Stanza News
December
* A very warm welcome to our newest Stanza Reps - John Williams (Stoke) and Shane Flynn (Aberystwyth). We now have 69 Stanzas and more on the way.
* Helen Wood (Stanza Profile) and Alessio Zanelli (Member Profile) will feature in the winter issue of Poetry News. Both also feature on our Members' Profile pages.
* The 2008 Stanza Poetry Competition closed on September 19 - congratulations to our winner Richard Goodson (Nottingham) and the two runners-up: Emma Danes and Diana Brodie (both from Cambridge). Richard's poem is currently on the Poetry Society Homepage.
* Many our Stanzas are in communication with National Trust properties to discuss the possibility of using their facilities next year as part of the Poetry Society Centenary celebrations. NT have agreed to provide free accomodation to Stanzas where there is room in their busy calendar. More news soon on this exciting venture.
Bath
Birmingham
Bradford & Leeds
Bridport
Brighton
Bristol
Cambridge CB1
Cambridge CB2
Cornwall - Camelford
Cornwall - Penzance
Dorchester
East Anglia
Edinburgh
Falmouth
Farnham & Fleet
Forest of Dean
France
Goring
Guildford & Woking
Hertfordshire (North) / Poetry ID
Highlands & Islands
Isle of Wight
Italy
Kent & Sussex Poetry Society
Kent (North West)
Lancashire (Pennine)
Leicestershire South
Lincolnshire (Louth)
London East
London South East
London South West (Barnes)
London South West (Brixton, Streatham)
London North
Lymington
Manchester
Manningtree women's group
Milton Keynes, Beds & Northants
North West (FY & PR)
Nottingham
Oxfordshire
Plymouth Waterfront Writers
Portsmouth & Havant
Second Life
Shropshire East
Southampton
Spain Alicante, Murcia & Valencia
Spain Mar Menor
Switzerland
Teesside
Twickenham
Wales (North)
Bath - Nikki Bennett-Willetts Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We meet on the second Wednesday of the month, except December. 'Uni-Verse' - a lunchtime poetry group that celebrates international poets and poetry. Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16 –18 Queen Square, Bath. 12.30 – 14.00. Drinks available, bring your own snack, sandwiches. Bring a poem to read either in translation or in the original with summary, or come to listen only. Each event hosted by Nikki Bennett. Visitors £2; Members / Students £1 Tel: 01225 312084 / www.brsli.org / e: admin at brsli.org.
* Wednesday 10 December - Poems with a ‘dash of the world’-ie: with ‘foreign words or place names’. Co-hosted by David Johnson, plus open mic
* Wednesday 14 January - Various ‘Readers own choice’ - bring your poems to celebrate Nikki Bennett’s birthday
* Wednesday 11 February - Russian poets and poetry by Ann Armitage
* Wednesday 11 March - French-oriented poetry by Caroline Heaton
* Wednesday 15 April - Travel poems from Germany and America - poet and composer Will May
* Wednesday 13 May - poetry by Claire Williamson
Birmingham - Jacqui Rowe Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We meet at the Selly Park Tavern, Pershore Road, Birmingham on the 3rd Monday of the month, 7.30 to 9.30.
* MAKING POETRY WORKSHOPS in Birmingham www.jacquirowe.com/page6.htm.
* Blue, a collection of poems by Jacqui Rowe, out now from Flarestack www.flarestack.co.uk.
Bradford & Leeds - Bruce Barnes Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Dream Catcher at The Speakers' Corner, York. Open mic for poetry, storytelling and spoken word performance with special guests. 2nd Wednesday of every month, upstairs at the Yorkshire Terrier, Stonegate. Doors open 7.30 for an 8pm start. Admission £1. Open mic slots available on the night.
* CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP: Poems as Gifts with poet Christine Bousfield. Saturday 6th. December 2008. Vicars Café, Saltaire 10-30 ‘til 4.00pm. Victoria Road, Saltaire, Bradford. To book: Tel. 01274.562656 or www.christine-bousfield.com. What you will need: Writing Pad, Pens, An open mind. £6 per person to cover costs, plus the price of a festive Vicars lunch, mince pies, coffee tea etc.
