The photograph that accompanies this post is of the old railway crossing in Copnor, where a bridge now stands. Apart from large scale slum / post war clearances and rebuilds, many of the changes to city streets are piecemeal. A junction realigned, an old factory knocked down, a local shop converted into a house. My grandmother used to run a general store in Porchester Road, North End. I was born after it was closed, shop…
At a loose end tonight? You could always join me at the latest T’Articulation event, which is free to attend: I’ll be reading, though I haven’t decided what to go with yet. Probably something Pompey related Here’s the blurb The T’Articulation troupe are pleased to invite the well-practised and newly risen, alike, to perform their writings at this friendly event. The theme Stories of the Streets allows for a broad interpretation but will include work…
Well It’s official now. I’m one of two writers in residence for Pompey’s 125 anniversary celebrations. You can read more via the link – it’s the same article that is appearing in the programme tomorrow. Lots more to follow, but having been at a work conference last week I have some day job recruitment planning to do this Saturday. I’m not making a living from poetry unfortunately!https://twitter.com/Pompey/status/1654561609304375298
I was involved in this project, which used the work of a professional photographer as a starting points for poems, which were then turned into postcards. The nature of this meant that poets had to keep the poems to a short length. I’ll post my poem that made the cut, perhaps with one that didn’t, at a later date. But if you are interested in finding out more about the project, then there are events…
Tarnishing and Rust On empire’s home-port shore,an old strength resisting.Lucknow to Sierra Leone,yellow fever to mutiny,marble balm for victories’ loss. A row of forgotten obelisks;lists of salt-seasoned names,of letters that shined like surffused in iron and brass,to seal a collective sigh. But stone flakes into shrapnel, the once hard edges of words,soft and reddening. Metal breaks down and dissolvesinto the reckoning earth. First published in Poetry & All That Jazz (2021) Portsmouth is full of monuments to…
Something for your diary on Sunday 24th – a programme on Radio 4 about the Portsmouth dialect, which is different to all others in the UK. Poet Maggie Sawkins, winner of the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, explores the language, dialect and poetry of her native Portsmouth in Hampshire. Maggie meets fellow poets Denise Bennett and Liz Neal at the city’s Historic Dockyard, to ask whether the Pompey dialect has been relegated…
I thought I’d start sharing some of my regular poetry page updates in a slightly different way. When I add poems, I have just been putting them straight on the poems page. Which is fine when they have been shared here before. Especially those that have appeared more than once! But from now on, I’ll add other poems to posts as well. Maybe with some description / commentary, to go with them. Today’s poem, which…
Just a quick post to plug the Imagine Portsmouth Poetry Competition results. I didn’t win, but did secure a £75 voucher for having a highly commended poem. Which was very nice. I have a certificate as well! Not quite up there with a friend’s freedom of Moldova award, but it’s something! You can read the winning entries here; https://imagineportsmouth.co.uk/poetry-competition/ I don’t know which of my poems was successful – I sent in four, including one…
A quick mention for a competition being run in my home city; Can you capture Portsmouth? Enter Imagine Portsmouth’s creative competition and help celebrate Portsmouth’s vision for the future. This summer, Imagine Portsmouth is asking people in Portsmouth to get creative and share how they see Portsmouth – through a poem. Aspiring poets of all ages can take inspiration from the city vision and submit entries online. The winning entries will be selected by a…
I’m lucky to live within a five minute cycle to the sea. Living in Portsmouth, it doesn’t matter where you are, you are always within a 5 to ten minute bike ride from salt water. It’s one of the benefits of living on Portsea Island, along with the lack of hills. With the sea comes wildlife that you wouldn’t otherwise expect from the most densely populated city in the UK. Families of seals. The occasional…