Boomslang Poetry

Diane Arbus

2012-01-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

A comprehensive retrospective of her work at the Jeu de Paume - get your skates on it closes on 5 February. Famous images (trannies, circus performers, nudists, scary-eyed patriots, even scarier old women and odd-looking children) and the almost unknown such as the Hallowe'en parade of Down's children and young adults.

Titles are striking in their political in-correctness. Today we would not note ethnicity or religion so boldly, yet the Down's children are all 'Untitled'. This provoked a discussion with my companion as to whether PC is too PC and whether I am trying to hard. One favourite was Germaine Greer sticking a finger at the world, curiously just titled as 'Feminist', but in a book I riffled through later it is titled with her name. I wonder why this was changed? Curious.

Favourite Arbus quote on photography: 'They are the proof that something was there and no longer is. Like a stain. And the stillness of them is boggling. You can turn away but when you come back they are still there looking at you.' Just so.

A haunting exhibition. It was good to see all these images gathered together. Well worth 8.50 Euros of anyone's hard earned. Go early as there was no queue before noon.

http://www.jeudepaume.org/

TS Eliot Prize

2012-01-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

John Burnside, a worthy winner of this years' prize.

Many congratulations to him for Black Cat Bone, a collection you should invest 10 pounds in.

Graffiti Latest

2012-01-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Stencil from a wall in Montparnasse - for David Bowie's birthday week

Stein collection at Grand Palais

2012-01-08T00:48:00.000-08:00

On till 16 January at the Grand Palais is the recreated collection of Leo, Sarah and Gertrude Stein with paintings assembled from the major museums in the US, notably San Franciso's MOMA. Leo favoured Matisse; Gerturde Picasso, so it is an astonishing group of paintings from their early work, along with similar from Cezanne, Manguin, Bonnard and others. My favourites were Picasso's portraits of women with quarter of brie noses, the well known (but mocked at the 1905 salon) Matisse, Woman with a Hat. 12 Euros well spent.

http://www.rmn.fr/francais/les-musees-et-leurs-expositions/grand-palais-galeries-nationales-9/expositions/matisse-cezanne-picasso-l-aventure

Carol Ann Duffy wins the Costa Prize

2012-01-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

Great news for a great poet. I am delighted that Carol Ann has won this year's prize. The Bees is a wonderful book. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly suggest that you do, and soon!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16392838

Graffiti Project - latest

2012-01-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

A sheepish start to the new year - Rue Chemin Vert, Paris, 11eme.

Pere Lachaise

2012-01-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

What better way to spend a gloomy New Year's day than a visit to Oscar Wilde. We wanted to see the revamped grave: lipstick cleaned off, a glass wall now in place to protect Epstein's monument. Kisses on glass are less damaging I suppose, although the whole thing is rather unfriendly to visitors and photographers.

Musee Rodin

2011-12-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

Excellent collection of all your favourites: large castings, marquettes, marbles all jumbled around inside and in the grounds of a beautiful 18th century house at the back of Les Invalides. A cosy and intimate setting for works I've only ever seen in portentous places like the Cantor in Northern California, or at special exhibitions at the Royal Academy. Lovely garden too.

Very enjoyable and not expensive to visit - 10 Euros for two adults for everything including the current exhibition of 300 drawings (some racy enough to make Tracey Emin look tame), kids free, EU students under 25 free - so bit of a bargain for a family from one of France's non-state funded museums. Merci beaucoup.

http://www.musee-rodin.fr/

River of Stones - January 2012

2011-12-31T07:38:00.000-08:00

Time to get excited again about paying attention to just one thing every day - join the river here http://www.writingourwayhome.com/p/river-jan-12.html.

My small stones will be posted on the Work - Gems page of this blog.

Saying Goodbye to George Whitman

2011-12-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

Family, friends and the writers of Paris turned out today to say goodbye to George Whitman, founder of the world famous Shakespeare and Company, who died last week at the grand age of 98.

He was buried at Pere Lachaise this afternoon following a beautiful service with eulogies from Jeanette Winterson and his daughter Sylvia and readings of Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas, So Long by Walt Whitman, George Himself by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and George's open letter The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart.

Without George's unfailing generosity there would be no Other Writers group for me to go to and I would never have met all my Parisian friends.

My happy life here is largely thanks to him.

Rock Hair - Paris

2011-12-22T12:33:00.000-08:00

Certainly the grooviest hairdresser in Paris. Great cut, friendly staff, good music. Not cheap, but worth it for the experience. There are three branches: 7, Boulevard Beaumarchais, just next to Bastille metro and my local, plus at 68 Quai Jemmapes and 53 Rue Monge. One tip - they don't take cards, only cash or cheques and rather trustingly let me leave the salon to go to the cash point.

