2020-02-02T08:00:00.000+10:30

even the dust

takes my breath

new glasses

What’s all this Post-it Note Poetry?

Post-it Note Poetry Day 1

2020-02-01T07:02:00.000+10:30

stirring tea

in silence a trillion

galaxies join me

What’s all this Post-it Note Poetry?

Post-it Note Poetry 2020 Info Post

2020-01-22T13:04:00.000+10:30

2020 is the 8th year of Post-It Note Poetry. Not bad for something that started as a dare to write bad poetry on Post-it notes between Adam and Jodi.

Post-It Note Poetry runs everyday in February and is designed with two broad aims in mind:

To encourage people of all skills sets and persuasions to explore and have fun with poetry - whether they are seasoned poets or curious souls attempting poetry for the first time since their teenage years.
To create within a confined physical space (the size of a post-it note) as a positive limitation. It is also a way of making poetry composition possible for 29 consecutive days.

In 2020, The JAR Writers’ Collective will be hosting the event. Coordinated by Jodi Cleghorn in league with fellow Collective members and in concert with eight brilliant Post-It Note Ambassadors.

The rules are simple for those who'd like to play along at home (at work, on the bus or in any of those in between places perfect for scribbling poetic words on small squares of sticky paper)

🖊 Write/build/create a poem every day of February.

🖊 Poems must fit on a post-it note (or be an equivalent sized poem - ie. no more than 8 lines on a larger backing).

🖊Poem must adhere to the original light-hearted spirit of permission to write badly – in which poems can tackle serious content, but internal editors/critics all get a break over February.

🖊Post poems to social media with the hashtag #pinp20.

🖊Follow the hashtag and enjoy what others are creating.

All questions or inquiries can be directed to Jodi Cleghorn via Facebook or @jodicleghorn on Twitter and IG.

Anyone home?

2020-01-21T08:58:00.000+10:30

Hi, my dedicated readers,

An update of sorts. The poetry writing has gone quiet chiefly because I am in my second or third year of full-time Teaching and Librarianship.

Ironically I teach more poetry than I write at the moment.

I do miss it.

So...

Post It Note Poetry is coming up for its 8th Year, and I have accepted a role as an ambassador for the project that got me into the space to write my first collection.

There will be a burst of activity here in February, and I hope this might translate to a trickle elsewhere.

You are forewarned.

Sean.

Poem by William Carlos Williams

2018-04-19T15:11:00.002+09:30

Long time no write. I am... snowed under would be putting it mildly. But I still found time to play around with a very short analysis of Poem by William Carlos Williams.

Ever consumed by the need to bend my creative efforts toward teaching, this video is aimed at the Year 9 /10 level English class. This of course means that it's probably peppered with spelling errors.

Still it's offered here for your entertainment.

Australian Poetry - Free Shipping til Midnight 13 March

2018-03-12T14:56:00.000+10:30

Booktopia has a free shipping deal running until midnight Tuesday. So I 'd like to encourage you to spend some of that hard earned cash supporting Australian poets.

This link will take you to a general listing of Australian poets on Booktopia if you have time to wander.

But here are three that have jumped out at me:

Fume by Phillip Hall, recently launched at Melbourne's Collected Works.

Phillip Hall writes from the edge: the edge of language; the edge of mental illness; and, from the perspective of a non-Indigenous poet and teacher standing at the edge of Indigenous culture and community carrying generosity and love alongside the ongoing trauma of dispossession. This is a volume intensely interested in language and the self-care required in precarious lives.

Eileen Chong's, Another Language from Brazillier which I am currently enjoying.

The Booktopia blurb says:

Another Language features the work of a much celebrated, emerging immigrant poet. Eileen Chong is a writer of stirring lyric poetry as well as historical narratives and dramatic monologues.

In a poetry informed by strands of experience, memory, and language linked to her Chinese past, she has created a new language, a new way of seeing and being Australian.

And finally The Collected Poems of Fay Zwicky. Zwicky passed away last year and this volume collects Fay Zwicky's body of poetic work from her seven books alongside poetry uncollected and unpublished.

