Tag Archives: #collaboration

A belated New Year post and news of an exhibition

New Year is somewhat delayed for me. As many of you know my Dad died over Christmas and the busyness of handling his affairs, supporting mom and the general work of grief has taken up much of my time. Writing has been present as a comfort and means of clarifying emotion, but other than that has taken a back seat.

An exhibition of poetry and pictures in Café 86’d Ironbridge

This doesn’t mean nothing has happened. Thanks to my talented, kind friends and neighbours Maggie Cameron and Lee Proudfoot, our collaborative exhibition of poetry and pictures is able to go ahead. We’re exhibiting our Inktober work in a fabulous local café 86’d in Ironbridge. The exhibition starts next weekend and will run for the month of February. It’s a chance to see Maggie’s stunning work, read some bird inspired poems and eat some of the best vegetarian and vegan food in Shropshire. You’ll be able to buy postcards of the work too.

A new poetry project

I’ve also begun plans for my next collection. After much saving I can finally afford to engage a professional mentor to help me polish my poems and explore the best way to publish them. What was originally an idea for a pamphlet has grown into what I think may be an interesting collection, bringing together key facets of my work under one thread. I’m excited to begin work and look forward to sharing my progress with you.

There’s not a great deal more to say – this is the first day I’ve spent with my work since losing Dad. It will always be bitter sweet – he was very proud (if slightly baffled) by my writing, and everything now comes with the backthought of wishing I could tell him what I’m up to. I’m thankful for all my lovely friends and fellow poets for their support in so many ways.

Much love and thank you for reading

Kathryn xx

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Money makes the world go….

round? Well yes it does I suppose. Food, heat, light,time to write. All the essentials. I send out a lot of invoices for writing work, and it still gives me a bit of a thrill (people pay me to write ). Today I sent out a slightly different one – to my local bookseller, The Ironbridge Bookshop. They stocked my poetry zine last year and have just sold the last one. Now I’m not going to be retiring to the Bahamas (after commission and the graphic designer’s fee I could just about get a day out in Brum) but this does feel special. There’s something about the fact that someone has walked into a shop, seen my work and liked it enough exchange some of their hard earned cash in order to take it home. It feels like validation I suppose – as though there is a market for my words, and that it genuinely connects with people.

I’ve spent my earnings on two more courses. One is with Spelt magazine all about how to submit to magazines, which I’m obviously doing but I feel I could perhaps do better, with a bit of practical help. The other is a workshop which sounds right up my street both in terms of method and subject. I’m not great in a classroom situation (thank you repressive girls’ school) and struggle to contribute but this workshop seems like it might be just the right balance of contribution and contemplation. My experience on my York CLL course has really shown me how much I learn from a workshop style, and how it builds on everything I’ve read about poetry in the last couple of years.

Things feel good at the moment. I mean obviously everything is terrible, but this tiny poetry aspect of my life feels like a refuge, rather than yet another point of worry. And refuge is, after all, one of the reasons I write.

You can buy Yes to Tigers from Ironbridge Bookshop, or direct from me – just email kathrynannawrites@gmail.com x

How is it the end of August?!

I mean – how is that possible? This month has meandered away under a cover of cloud.

The end of summer usually makes me sad – warm weather means less pain for one thing. I miss eating outside, watching the swifts and martins overhead and the general floatiness that comes from spending every day in long skirts and flip-flops. Autumn is beautiful, of course, and winter is pleasingly austere but summer ? Summer is for smiling and pretending I live somewhere altogether less stoical.

I feel different this year. Perhaps it’s because much of summer has been taken up with house renovation, perhaps it’s the insistent gloom of the skies over Coalbrookdale. Perhaps it was that glorious week on the Welsh coast. I don’t feel as bereft and wary of winter as usual.

It could also be because I feel I’ve regained some equilibrium. I’m writing more mindfully, rather than scribbling from a turbulent mind, which inevitably means work that is more poem than outpouring – ultimately, work that is better.

