By Millie Pavitt
The BBC’s Poetry Season invites you to vote for the Nation’s Favourite Poet! http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/
Watch and listen to poetry on BBC iPlayer and read some wonderful poetry by well known poets including Ar
von tutors Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy and Patrick Neate.
Famous people make their own celebrity choices and cast their vote for the Nation’s Favourite Poet. Hear English actress Sunetra Sarker discuss our new Poet Laureate and how she has “always been affected by the female solidarity on show in Carol Ann Duffy’s poems”. Carol Ann Duffy is currently tutoring Arvon course Poetry for Children: Princesses, Bangers and Mash this week at Moniack Mhor, Inverness-shire.
You can also read Patrick Neate on Duffy’s splendid anger and poetry slams in his Spoken Word column Anger Management. Patrick will be tutoring Fiction: So How’s it done? The Hurst, The John Osborne Arvon Centre in October. http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/spoken_word.shtml
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The International Literary Quarterly was founded in November 2007 as an eclectic review dedicated to publishing the best in contemporary fiction and poetry, as well as literary criticism and works in translation.
InterLitQ’s editors are all writers themselves, Arvon tutors Mimi Khalvati and Jill Dawson are among them!
Read Issue 7 now!
www.interlitq.org/
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I was up at Moniack Mhor last week in glorious sunshine. While I was there Centre Director Hamish MacDonald unveiled Moniack’s new picnic table, surely staking its claim for the most stunning seminar spot at an Arvon centre. Amid the soaring chant of skylarks and the scent of the heather, Hamish sits at the table and contemplates his holidays in South Uist.
Ruth Borthwick
7 July 2009
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In a new series of free evening talks, leading writers are invited to the National Gallery to give their personal response to a painting of their choice in the Gallery collection. Talks take place during Friday Lates in front of the writer’s choice of painting. Speakers so far have included Arvon tutor Philip Hensher.
Dyer’s latest novel is Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi (2009), a beautifully told story of erotic love and spiritual yearning set partly in Venice where journalist Jeff Atman is covering the opening of the Biennale. The novel confirms Dyer as one of Britain’s most exciting and original writers.
On July 1oth at 6.30pm Geoff Dyer will speak in front of Joseph Mallord William Turner’s Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway, which depicts a steam engine as it advances across a bridge in the rain. In front of the train, a hare runs for cover. The scene has been identified as the railway bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead and the picture demonstrates Turner’s ability to capture atmospheric effects in paint.
Geoff Dyer was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in 1958 and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Dyer is the author of four novels, a critical study of John Berger, and six other nonfiction books, including But Beautiful, which was awarded the Somerset Maugham Prize, and Out of Sheer Rage, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. The winner of a Lannan Literary Award, the International Centre of Photography’s 2006 Infinity Award for writing on photography, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ E. M. Forster Award, Dyer is a regular contributor to publications including the Guardian and the New Statesman. He lives in London.
Engaging and funny… Dyer is a witty and concise observer of landscapes: social, geographical and emotional… [his] eccentric charm and barbed perceptiveness will hook you to the end.
The Times
Geoff Dyer will be a Guest Reader on Arvon’s Creative Non-Fiction course Shaping the Raw Material at Lumb Bank, September 28 – October 3 with tutors Miranda France and Hannah Pool.
For more information on the Writers in the Gallery series, please contact nicola.freeman@ng-london.org.uk or visit www.nationalgallery.co.uk
Categories: Uncategorized
by Violet Rook
The bus was late, so we just stood in the wind and waited. It looked like rain. It was Sunday, a day for sunbathingon a beach or going shopping in the local mall. Instead I was sitting on a bus heading for the new library. Watching the traffic forcing its way into the car park of the huge local supermarket and the shopping trolleys layen with cases or cans of liquid refreshment forcing their way back to cars. A silent pursuit of observation, as the bus made its way to the town.
