Pilgrim Station, soft proof

We have a running order for production with Sentinel and printers, figuring an on sale date of 17 October.  I hope to have copies to cart along to the Hungerford Literary Festival on 23 October, see below, and above, soon [if not already].  Meanwhile I am reminded of Dylan Thomas after a good lunch:  my ears are full of peas and my smiles are all gravy. 

Cover design to be confirmed, meanwhile draft includes an Arizona hand carving, a tourist piece I am sure, which a Stratford evacuee bought his young daughter in later years, that is, a household charm.

Hungerford Literary Festival, 23 October 2016

Bright Scarves will be unfurling nicely at 7pm, Sunday 23 October, The Croft Hall, Hungerford. The top venue for a top show at this year's Literary Festival.
More details to follow, meanwhile:
Reach for those diaries!

WH Auden

I have been slow in coming to Auden, aware of him the light that shines on him, his manner of speech.  Now, poetry I like most is often the poetry which makes me rhyme and so the easiest way in to a poet’s work -  or the most fun, for me - is the declamatory stuff.  Blow winds, crack your cheeks.  etc.


This from The Age of Anxiety,

Well, here I am but how, how, asks the visitor,
Strolling through the strange streets, can I start to discover
The fashionable feminine fret, or the form of insult
Minded most by the men? In what myth do their sages

        Locate the cause of evil?
        How are these people punished?

How, above all, will they end?  By any natural
Fascination of frost or flood, or from the artful
Obliterating bang whereby God’s rebellious image
After thousands of thankless years spent in thinking about it,

        Finally finds a solid
        Proof of its independence?

compadres

Simply for the pleasure of it, this talkative group: Peter, Dominic, Quentin.

The Photo was taken the afternoon before the event below, and is a souvenir of a few days together that week on the East coast.

A happy time with Steak and Kidney pie, Norfolk sausages, Cromer crab, flashes of merriment, occasional seriousness and as much Yeats as anyone else, apart from ourselves of course.

Bicycle Shop, Norwich

Last Wednesday; an evening full of expression underground at the Bicycle Shop, a groovy café bar on Benedicts St, Norwich. It has been some time since Peter, Quentin and Rosie performed together, here, Tista joining the group. Good performances all, and good material.  It's a pity for me Norwich is a long haul from the Cotswolds but Peter's back on form and there should be more to come at the Bicycle Shop, and in Sheringham, well worth the visit.

Bright Scarves 25 May

A happy day for the old brighter scarfers, a reunion with Peter Pegnall in the lead, ready to roll. Watch that man!  There has been a lot of loose bicycle talk the last couple of days, Peter wants to hire more, Quentin doesn't want that whole Butch & Sundance rigmarole.  We're a three gear bunch, or none at all.

After a wordy warm up in Sheringham the boys will meet up with Rosie in Norwich for a fun packed evening of poetic entertainment.  Make your way to the bicycle shop one and all, I don't know if there will be bicycling, but the wheels still in spin.

Wiv'air larndun airs n graces.  Blimey.

Bard of Hawkwood 2016

		Hawkwood College, 02 May Open Day, rain, wind and a busy common room before 5 story tellers, poets, song writers competing at the 2nd Hawkwood Eistedfodd, although Peter is not pictured here he can probably be found on Kevan Manwaring's bardic site - instead, me handing over the applebough, and our gorsedd, Katie, Anthony, Chantelle, yours truly, Steve and Richard about the incoming Bard of Hawkwood. It was a closely fought contest and a well deserved win for Anthony Hentschel with a stirring performance of his own grand, redemptive verse. It might be a good year for the bards, I can offer my sympathies to the runners-up, they should know full well their stuff is winning material, but it was Anthony's day: goose bumps.  & No more live judging for me, I think.  Awen.