* Wed Dec 3: Mahmoud Darwish commemoration. The Treehouse Cafe, Great Horton Road, (corner of Ashgrove and Gt Horton Rd,) BD7 1BN (opp campus). 01274 732354. All writers, readers, singers, musicians and other performers are cordially invited to take part. Those wishing to take part should contact Karl Dallas at 01274 823949, email karldallas at f2s.com, and should arrive at the venue at 7pm.
* Anyone interested in Folk music (in its widest sense) or in giving informal readings of poetry in a folk environment, they will be cordially welcomed to the folk nights at the Wuthering Heights Inn, Stanbury (BD22 0BH). The next evening is Tuesday 16th December, from 8:30 p.m.
* Anne Caldwell, Saturday 13th December, with guests Amanda Dalton and Liz Almond, 5.30pm-7.30pm. Artsmill, (top floor), Linden Mill, Linden Road, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire HX7 8QL - launch of poetry collection Slug Language (Happenstance Press). www.happenstancepress.com
Bridport - Carole Buchanan-Browne Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Bridport Stanza have now been meeting regularly for the past two months. We have now moved from reading poems that we both like and dislike to reading a selection of our own poems. We have been halfheartedly attempting "homework" inspired by an article in poetry news (I believe) that suggested writing poems based on a favourite word. To spice things up a little we then placed the words into a saucer and picked a random word. This proved to be a challenging task. I ended up with the word "smile", which to avoid cliches emerged as a sad poem.
Brighton - Elaine Ruth White Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* ENGLISH TOURING OPERA: Elaine Ruth White has been commissioned to write a series of poems for the libretto of an English Touring Opera production in May 2009.
* STANZA ONLINE MEETING SITE: 'Meet and make word music' is the idea behind the Poetry Society Brighton Area Stanza Online Site. The online site is a place to post photos, videos, ideas, poems, get feedback, promote yourself, start and take part in discussions - whatever riches you decide to share. So far it has been the place where people can drop in, share their thoughts, news and poems, or take part in the Exploring Form corner, which so far has looked at diamante and nonet forms. www.poetrystanza.ning.com
* Welcome to new Stanza members who have joined the Brighton Area Stanza online. There are now 24 members and counting. For anyone who has not yet signed up, but would like to, just send me your email address and I will let you have details.
Bristol - Sarah Melendez Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Cambridge (CB1) - Helen Mort Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Cambridge (CB2) - Ronald Westbrook Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* The Shelford Poetry Circle (which I lead) meets one afternoon a month. If any local PS members would like to come please contact me.
Cornwall (Penzance) - Howard Phillips Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Stanza meets on the 1st Monday of each month at Penzance Arts Club in Chapel Street, 7pm. Please come along and bring a poem to share with the group. Why not bring a friend? Next meeting 1 December at 7pm. Vivienne Tregenza will read her poem which recently won first prize in the formal category of Poetry on the Lake, judged by Jo Shapcott.
Cornwall North - Helen Wood Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Dorchester- Pam Zinnemann-Hope Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* There will be 8 Poetry Workshops, 6.30-9.30pm at the Colliton Club, Dorchester, run by Pam Zinnemann-Hope. For further details contact pam AT hope.co.uk.
* There will also be a Poetry Cafe at Dorchester Arts Centre: Dec. 5th The Mapmakers Are Silent – a Café in memory of Jim Kimmis, a fine poet with a rare talent + open mic for poems on the theme of the Café’s title.
* I’m discussing ideas for the Poetry Society Centenary Celebrations with Carrie Buchanan Browne who is starting a Stanza in Bridport & also with Kate Scott. If you have any good ideas and/or would like to be involved please make contact.
East Anglia Coast & Brecks (IP, CO & NR) - Fred Ellis Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* This Stanza, that covers a wide area, works with other regional poetry groups to ensure that all of our members have access to live poetry.
* East Anglia is well served but even so we have organised no less than three new Poetry Cafés in the last year! This brings to four the number of Cafés that are supported jointly with Suffolk Poetry Society. These four cover the County of Suffolk and are to be found at Halesworth, Woodbridge, Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds. Though each of these venues has a unique flavour they all share a common approach to promoting Good Poetry, Well Spoken and for this reason they are moderated readings rather than Open Mike. The atmosphere is informal and the audiences attentive. Readers from all parts of East Anglia come to give voice to new pieces, and value the work of fellow poets.