All life passes by when one is on a bus. It is different from driving a car, one as time to observe without the world realizing that you are observing. It is like a theatre only the actors move, the scenes move while the audience is moving yet still. A woman walks across a street being just missed by a car, while a young man shouts at his girlfriend who rants and raves, pushes him and then they kiss and then go arm in arm. This is a silent movie seen via the bus window.Another play within a play was the memory of standing still in a foyer while the play past by me.
In a reflective mood, standing in a foye
r, the doors opened and Richard 11 came by me in flowing red robes his high heels clunking on the wooden floor. This was the foyer of the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford. It was 10.30am on a Saturday and I was about to see the History Trilogy. Then another player in medieval costume came rushing out. Everyone present was stunned into silence. We the latecomers felt part of the play. The sound of silence united those present in the wonder of the theatre, being in the 21st century, but being transported back to dates and times in history by such a sight. The play had come to the audience, or were we in a Reality TV show? A thought came into being as the journey progressed.
The mind raced and changed a gear going to a more recent moment. Present at a GCE examination, the subject was history, again the silence said everything. Forty teenagers, heads down, pen in hand fighting the clock in an effort to win that precious qualification. No mobiles with catchy tunes or headphones in the ears or Ipod at the waist. The aspect of watching history in progress, being in the scene yet standing apart from it, is often a difficult concept.
All the world is a stage yet in the race to get somewhere, the flowers growing, the birdsong, peoples hopes and fears are often not seen. Just the smell of petrol causing us to cough, or the noise of engines drowning out words, greets us travelling into town.
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By Sally Crawford
4. Keep sending out
Shameless boast coming up. This week I revised 3 poems, rewrote the introduction to a short story, began work on a sonnet and thought about a reading for my writers’ group. I have had no more time than usual. I have simply created good conditions for work, ‘arvonized’ if you like; furnished the house of the muse.
It hasn’t been all work either. I’ve been having to practise compression. Instead of giving myself all day to finish something, I give myself 10 minutes, OK, 15 minutes, you get the point.
When I formally started to write (it seems a long, long time ago, but it was actually only 1996), I sent work out fairly regularly. Positive feedback – publication – was thrilling. Then life changed and for a few years I wrote without sending out. There is nothing wrong with writing just for yourself: it’s a communication with self if you like. But what if it isn’t enough? In that case your writing must communicate with others (and, a point worth mentioning here, without your being there to explain things).
Sending out, getting work ready for sending out to a publication or competition, can be regarded as progress in itself, whether or not the result is publication or placement. You are developing an ear for listening to your own writing, for giving it the natural shape it wants rather than the shape you want or the shape you first thought of. I used to find this extremely difficult: this was partly because I used to think ‘if I take that out what am I going to put in its place?’ Practice will give you plenty to put in its place. You’ll become more and more competent at making changes that involve complete rewrites or inserting new ideas that arrive after you write your early drafts.
Five top tips –
1. Keep more than one writing iron in the fire: 5 poems, 2 plays, 3 short stories, not one (or how about all 10?).
2. Extend your writing boundaries: try different workshops, different genres.
3. Join (or start) a regular writing group (what a deadline setter).
4. Find a writing buddy (perhaps someone from your writing group) with whom you can meet regularly to share your latest work.
5. Read ‘Where the Arrowheads Meet’ by Tim Liardet. This ‘Arvon Spark’ focuses on poetry but the same applies to any piece of writing.
And, finally, a bonus, two sets of top tips from US writers: Jane Kennedy Sutton and C.M. Mayo.
Categories: Arvon Friends · Arvon in the world · Arvon inspires · Words · writing
by Sally Crawford
3. Seek out the right advice
How’s this for a wake-up call? If you wait for the perfect conditions in which to write, you’ll die first. It’s not an original idea: it comes from Ecclesiastes 11:4–5; I Googled it. In other words, seek not the perfect, make do with what you have now.
