Autumn 2020

This new blogger layout continues to defeat me! Bring back the old one please. I tried to upload a photo but it wouldn't behave so I've replaced it with a snippet of some beautiful Designer Guild wallpaper - Don't ask me why - I just felt like it.

As usual I've meant to keep more up-to-date, but since getting back to Portugal I seem to have been really busy. Poetry and builders! I've also be keeping to myself for 14 days to make sure I picked up nothing on the flight. That is no excuse for being lazy with my blog.

'Unfolded' was published on September 25th and has gone really well. It's been an exciting time and I have some great news on it that is staying under wraps for the moment. I also had a wonderful review from London Grip by Emma Storr:

 https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/10/london-grip-poetry-review-olivia-dawson/

I'm doing a fascinating course with The Poetry School and Tamar Yoseloff - The gaps between the stories - about redaction and erasure. I'm interested in erasure at the moment so the course fits in beautifully with my explorations.

I've also tried my hand at reviewing. I love the OPOI (one point of view) pamphlet reviews by Sphinx https://www.sphinxreview.co.uk/ take a look if you don't know them.

So life is happily busy despite Covid 19 keeping me away from family & friends in the UK. At least I managed to see them all in September so I consider myself lucky. The only worry is when will I be able to see them all again?

On that note, keep safe, well and happy!

London

 

Bowl by Leonora Lockhart with words
from my poem 'Loop'

I've been in London for 4 weeks now and it has been wonderful to catch up with my children and grandchildren who I hadn't seen for 6 months. I just managed to miss the need to quarantine when I arrived but was quite prepared to do so. London feels like a very different place and I'm not sure I like being here much. For me to say that is a rare thing. I was born and brought up in London and have always considered myself as a Londoner, but for the first time ever I find it depressing. I'm very careful where I go and find it so strange to dodge people on the pavements and am avoiding taking the underground. There are lots of boarded-up shops which is sad. 

On a high note I now have copies of my pamphlet 'Unfolded' which will be published in a few days. I would love to share 'Unfolded' with live readings, but that is out of the question for now. 

I am fighting with a new pc which has just downloaded my thousands of photographs in duplicate! I'm also fighting with this blog as the interface has changed and I can't find anything.

I go back to Portugal in two weeks time and am looking forward to it. I shall be loaded down with my pamphlets and all the books I've managed to buy to help me through winter. I'll probably self-quarantine when I arrive just to keep everyone safe.

I have all sorts of ideas for poems, another pamphlet on the go and also a poetry/art project so I feel happy about that and will enjoy the challenges.

Summer Reading

Unfolded for Proof Reading!

 It looks like Blogger is going to go modern. It's all very well but I'll need to get to grips with a new interface which will take time! Today's photograph wouldn't move to the centre until I added a caption. It was also very large so obviously all that is changing.

The proof for Unfolded arrived a few days ago. I put some quiet time aside and read through it very carefully so I hope that I didn't leave any errors. I also got my husband to proof read it. He's a very good proof reader, but not so hot on poetry, but between us I think we sorted everything out. There were only some miniscule things to change like putting in italics, changing commas, etc.

I've been reading some wonderful poetry pamphlets: Cyanic Pollens by Isabel Galleymore, not only lovely poetry but another beautiful publication by Guillemot Press. The back cover is stunning. The Girl Who Cried by Charlotte Gann I read through twice in one sitting and was completely enthralled. It is a powerful but gentle book and I loved it. The third pamphlet I've just read was Navigations by Nancy Campbell. Nancy was the Canal Laureate last year and I heard her read at the launch of this pamphlet. Well, after that reading, I couldn't resist ordering a copy from Happenstance. I've managed to read a lot during lockdown but if my bookshelves were groaning before, they are now positively bulging. The good thing is that I've had time to clean the shelves of years of dust!

Unfolded

I'm so happy I can now reveal the cover and title of my pamphlet. The beautiful cover is by Alice Parker and I love it. The clouds of lockdown certainly lift a little whenever I look at it. Launch month is September and getting closer - I can't wait.