Gumbo Press

2011-12-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

I have another new poem, Espresso or the best cup of coffee in the world, in the latest edition of Gumbo. You can read it here http://gumbopress.co.uk/wordgumbo/wordgumbo4.pdf

Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris

2011-12-18T07:14:00.000-08:00

or Musee de l'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, has a wonderful representative collection of the last hundred or so years of mainly French art, especially good on Cubism, such as this Braque:

It mounts special exhibitions (Georg Baserlitz at present), but the permanent collection is free to view. It is housed in the Palais de Tokyo which was built of the 1937 International Exhibition, a favourite haunt of skateboards of all ages; so if you hate art you can grab a coffee and watch the free entertainment - middle-aged men practising tricks and teenagers laughing at them.

An excellent way to spend a few hours on a Sunday and there was hardly anyone there today, unlike the super-crowded Pompidiou. A few more images to give you a feel for what's there:

http://www.mam.paris.fr/

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-12-17T04:47:00.000-08:00

You have got to be joking - St Paul, Paris.

Poetry News

2011-12-16T11:00:00.001-08:00

My poem, The Card Box, is in this quarter's Poetry News, which has just been published.

http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-12-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Konny Steding - wonderful woman - rue de Renard, just down the street from the Pompidiou Centre

http://www.konnysteding.de/Flash/start.htm

Roundyhouse

2011-12-15T05:37:00.000-08:00

I have a new poem, Cairo 2011, in the latest edition of this magazine from South Wales. For information on how to buy a copy, go here http://www.benybont.co.uk/another/roundy.htm#rx

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-12-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

Gregos, probably my favourite artist so far in Paris - a bit scary really and more famous for his faces such as

and

of which there are apparently hundreds around the city. For more go here http://www.gregosart.com/STREETART/Eng/HOME-PAGE.html

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-12-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

I think these are by Invader (http://www.space-invaders.com/artworks.html), and/or his imitators, but you can never be sure as I haven't bought his Paris book.

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-12-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

More Fred Le Chevalier - I told you he was everywhere

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-11-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

This time it's the turn of the ubiquitous Fred the Chevalier - here are a few of my favourites mainly from the Marias, but also Montmartre and Les Halles

Musee Carnavalet, Paris

2011-11-29T07:41:00.000-08:00

Also known as the Museum of the History of Paris is in the 4th, on rue de Sevigne, right in the heart of the Marais. Plenty of room recreations, paintings, revolutionary memorabilia, stones from the Bastille, Proust's bedroom and a lovely parterre. My favourite on this visit was the Fouquet Bijouterie designed by Mucha - Art Nouveau at its highest. most sinuous and most gorgeous. Free entry means I will be back time and again as it's literally five minutes from my apartment. Lovely.

http://carnavalet.paris.fr/

Going to the Doctor in Paris

2011-11-25T05:38:00.000-08:00

is breathtakingly simple. I even managed to find a doctor within staggering distance of my apartment and get an appointment on the day I phoned. Of course, the huge downside for a foreigner is that you pay for the consultation and then have to pay the real price for the drugs prescribed. There is some mechanism for making a refund claim, which I have yet to discover, but note to self: be ill in Blighty where it's free. God bless the NHS. Claire Rayner's dying words are ringing in my ears this week (something like 'Tell David Cameron if he messes with my beloved NHS, I'll come back and haunt him').

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part One

2011-11-19T10:01:00.000-08:00

So, my excuse is I have teenage daughters, but let's be honest, it's only an excuse. Whilst I am still in team Edward, I feel a switch to team Jacob coming on now. How did that happen?

All the much longed for things happen in this one, but there was rather too much time spent on the sickly (as it turns out) honeymoon. The best thing about this series is still the landscape of the North West - I love those forests. I want that house in the woods.

Edvard Munch, Pompidiou Centre, Paris

2011-11-14T08:12:00.000-08:00

If this was on in London, you would either have to book tickets in advance, or queue round the block to get in. Luckily a sunny Sunday lunchtime when everyone else was eating meant that, after we had listened to some karioke busking (Wonderwall sung by a Dutch guy, I kid you not), we walked straight in. Well almost, but we honestly only had to hang around for half an hour. Pretty good going for a block buster art exhibition.