Some quotes from other poets:

Zwicky is one of the world's finest poets; her sophistications of form and theme remind one of Akhmatova, Szymborska, Adrienne Rich and William Blake. With poise and control, she tracks the personal encounter with the weight of history and the obligation to declare a position. - JOHN KINSELLA

In her poetry, Zwicky, the ex-concert pianist, technically adroit, dramatic and profoundly serious, is there alongside the joker, the edgy ironist making wry asides against the world, patriarchy and herself. Her formal poems sit easily beside her mostly short-lined, tightly wrought free verse. Her cadences are a delight. - KATHERINE GALLAGHER

Free Shipping Instructions:

Place an order and spend a minimum of $17 before midnight Tuesday the 13th of March (AEST and NZST) with the promotion code WONDER, and you will receive free shipping on your order. The promotion code can be used as many times as you, or your family and friends, want on any orders between now and then.

The promotion code field where you enter the word WONDER is on the last page of the checkout just before you complete your order (Payment and Review). Under Order Summary, click the plus symbol to expand the section so you can enter the code. Please note: You may need to click the word "Apply" next to the promotion code field to receive your free shipping discount if it has not automatically applied it.

This offer is only available to Australian and New Zealand shipping addresses. If you are overseas and want to ship to an Australian or New Zealand address then you can use this promotional code too. It is not applicable for Australia Post Express Post, eBooks, gift certificates OR magazines. The discount code applies only to the shipping cost of standard delivery to Australia or New Zealand and not to the overall order.

Ali Alizadeh on Poetry Says

2018-03-12T14:25:00.000+10:30

Host of Poetry Says - Alice Allan

Not much poetry happening on the home front at the moment. My plans to dedicate myself to a writing regime have well and truly failed.

I did manage to scrawl some words this morning but it's a far cry from what I want to be doing (i.e. immersing myself in poetry - mine and others).

I did come across a very good interview by Alice Allan with poet and philosopher Ali Alizadeh. You should check it out.

Ep 68. Ali Alizadeh on power, influence, anxiety and hope

I found Alizadeh's polite frankness refreshing and would have liked to have listened to the podcast again (my iPad deleted it after playing it). What he said about the poetry scene in Australia probably has some truth about it - dominated by personalities, careerist etc.

Have a listen anyway. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Great Podcast News - Funding comes through for Lunar Poetry Podcast

2018-03-04T12:02:00.002+10:30

A keen fan of the work Dave and Lizzy Turner do at Lunar Poetry Podcasts (and A Poem a Week Podcast). I just wanted to share the good news, that after much hard work on their behalf, 2018's list of interviews will be supported by an Arts Council England grant.

Podcasting in the Arts is always hard and no doubt runs off the passion of its creators (speaking as an on-hiatus Podcast producer myself). This funding means better quality audio files and enhances the ability of the Turners to travel for interviews.

Enjoy the latest podcasts below, then download the backlist, it's worth it.

My Post-It Note Poetry 2018 collection

2018-03-04T11:27:00.000+10:30

February was difficult in a number areas of my life: work, with new classes and a new role, recurring back pain and an absence of time or the wherewithal to take advantage of what little time there was.

Still I managed to pen some words, every now and then, to participate in Post-It Note Poetry.

Here are the collected works in chronological order:

cloud filled sky

we watch the supermoon

on youtube

morning sun

on my shoulders

the weight of a thousand

flies

Bundaleer pines

leaning toward the hilltop

I catch my breath

all night

the mallee gum taps

and my anxieties

dance

fire ban days

overhead the steady thrum

of bees

What a delight it is

when snatching

at a chattering

constellation of words

one alights, perfectly

in place.

we grieve again

feed our children

to the tree

of Liberty

even at Mount Fuji

I long to see

Mount Fuji

all day

wanting to write poetry

- nothing

summer's end

I toast with a cup

of Tieguanyin

These of course, were just my efforts: to see the combined Twitter collection please go to the Archive

Salt Publishing relaunching single author collections

2018-02-17T13:28:00.002+10:30

Back when I was getting serious about my poetry (2012-2013) I had come across Salt Publishing who were well known for their Best British Poetry series. They also published single author/poet collections but for financial reasons they began closing down that side of their business, just as I had discovered them.

Publishing can be a strange beast and so I was surprised when Christopher Hamilton-Emery announced that they would open up their list again.