Edinburgh - Aileen Lobban Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Falmouth - Elaine Ruth White Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Farnham & Fleet - Val Harris Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* This Stanza is currently on hold but back again in 2009.
Forest of Dean - Jean Brodie Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
France (Vergongheon, Auvergne) - Jim Barron Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Goring - Mary Williams Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Our Stanza meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm - 5 Summerfield Rise, Goring - to discuss any poems you may have written recently. Everyone welcome. We enjoy the poems we read together, making suggestiions for each other's work. We discuss with interest new ideas as they come along.
Guildford & Woking - Sharyn Owen Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Hertfordshire (North) / Poetry ID - Richard Copeland Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We meet regularly each Thursday at 7.30 pm at the Settlement, Nevells Road, Letchworth Garden City - to write and have a read-round of new work. Richard Copeland's website: http://richardcopeland.wetpaint.com/.
* Poetry Society members might like to know that a CD of Poetry ID members reading their work is now available for the princely sum of £5 (not a lot). Entitled 'Renshi', the entire proceeds of sales will be donated to the North Herts Branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. They can be ordered from Phil Ilsley at The Cottage by the Church, Weston, Herts SG4 7DJ or email p_ils AT yahoo.co.uk.
Highlands & Islands - Maggie Haggith Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Isle of Wight - Edmund Matyjaszek Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Loft Poets meet 10.30 am every Wednesday in Ryde Town Hall. The Council Chamber, Ryde Town Hall, Lind Street.
Italy - Alessio Zanelli Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Kent & Sussex Poetry Society - Clive Eastwood Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Kent (North West) - Anne Stewart Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Kent North West Stanza meets at 8pm in The Two Doves, 37 Oakleigh Road, Bromley Common, Kent, BR2 8HD, a friendly 'local' pub, with a conservatory space separate from the main public house. Street parking near the pub and in the streets behind it.
Lancashire (Pennine) - Theresa Robson Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* The Pennine Lancashire Poetry Society Stanza meets at 7.30pm on the second Wednesday of the second month at the New Inn, Parson Lane, Clitheroe, with an extra meeting in December. The Stanza is open to Poetry Society members only, with an open meeting in December.
* Our inaugural meeting took place on 12 November, with 4 present and 6 apologies. We talked about our entry into poetry, favourite poets and poetry successes.
* Wednesday, December 10 2008
- Christmas reading with mince pies and mulled wine (open to non-Poetry Society members). Are you looking forward to a cool Yule or is Christmas just a load of old humbug? Share your favourite festive poetry (or poems with a winter theme) around a roaring fire.
* Wednesday, February 11 2009
- Talk by Jo Harding (subject to be confirmed)
- Workshop - please bring several copies of one of your poems for circulation.
* Wednesday, April 8 2009
- Talk by Judy Sowter on reading poetry aloud. Do you break into a cold sweat at the thought of reading your work aloud or have you got the voice projection of a mouse? Actor Judy Sowter will share some of her best secrets gleaned from nearly 30 years on the stage.
- Workshop - please bring several copies of one of your poems for circulation.
* Wednesday, June 10 2009
- Talk (subject and speaker to be confirmed).
- Workshop - please bring several copies of one of your poems for circulation.
* Wednesday, September 9 2009
- Talk (subject and speaker to be confirmed).
- Workshop - please bring several copies of one of your poems for circulation.
Leicestershire South - Charles Lauder Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* The South Leicestershire Stanza gets together once a month upstairs at Waterstone's in Market Harborough, and will meet on the following Saturdays at 2pm: January 10.
* Our November meeting had the largest turnout so far - 6 in total (including me), rising on from 4 from the previous month - with some overlap, 8 people in all. It has helped that I have made contacts with the Leicester Poetry Society and SoundsWrite, the women's poetry group in Leicester. After both meetings, everyone was enthusiastic and want to keep coming, which is great news. As one of the members said, it pays to be persistent, and I'm quite pleased I stuck it out. Also the local Waterstones is proving a good venue. We meet upstairs in their browsing area, and they have a large table that will accommodate many of us.
Lincolnshire (Louth) - Christopher Sanderson Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Louth Poetry Group meets the first Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm at 30 Victoria Road.
www.louthpoetrygroup.lincolnshirewritingcentre.co.uk/
or writers AT lincolnshirewritingcentre.co.uk or 01507 600 064.