I attended a wonderful Zoom reading by Rebecca Watts for her new collection 'Red Gloves' (Carcanet Press) and immediately bought the collection on Kindle. I'd much rather have the actual book, but the post is taking so long to get to Portugal and I didn't want to wait, as her poems were so inspiring and so full of light and air.

We managed a 'real people' Stanza meeting in my garden and shared a picnic lunch. We worked really hard and did some good critiquing. In some way, we seemed to cut out the padding and just went in for the kill, and it worked really well. Our masks were a bit of a problem for reading our poems but we managed okay and it was great to get together again. 

My family were due to fly here from the UK tomorrow but all that has now been cancelled. Instead of making beds I'm making poems! A very different summer to previous years :-(

I'm still trying to get to grips with Instagram and am not posting any more pictures on there until my feed is looking a little bit more professional. At the moment it's a complete mess but (promise to self), I WILL sort it out.

Where are we now?

This catch-up has taken a very long time. Little did we all know what was lurking in the wings when I wrote my last post in February? We were in London in mid-March when things started to look bleak, so returned early to Portugal. We self-isolated for 14 days after our flight, just to make sure we were safe, and so was everyone around us. I started to relax a bit after that but had been scared we might have caught it. Luckily we are keeping well but still being very careful.

The poetry world has been amazing in lockdown. I've never attended so many readings, workshops etc, mostly on Zoom. We now have our Stanza meetings on Zoom and it's working well. Meanwhile my pamphlet is with my publisher Maytree Press and I've had a sneak view of the cover, which I'm in love with. It's as if the artist has got inside my head through the poems.

I've learnt to set up a very simple website, which I will improve on as I learn more, and I'm also learning how to manage Instagram. The next step is to think about how I'm going to launch my pamphlet which is due out in September. I had lots of ideas for readings etc, but will have to re-think my strategy.

Strangely, I've been writing a lot of poems and have had to stop doing jigsaw puzzles which were becoming addictive. I've just opened a new one today after weeks of resistance, as I need a poetry breather...which won't happen, I know!

Catch Up!

Chapel of Virgins, São Roque Church, Lisbon

Having signed off in November saying I would be back in a week, I have to admit to failure. I got caught up in an event for Time & Tide (Arachne Press), and another event linking poems and photographs for an exhibition in Cascais. This was all at the time of our Stanza reading, followed by Christmas etc. I think my school report would read (and usually did), 'Could do Better'.

I've been having fun putting my pamphlet into order for publication in September by Maytree Press. I keep changing the order of the first two poems, but love the way the poems all seem to connect and chat to each other. I really enjoy the whole process.

I'm happy that I'll have a poem published in Magma's Resistencia issue in the Spring, a theme close to my heart. I've also had a poem accepted by Poetry Birmingham Literary Review, with some helpful editing suggestions by Suna. I'm always grateful to get editing advice and admire any editor who takes the time and trouble.

I feel the year has started well on the poetry front and I seem to be writing more than ever at the moment. The picture above is of the Chapel of Virgins in Lisbon.  Skulls swathed in fabric that looks like ruby dusters, are displayed on velvet cushions. It is decidedly spooky. São Roque is in one of Lisbon's most beautiful churches and I've been trying to write about these skulls and their bizarre altar.

Debut Pamphlet & Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

I'm excited that my debut pamphlet will be published by Maytree Press in the Autumn of 2020. I have a title but am hanging onto it for now! My brain has gone into overdrive with plans for poems, readings etc, but there is a long time to go!

I had a wonderful time at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. I went with my niece, another Olivia, who is now writing poetry. We became known as Olivia&Olivia, which I think would be a great name for a fashion label! For the last few years I've been going on my own, and this was much better. We had a great time.

Maria Isakova Bennett led a workshop on sewing and poetry. She makes the most beautiful hand sewn covers for her Coast to Coast to Coast poetry pamphlets which inspired me to have a go. I won't post the photo of my effort here, well not yet. I also read a poem in the Peter Pears Gallery for the launch of Maria's Aldeburgh edition, where I had a poem about the otters I had seen in the summer on the Isle of Skye. I was recorded reciting it on the beach, which was a new experience. I haven't heard it yet, but I know a dog barked in the middle of it.

