Ty Newydd Anthology

Up to North Wales on Saturday for the launch of The Listening Shell,an anthology of poems to celebrate 21 years of Ty Newydd. A marquee on the lawn and music ,and of course poetry. An interesting anthology edited by Gladys Mary Coles and available from Headland Publications, a small poetry press based in Ruthin. All profit from the sale of the book is being donated to Ty Newydd's bursary fund ,which enables those who can't afford the full fee to go on course. The book contains 60 poems and includes Gllian Clarke and Carol Ann Duffy.

Poetry Doesn't Make Money

Of course, I know poetry doesn't make money. The buzz with a poem is, as either Coleridge or Wordsworth said , "getting the right words in the right order".
However, looking up my new book on Amazon, I noticed that my collection The Copyright of Land ,which sold at £5 when it was published ten years ago ,is now out of print and is changing hands on Amazon for £20 a copy. A shame I only have my reading copy left.

Of course, poetry is ephemera to a book seller and that's where the money is, not in the poetry but the rarity. Poetry has small print runs ,usually no more than 200),so a first edition can have value. Seeing my book listed at four times its original price was a good boost, especially as I now have a box of The Earth Singing to sell.

THE EARTH SINGING

It is always exciting and a little frightening to see your new book. Will there be errors,is everything as it shold be,am I happy with it? So much time and effort goes into putting a collection together and getting the title right.Then eventually, after all the proofs,the long wait to publication ,the books arrive in a box. An anti-climax really. They are in your front room and you have to get them into the bookshops and into the hands of the reader.

Back from four and a half days at Ty Newydd with my batteies re-charged having met some interesting people, heard some stunning poems, been on some fantastic walks, eaten delicious food and had a Cadwalladers' ice cream. And now I'm back to reality-the dirty oven,kitchen surfaces needing a clean, a fridge to defrost, washing tumbling out of the linen basket. And in the garden a jungle of growth-how can things go to seed in only four and a half days? Those days that went so quickly when I was away seem to have gone slowly here to create this amount of chaos.

Book Launch

In Cardigan on Thursday night in the rain for the launch of Sixty Poems for Haiti ,edited by Eli Niland and Maggie Harris. I was asked to contribute and so am at the Welsh launch of the book. A shame more people didn't turn up,especially as the venue had a stage,microphone and bar. The audience were appreciative even if the weather wasn't. A long drive home,the roads alive with leaping frogs and toads.

BACK ON LINE

At last I'm back on line and catching up on emails-383 of them- after I spent a few days at the Hay Festival, and then 183 after the computer went on a go slow and had to go in for a service. It took ages to sort and I had to buy a new router, but I'm back in the swing of things now with a poem appearing in an anthology for Haiti which is due out in July.

Nothing happens through the post any more,which as several things haven't arrived ,is perhaps a good thing except I don't like correcting proofs on line. I print them out and use a red pen.A pdf file that you can't correct a spelling mistake on is a nightmare. So as I haven't seen a proof of my poem,which has probably already been printed and packaged,I hope there are no typos in my few lines.

Seeking

I am searching for grants to help defray the publishing costs of a writing group anthology. I know there are funds out there....... somewhere.

Our editor applied to the Arts for all Lottery fund. His Arts Council advisor was sure we'd be successful. We had a constitution, accounts, project all ready, but we didn't get a grant.

It is very disappointing when that happens, so I've taken up the baton and am seeking, searching, delving for some small grants to make a dream a reality.

An Anthology is a perfect achievement for a writing group. It is inclusive and showcases the group. It is wonderful for morale, a good opportunity for a launch party, and the publicity re-energises the group,and often new people join.

As I phone and email and find that a lot of community funding no longer exists I am down-hearted. Local projects are important for communities. The village shops and post offices have been closed, many of the smaller schools also, and the pubs can't make a living. A community needs its meeting places.Ours is a 1950s hall, their committee are busy fund raising to upgrade. There is a graph of progress on the wall. We met in it when it was cold and we had to wear our coats and scarves. Now they have put in double-glazed windows and new heating. We can write without our coats and scarves. Like them ,our fund raising is piece-meal:raffles, book sales, car boot sales. A small grant would boost our fundraising, and make seeing work in print a closer reality.

We will get there, but somewhere there is a grant for a small rural based writing group. I have to seek it out so we can apply.