Poetry Forum

stuartryder wrote:"What's the key to succeeding through lack of talent, speaking from your own experience?"

Ouch!

Defeated by the fourth bout of tonsillitis in two months so I couldn't go- completely lost my voice! Another writer's going to do a piece on the reading though. Thanks for the help with the questions anyway everyone. On a more cheerful note, I did my first open mic reading yesterday which was terrif...

brianedwards wrote:Bacon sandwich: red sauce or brown sauce?

Ah. The ultimate question. Not sure if Duffy could handle it, I've seen people have nervous breakdowns trying to answer that.

Raisin, what did Simon say? He seemed less than enthusiastic when I thrust an Antiphon flyer at him! http://thesirenswansea.com/2011/10/31/interview-simon-armitage/ That's the link to the interview I did Ros. He reckoned people will stick to books of poetry rather than go online because they like t...

ray miller wrote:Why was her last record so rubbish?

I like that last one Ros, I asked something about digital vs. print when I met Simon Armitage so it'd be good to see what Duffy thinks.

Nice one Seth, very relevant. Thanks! Carol Ann Duffy would be great to have a stroll with but at the moment it's a bit chilly in Swansea for that kind of thing.

Here's a few I'm sure she's never heard before: Any advice for aspiring writers? Who are your influences? When do you write? How do you write (pen & paper, typewriter, etc)? Urghh the influences question is the bane of my life, and I'm sure also for anyone who has to interview someone who's bee...

Ooh that's a great one, cheers! Keep 'em coming

I've managed to get press tickets to see Carol Ann Duffy- she's going to be speaking/reading poetry at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea tomorrow. There's a chance I may end up interviewing as well, so I was wondering if anyone has some interesting questions for her?

Thanks all,

Raisin

Oh and it's bloody mosquitoes, that last line, in case anyone was wondering. They're savage out there.

Thanks all,

Raisin

Sorry all, very rude of me to take so long to respond. Piacere David! Yes I see what you mean, I'll try and re-work that somehow. Hi k-j, most of the rhymes were actually unintentional and I only realised most of them were there when I'd finished writing the first draft but I agree there are too man...

Hi Oskar,

Love this, lots of rhythm (ha), great way to finish as well, I do love a good last line. Only suggestion would be to scrap the "And" at the beginning of the second stanza, otherwise much enjoyed.

Ta,

Raisin

Hello, me again. Just going to shove this on here then have a browse. Sicily The swallow in the still air, stretch of sky; your hollow sound, your lemon olive groves. The dust red on house-heads and scrape of stone on the river bed. The dead drone of life's touch to the skin, drinking, flies away ag...

Erm... hello. *Shuffles feet* Obviously I haven't visited for a while so I'm starting gently by posting here. Currently reading/have recently read: I, Lucifer by Glenn Duncan which is awesome, written from the perspective of you know who (not Voldemorte), and in my opinion very funny and well-writte...

He's one of those "rising stars" in music at the moment, supposed to be a big name for 2012. I saw him perform live and he was great.

Video for this song is fun.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADP65wbBUpc&ob=av3e[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLQaGEI5D2Q&ob=av2e[/youtube]

I have just finished "A Melon for Ecstasy" (1970) by John Fortune (of later Bremner, Bird and Fortune fame) and John Wells. Difficult to sum this one up. It's a satirical comic novel about a man who fucks trees, and the turmoil his habit brings about in a sleepy, leafy English village. Th...

He's definitely not the easiest person to talk to! I've got two comedians lined up: Ed Byrne tomorrow for a review of his latest stand-up, and hopefully Seann Walsh next week for an interview/review.

Thanks, yeah he's very tricky to talk to, you have to work out if he's being serious or not and he always seems to be watching to see if you say anything stupid. It was brilliant speaking with him though, I'm pleased you like the result.

Thanks you two, well I've posted it in the poetry discussion bit so you can have a look, I hope you like it.

I'd agree with Suzanne that it needs some sort of narrative but I like the language in this, good use of senses. The link to the site is interesting too, this wasn't cut up from one wine review was it? Can't imagine a bottle containing that much and the taster living to tell the tale. Not keen on &q...

Suzanne wrote:Pretty direct.

Very direct, I think. I like it, especially "devour me" and "quietly".

Sorry I don't have anything helpful to add, need to get back into the swing of critting, but I enjoyed this.

Raisin

This may fill some of you with dread but I'll probably be posting again soon-ish, been busy with university shenanigans but hoping to be flitting in and out of PG's again. Also, I interviewed Simon Armitage yesterday for the Dylan Thomas Festival going on in Swansea, so I may share when I've written...

I got called up on 'thrummed' as well in a poem, and when I wrote 'cascaded' I did wonder if it was one of those words that would be responsible for mixed opinions. If it works with the image though, maybe a cliche can work. Changed it back, I liked 'cascaded' in the first place anyway. Thinking abo...