I will write more about Aldeburgh next week, as today our Stanza group are giving a reading in São Pedro do Estoril and I need to get prepared. More of that later next week as well.

I bought a huge amount of books & pamphlets at the festival and will have a wonderful time reading them. There were so many wonderful readings that it was hard to resist the temptation. I think I need some new shelves ...

One Year Has Flown

What can I say? A year has passed since my last posting (hangs head in shame) - I've written lots of poems, published a few and have some good news in the offing... 

My Stanza group are busy writing poems for our poetry reading in Estoril in November. It seems to take a lot of organisation. Publicity, printing, organising a venue etc. It's good fun and everyone gets stuck in to help.

I'll be at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival again this year and have a poem in Maria Isakova Bennett's special Aldeburgh anthology of 'Coast to Coast to Coast', so I'll be reading in the Peter Pears Gallery. I'm also going to Maria's workshop that morning 'Poetry and Textiles'. I'm looking forward to it. I used to do a lot of sewing so the idea of sewing my poems really appeals to me, and Maria's work is beautiful.

I've read a lot of books ... oh yes a LOT! I have many favourites: Girl by Rebecca Goss, So Many Rooms by Laura Scott, Reckless Paper Birds by John McCullough, Rock, Paper, Scissors by Richard Osmond, and the amazing Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky. Living between two countries, my books go backwards and forwards and end up all over the place, so it's hard to keep track of them.

A short catch up after a year but I'll 'do better next time'

Happy Writing!

Totleigh Barton

Writing Pod at Totleigh Barton

I'm just back from an inspiring few days at Arvon's Totleigh Barton and feel so lucky to have been tutored by Liz Berry and Ian Duhig. It was a tutored poetry retreat which suited me beautifully as I'm not so good at workshops when you have to write really quickly. The time was my own, to work on my poems, except for one tutorial a day. My room was next to the  poetry library, so I had a wonderful time reading, as well as writing.

I'm putting a pamphlet together and was stuck on title and themes. This retreat sorted it all out. The success of these courses is also very dependent on the people involved. This was an amazing group of about 16 and we seemed to get on from the moment we arrived. The tutors were so generous with their time, joined in with everything, gave us so much invaluable help with our work, and we all had a lot of laughs together.

The weather was beautiful, autumn at its most stunning, and Totleigh Barton was magical.

I'm sad it's over but also have lots of ideas for my poems that I want to get started on.

The first weekend of November is the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and I seem to have booked tickets to a huge amount of events. I love this poetry festival. Aldeburgh is a lovely seaside town, with a fascinating musical history, and I'm looking forward to it. But for now, I want to hang on to my memories of Totleigh Barton.

The Cinema Museum

Last week I was in London for the launch of Magma 71 at The Cinema Museum. It's an amazing place and was the workhouse where Charlie Chaplin went as a child. There was no time to explore the museum but I'll certainly go back there. The launch of Magma 71 was wonderful and included film poems, and 4 films responding to the same poem by Carrie Etter. I was lucky enough to have my poem 'Running from The Magnificent Seven with a Love Heart' in this issue so was able to read it, despite an argument with the microphone. I have no idea how to speak into a microphone and need to go and get some practise, as I found it fairly daunting. Luckily the atmosphere was brilliant and I loved the evening.

With England having a heatwave, I feel happy to be in Sintra where it is much cooler than usual. The mornings are misty and when the sun breaks through the temperature only reaches about 22 degrees.

The family start arriving this weekend and poetry, although it carries on in my head, gets put aside for a few weeks. I have so many wonderful books on my bedside table to dip into at night. I'm still returning to Sarah Corbett's 'A Perfect Mirror' and 'To Sweeten Bitter' by Raymond Antrobus. I've also gone back to Miriam Nash's wonderful collection 'All the Prayers in the House' as I've signed up for an Arvon tutored retreat in October where Miriam will be the guest tutor. I'm looking forward to going as I need the time and space to work on my pamphlet. 