Back in the dark ages of May 2013, I announced that Salt was drawing back from publishing single author collections of poetry to concentrate on our flagship anthology series, Best British Poetry. It was a tough decision, but in some ways an easy one to make as the core publishing continued to lose money and each new title only seemed to contribute to our increasing losses. All arts publishing has its cycles. With some cycles, the wheels fall off. [Read On]

Good luck to them. I am eager to see who they pick up.

Book Launch and writing update.

2018-02-17T12:51:00.002+10:30

Where my profits go.

I suppose I had to get around to doing one of these.

A book launch I mean.

The collection has been selling reasonably well (both commercially and through my blog) but I do want to do something a little special to mark the occasion.

So I will be travelling to Gawler Poets in the Pub on Sunday the 25th of March to do a reading and to sell some copies of the collection if you are interested.

In other news I have been spending all my profits on other people's poetry (see the photo above).

I have had sneak peaks at the Zapruder and Stairs and Whispers and would sell an arm to get some time to sit, read and encode them.

I am also still managing(barely) to write short poetry for the Post-It Note Poetry event that has another two weeks to run.

Here's the latest in that project:

we grieve again

feed our children

to the tree

of liberty

Magpie Tales Ebook Roll out part 2

2018-02-04T18:28:00.000+10:30

As promised, Magpie Tales in eBook form is now available from Kobo & Booktopia for those of you that prefer the epub option.

If you missed the previous post on the Kindle release you can find in on Amazon here.

Post-it Note Poetry Poems 2 & 3

2018-02-04T16:58:00.000+10:30

morning sun

on my shoulders the weight

of a thousand

flies

Bundaleer pines

leaning toward the hilltop

I catch my breath

Magpie Tales - Ebook Roll out

2018-02-03T12:20:00.000+10:30

My publisher informs me that Kindle versions of my debut poetry collection have gone live.

You may view/purchase it here (for the princely sum of $3.51).

Other retailers should have the ebook soon.

Post-It Note Poetry - Poem 1

2018-02-01T20:04:00.000+10:30

cloud filled sky

we watch the supermoon

on Youtube

Welcome to the first of my February posts for Post-It Note Poetry 2018.

If you are interested in joining in check out the instructions here.

POST-IT NOTE POETRY RETURNS FOR A 6TH YEAR

2018-01-30T18:25:00.000+10:30

Post-It Note Poetry (PINP), incepted 2012 as a writing dare, returns for its 6^th year next month.

Begun by writing partners, Adam Byatt and Jodi Cleghorn, the dare was to write bad poetry on post it notes. From humble beginnings, it quickly caught the quirk and imagination of poets and non-poets alike across social media. Many foundation participants return each year to exercise their micro poetry muscles.

How does one go about participating?

The ‘rules’ are simple:

Write/build/create a poem every day of February.
The poem must fit on a post-it note (or be an equivalent sized poem -- ie. no more than 8 lines – on a larger backing).
Poem must adhere to the original light-hearted spirit of permission to write badly – in which poems can tackle serious content, but internal editors/critic all get a break over February.
Post poems to social media with the hashtag #pinp18.
Follow the hashtag and enjoy what others are creating.

Where can I see some examples?

You can check out the Facebook page (you'll have to join). You can checkout the Twitter Feed Archive page. Or you can wait until we all start posting Feb 1st on the 2018 Twitter feed curated by myself or follow Jodi on Instagram.

Media/Journalists?

Check out the press release here.

That Summer and an Update.

2018-01-27T16:16:00.000+10:30

Lot's of stuff going on at the moment.

Prep for heading back to school (running a library and teaching some new classes), keeping up with my artistic commitments and experimenting with digital poetics.

Phew!

I attended a digital poetry course last weekend and I am tentatively having a go and seeing how the internet responds.

Digital poetry is proving to be a handful. Lots of skills to upgrade i.e. learning new apps, getting a very basic grounding in meshing words and pictures successfully.

The third instalment of my writing program is coming but until that time enjoy the picture and poem to your right(it was constructed using Pic Stitch). It's from my debut collection, a pantoum.

You can listen to me read it below.

Beauty

2018-01-22T17:52:00.000+10:30

Poetry Process: Element 2 - Studying Poetic Technique and Theory.