* Louth Poetry Group meets this Wednesday, 3 December, at Victoria Road. In the month of ritual some we would like to read, and write, some poetry of celebration. Please bring along what you have written, or have read by others, to stimulate proceedings. Louth Leader Cameraman may be along to take pictures of poets for an article they want to run. We also want to talk about starting the poetry circle, so for those that can’t make the meeting please confirm your willingness to join in the circle
* Our Stanza details are on www.louthpoetrygroup.lincolnshirewritingcentre.co.uk/ . We are thinking of changing the venue and the meeting date in the new year, we would also like to set up a committee to help move the group forwards, the intention is to meet in the Masons Arms just before Christmas (15th December is the current date we are thinking of) to gather your ideas and enthusiasms.
* As an addition to the group meetings we are considering starting a poetry circle - each month you write one poem and send it to one person in the circle; the following month they reply to you with a critique of your poem; by the second month you are writing one poem and one critique each month ad infinitum... If you are interested please reply, the names will be collected and collated; at the beginning of each month pairings will be allocated so you know who top send your poem to. We will commence in December if sufficient interest is shown.
London East - Jenny Shepherd Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
London (South East) - Jocelyn Page Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* The new Stanza Rep is Jocelyn Page.
London (South West - Barnes) - Kavita Jindal Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* The London South-West Stanza meets one evening a month for an informal workshop session.
* The next meeting is on December 15th.
* Barnestorm 2 – the annual evening of poetry and music performed by the members of the Stanza was a vibrant and successful event. This year’s featured writers were David Collins, Steve Halliwell, Chris Hardy, Kavita Jindal, Frances Spurrier, Norman Staines and Vicki Stannard. A pamphlet is planned to coincide with Barnestorm 3 next year.
London (South West - Brixton / Streatham) - Wendy Dyer Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We're a relaxed group. Our Stanza meets monthly on the first Wednesday of every month. Reading and discussing both published works and our own material. Brixton Hill SW2, 8pm to 10pm - contact 020 8671 0107 for more details. Newcomers welcome.
London (North) - Katherine Gallagher Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We are continuing to meet on the first Friday of the month from 5 - 7 pm.for exchange of poems and poetry news. The time gets stretched around a bit but generally this system is working fine.
* The Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green is continuing to host a range of events, recently launching Myra Schneider's Circling the Core and an anthology from local poets.
Lymington - Keith Bennett Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Manchester - John Haines Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* This Stanza is on hold for the moment.
Manningtree women's group - Sally Festing Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* The Manningtree Stanza group continues to hold workshops at fortnightly intervals. Poetry Workshops in 2008 will be at 10 Central Maltings, Kiln Lane, Manningtree, CO11 1HR.
Milton Keynes, Beds and Northants - Mark Niel Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Our group will meet every 3 months - all welcome - and our first meeting was in November 2008. This went well with a dozen people gathering. It was a very positive and enthusiastic beginning. We all were writers of poetry and we had two rounds of reading, one poem of our own and one from a publushed author. It was an ecletic mix from Wordsworth to John Cooper Clark. There seems to be an appetite for similar meetings and we drew members from Kettering (Northants) to Bedford.
* 7 December 2008 - meeting starts at 5pm Milton Keynes, MADCAP - Poetry Kapow: Open Mic and Slam. Music slots as well.
* 9 December 2008 Milton Keynes Arty Party
* 11 January 2009 Milton Keynes, MADCAP 7.30pm Tongue in Chic. Open Mic with headline guest A F Harrold
* 20 January 2009 Stony Stratford Lit Festival From Bard to Verse
* First Tuesday of month Northampton Edge of Town Pub Ripping Pages
* First Tuesday of month Coventry, Tin Angel Pub Night Blue Fruit
* Second Sunday, every 2 months - Milton Keynes, MADCAP Tongue in Chic
* Tuesdays London, Poetry Café Poetry Unplugged, 22, Betterton St Covent Garden
* First Friday of the month Quaker Centre, Downhead Park, MK - Speakeasy Writers Group Reading for feedback.
North West (PR & FY) - Kate Eggleston-Wirtz Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* There is a poetry group who gets together for open mic at Borders Books in Preston on the 4th Monday of every month, but they have recently lost their leader. We are checking this out and seeing if they wish to be involved with our group in some way.