Meanwhile there are two books winging their way to me in the post: Robert Peake's Cyclone and Richard McCaffery's Passport. Can't wait!

Just a little break ...

Too long a break! I was fed up with not being able to get into my blog, and then, having sorted it out, I kind of lost the impetus to carry on. Anyway, somehow today, the spirit moved me. 

I was very happy to have a poem published in The Paper Swans Press Pocket Poetry Book of Love & also one in PPB of Weddings (see photo). Another poem is coming out in Magma's next issue on cinema and I'm going to be in London next week for the launch so I'll be reading at The Cinema Museum.

I've been concentrating on my pamphlet and love working on it. The poems move around, some are taken out, new ones put in, so it is fairly organic, but I now feel it is as complete as it will ever be. I just need to find it a home.

I've read some wonderful poetry over the past few months. Sarah Corbett's The Perfect Mirror is a beautiful collection and I find myself reading it again and again. She was my tutor at Lancaster and I know how lucky I am to have been taught by her. Raymond Antrobus' To Sweeten Bitter is another book that has really impressed me and I keep going back to it. On days when I find it hard to write, I just have to dip into a poetry book and be inspired by what I find inside. 

Blogger problems

I've had problems getting back into this blog. Somehow I was locked out and I'm not sure if it's working properly yet. This is a trial to see what's going on. When I sign out I'm finding it hard to get back in, so maybe it's time to try a new blog site.

Tirimbina Suspension Bridge

Costa Rica was quite an adventure and has led to my writing a sequence of 5 poems helped by my online clinic with Bill Greenwell. The swing bridge in the photo is the longest in CR and terrified me. The poems are loosely based on 'fear' as I also had to cope with Howler Monkeys who roar like lions and swing through the canopy, trading insults with rival groups of howlers. We also arrived on the day of an earthquake and my bed shook all night!

I had a poem (Kissing Gate) published in Paper Swans Press 'Love' pamphlet in February, which was a very happy start to the year.  

I'm going to sign off now and see if I can get back in again. If not, I shall start a new blog elsewhere :-(

Light at the end ...

Winter sunrise in Sintra

The last few months of this year have been fairly higgledy piggledy and my postings on my blog, as you can see, failed completely. I spent a month in London when my mother was ill, and my pc there refused to recognise the device for this blog. A great excuse to be lazy, but I couldn't access my blog at all, or my emails. Help! I thought, what about all those poetry competitions I'm winning and can't accept because I'm not getting the emails. Dream on ... and dream on I will. I spent a month with bronchitis, made worse by reacting very badly to the antibiotics. I felt so sick I had to stay at home instead of reading a poem at a conference at Lisbon University with my Stanza group. I hope there will be more chances. 

I've just been making a list of the poems I've written this year. There are many fewer than previous years. Every year I print out all the poems I've written that year, just in case my pc dies on me. 

I'm taking part in one of Bill Greenwell's poetry clinics in January which I'm looking forward to. I've done a couple of his clinics before and his red (blue) pen is honest and brilliantly helpful. I feel a bit at sea with my writing and hope he'll help me sort myself out. I'm also doing another online course with The Poetry School (when don't I?) on European poetry. I think their courses are wonderful and I also enjoy the people I 'meet' on the courses. 

I did manage to make it to the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and went to the Poetry School breakfast where I met most of the team. I was also able to have a poem critiqued by Kathryn Maris which was great. I've done an online course with her and she is really encouraging without mincing her words. I went to some fantastic readings and fell in love with Miriam Nash's poetry, never having read/heard her before. Edward Doegar was another find for me and I loved the readings by Rebecca Goss and Ramona Herdman. 

So now I gather energy for a new year. I'm not sure where it's going to lead me but the first stop is to the cloud forests of Costa Rica in search of a Quetzal. It's got to be better than going to the Sales!

Dear Blog

Yes, there is an excuse. Summer! A full house, lots of sheets to wash, food, food and more food. But also time for a poetry picnic with my Stanza group. We chose the one foggy day, but the sun came through and we sat in the Sintra hills discussing the poems we had tried to write for children (mine was too scary), and eating a hotchpotch picnic. It was wonderful!

