An evening of reflection on the theme of water.  Based around the inland waterways of Oxfordshire and the changing role of the lock keepers and their interaction with the wildlife on the water.

Poetry, prose and music from Virginia and Florence Astley and Catherine Simmonds. 

What better way to lighten a dark Autumnal evening than to celebrate the pleasures of eating – and in poetric form has no calories either!    

Poems were read on the subject of food and also poet, author and cider expert  James Crowden read from his book ‘Open mouthed’  – poetry on a plate!

A most entertaining evening.

Twentysix of our members had each taken a different letter of the alphabet as their subject for this year’s competition. All the entries were read at this well attended and enjoyable meeting.  This year the judge was Will Silk, deputy headmaster of Perrott Hill School who had the onerous task of picking three winners from a very varied collection of poems.

The three winning poems were based on the letters A (Heather Murphy), U (Iona Lambe)  and X (David Cloke).  Details of the poems are to found on our ‘Competitions’ page

We have probably all sat with a blank sheet of paper (or blank computer screen) and an equally blank mind, trying to write a poem.  However help was at hand.  For this meeting we had a panel of published poets,  Annie Freud,  Paddy Hughes and Stella Davis, who talked about their approach to writing poetry and how they put pen to paper.  An inspirational meeting !

These open evenings are an opportunity to hear both new poetry and old favourites in a live reading event that is open for anyone to come along and take part. No theme – just bring some poems.

Bridport has a lively arts scene out of all proportion to the size of the town. This was an excellent, lively evening given by several of the ‘Bridport Poets’, including Kim Squirrel, Gill Capper, Andrew Dickson Sweetpea Slight and Ellie Madden.  A ‘poetry happening’ is a good way to describe their varied styles and a splendid showcase for modern poetry.  

There have been many Poet Laureates over the years – but can you name but a few? This was a chance to fill the gaps and learn something of the lesser known, as well as the more famous, Poets Laureate.

The afternoon of Sunday 29th May saw the Garden at Naish Priory opened for a ‘T.S.Eliot Modern Poetry Day’, promoted by the East Coker Preservation Trust. Talks and readings linked to T.S.Eliot took place during the afternoon, where the combination of poetry, picnics and the delightful garden at Naish Priory made this a splendid and memorable ‘outside’ event.  The garden was open by kind permission of Dr and Mrs John Fysh. 

What better place to hear some T.S.Eliot read than East Coker itself. Eliot was voted Englands most popular poet in 2010. His poetry is variously described as brilliant, obscure, tantalising or impenetrable. Whatever your view, the mix of some of his poetry, plus the announcement of the format of this year’s poetry writing competition, made this a most enjoyable evening.   Readers were Ian White, John Darling, Richard Vanderpump and Jean Caunter with Clive and Anne Bingley linking the readings’.

We left before I had time
To comfort you, to tell you that we nearly touched………..
 
So starts Julia Copus’ most famous poem, The Back Seat of My Mother’s Car.
There are few poets who can claim to have invented a new form of poetry, but the specular poems of Julia Copus are just that.  Her poetry is intimate, gripping, sometimes claustrophobic, but modern poetry at its best.
Winner of the most recent Forward Prize for a single poem, Julia Copus is a rising star of poetry, and a radio dramatist for the BBC.  We were fortunate that she came to East Coker to read some of her poems and take part in a ‘question and answer’ session afterwards.