My knowledge of Munch is greatly enhanced, even if I found his work rather distrubing (Murder on the road, The fight, The murderess, The sick child etc.). My favourite painting was a self-portrait recovering from Spanish flu - face like a combination of a Francis Bacon smudge and The Scream. The latter, of course, is not there. No doubt it's kept under lock and key now, safely in Norway. Get there before 9 January if you want an art challenge. Just the thing for us after the Catacombs that morning.

English Language Bookshops in Paris - 3

2011-11-14T06:46:00.000-08:00

Galignani's wears its credentials in stone as the first English language bookshop to be established on the continent. Great location on the rue de Rivoli opposite the Tulieries. Less great are the prices of its new stock, which are a significant mark up on the UK RRP. The poetry selection was disappointing: a large number of classics padded out with popular anthologies made up over half the shelves. Pity.

http://galignani.com/

Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

2011-11-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Apologies this is a repost as the blog received a spam comment that I have only just worked out how to remove. Anyway, the festival was fantastic. Great to meet up with all my friends and listen to some truly worldclass stuff. Robert Hass and Kay Ryan were the big international names this year.

http://www.poetrytrust.org/

English Language Bookshops in Paris - 2

2011-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Book Company is small, but perfectly formed. It has a good selection of mainly second hand books that are not as expensive as I expected (i.e. comparable with the same in the UK). There are several shelves of poetry that you have to bend over to browse, but luckily there is a stool provided for those with bad backs. Jim Carroll is a friendly and informative book seller. Go there (in the 6th - 17, Rue Monsieur Le Prince), buy books.

http://www.sanfranciscobooksparis.com/shop/sfbparis/index.html

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-11-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Graffiti and the shop front - is a whole new sub-genre. Here are some examples from Le Marais and Montmartre.

Spoken Word, Paris

2011-11-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Not only are there bookshops - there is an open mic - hurrray for that - run by David Barnes, who also leads the Saturday writers' workshop at Shakespeare and Company. It's every Monday night from 8 ish - remember we are on Paris time now - till late. Check the website for the location as it keeps changing at present.

Last night was a Hallowe'en fest of spooky stuff - The Raven, a retelling of Red Riding Hood - as well as other poems, stories and songs in English and Italian. My favourite performance was Yeats read from under a sheet. Excellent and free.

http://spokenwordparis.blogspot.com/

English Language Bookshops in Paris - 1

2011-10-18T12:44:00.001-07:00

As my French is, well, fairly rudimentary and my need for the spoken word is huge, it is a great surprise to find that Paris has so many English language bookshops. I suppose the most famous of these is Shakespeare and Company on the Left Bank (just opposite Notre Dame). http://shakespeareandcompany.com/

Not only is it packed floor to ceiling with an excellent stock of new and some quality second hand books, at not too bad a mark up on UK prices, but it also holds author readings almost every Monday and a writers' workshop on Saturdays in the late afternoon/early evening.

In the last few days I have heard Edward St Aubyn reading from his latest novel - the finale to a five book series (At Last) that I was not familiar with, and attended the writer's workshop where we are a rather strange tourist attraction. I have never been part of a group where work-shopping is a random spectator sport for book browsers before! I imagine I will get used to it.

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-10-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Official project work next to the Pompidiou Centre

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-10-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Guess so - Rue de Renard, Paris

Graffiti Project - new location

2011-10-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

A new city, a whole new ball park when it comes to photographing graffiti and street art. There's too, too much to take pictures of, so I will try to limit myself to posting the very best ones I find, like this gargoyle on the Quai de Montebello (left bank of the Seine right opposite Notre Dame) - a little obvious I know, but worth it for all that.

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-08-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

Totally wicked. Lothian Road, Edinburgh..

Paul Muldoon - Edinburgh Book Festival

2011-08-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

Paul Muldoon is indeed one of our greatest poets: challenging and playful, as he showed last Saturday evening. It was good to hear him read a full set of poems, especially the Wayside Shrine sequence from Maggot. He was relaxed and entertaining in the process, even having his son on stage to read a chorus to one poem, Lovely.

http://www.paulmuldoon.net/ to check him out.

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-08-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Another cracker from Lothian Road, Edinburgh. Note falling brick that hasn't moved.

Julian Sands - Pinter's poetry - Edinburgh

2011-08-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

You'd think that something directed by John Malkovich would be a bit, well, better really. This show had loads and loads of publicity - pictures of Malkovich handling out his own flyers on the Royal Mile in the Guardian, both he and Sands interviewed on the Culture Show, Sands on Radio 4, blah, blah. Certainly drew me to it.