I found time to write poems in the early mornings when our resident owl was just dropping off, and our resident children were still dreaming. There is something about the pressure of time that gets me inspired to write and I've been enjoying myself exploring 'moths'. They are becoming something of an obsession and I'm having fun with them.

I was very happy to see my poem 'Washi' published in 'Under the Radar', a poetry magazine that I think is great, and thrilled to be shortlisted in the 'Paper Swans Press' pamphlet competition.

I've been reading a lot and will add to my reading list here once I get back from holiday. There are some fabulous poetry books and pamphlets out there and my shelves can't get enough of them. I love autumn and that feeling of settling down to write, sort out, garden, tidy up, declutter. It would be great to sell the house but the viewings dried up over August so I think we're here for ever. I can think of worse places to be and I love the privacy we have in Sintra.

The family left this morning and now it's my turn to take a break. I'm off down the Danube tomorrow, that is, if it hasn't dried up.

There is no excuse...

for not keeping up with my blog... except to say...my writing got stuck and I got stuck with it. I was saved (once again) by a wonderful short online course with The Poetry School. It was 'The Ugliness Studio' and we were encouraged by Adam Crothers to use bad taste, bad form and bad language. It was exhilarating, the group was dynamic and responsive and I loved every minute of it. I never thought I would enjoy writing such wicked words but it was very liberating.

I went to the music festival at Aldeburgh again in June and was able to get to Shingle Street for a quick walk on the beach. I was happy to see that the shell line was still there, looking stronger than ever. I managed to repair a few spaces and it felt very special. I think it would be a great place to stay and need to look up a place to rent for a few nights. I would love to go back for Aldeburgh Poetry and am thinking about it. I get very frustrated not being able to go to readings and festivals in the UK. I think I lose a lot but not being able to meet and talk with other poets. 

The summer invasion is about the begin but I need a day to sift through my poems that need editing. Usually I manage to edit a few over the summer, when nobody is looking.

I'd like to enter the Poetry Society Stanza competition and need to think about the theme of 'walls'. I have nothing that fits but feel the urge to write something new. My Stanza group are meeting mid-August to have a poetry picnic in the Sintra hills. I was wondering what would make a poetic sandwich or perhaps I could make a nasturtium & lavender pannacotta!

Dia Mundial da Poesia

Some of our Stanza group at World Poetry Day in Lisbon

Some of our Stanza group made it to the Belem Cultural Centre for World Poetry Day. I have to admit that it wasn't quite what we were expecting. The day was dedicated to a well known Portuguese poet called Mário Cesariny, (1923 - 2006), but maybe there was too much dedication! I was hoping to hear some young poets reading their own work but the ones I heard were all reading Cesariny. That said, it was an interesting day and there was a beautiful reading of a selection of Portuguese poets by the opera singer Jorge Vaz de Carvalho which I wouldn't have missed for anything. I also came away with a book by Cesariny, 'A Cidade Queimada'  which has some of his collage poems that are fascinating. It was hard to know which events to go to, so maybe we chose some of the wrong ones but the venue was very busy with lots of poetry events for children which was inspiring. 

Meanwhile I carry on writing, and my head is beginning to fill up with ideas again after a rather poor start to the year. I am back to those 'grabbing a notebook' moments which is exciting. I've been reading a lot of poetry, and need to update my list here. I loved The Occupant by Jane Draycott, as she has such a subtle way with form and I keep returning to Every Little Sound by Ruby Robinson. Her poems are very perceptive and she speaks to the reader with such directness.

Walking off the Winter Blues

Artists' Entrance Parque Mayer

Usually I write every day and have lots of ideas, but since Christmas I've been very stuck, despite Jo Bell's wonderful 52 project which got me off to a good start for the first few weeks. I've been reading a lot more to break the deadlock and found some wonderful poems in the latest Poetry Review which make me feel it is all worth while.

