A gorgeous morning in Matlock - one of those autumn mornings when the sun picks out the yellows and reds of the leaves and the sky is a milky, hazy white. Writing this before I catch my train back down to Hertfordshire. The festival was lovely, especially meeting the other people in the anthology and pamphlets. A huge thankyou to Alex and his sons for all their hard work producing and running the press and the festival. It'll definitely be a festival worth looking out for in the future. I find talking to other people who are also finding time for writing in the spaces in their lives really positive. It's always great to swap email and myspace addresses and perhaps exchange drafts of poems in the future.
There were a range of poets, styles and subject matters in the poems and the variety was part of the pleasure. I always learn a lot by listening to people who write in very different ways to myself. This week I enjoyed and learned from Katrina Naomi and Linda Cash in this way. I especially enjoyed readings by Pat Borthwick, Dawn Wood, Stephen Wilson, Jo Haslam and Judy Brown. Judy has a pamphlet, Pillar of Salt, published last year, and Pat was one of the winners of the competition this year with her pamphlet Wave. Jo Haslam is published by Smith Doorstep. Read them, read them, read them!
