Nigel Kent, poet and reviewer, from Worcestershire will be appearing at the Festival with Jonathan Aylett, prize-winning haiku writer, who has enjoyed competition success in Poland, Canada, the USA, and Japan. The event will take place at St Andrew’s Church, Friday 26th April, 8.30 pm.
Nigel Kent is a five times Pushcart Prize nominated poet who has been shortlisted for several national competitions. He will be reading a selection from his collections and pamphlets: Unmuted, Saudade, Benchwarnmers, Psychopathogen and his latest work Fall, published in 2023.
Nigel is delighted to be returning to Cheltenham to perform, the place where he developed his enthusiasm for poetry both at school and through Cheltenham’s Literature Festival.
Tickets are still available and can be purchased at:
OU Poets is full of talented writers, one of whom is Mariana Gardner. Widely published Mariana is to share her expertise in a course entitled Poetry of Hours on the 4th May at Somerset House, Strand, London.
Mariana explains: ‘In this session, we shall explore the loss of love, i.e. the death of a beloved, the end of a relationship, the betrayal of a lover, the pain and sorrow of losing love. We shall read and discuss verse written by George Bacovia (1881–1957), Romania’s greatest symbolist poet, and write new poems inspired by the participants’ own photographs, focusing on what had occurred before the picture was taken, in the very moment of taking the snapshot and what might have happened after. We shall also consider drafting, editing and titling our new poems before rehearsing and performing them and finishing with a final round of feedback on the work. ‘
M.C. Gardner, MSc is an alumna of Southbank Centre New Poets Collective 2022-2023. She is an Anglo-Romanian author of several books of bilingual verse and prose focused on the human condition and diversity, on love altered by time, on impressions of exile and alienation. She is also an essayist and a literary translator.
Anyone out and about in Worcestershire at the moment has the opportunity to see the work of Polly Stretton, current and long-standing chair of Open University Poets. Her poem Raw (see above) is on display in Malvern at the outdoor exhibition by Malvern Spoken Word poets and at The Hive as part of the My Worcestershire project which includes poems from poets all over the world who are part of Worcestershire Libraries Poetry Bubble. The Malvern Spoken Word exhibition continues until February 2024.
Polly along with our Society’s Secretary, Karen Macfarlane, also has a poem in the anthology, I Bequeath (Seahorse publications, 2024), the poems prompted by the late, great Kevin Higgins, Irish poet and a genius re politics and satire, who tutored an OUP workshop some months before he died.
Congratulations to Polly and to Karen!
If you like the poem above why not checkout our Editor’s Choice page where you can see more poems written by OUP poets and chosen by the Editors of our workshop magazine as the best of the bunch!
Exciting news for one of our Society’s members. Wendy Goulstone, who writes short plays as well as poetry, is scheduled to have one of her forty-five minute plays to be staged at Rugby Theatre in the Spring (March 20th-March 21).
The play is called On the Train and tells the story of a train journey between Rugby and Birmingham New Street Station. It has five actors playing eleven parts, getting off at a station and coming immediately back onto the train as someone else, so it should be great fun to perform and to watch. It is now at the audition stage of production.
Wendy Goulstone has experienced poetry competition success and has had poems published in literary magazines. She also organises Open Mic evenings for poets, musicians, singers and writers of all description at Rugby Theatre. In the Summer she was join winner of the Staffordshire Libraries Poetry Competition for poems about the local environment with her poem On Cannock Chase . Furthermore, her poem A Little Bit of Heaven was shortlisted in the West Midlands Libraries competition for poems on the theme of Refuge.
Congratulations Wendy!
Whilst we are on the subject of performances, we previously reported that Mariana Gardner, another of our members, was scheduled to appear on the T.S. Eliot Foundation website reading from Sarah Howe’s latest prize-winning collection. Here’s a link so you too can enjoy it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koKtlWV_PXg&ab_channel=T.S.EliotPrize
It’s been a productive year for the Society’s members, a number having published collections. We end 2023 with the publication of Sue Spiers’ wonderfully titled De Do Do Do. De Da Da Da. Sue’s collection features poems previously published in 14 Magazine, Acumen, Artemis, Atrium, Brittle Star, Dreich, Dust, Fenland Poetry Journal, The High Window, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Obsessed With Pipework, Orbis, Sarisvati, South Bank Poetry and South magazines and three which were commended in national competitions.
Sue Spiers lives near Southampton and started writing seriously in 2006 when she began a BA in Literature with the Open University. Her first collection, Jiggle Sac, was published in 2012 and 2020 saw the publication of Plague – A Season of Senryu. Her work has appeared in many anthologies, printed and online journals. Sue also works with the Winchester Poetry Festival and is SIG Sec for British Mensa Poetry. She was placed 3rd in 2019 Battered Moons competition and her poem ‘Crooked Hearts’ made the Plough Prize longlist. ‘How to find the one’ was commended by Stephanie Norgate in the Binstead Prize. Sue tweets @spiropoetry.
Contact Sue or Lulu.com to obtain copies of De Do Do Do. De Da Da Da.