Nottingham - Richard Goodson Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We'll be discussing Gregory Woods' Quidnunc (Carcanet) on Saturday 13th December at 11.15am at Lakeside Arts Centre Cafe.
Oxfordshire - Mike Kavanagh Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We meet every month with a workshop format e.g. each poet reads and we keep to one poem each; we then go around the circle and everyone has a chance to comment one by one; I'll time everything so we don't run out of time; the poet stays silent during the comments, but is given a chance to respond, clarify, ask questions, etc. at the end. If you can manage it, please email your poem to me for circulation to the group prior to the meeting which will give people a bit more time to digest it. Otherwise, please bring 7 copies for the night.
Plymouth Waterfront Writers - Godfrey Ackers Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We are preparing for the Poetry Centenary celebrations. Details to be announced.
Portsmouth & Havant - Maggie Sawkins Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Sunday 28 December - Poetry And Music at The Florence, Florence Road, Southsea with A F Harold, Tom Sykes and Friends. 8 Pm. £3/£2. www.tongues-and-grooves.org.uk.
* Saturday 3 January 2009 - poetry workshop to stimulate ideas for a forthcoming Portsmouth poetry anthology. Third floor Arts Centre, Portsmouth Library, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth. 1.30 - 3.30. £2. To book a place contact: maggiesawkins AT moose-mail.com
* Poetry submissions are invited for a forthcoming anthology of Portsmouth poems. For guidelines please refer to tongues & grooves website - www.tongues-and-grooves.org.uk.
Second Life Stanza - Adele Ward Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* The first virtual Stanza on Second Life is off to a good start with more than 20 members from around the world. With help from Peter Chowney who, like me, is from the UK, we’ve welcomed people from Australia, America, Hawaii, France, Italy, Greece and Germany. I’m sure it all looks just a little bizarre to people not familiar with 3D internet and virtual worlds, but it actually feels very natural ‘meeting’ each other as characters rather than just texting on to a message board.
* One of the great benefits of Second Life is that we can actually talk to each other for free, wherever we are in the world, and we’ve been using this to chat and to read out at a weekly Writers’ Circle. We have a weekly meeting on Wednesdays just for Stanza members, but all writers on Second Life come to the other activities. I was especially pleased to see the Stanza members participating so actively in all the events.
* Tristan from Australia gave wonderful readings on our virtual stage at the Writers’ Circle; ToryLynn from America helps organise a short story discussion group; Alan from Hawaii doesn’t attend events but likes to come over for a chat; Ada from America edits a very impressive virtual literary magazine with another of our members, nicknamed Coke, and talent spots the events for submissions. In such an international environment it’s a nice surprise to hear another UK accent sometimes, and Tidd is a regular at events with her well worked haiku, along with American Leslye who writes for children. It’s lovely to hear all those accents!
* We have a virtual cottage and Kentish Oast House as our main Stanza buildings on an island dedicated to the writing community on Second Life. Posters in these buildings link to the Poetry Society website and Stanza information, as well as the Poetry Archive. Any members who have published books can have them set out with links to the authors’ websites or Amazon.
* Anyone interested in getting on to Second Life to join the Stanza should go to http://www.secondlife.com and follow the instructions – it’s free. I’ll be happy to help out if getting started seems confusing. To see what it all looks like we have a website on http://www.writtenword.org.uk It would be nice to see organisers and members of other Stanzas for virtual get togethers.
Shropshire East - Tony Stringfellow Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* PAGE ONE with Tony Stringfellow - don’t miss it! Fridays at 4.00pm and Mondays at 9.00am on 101.8 WCRFM and online at www.wcrfm.com. If you have a poem or any Litty Ditties that you would like to feature in the show, or if you would like to appear on the show, then contact Tony.
Southampton - Gil Dekel Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Poetry Stanza Southampton meets monthly on a Wednesday evening, bringing poets together to discuss their poems, look at the work of others, and have a poetic chat. It is a supportive group for those with a passion for poetry. All welcome!
Spain (Alicante, Murcia & Valencia - Christopher North Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* La Sede is found at Purissima 57 Benissa - it is in the road that runs beside the Ayuntamiento in Benissa old town. All events there are free.
* On December 2nd The Javea Book Circle meet to discuss the poetry of Thomas Hardy - Social Centre Javea 7.30 for 8
* On December 16th the Stanza Alacant Poetry Workshop meet at the Sede Benissa 5.00 - 7.00.