I have also found excellent advice on the Arvon site. Orlando Murrin’s ‘Spark Tip for Writing Fiction’, came at just the right moment for me, stuck in the middle of 2 (two) novels and able only to get some poems to the finished, that is, the sending out, stage. Why, I wondered, when I can write a journalistic piece in the time it takes to put on the kettle and get out the teabags, can I get into such a state of immobility when it’s my own work? Something about what Orlando said about keeping the flow going and being ‘carried along by the story’ stayed with me. Describing this way of writing, Orlando says: ‘it’s almost as if the book is writing itself’. Wow, are you all paying attention at the back!? It’s absolutely true – what star advice.
All journalists know about the helpfulness of set parameters: title (what the story’s about); length (and, of course, with ‘length’, comes the requirement that there will be no waffle); deadline (your story’s got to be delivered, competently written, by deadline); the importance of grabbing the reader’s attention from the outset.
Top tip 1: set up your own parameters.
Top tip 2: Let the words take the lead: write spontaneously without conscious effort to edit before you get them down.
I also have a piece of personal advice: keep faith with your muse. (He or she was introduced in part 2, and I make no apology for bringing them into the picture again.) For the muse’s sake, allow yourself an ‘Arvon moment’ in the day. During an Arvon course, such a moment occurs, usually, in the afternoon. You have said hello to everyone; you have had lunch; and you have retreated to your room. You sit down at your desk and – ‘pop’ – the bliss of it all comes through. You sit there and daydream mildly. You have books, notebooks, pens; your work is by your hand. Out of the window (your window for the week) you see stretches of sky and, for urbanites anyway, that green stuff you’ve almost forgotten the name of. There will be quietness; at most, the soft phutt-phutt of a lawnmower wafting in the smell of cut grass. Do you want to be anywhere else at that moment? You are ‘in’ the moment. This is muse territory. And the advice? Reproduce it. Reproduce it at home, in the office, or in your favourite café. All you need is a window (a reflective surface, after all), for some green and growing thing to be there, and to remember that, if you’re prepared to put in the practice, you are first and foremost a writer.
Categories: Arvon Friends · Arvon in the world · Arvon inspires · New Writing · The Arvon magic · Words · writing
By Violet Rook
Where I live the blossom of
the Cherry Trees are blowing in the wind as one walks by. Pink and white, the blossoms float though the air like snow. In Japan, there are celebrations upon the first sight of the cherry blossom. Families have picnics in the parks, businesses arrange outdoor events to take advantage of the sight, which delights the soul, and the senses of the white and pink blossom adding joy to city life.
Walking under the trees, reminded me of watching the promenade production of the Scottish Play in the local medieval castle. I sat in the main hall watching Banquo’s ghost circling the long wooden table in front of the audience, some sitting on a wooden bench, others, standing in the shadows of the lantern light, the sounds of fear and dread echoing in the cold air, and then a sudden featherlike feeling, looking up and white blossoms, what seemed like hundreds of them descending onto the watchers.
It seemed odd, what was this to do with the play? Looking around were the other individuals surprised? Faces were turned inward towards the table and the people endeavoring to drink, speak and look at ease in the ancient surrounding, while being watched by some thirty people. This now reflects a ‘Big Brother’ scenario, a scene played out regularly in the normal life of any city dweller.
Then upward via the eighty steep steps round and round upward to the roof of the castle following the actors, with the clash of swords and the pushing and shuffling trying to get a position to see the action, then on the roof distracted by the mainline train and the rush of metal shaking the old stones. No light, camera, action there. All sound and visual effects were made by the use of the surrounding environment, as if to emphasis the passions and the feelings in the play. Only the cherry blossom was artificial in that it was brought to the scene for the occasion.
The senses where delighted and tested via sounds and sights which give depth and history and added dimension. Maybe someone was present, but not in the play. Who knows what strange sight may have been witnessed in the shadowy half light without anyone understanding the significance. A scene to remember, or just a trick encouraged by a clever understanding of the human psyche?