Pinter's poems are the stars of the show, pithy, political and pleasingly personal. I knew some of them, but his love poems were a revelation.

I think my disappointment is that actors, even good ones like Sands coached by the poet themselves, as he was by Pinter before his death, just don't do poetry justice. Its music was lost in making meaning, over-rehearsed 'chat' between poems that lost all spontaneity, gesture, and actor-ly bowing. Poets just don't bow like that after their readings. Note to self - better go hear a poet reading their own or another's work.

Worth a try though if you not acquainted with Pinter's poems. It's on tour later in the year.

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-08-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

A really good one from Lothian Street, Edinburgh this time. I love the plants in the pavement, they seem so right.

Tuesday at Tescos - Simon Callow - Edinburgh

2011-08-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

I managed to get a ticket for Simon Callow's latest one man, or should that be one woman, show where he is a transvestite daughter (Pauline) to a more than unusually grumpy father on her usual Tuesday visit to him and the supermarket. It's an interesting piece translated from the French play that is currently taking Paris by storm (apparently) with a plot twist that I won't give away here. Callow is as one would expect is a brilliant, if unlikely trannie, resigned to being stared at every Tuesday in her 'home' town and not thanked or appreciated by her father, who is confused and ashamed by her in equal measure. But note to self not to sit too close to the stage again as it spoils the magic somewhat if you can see spittle flying. It's on at the Assembly Hall until the end of the month.

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-08-08T07:54:00.002-07:00

Sorry I have given up counting them - there was an excellent article in the Guardian last week on street art, with some amazing examples from all over the world - see the ten of the best here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gallery/2011/aug/07/art?INTCMP=SRCH to which I offer the following little dragon from Newport, South Wales - simple but cute (note fire!)

Graffiti Project - latest

2011-08-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

The Poetry Bookshop - Hay on Wye

2011-08-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

What a joy it is to spend hours in a bookshop that sells nothing but poetry in the famous town that sells little else but books. I could've spent a lot of money there yesterday, but managed to restrain myself as my pocket demands. Check it out here:

http://www.poetrybookshop.com/

There is a helpful on-line search and order system too for that first edition or must read you might be looking for and the owners are super-helpful and knowledgeable. Love it.

Brickwork Poets reading at Petersfield on Tuesday

2011-07-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

Gill Learner, Lesley Saunders, Anna-May Laugher, Wendy Klein and I will be reading at Write Angle in Petersfield tomorrow evening (19 July). Details here:

http://www.petersfieldwriteangle.co.uk/

Looking forward to it immensely. Please come and join the lovely audience.

Harry Potter - the end

2011-07-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

And so it all came to an end on Friday night. Loose ends tied up, well almost, Voldermort vanquished, cowardly Malfoys run for the hills, and the terrible three grow up and have kids...strangely satisfying but rather sad. Childhood over for my girls.

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/mainsite/index.html

Poetry in the Garden at MERL - tomorrow

2011-07-12T11:38:00.001-07:00

Please join me for Poetry in the Garden at the Museum of English Rural Life, Redlands Road, Reading at 6.30pm. Entrance includes a glass of wine.

The Two Rivers Press archive will be on display. I am reading with Susan Utting, Peter Robinson and AF Harrold.

Ledbury Poetry Festival 2011

2011-07-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

My first trip to the festival as i) it's a along drive and ii) it's spread out over 10 days, so it's hard to pick quite when to go, but yesterday was a treat: three lovely readings from Peter Sansom, Ian Duhig and Jo Shapcott. I'm not a fan of their 'partner' readers (Caroline Bird, Anthony Thwate, Anne Caldwell) but that's my taste for you. Ledbury is a beautiful town. On my next visit, I will stay longer than a day and have a good look around.

http://www.poetry-festival.com/index.html

In this photo - Caroline Bird looks straight at the camera. Jackie Kay and Michael Rosen are on the poetry sofa.

Centre for Literacy in Primary Education - Poetry Award 2011

2011-07-06T00:46:00.000-07:00

....and the winner is - Philip Gross for his book Off Road to Everywhere (Salt).
Congratulations Philip!

Poetry Society Meeting - Update

2011-07-06T00:38:00.000-07:00

The Poetry Society will hold a general meeting on 22 July at 2pm at The Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Details here: http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/mediaroom/

If you are a member and want your vote to be counted, but can't get there, you can appoint a proxy. Kate Clanchy can provide the names of members offering to act as proxies. You can email her at kateclanchy@gmail.com, otherwise see you there.

