PID AD 5

Another e-flyer design.

POEMS FROM PICTURES

POEMS FROM PICTURES.

Introducing – the five digit stanza

Trying to get away from stereotypical ideas of what might make a stanza ahead of a poetry workshop I’m leading later this month, I have come up with a structure that I think may be original and which a few experiments of my own so far have shown to be fruitful.

I call it the five digit stanza, not because it consists of five numbers, but because the line lengths follow the finger lengths of the left hand, starting from a ‘wrist margin’. The structure is very effective, and with enjambements proves very flexible. Here’s my poem ‘Starlings’ to illustrate the form.

Starlings

As dusk fell, the last cars
were boarding the ferry, and passengers,
no longer cramped, spread themselves in the lounge.
Headlines in English newspapers depicted
the bright, urgent landscapes of home.

I stood on the afterdeck as the sky
darkened with starlings. They rose, sank,
circled in great swarms, the shapeshifting abstract of love,
perfectly formed, that as the bow doors
clanged to, embraced the whole town.

The form is a delight to work in, and I hope others will find it of interest.

Somerset Art Week Poetry Workshop

Poetry Workshop

Come and write a poem or two in the inspirational setting of Jone Delahaye’s Noonsburrow Studio.

Where? Hill Farm, Ruggin, Wellington, Somerset TA21 9LL
Venue 132 in SAW Open Studios Guide

When?   2.30 pm Monday 17 September 2012

What?    Bring pencil, paper, clear mind

Why?     Everything is a door;
All you need is the light pressure of a thought
Octavio Paz

The poetry workshop is part of the Somerset Art Weeks celebrations. It’s led by John Gohorry, (www.johngohorry.co.uk) who has published a number of collections of poetry, some with images by Jone Delahaye.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all

Poetry ID and Libraries

Posted on April 13, 2012 in Things to Do by We ❤ Libraries

In November last year We Heart Libraries worked alongside North Herts poetry group Poetry i.d. to help celebrate National Libraries Day in Letchworth. In this guest post John Gohorry explains more about the group, how you can hear them perform, and how you can get involved yourself.

Poetry i.d. is a lively, outward-looking group of poets, set up in 1999 as the North Herts Stanza of the UK’s Poetry Society. We meet from 7.30pm to 10pm every Thursday evening during term time in The Settlement, Nevell’s Road, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 4UB, and outside term time on an ad hoc basis.

Evenings start with a stimulus of some kind put forward by one of the members – an object, an image, some written material (recently, a film) – and then there is a quiet time in which members work towards a poem of their own. After a short break for refreshments, members have an opportunity to present what they have been doing in a readaround, though there’s no pressure to make work in progress public. Members identify strengths they can see in any drafts that are made public. Evenings often end with members bringing back work that has started in an earlier meeting and has reached a more finished state.

We sometimes start with a discussion of some poems by an established poet, and then use this as a stimulus for our own writing.

We like to get out into the community and we think of ourselves as having an important contribution to make in regard to local, national, and international issues. Our poems have been appearing in The Comet as part of National Poetry Day annually for the past few years. We’ve been involved in local celebrations of George Bernard Shaw (2010) and of George Orwell (2011), and we’re currently signed up to contribute readings to the 2012 Letchworth and Hitchin Town Festivals.

We helped support National Libraries Day back in February with readings in Letchworth Library; we were on hand last year to celebrate the installation of the new statue of Sappho in Letchworth, and next month we’ll be reading some of our own poems to mark the opening of the refurbished Howard Park Gardens. We’re building up a presence in some local pubs as well, particularly The Highlander and The Sun Runner in Hitchin. We run a blog at https://poetryid.wordpress.com which has lots of information and some poems by members. You can access this through Facebook.

The group is inclusive, and welcomes anyone with an interest in writing poems. You become a member by coming along and paying £3 towards the cost of room hire on the night. You don’t have to attend every Thursday. A stimulating evening is guaranteed.

John Gohorry reading from new collection 7.30 Thursday 3 May

I’m delighted that poetry i.d. have asked me to read from and talk about my latest collection of poems at The Settlement, Nevell’s Road, Letchworth Garden City on 3 May. The collection is called ‘On the Blue Cliff’ and it consists of 100 poems based on the 100 koans of the Japanese ‘Hekiganroku’ or Blue Cliff Record. The evening is open to friends of poetry id and to interested members of the public.