It’s always a cause for celebration when one of our poet’s work is accepted for publication and this month sees the launch of long-standing member, Adrian Green’s latest collection, New Blues and Other Poems (Littoral Press, 2023).
This new collection by Southend poet, Adrian Green, is his third. Like his previous collections, Chorus and Coda and All that Jazz and Other Poems, it reflects his interest in jazz and a wide sensibility for the nuances of place and people. With degrees in psychology and social science, he takes a wry look at the world around him, his passing of time, and the politics of restriction during the pandemic of 202. The poems draw the reader into a vision of life and art which transcends the ordinary.
Adrian Green lives in Southend-on-Sea. A former small press editor, his poems and reviews have appeared in magazines and anthologies in England and abroad as well as two pamphlet collections and earlier full collections, Chorus and Coda and All That Jazz and Other Poems, both from the Littoral Press. He co-edited an anthology, From the City to the Saltings: Poems from Essex for the Essex Poetry Festival. He is a trustee of The Jazz Centre (UK) and has had a long association with the Essex Poetry Festival, the Southend Poetry Group and with Open University Poets.
New Blues and Other Poems (ISBN 978-1-912412-52-5, £9 inc P&P) is shortly to be published by the Littoral Press and will be available from the poet directly, from the usual outlets, and from Gardners Books Ltd.
November saw the 2023 Open University Poets’ annual poetry workshop. This year it was held at Walworth Castle Hotel with award-winning tutor, Harry Man, who kept everyone busy with many stimulating prompts.
It was great to see the OU poets fortunate enough to be there take part in the workshops, in interesting and stimulating tutorials, in a poetry walk around the superb grounds and in the stimulating exercises and activities. Everyone came away with ideas and new poems to work on, which no doubt will be appearing in our future workshop magazines.
The annual workshop is one of the benefits of membership of Open University Poets. It gives members an opportunity to develop new skills as well socialise and catch up with others who share their passion.
Thanks everyone for a grand time.
For more details regarding the benefits of membership of Open University Poets, see our membership page.
OUP is always on the lookout for new members. This year two of our committee members, Liz Beber and Barbara Cumbers attended the Annual Society Fair to publicise the benefits of our society for lovers of poetry.
This is the perfect time of the year to think about joining OU Poets. Membership is for any student or member of the staff, past or present, of the Open University, who has an interest in poetry.
Membership of OU Poets brings you: five workshop magazines a year with 30-35 pages of poems and comments on poems; a monthly Zoom session in which members can share their poems and receive feedback; the opportunity to be included in annual anthology of members’ poems; and the opportunity to attend day workshops and the annual poetry weekend.
The last few weeks has seen national acclaim earned by three of our talented OUPS poets.
Karen Macfarlane is one of twelve poets who have contributed to The Poetry of Crime, commissioned poems based upon classic crime movies, published by Tippermuir Books. The book will be launched at ‘Perth Noir’, an event held as part of Scottish Book Week on 18th November 2023. Karen’s poem, ‘All Lies, Sweetheart’, was inspired by The Maltese Falcon (1941, John Houston).
Furthermore, Sue Spiers with her poem, The Snowdrop Campaign, and Pru Bankes Price with her poem, Misconception Of A Pair Of Shoes, were both highly commended in the King Lear Prizes 2023 (Experienced Amateur Category) which attracted over 1,500 entries!
Sue lives in Hampshire and edits the annual anthology for the Open University Poetry Society. She also supports Winchester Muse. Her poems have appeared in Acumen, Fenland Poetry Journal, The North. Obsessed with Pipework and South magazines and on-line at Dust, The High Window and Ink, Sweat & Tears. Sue Tweets @spiropoetry.
Pru is a long-retired PA who, despite setbacks, remains a positive thinker while enjoying an easy lifestyle on the North Cornish coast. Her huge love of laughter sometimes proved a disadvantage but these days it keeps her sane and is often reflected in her poetry which tends to focus on life experiences.
Sometimes writing the OUP blog is like waiting for the proverbial bus. Nothing arrives when you expect it to, and then news arrives in threes. October has been the kindest month for three of our poets.
Jenny Hamlett found herself the winner in the short poem category of the Second Light Poetry Competition 2023 with her poem on the subject of deafness, When it is Over. The competition was judged by distinguished poet, Myra Schneider, and the winning poem will be published in ARTEMISpoetry. Jenny Hamlett is a long-standing member of the OUP and is widely published. This year her poems have appeared in Artemis, Orbis, The Dawntreader and Reach. Click this link for more details.
This month also saw the publication of Nigel Kent’s latest collection, Fall by Hedgehog Poetry Press. It is a narrative sequence of poems that eavesdrops on an affair that has devastating consequences and forensically dissects the complex nature of love. Reviewing the collection, Ellie Rees, poet, writes: “The poem has such a powerful emotional pull that I found myself with tears in my eyes when reading the final line. Nigel Kent’s innovative and memorable account of an old, old story, will make you want to read it again, straight away.” Click this link for more details.
Finally, Mariana Gardner, another longstanding member of OUP will shortly be found on the T.S. Eliot Foundation website reading the poem Frenzied by Sarah Howe from her collection Loop of Jade, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize 2015. Click this link for more details.