Ty Newydd

2011-07-03T05:04:00.000-07:00

I have just come home from a writing retreat at the National Writers' Centre for Wales. It is in Lloyd George's last home in North Wales (I slept in his bedroom, un-haunted!). It's the perfect location for writing new poems, meeting new poets and catching up with friends. If you ever have the opportunity to spend a week on a course of retreat there, grab it with both hands and then hope you are blessed with good weather. This week we were spoiled for sun and sea. Over the years I have met people on courses there that I am still in touch with, some of whom I am proud to call my friends.

http://www.tynewydd.org/english/home.html

Poetry Society - call for an EGM

2011-06-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

If you are a member of the PS and want to join the petition for an EGM to ask what's going on, please email Kate Clanchy at kate.clanchy@gmail.com

If you have no idea what this is all about, please visit one of the following web pages

http://rawlightblog.blogspot.com/ (Jane Holland)

http://www.displacement-poetry.blogspot.com/ (Fiona Moore)

http://baroqueinhackney.wordpress.com/ (Katy Evans-Bush)

Reading University Fine Art Degree Show 2011

2011-06-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

The annual Undergraduate and Masters degree show is on until 24 June, every day 10am to 4pm at Earley Gate. The usual mix of excellence, invention, pastiche and the pedestrian, which proves one thing - art like poetry is very much a matter of taste: what I like, you might hate and visa versa. This is the work that engaged me most this year as sculpture (apologies to the artist, I forgot to write down the name - but query Kara Dennis).

Forthcoming Poetry Readings in Reading

2011-06-15T02:46:00.000-07:00

I will be reading next on 13 July at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), Redlands Road, Reading http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/whatson/merl-specialevents.aspx at 6.30pm and hopefully in the garden if it's a lovely evening. This is the latest Two Rivers Press Reading Poetry anthology reading. http://www.tworiverspress.com/ My fellow readers are Peter Robinson, Susan Utting and AF Harrold. I look forward to seeing you there.

Ai WeiWei - Zodiac Heads

2011-06-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ai's huge bronze heads of animals from the Chinese zodiac form a semi-circle in the courtyard of Somerset House this summer. They are intriguing and somewhat scary. I am year of the tiger (which looks rather ursine)

but my favourite was the dragon.

Worth swinging by and taking a look at your birth year animal if you are in the vicinity at any point in the next couple of months. We know where the heads are, but where's their creator?

River of Stones - July 2011

2011-06-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am getting excited about Fiona and Kaspar's July challenge to write a small stone every day next month. The Work - Jewels page on this blog contains the stones (I called them jewels, just to be awkward and different) I wrote during the January 2011 project. Join in. Read more about paying proper attention here http://ariverofstones.blogspot.com/p/about.html

Biggar Poetry Garden

2011-06-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am delighted to have poems in the Biggar Poetry Garden this summer. If you live near Biggar (South Lanarkshire, Scotland for the benefit of non UK readers), you might like to pass by, take a read and enjoy the garden. If not, you might like to visit the virtual garden here http://biggarpoetrygarden.weebly.com/index.html and look for the current submissions. Enjoy! I hope to on my way to the Edinburgh festival in August.

Graffiti Project - 22

2011-05-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

The exhaustion of Africa - could be a metaphor for so many things. Lower Main Road. Woodstock, Cape Town

New Old Location

2011-05-28T23:56:00.000-07:00

This blog has changed countries again.Back in the UK now it will continue with the usual mix of poetry, theatre and other reviews, and photography projects.

The Bird-Watchers at The Fugard

2011-05-21T05:17:00.000-07:00

World premier run of Athol Fugard's new play at the theatre that bears his name in Cape Town. Part autobiography, part meta-theatre, and not much bird-watching (thankfully). Excellent performances by the cast of three. Dorothy Ann Gould's Clytemnestra extract was great. The reviews I've read have been luke warm about the play, but I rather enjoyed in it. Two acts and thirty years between them. I wonder if Sean Taylor's Garth is to Fugard as Prospero to Shakespeare? But that might be fanciful. Worth the money. Do go.

Graffiti Project - 21

2011-05-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

The incongruity of this next to the Coke ad struck me the minute I saw it. Caledon Street, Cape Town.

Graffiti Project - 20

2011-05-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

The truly wonderful - Lower Main Road, Woodstock, Cape Town

Graffiti Project - 19

2011-04-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

Four decades of South African history summarised in pithy visual images, District Six, Cape Town

Graffiti Project - 18

2011-04-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

An exercise in making me feel guilty before lunch. Off Long Street, Cape Town.