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by Arvon Friend Sally Crawford
2. Try something new
In my opinion, when we wake up, we wake up with our muses. Every single morning. It may not feel like that, of course, because we have mostly forgotten how to properly attune to morning. We may be distracted by any number of things (fill in your own distracter here ——————–). But distraction, of course, is not the fault of the muse.
When we’re on holiday we get a chance to renew our acquaintance with morning. We don’t have to rush; to think about what to wear to work; to get children (or ourselves) off to school. It’s nice, isn’t it? This is the muse’s best time. So the first, ‘Try something new’ is to think about reconfiguring your ‘getting up’ routine. Pretend you’re waking up within the sight and sound of the sea, in a Finnish forest in summer (can you hear the birds sing?), or in one of the Arvon houses. There are no distractions: no TV, no radio, no newspapers, no Internet, no ‘demands’; nothing much to do except stare out of the window or go for a walk.
It sounds boring, doesn’t it? It is paradise. This kind of ‘routine boredom’ feeds the imagination. What else is there for you to do but write?
I have found that once I’ve done my morning piece of writing, however short, the heat is off. The muse is ‘fed’. I rely on the fact that they will then wait patiently until I have the time to type up my daily words, my offering.
Top tip 1: get to bed early enough to wake early enough.
The second ‘Try something new’ is to follow one of the set exercises (the Sparks) on the Arvon Friends site. I have looked at many of these, my idea being to start some writing from a viewpoint I might never have thought of – an exercise is very often the best way of doing this. Matt Thorne’s ‘Carry on the Spark!’ worked brilliantly for me in this respect – it is so unlike the stuff I usually write. Matt left the start of his story ‘open’; neither of the main protagonists had names. Although there was a suggestion of what these characters might be doing, it wasn’t spelled out. I could take the story in any direction I wanted.
Playtime! I turned the story on its head. I had a whale of a time writing it and my story is now finished and will be submitted for a short story competition (thanks, Matt, and wish me luck).
Top tip 2: it’s OK to do writing you enjoy doing.
Categories: Arvon Friends · Arvon in the world · Arvon writing weeks · Words · writing
by Sally Crawford
1. Establish A Writer’s Routine
Harnessing your energies and putting them to work on your writing is quite a test. I don’t mean occasional writing. I mean the work of writing every or most days. This becomes less difficult if you establish a writing routine. I wonder how other Arvon people struggle with this?
I have been trying since I got back from an Arvon course last May to establish my own routine. First of all, I ‘Arvonized’ my writing space to make it good to work in. But that’s not all I’ve had to do. At Arvon, it’s not just the ambience but the routine that makes it all work. Finding this routine has turned my usual practice – of writing in the spaces that come between day job, keeping up with family and friends, avoiding becoming a recluse, etc. – on its head. I’ve discovered that it’s perfectly possible to prioritize writing; other things will still get done.
Because I now write as soon as I wake up. I might or might not make a cup of tea first (a travel kettle now lives with me in the bedroom). But I immediately get back into bed and sit up with sheets of paper and a pen and write while my mind is relatively uncluttered. Indeed, more often than not it has often come up with its own ideas for what happens next all by itself.
In fact I get more done. It takes far less time to let 3–400 words flow out from the tip of my pen than it does to sit down at my desk waiting for those words to come. That can take hours. And a plus: early morning writing leaves you with a nice warm feeling that lasts through the working day.
An important tip here. I’ve just had a couple of weeks off, so I found it easy to write my 3–400 words. Back at work this week, I’m finding it harder. Don’t stop. Write 100 words; write 50 words. The important thing is to keep up the momentum. Don’t lose touch with your story.
Next – Sally Crawford on Trying Something New
Categories: Arvon Friends · Arvon in the world · Arvon inspires · New Writing · Words · writing
I’ve been enjoying reading about Earl Lovelace, the great Trinidadian contemporary writer, in Bill Schwarz’s book Caribbean Literature After Independence: The Case of Earl Lovelace. What sets him apart from other post-independence writers like Naipaul and James is that Lovelace stayed at home and Schwarz shows brilliantly how through his immersion in the island folklore, Lovelace gives voice to the dispossessed of the island and embraces an aesthetic with seeks out the traces of Africa still living on in the traditions of the rural poor. The proof of good lit crit is if it does what Bill Schwarz’s book did, sent me back to Lovelace’s classic novels The Dragon Can’t Dance and Salt. If you haven’t tried him, plunge in.