* On January 20th Stanza Alacant Workshop will meet at La Sede Benissa 5.00 - 7.00
* On January 21st Christopher North will run a 2 hour workshop 'Finding your Creative Voice' for the Jalon Valley Writer's Group - this will be largely orientated towards poetry.
* On January 23rd there's to be a bi-lingual Poetry Reading with Terry Gifford, Christopher North, Juan Matarranz, Teresa Gomez and Peter Lauder at la Sede Benissa 6.30
* New Year's 7 day residential courses at the Almassera: Vella - March 21st Graham Fawcett 'Poetry and Autobiography', April 4th Penelope Shuttle 'Boundaries and May 16th 'Dance Poet Dance!' - a poetry course with Gail Langstroth incorporating Eurythmy. www.oldolivepress.com
* Terry Gifford and Christopher North will be giving a bi-lingual reading (Spanish /English) together with translators Juan Mattaranz Araque, Teresa Gomez and Peter Lauder at Benissa Seu on January 20th 6.30. The readings will be followed an open forum on translation.
Spain (Mar Menor) - David Urion Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Stanza Mar Menor has taken off better than we could have anticipated. We have 13 members on our list and usually have around 10-11 at our writing workshops or poetry readings alternate Wednesday mornings in San Javier. our members come from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Hungary, England, Malta and Zimbabwe, and have brought a wealth of experience and diverse poetry interests that have helped our meetings to be fun, informative and inspiring.
* The group seems to have bonded well and we have planned writing sessions and excursions to take us up to the end of June 2009 - so we can assume that the sessions are interesting enough to have stimulated interest within the members to want to continue coming!
* In October we held a series of creative workshops around the theme of an endangered variety of seahorse found in the inland sea from which we take our name and produced 12 finished poems that our poets were proud to pass on for presentaton to Fundaccíon Cluster who are an environmental body tasked with preserving the natural habitats of plants, animals and fish species in the Murcia region. They are currently looking at the best way to display our work in their interpretation and education centre to help highlight the plight of the seahorse to the public.
* We have received free use of premises to hold our sessions from the local youth department and this in turn has enabled me to put some of our members in touch with the coordinator there to sign up and join a language exchange project between Spanish and English speakers that I have been part of for a while.
* A personally useful by-product of our local publicity to attract Spanish poets to our group has been contact from a Catalan poet who visits our area each weekend and saw our leaflets in the local library. He presented me with a signed collection of his fantastic work and introduced me to other Spanish poets and readings that I was previously unaware existed. I have recently been to a lively reading and book launch by 3 Catalan poets who have their own radio programme in Barcelona and also been invited to take along our members to attend creative poetry writing workshops in Spanish run by the University of Cartagena each month. Slowly but surely we are finding our feet and making a name for ourselves and most of our newer members seem to be coming from referrals from existing members. I can say that I´ve enjoyed attending every session we´ve done so far and Wednesdays can´t come around fast enough as they bring so much pleasure.
Stoke - John Williams Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We meet, for the first time, on Tuesday, 20th January 2009, at 7 pm in the Meeting Room of The Leopard pub in Burslem (21 Market Square).
Switzerland (Geneva) - Emily Bilman Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Our group consists of up to 7 published professional poets, with monthly meetings at 7pm on Thursdays in my home in Geneva to read, criticize, and comment on our old and new poems and discuss literary forms. For further interest and if you are writing professionally, please contact me.
* The next meeting will take place on Thursday, 4 December at 19.30. Anyone interested in reading out and having their poetry critiqued is welcome. Please contact the Stanza rep for details.
* We are planning a collaboration with the poets in Bern in the near future.
Teesside - Andy Croft & Maureen Almond Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* No news this month.
Twickenham - Judith Watts Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* We currently have 10 core members, with occasional guests. Our focus will be to workshop, and in addition we will have a special topic each month, such as approaching magazines, the reading/performance/scene, entering competitions, the Poetry Society, presentations on poets/poetry.
Wales (North) - Daffni Percival Contact this Stanza Top of Page
* Due to the big distances between people in this area, I have started an email list on Yahoo for the Stanza for members to post their poems and read each other's work. We already have two up there. The link is northwalesstanza AT yahoogroups.com. Membership for posting is open only to Stanza members but anyone can read.
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