Ink Sweat & Tears

2011-04-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

New poem from me chosen by Helen Ivory for the Easter edition of IS&T - check out the 20 April posting here http://ink-sweat-and-tears.blogharbor.com/

New Anthology just out - hurry - get it while it's hot!

2011-04-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

From my publisher - Two Rivers Press - an anthology of Reading poems including half a dozen by me, edited by Peter Robinson and illustrated by Sally Castle. To order please visit www.tworiverspress.com. Lovely!

Blackbird at the Baxter

2011-04-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

First trip to this theatre complex, which had me in mind of the Barbican (sort of). Groovy orange lights, comfortable bars and random sofas, shame the seats in the studio are so hard and small. In all the years I've been going to the theatre, I have only ever heard the audience call out during a serious play once ( David Mamet's Oleanna). Extremely annoying then that there are people who can't help themselves. I don't know how the excellent cast coped with that and the misplaced laughter, but cope they did and admirably. Very interesting play by David Harrower and richly deserving of its multiple awards. Not one for the innocent or easily offended. This is tough, harrowing stuff.

Graffiti Project - 17

2011-04-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Not the real thing, but close. Jordaan Street, Bo Kaap, Cape Town.

Graffiti Project - 16

2011-04-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

No idea what this is meant to be - alien squid, mushroom, ice cream? Telephone junction box, Kalk Bay, Cape Town.

Graffiti Project - 15

2011-03-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Floor tile, District Six Museum, Cape Town. Part of the social history project recording of the stories, memories and history of this part of the city whose population was forcibly moved under the Group Areas Act when the district was declared a whites only area, and which was then bulldozed into extinction.

Broken Glass at The Fugard

2011-03-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

Anthony Sher as Philip Gellburg in this late Arthur Miller play, first performed in 1994 in New York and 1995 at the National Theatre in London, and staged in London again with Sher at the end of last year. Not a play I knew. Interesting plot with some small resonances for South Africa. Sher was masterly in switching Philip's short temper and intensity on and off. Excellent supporting cast for this anatomy of a man and a marriage. Good device of a cello player drawing the eye away from the stage between scenes, so the resetting of the stage was unobtrusive. Well designed efficient set with simple colour palette and minimal furniture. The Fugard is an interesting building: part church, part warehouse, so worth going for it alone. Luckily they throw in a great play.

Graffiti Project - 14

2011-03-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

Garden gate, Camps Bay. So simple, so perfect.

Graffiti Project - 13

2011-03-20T04:10:00.000-07:00

Very aged work near De Waal Park, Cape Town. The irony is the electric fence warning sign.

Graffiti Project - 12

2011-03-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

Modern Ndebele wall paintings on the staircase of the Pan-African market, Long Street, Cape Town. Note: AIDS symbol

Carmen at Artscape

2011-03-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

Great! Marvellous! You know the tunes, now see the show. Thoroughly enjoyed it. But why, oh why, were the curtain calls milked for all they were worth? Pity, as I get rather fed up if my hands start to hurt from too much clapping.

Off the Wall - Forthcoming Poetry Readings in Cape Town

2011-03-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

I will be the featured reader at Off the Wall poetry events on the following dates:

23 March at Kalk Bay Books - 7pm.

28 March at Touch of Madness, Observatory - 8pm

TBA at Espresso.com, Kommetjie - 7pm.

Graffiti Project - 11

2011-03-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

Street art rather than graffiti per se, but all the same it make me chuckle this morning in Long Street, Cape Town.

Off the Wall - Poetry in Cape Town

2011-02-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

I have discovered a great poetry evening every Monday, note every Monday,with guest poet and open mic. This now a must on my weekly schedule. It takes place at 8pm at A Touch of Madness, Nuttall Road, Observatory, Cape Town - marvellous!
www.touchofmadness.co.za

Graffiti Project - 10

2011-02-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

Stuck on rather than sprayed on - but decorating a shape challenge for students at the art college on Kloof Street, Cape Town - a colourful edifice.

Taming of the Shrew - Maynardville

2011-02-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

Last night of the summer season annual Shakespeare open air production. Played for laughs with lots of slap-stick which helped dilute what is otherwise a pretty odious plot. My least favourite of the plays, but well, if cheekily, localised in the prologue. I'm not sure what I think about mics as a rule, but last night they were definitely needed as the south-easter was in full flow/blow and it was actually cold enough to need a jumper, if not a blanket. I look forward to next year's production.

Graffiti Project - 9

2011-02-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Kloof Street. Perhaps a bit of a cheat as it's in the yard of the Art School, so not exactly street art, but fab none the less.