It’s always a pleasure to report on the Society’s poets reaching a wider audience through the publication of their work. This summer sees two more of our members publishing their first collections: Susan J Bryant and Ian Ledward.
Susan has not one but two collections: Elephants UnleashedandFern Feathered Edges. The former isa collection of satirical poetry that addresses the modern-day elephants in the room – all those taboo subjects that have been ignored and cancelled are brought to the fore in formal poetry that’s flirtatious, feisty, fun, and foreboding. The latter consists of poems for those who like to search beyond… those who read between the lines to discover the hidden beauty that the mystical and magical side of life has to offer. Copies of these two collections can be obtained from www.amazon.co.uk .
A Feather Left is Ian Ledward’s first solo collection and it deals with the themes of time and change in a variety of forms, ranging from sonnets and sestinas to haiku and free verse. The poems, with subjects as diverse as love, war, Alzheimer’s, and the process of aging, are written with both honesty and humour. Copies of A Feather Lost can be purchased from gifford.farm@gmail.com
Susan was the winner of the 2020 International SCP Poetry Competition and was nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize. Her work has appeared on Lighten Up Online, Snakeskin, Light, Sparks of Calliope and Expansive Poetry Online. She also has poetry published in TRINACRIA, Beth Houston’s Extreme Formal Poems anthology and Extreme Sonnets II, The Lyric, and in Openings (anthologies of poems by Open University Poets in the UK)..
Ian is an artist and writer living in Scotland who spent his student years in Leeds studying for a degree in art and working as a performance poet in London and North of England. In 2022 he was awarded a distinction from the Open University in Creative Writing. He is an active member of the Open University Poets’ Society, Fife Writes and the U3A. His work has been published in national and international magazines and anthologies including The Heimat Review, Bindweed Magazine, The Sonder Literary Journal, Dreich Magazine, the Alchemy Spoon, Poetry Scotland, Briefly Thinks and two Giffordtown Writers Anthologies. Ian now incorporates some of his poems within his artwork which can be seen at www.onemidshore.com
Yes, it’s that time of the year when editors of small poetry presses nominate up to six poems that they have published in the calendar year for the internationally acclaimed Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses.
This year we’re delighted to announce two of the Society’s poets have been nominated.
Lessons in Love by Susan J Bryant has been nominated by Randal Burd, editor of Sparks of Calliope, which publishes about ten talented poets per month (one very three days). The successful poem appeared in the edition entitled Journal of Poetic Observations.
Susan Jarvis Bryant is originally from England and now lives on the coastal plains of Texas. She has poetry published in a variety of places in the UK and the USA and has recently published two poetry books: Elephants Unleashed and Fern Feathered Edges. She is the winner of the 2020 International Society of Classical Poets Competition and was also nominated for the 2022 Pushcart Prize. To read the nominated poem follow this link: https://sparksofcalliope.com/2023/01/19/two-poems-by-susan-j-bryant/ .
Our second nominee is Nigel Kent, whose poem, Fall, was nominated by Mark Davidson, editor of Hedgehog Poetry Press. Fall is the title poem of Nigel’s latest pamphlet, a narrative collection of poems that eavesdrops on an affair which has devastating consequences for a marriage of ten years, forensically dissecting the complex nature of love. This is the fifth time that Nigel has been nominated for the award. To read his nominated poem follow this link: https://nigelkentpoet.wordpress.com/poems/
Long time member of OU Poets, Sue Spiers, has made the prestigious Dreich Classics Chapbook Competition 2023 shortlist with her submission More Than a Late-Night Drink’.
Sue writing about her successful submissions says: ‘I am what some may call a formalist. Often my poems involve research around a subject and research into forms: how they’re structured, what is their intended use, how lines link to lines, stanzas, rhythm and rhyme or lack thereof. There are very few autobiographical poems in what I put out for public consumption, and, if an event is put into a poem, the words or form may take the poem in a more aesthetic direction – it is neither documentary nor reportage. All my poems are likely to have an opinion expressed with which the reader may disagree. For me it’s finding a way to convey what I think about the world and its inhabitants: human, non-human and inhuman.
The opening poem in More Than a Late-Night Drink, 39 is built on a news story about people smugglers who over-packed a refrigerated lorry and the people suffocated and froze. 39 people died and the poem is 39 lines long. How to Find The One was written after a workshop on LGBQ+ approaches to poetry, and takes a non-binary approach to looking for love, set on an old ship and using a created form I call a ‘grower’, 1 line stanza, 2 lines stanza, 3 lines stanza and so on as the subject or theme expands, and as the poet digs deeper into the subject. Line 1 might be the title, or a quote from another poem as a springboard into the development of the poem. The final poem When we became a nation of coffee drinkers is a light-hearted look at the influence of television advertising on the way people change drinking habits, as an example. It’s dedicated to Anthony Head (Tony) and Sharon Maughan who played the Nescafe couple who seemed to convey that sharing a cup of coffee might lead to More Than a Late-Night Drink, the title of the chapbook.’
OU Poets 