Finally Seamus Heaney has the extraordinary honour of entering the world of cockney rhyming slang. At his 70th birthday party held by his publisher Faber last week, we heard that a Seamus Heaney is the term for Bikini…”She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot Seamus Heaney” has got a ring about it. This confirms his reputation as a poet of the people!
Categories: Director's letter
By Violet Rook
One day last week I was driving to the coast taking a relative out for the day on a sunny quite muggy afternoon. We got out of the car and had a lazy walk to the picture book harbour. The sea was shiny, still and what seemed to be a heat haze was rising. Then a leisurely walk back to the car park, a drink of water and a discussion on this little expedition, the first such event of the summer.
Then I realised a mist surround us and there was a chill in the air and the bright blue sky was h
ardly visible. I looked at the car temperature gage, it read 8 degrees, it had been 16 degrees 15 minutes before. Then after travelling through winding roads, the thick mist rolling in from the sea, darkening the way ahead, we were back on the motorway in bright sunlight and turning on the air conditioning, it was now 16 degrees again. The conditions seemed remarkable, heat, cold and fog in such a short time.
Could my companion remember such circumstances? All of the data from global warming arguments passed through my mind. Is the sea warming up? Is it the carbon in the atmosphere? Was it man made, or some strange phenomena, a ghostly event from the past? The area was endowed with many historical tales from which even the plays of the Bard were derived. The ghost of Hotspur had been mentioned, and the lives of the medieval kings of England were played out in the area. Armies clashed, and battles were fought. Or were the dramatic changes felt, a prediction of some future event? The mind raced between rational ideas, and the imagination stimulated adrenaline.The temperature of the mind being greater than the elements, making what seemed, greater than what was.
A scene from the Scottish Play perhaps. Picture the scene then sitting in an audience in the courtyard of a castle, a stage at one end, the venue open to the sky. From the tower which faced the sea, a light came and went and the sound of a foghorn piece the atmosphere, while the sitted watchers kept themselves dry with plastic bags given to protect the
m from the elements. This was Elsinore Castle. The elements conspiring to take the audience out of their cosy lifestyle back to a less comfortable time and place. Virtual reality games indeed.
Categories: Arvon Friends · Arvon in the world · Arvon inspires · Uncategorized
Arvon Friend, Diane Padgett, has been quite busy recently. In July last year, Diane published a poem on the Arvon Friends website – following a course she took with performance poet John Hegley. Her poem was then called On Lusting After The Driver Of A Crane.
Not one to ignore a fundraising stunt when she sees one, Diane decided Red Nose Day posed a fantastic opportunity to raise some money through poetry. And so she did. In fact, Diane raised £2000 by serenading her crane and the “remote, aloof” hero in the crane with the poem she had written – now called, My Lofty Friend, the Crane Operator.
Can poetry change lives? It seems so. Read Diane’s ode to a crane below and why not try this for yourself? Take heed from Diane. Write a poem or a piece of flash fiction that serenades and celebrates someone or something. Then, with your poem edited and redrafted until it’s perfect, take it to the celebrated person or the object and ask them if you can serenade them with a poem. Even ask them if they’re an inanimate object! Chairs have feelings too! They are likely to say yes and feel honoured and privileged. In which case, take a deep breath and read them your poem. At the end, take a bow and leave. (If, in the unlikely circumstance they say No Please Be Gone, you could always post it to them. They might be having an off moment.)
Categories: Arvon Friends · Arvon in the world
Courtesy of Book Depository and Canongate Books, download your very own free e-book, The Optimist by Laurence Shorter.
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