I've been trying to walk everyday (New Year's resolution) but it takes up so much time. I go to a different area whenever possible and have been going into Lisbon to explore a bit more. I've lived in Sintra for over 20 years but Lisbon still amazes me. It is a beautiful city and still feels 'authentic' unlike so many other European cities. I wanted to explore the Parque Mayer which was once the city's vaudeville park, built in the 1920's. There are plans for its restoration but I wanted to catch it before any work is done. It is gloriously dilapidated and cats roam freely around the space which is, for the moment, a paying car park!

Yesterday was our Stanza group meeting and finally I began to see the light with my writing. The group was so alert and active and just helped me to see where I was heading. I feel alive again!

I'm on two Poetry School online courses but haven't given them the time they deserve as a result of my winter blues. I will now change that. They are two very lively groups and I'm lucky to be part of them so mustn't waste this opportunity.

Meanwhile the almond blossom is out, the oranges this year are amazing, and my team won the pub quiz last night so what is there to moan about!

Another Year

Crib figures by Lulu Lockhart

Last night trees, cribs and decorations came down, not mine as I'm not very good at putting them up in the first place. The Portuguese can be very superstitious about leaving decorations up after 12th night. Usually I don't look forward to another year but this time I'm happy to dive into 2017. Maybe it's something to do with the wonderful sunshine we've been having in Portugal or the satisfying feeling of sorting out all my 2016 poems and opening a new file called 'New Poems 2017'. I wonder what will be in there by the end of the year.

I have no real resolutions except I've started Jo Bell's 52 project https://fiftytwopoetry.wordpress.com/ and will try to write a poem a week for as long as possible. I didn't let myself look at the first exercise until January 1st and I'm not looking ahead. I think it's more fun to be unprepared and it certainly makes the writing more spontaneous. The same way that I enjoy the picture prompts by Visual Verse and the one hour window to write a poem in - http://visualverse.org/

My reading is so random that I'm going to make a list on this blog of the books I read. I'm interested to keep track of how much I read. Looking at my shelves and my Kindle it's a lot but I have a terrible habit of dipping in and out of about 4 different poetry books at the same time. Maybe it's okay for poetry so not such a bad thing.

I've been checking out Poetry Festivals and wondering if I can fit any of them into my travel plans. I think I'd like to go to Ledbury as it looks wonderful and also back to Aldeburgh. I missed it last year and really regretted it. If I lived in the UK I would go to them all!

Stanza Group Poetry Reading

We had a great turnout for our Stanza Group poetry reading at the beautiful Déjà Lu bookshop in Cascais. The weather was horrendous with lashing rain and howling winds off the Atlantic, but we had a crowded room and it was a fun event. I'm already thinking about a venue for the next one. It needs to be bigger and it would be fun to combine it with music and art ...maybe?

I was in London last week and just blown away by Holly McNish at The Cadogan Hall. She is a wonderful poet and performer and reads with tremendous charm. She doesn't need to chuck in f-words to get attention, and I find her poems are sensitive and relevant.

I was also lucky enough to go to an editing workshop with Jane Commane of Nine Arches Press. I learnt more in those two hours than I thought possible and it was very valuable to me. So now to put it all to good use!

Super super-moon

We had a wonderful moon over Sintra except my camera is getting old and was unable to do it justice. The night before, I was in Lisbon on a beautifully warm evening. The sun was setting in a bright orange sky as the moon was just starting to rise over a new work of art by Joana Vasconcelos 'Pop Galo'.

On the poetry front I'm just coming to the end of Transreading Spain with The Poetry School, and it has certainly taken me out of my comfort zone but also stimulated my interest in poetry in translation. Yesterday, just by chance, a Portuguese friend from my stanza group translated a villanelle I had written a few years ago and sent it to me. It was so much more exciting in Portuguese! I don't know what that says about my version.

Next week I'm going to London for a few days and am going to a Self-editing workshop with Jane Commane at Free Word Centre. I also have tickets for Holly McNish Verse 1 at the Cadogan Hall. I heard Holly read at The British Museum for 'Alice' and have also been listening to her on Radio 4 and have become a great fan of hers!

I am now pushing the word around about our Stanza Group reading in Cascais on December 3rd and am sorting out my choice of poems. I hope it will be as successful as the last one which was great fun and very well attended.