2018-01-17T13:03:00.001+10:30

...sounds like a really boring title for a really boring and heavy part of my poetry process.

But it's not. Honest.

So, where to begin?

From the beginning I wanted to expand my knowledge, not only of the technical, nuts and bolts side of things, but also catch up a bit on the history and movements of poetry, the watershed essays and break out poets/poem.

To tap into my/our poetic heritage.

The Basic Approach

Within this study component I followed this basic approach*:

Read the text (essay, chapter/section of a book) or listen to a podcast
Take notes
Reflect

Asking myself, do I agree?
Does this conflict with what else I have read?
Can I see what they are talking about (Theory/Technical Aspects)?
Can I think of other examples of what they are talking about(technical aspects)?
Do I, can I do this in my own poetry (technical aspects)?

It became a conversation with myself that continues to this day.

The Texts

Now when I began, I was working as a supply teacher (substitute/emergency etc) and money was tight. You can spend thousands of dollars on poetry technique and theory books but it's not vital. I started with online resources.

Starting points for Theory
The first of these was The Poetry Foundation and specifically their collection of Essays on Poetic Theory, there's a couple of months worth of reading there no doubt. I found myself learning not just about poetry mind you, but larger societal movements as well.

Starting points for Technique

There are hundreds if not thousands of articles online, written by a variety of people from those simply regurgitating, to those who have a much keener insight. My Books On Poetry page lists some interesting books that could get you started, most of them should be in your library and all bar one are are entry level reads.

I will say that, there are a multitude of How to Write a Poem books, complete with exercises and advice, but none that I have come across with the depth of Mary Kinzie's A Poet's Guide to Poetry. As an example of how fine this book goes, it had me considering word and letter choice in my poems for the individual effect of the sound a single letter can have on proceeding words.

Another good place to start brushing up some technical skills might be the aforementioned Poetry Foundation at the Learn page.

I could give you lists of books, you could even recommend some in the comments, but I loved the organic approach that grew from this start. I could follow my own interests, divert off on tangents, create my own canon.

Have you got any essays or texts that spoke to you? Feel free to list them in the comments. The Next part in this series will be the element Writing Poetry

* Now, I have outlined it here for ease of understanding but this is a organic process, our minds don't necessarily work this logically

Poetry Process Series

In Magpie Tales Australian poet SB Wright reveals a keen eye for capturing both people and places, his deft imagery transports the reader effortlessly from rural Australia and beyond. The pieces within explore a changing inner landscape too, where the contested terrain of small town identities and national issues are played out in clear, lyrical verse.

Magpie Tales is his first poetry collection.

Available in print: Amazon Aus, US / Book Depository / Booktopia / Bookworld / Barnes & Noble / Fishpond

Signed Copies: On request

Acknowledging dissatisfaction (Waaahmbulancing)

2018-01-16T19:32:00.000+10:30

Today I made a fool of myself (this is a semi-regular occurrence).

I applied to the Melbourne Art Book Fair under a regional writers application stream. Made it through the entire application form and sent it off.

It was only when I sat down to spread the information, through blogging. to my fellow poets, that I realised the extent of my mistake.

It's the Arts Book Fair, not the Arts & Book Fair i.e. it's a fair design to showcase Artbooks and publishing.

I could blame the heat, the fact that I have already been working for half of the holiday period to get ready for next(this) year., but ...honestly I think it stemmed from the fact that Poetry gets pretty short shrift when it comes to the ever dwindling pool of Arts funding and I leapt at the chance to take advantage (and by take advantage I mean, motivated myself, despite acute anxiety and shyness) of support for regional writers.

Le sigh.

Things could be worse, yes. I am very fortunate (exceedingly fortunate with regards to poetry publishing) but a podcast (Commonplace : Episode 42: Gabrielle Calvocoressi) and a post (ren powell's Poet's Who Get Lonely ) have led me to think that maybe it's healthy to voice dissatisfaction even briefly, before I have to put on my big boy pants and just do the work.

That and it was easier to express my dissatisfaction than to write a detailed post about my poetry process (which is coming).

Feel free to be dissatisfied with your lot in the comments, you'll get no judgement or "helpful" advice from me (unless you ask for it ).