Richard III - Artscape

2011-02-18T07:46:00.000-08:00

Wonderful production, ingeniously managed by only three male actors and a series of great costumes and masks. My first thoroughly enjoyable and very intimate experience of the theatre in South Africa as it was in a small studio. Highly recommended.

Graffiti Project - 8

2011-02-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Says it all for the new South Africa. Can be found in Queen Victoria Street in central Cape Town, just next to the Centre for the Book, about which more anon when I manage to visit it. It was closed last weekend 'due to weather', which I think is shorthand for 'it's hot, we're at the beach'.

New Location

2011-02-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

This blog has moved its physical address to Cape Town. It will still have the usual mix of photo projects and poetry matters, albeit focused on a different locale. And its name (tree snake) is finally at home.

Jo Shapcott wins the Costa

2011-01-26T00:28:00.000-08:00

Great news - Jo Shapcott has won the overall Costa prize for her collection Of Mutability. Congratulations Jo! It's a fine read and I highly recommend it.

Graffiti Project - 7

2011-01-25T07:02:00.000-08:00

Some of the many examples of nineteenth century grafitti carved by Napoleon's soldiers, and British and other Grand Tourists in Egypt. These, along with later Christian attempt to remove 'idols', at Luxor temple. Others (below) at the Karnak temple complex.

Derek Walcott wins the T S Eliot Prize

2011-01-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

Derek Walcott has won this year's lucrative prize with his collection White Egrets. Congratulations to him.
Commentary from the PBS here http://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/projects/4/

I confess to having not spent long enough reading this work in detail. There seemed to be something particularly dense about it. I suspect I need to try again and try harder.

Graffiti Project - 6

2011-01-23T03:15:00.000-08:00

Doorway at Badi Fort (an ancient monument), Marrakesh.

Poets' Cafe - Last Hurrah

2011-01-22T04:50:00.000-08:00

Very sadly, last night was my last appearance at Poets' Cafe in Reading for a few years. I will much miss the guest poets, fantastic open mic participants and charismatic mc, AF Harrold. It's acknowledged as the best open mic around for longevity, warmth of welcome and quality by local poets and visitors alike, one of whom said he'd never seen so many people at an open mic reading from their books.

If you can get to Reading on the third Friday of the month, find your way to South Street Arts Centre
http://www.readingarts.com/southstreet/ and sign up to read.

Thanks everyone for the kind send off and letting me break the one poem rule. I will miss you all.

New Makar - Liz Lochhead

2011-01-20T07:41:00.001-08:00

Great news - another female laureate. Liz Lochhead has been announced as the new National Poet for Scotland. So that makes it three women for each of Wales, England and Scotland. Who'd have thought that would have been possible. Girl power poets!

Graffiti Project - 5

2011-01-20T07:33:00.000-08:00

Skate ramp-end, Christchurch meadows, Reading. Something illegibly grand and florid with added white tags. Summer 2009.

Graffiti Project - 4

2011-01-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

The famous Banksy at the bottom of Park Street in Bristol after the blue paint incident and its (partial) clean up. Photo by Paul Robinson.

Graffiti Project - 3

2011-01-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

Amazing face on the side of the skate ramps in Christchurch Meadows, Reading.

Ai WeiWei - Sunflower Seeds

2011-01-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to see the fabulous installation at Tate Modern yesterday on a very grey London afternoon. Intriguing and eerie, the individual and the masses. Obviously it was disappointing not to be able to walk on them, or even handle them. Our experience was far from the artist's intentions, but that's health and safety for you, more's the pity. Make sure you get there before 2 May or they'll be gone.

The Poem Tree

2011-01-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

can be found at Little Whittenham Nature Reserve, near Dorchester on Thames. The poem is a bit creaky, but etching it into a tree is kinda cool or so the Victorians thought. I think you might get an ASBO if you tried this in 2011.

Graffiti Project - 2

2010-12-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

Calligraphic scratchings on bamboo in the Majorelle Garden, Marrakesh. Small tags of luv and 'I woz yer' and equivalents in several languages.

Gillian Clarke awarded Queen's Gold Medal for poetry

2010-12-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

Very exciting news today http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12070426 Gillian is the National Poet of Wales and a great teacher to whom I am much indebted for her generosity as critic and mentor. She is a very worthy winner indeed. If you are not acquainted with her work, I urge you to buy her books and read on.