I’ve also been more proactive with submissions – looking at my Trello page and seeing I’ve only three pieces in circulation was a bit of a shock . I spent some time reviewing, redrafting and refining some of the poems I’ve made this year as well as seeking homes for them. Always nerve racking. Always exciting. Always full of “why can’t I just be happy with gardening instead of putting myself through this”.

Camping at Caerfai seems like years ago

Good news too – I’ve had a piece of flash accepted for publication by Sledgehammer Lit. who are fast feeling like my poetry-spirit home. I love what they publish and I love that they seem to like my stuff. This piece is one that I love and that I’ve found hard to home – so I’m thrilled it’s going to be part a journal I admire. A couple of poems were declined – but that’s how it goes.

New projects are brewing too – a couple of gentle collaborations with friends whose art I adore may be coming to fruition in the not too distant future.

I seem to have a new direction in terms of how I want to write. My aim is to set aside a week – autumn I hope – and do my own mini writing retreat. I’ll have to stay at home obviously, but I’m going to try to minimise other work and manage domestic duties so I can focus on reading,writing and exploring new directions. Or I might go and make furniture in the Scottish Highlands like Cate le Bon.

So summer is closing, with a whimper or a bang remains to be seen, but I feel positive about my work, and positive about where I’m going – slowly, as ever, but I’m moving. And that’s what counts.

If you’d like to comission a poem, for yourself or as a gift then you can ! I love to create bespoke poetry – it’s a privilege to be asked to express people’s love and care for each other. If you’d like to find out more just click on Poems from the Hare at the top of the page, or send me a message kathrynannawrites@gmail.com

Connections, zines and new builds.

Apparently, my blog is supposed to be a round up of all the things I’m expert on – I have to be a leading voice in my field. I have no idea what that means. I’m not an expert on being me, never mind anything else. To be fair, I’ve never really looked at what my blog should be. It’s always been a kind of diary I suppose; a way of reconnecting with the world.

I seem to be using that phrase a lot lately and I suppose my default state is somewhat disconnected – that sense of being other. I’ve come to love the fact that I don’t really fit (except when I collide with a bunch of people who seem to resent it) and understand that it’s what makes me me. That doesn’t mean I don’t like to feel connected with others though, I just find it a bit more difficult at first. For someone who loves people I really do struggle to feel quite safe with them.

image by @lukeporter.co.uk

Zine on the horizon?

Connections are happening though and I seem to be venturing towards putting together something cool from my Secret Severn work. Amanda Hillier, one of the artists I worked with on the project has approached me about putting together a zine and getting it on sale in funky little shops. I’ve always been sniffy about self-publishing, but this idea seems to really work with the collaborative nature of the project. I’d far rather these poems be in a book with a real handmade, multi-level feel, that showcases the art that inspired the words.  

Our beautiful cooling towers in their final summer

New Build

In January Words for the Wild put out a call for poetry around the theme New Build – this fitted perfectly with work I had been doing for a local project (postponed due to Covid-19) and tied with a beautiful piece of work by two local artists who go by the name Both in Stitches. The poem was published on Words for the Wild on Sunday. It’s a piece that I love – it’s got bullfinches, cooling towers …. what more could anyone want? If you fancy reading, you’ll get the best visual effect on a laptop.

The original art work Your shadow at morning was the spark I needed
I even have my own tiny version on my desk

Time squeeze

My grand intentions for this week have been put on the back burner in the name of commerce. I’ve written about all sorts from theme parks to seat belt law, and much more in between. I’m hoping to spend this weekend on a mini writing retreat, by which  I mean no household jobs or gardening, just writing – I’ve got a bunch of easy meals lined up so I’m hoping to be able to spend the bulk of Saturday and Sunday working on a big submission, a fantastic prize (that I won’t win but I have to try) and a couple of Secret Severn stragglers. Next week I’m determined to get down to some self-study – I’ve a copy of The Craft from Nine Arches that I’m itching to get into plus I need to spend much more time reading – between paid work, domestic duties and limited energy levels, time is squeezed like a lemon, leaving me with just pips.

So, there we are – not an expert view of the world just me trying to make sense of everything while batting away the worries that crowd in through every minute of the day. Tiny connections make these things feel a little better.

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