Pi Day, With Some Delays

As you may know, yesterday was Pi Day and, as it just so happens, pi is sort of my thing. What I mean is that I’ve been creating works of art that are in some way or another determined by the decimal places of pi for the last several years. Most of these works are painstakingly time consuming. So, every year I tell myself that I just need to bulk up my repertoire of pi art enough to do some kind of event or exhibition. But it takes loads of free time, which always seems to be in short supply. Again and again, the day creeps up on me and before I know it, I find myself saying “maybe next year”. This year in particular, I thought I’d post about some new pi art for the occasion but I put it off and put it off until last night when, my WiFi was down. Typical. Anyway, here I am a day late and a dollar short, but with an assortment of work for you to peruse. Also, remember, I’m open to commissions, so if any of this interests you, please contact me. Happy Pi Day.

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AMA: Trying Something Different

Despite my best efforts, I think it would be fair to describe myself as a relatively obscure poet. So, I was pretty surprised when someone from AMAfeed.com invited me to participate in their #AuthorsAMA week. I’ve never done this sort of thing before, but I thought, “What the heck?” Of course, the whole thing’s pointless if no one asks me anything. So, if you’ve ever wondered about my poetry specifically or poetry in general, make sure to drop me a few questions before this Thursday 8/3/18 from 2pm EST (7pm if you’re in the UK, like me).

1,000 Monkeys

Last night, I traveled a little further afield in my search for ‘local’ poetry events and tried the 1,000 Monkeys at The Keep in Guildford. In short, great turnout, warm welcome, quality readings by Kitty Coles and Gareth Toms, generous open mic slots – an all round fine evening. I’d recommend this event to anyone in the area.

Review

On Sunday, Dec 3rd, I returned to Poetry at the Adelaide, but this time I did more than join in with the open mic. The hosts were kind enough to profile me, which meant a brief interview, a longer reading slot, and my chapbook (Reasons for) Moving for sale at the back of the room. This made for a special evening, but the specialness (or maybe special-osity?) was compounded by the attendance of Mark Aspen, who wrote a glowing review. As far as I know, this is the first time my reading has been reviewed and with statements like “His poems evince a keen sense of place” and “I hope the Adelaide continues to attract visiting poets of his calibre”, I feel like I’m off to a pretty good start.

In other news, my recent positive experience at an open mic night in Woking inspired me to create a Write Out Loud profile. So, if you’re interested in finding out more about me, that’s one more way you can do it.

Speaking of Me Speaking With a Blog Called Speaking of Marvels

I’m back and I’ve got a variety of updates. First and foremost, The good people at Speaking of Marvels have posted an interview with me about my chapbook, (Reasons for) Moving. If you’re interested in gaining any extra insight into me or my writing, have a little peruse.

In other news, after a bit of confusion last year, I’ve finally got a poem out in the current issue of Phantom Drift. Be sure to pick up a copy and check out my take on the legendary Sphinx (think Thebes, not Giza).

In my continuing search for poetry events in my area, I recently discovered the Write Out Loud evenings held monthly at The New Inn in Woking. Last night, I took part and enjoyed the readings of other poets like Kitty Coles and Rodney Wood. I’d recommend it to anyone else looking for a place to read or listen to poetry and I hope to take part again in the future.

Speaking of local poetry events, I’ll be back at the Adelaide on the first Sunday in Dec for the poetry night there. They’ve even been kind enough to feature me, so you’ll get to hear a little interview, some poems, and some Q & A. Of course, you’ll also have the opportunity to pick up a copy of my chapbook.

A Tale of Two Pubs

A few weeks back, when Rhythm & Muse celebrated their 10 year anniversary at The Railway pub in Teddington, I joined in and I’m glad I did. It was a lovely evening of performances and, in addition to selling a copy of my book (woohoo!), I found a flyer for another poetry event right around the corner, at The Adelaide. For the last 4 months, a friendly bunch of poetry enthusiasts has been meeting in this fine drinking establishment’s upper room and running an open mic. They get together on the first Sunday of each month, so I popped in last night and had a really good time. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I sold another copy of my book! 🙂

To get an idea of each of these great venues, see the (admittedly low quality) snapshots below.

In other news, it was National Poetry Day last Thursday and, much to my embarrassment, I let the auspicious occasion pass without so much as a public acknowledgement on my part. Subscribing to the theory of better late than never, I’ve decided to include a little scrap here and now. Oddly enough, I more or less wrote this in my sleep. I’m not sure where I was going with it, or how it will ultimately turn out, but for now, consider it a work in progress. And, happy belated National Poetry Day to all of you.

While the strata of dust

on my regalia

accumulate,

with the composure

of a monarch

lying in state,

I wait.

Rhythm & Muse at The Railway

Rhythm & Muse at The Railway

Open mic at The Adelaide

Reminder: Tomorrow Night!

Just a quick reminder: I’ll be reading a few poems from my chapbook, (Reasons for) Moving, tomorrow night during the open mic segment of what promises to be a wonderful evening. Please come by and consider picking up a copy.

 

Open Mic 12/9/17

Rhythm & Muse is hosting one of their fabulous evenings of poetry and music at The Railway Pub in Teddington next Tuesday the 12th from 8-11pm. In addition to featured performances by James Burton, Simon Stanley Ward, and The Flying Blueberries, there’ll be an open mic segment and I’ll be reading two poems from my debut chapbook, (Reasons for) Moving. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet, I’ll have some with me for sale, so be sure to bring some pocket money. Rhythm & Muse is a great place for insightful voices, both spoken and sung. I’ve read at these events several times before (see image below) and they’ve really helped me to read more confidently in public, so I’m excited to be getting back on their stage.

Comings and Goings

As I mentioned in my last post (and several times before), literary journals come and go very quickly. Just recently, I discovered that two more of the venues that published my work in the past have ceased to exist. For that reason, I must sadly wish farewell to the print publication Tellus Magazine and the online journal Phantom Kangaroo. They featured my poems In the Theatre of Epidaurus and Unidentified respectively. Fortunately, I’ve added a new section to this site where you can find all of the poems that I’ve reclaimed from these lost pages. Why leave them buried, right?

Anyway, it’s not all doom and gloom in this camp. After last year’s confusion, my poem, Sphinx, should finally be appearing this October in Issue 7 of Phantom Drift. Also, I contributed a ‘Pi Art’ post card design to Elbow Room’s 5th birthday celebration. Order their ‘Volume 17‘ and you just might end up with it or any one of the other brilliant designs!