Merry Christmas one and all

2010-12-19T02:53:00.000-08:00

Carol Ann Duffy has commissioned a selection of seasonal poems for the Guardian which you can read here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/dec/18/carols-christmas-poetry?INTCMP=SRCH
I particularly liked Imtiaz Dharkar's Mubai Kissmiss.
Here is a poem of mine, which was selected by Carol Ann for The Mirror in January this year. Seasons Greetings to you all.

Snow light

I was born to the snow, brought

to snow light, the glow light of a late spring.

My first winter was all snow, ice floes

in the river, the Thames frozen bank to bank.

For three years I was beyond snow’s comfort,

beyond star-flake, hoar frost, rime,

touched it only once in a rusty patch,

as if roadside and rock-salted.

On Kosiuszko’s peak, it mended my snow-broken

heart with coverlet, sheet.

My uncle promised me a bucket of snow,

a bucket of hail, a bucket of sleet,

and in my six year old purity and Adelaide’s heat

I longed for the parcel, to grasp its cold deep,

crisp in my hands. I dreamed of snow;

snow beyond lamp-post and Narnia,

beyond Five’s winter adventures,

even beyond that cruel joke. Snow, a quilt

to lie down in, make igloos, eat.

Today it’s as if I’ve ordered snow; thick flakes

for you to mould and mountain, snow-shoe

and slide on. You won’t know what it is to be

blind without snow, beyond brilliance,

beyond its dazzling light.

The Troubadour - end of season party

2010-12-12T08:26:00.001-08:00

I have a tiny spot tomorrow evening if anyone is going to be there. I am rather looking forward to the usual fiendish poetry quiz and a few seasonal treats.

Graffiti Project

2010-12-12T01:50:00.000-08:00

A long running photography project of mine is to collect interesting graffiti from all over the world. I will share a few of my favourites over the coming weeks. One day the plan is that they will cover a real wall.

First up is this topical and seasonal one which can be found on London Street in Reading opposite RISC. If you sit in the window of the excellent RISC cafe, you can't miss it. That's how I found it.

Boomslang Poetry

Diane Arbus

TS Eliot Prize

Graffiti Latest

Stein collection at Grand Palais

Carol Ann Duffy wins the Costa Prize

Graffiti Project - latest

Pere Lachaise

Musee Rodin

River of Stones - January 2012

Saying Goodbye to George Whitman

Rock Hair - Paris

Gumbo Press

Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris

Graffiti Project - latest

Poetry News

Graffiti Project - latest

Roundyhouse

Graffiti Project - latest

Graffiti Project - latest

Graffiti Project - latest

Graffiti Project - latest

Musee Carnavalet, Paris

Going to the Doctor in Paris

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part One

Edvard Munch, Pompidiou Centre, Paris

English Language Bookshops in Paris - 3

Aldeburgh Poetry Festival

English Language Bookshops in Paris - 2

Graffiti Project - latest

Spoken Word, Paris

English Language Bookshops in Paris - 1

Graffiti Project - latest

Graffiti Project - latest

Graffiti Project - new location

Graffiti Project - latest

Paul Muldoon - Edinburgh Book Festival

Graffiti Project - latest

Julian Sands - Pinter's poetry - Edinburgh

Graffiti Project - latest

Tuesday at Tescos - Simon Callow - Edinburgh

Graffiti Project - latest

Graffiti Project - latest

The Poetry Bookshop - Hay on Wye

Brickwork Poets reading at Petersfield on Tuesday

Harry Potter - the end

Poetry in the Garden at MERL - tomorrow

Ledbury Poetry Festival 2011

Centre for Literacy in Primary Education - Poetry Award 2011

Poetry Society Meeting - Update

Ty Newydd

Poetry Society - call for an EGM

Reading University Fine Art Degree Show 2011

More Forthcoming Poetry Readings

Forthcoming Poetry Readings in Reading

Ai WeiWei - Zodiac Heads

River of Stones - July 2011

Biggar Poetry Garden

Graffiti Project - 22

New Old Location

The Bird-Watchers at The Fugard

Graffiti Project - 21

Graffiti Project - 20

Graffiti Project - 19

Graffiti Project - 18

Ink Sweat & Tears

New Anthology just out - hurry - get it while it's hot!

Blackbird at the Baxter

Graffiti Project - 17

Graffiti Project - 16

Graffiti Project - 15

Broken Glass at The Fugard

Graffiti Project - 14

Graffiti Project - 13

Graffiti Project - 12

Carmen at Artscape

Off the Wall - Forthcoming Poetry Readings in Cape Town

Graffiti Project - 11

Off the Wall - Poetry in Cape Town

Graffiti Project - 10