MR. BOOKS®
Poetry Competitions & Events
Mr. Books in deep poetic thought!
"....Books are where things are explained to you; life is where things aren't...."
Poetry Events and Competitions
MR. BOOKS® is a big fan of poetry in its many forms.
These are some of the events coming up:
Poetry at the shop
just turn up anytime we are open to read some out (being videoed for YouTube is optional (and it has been done!)
Poetry at the Pub NO EVENT IN JUNE/JULY/AUG
Looking for a new venue or may get the old venue back, which was The Ivy House, on the corner of Bordyke and the High Street, albeit with its renevated, non-seedy look. Watch this space!
The basic idea is that you just turn up armed with your poems, (someone else's would be equally fine) your ears and some money (for the drinks.) Anyone wishing to just come and listen is very welcome. Entry is free and the atmosphere is very relaxed and informal; the event is totally open mic' with no holes barred so long as it's legal! Styles ranging from Wordsworth to hip hop! Shakespeare to Spoken Word!
Poetry at the Fair (West Kent Book Fair)
"open mic", similar format to the pub nights with the notable difference of the fantastic acoustics of the Old Big School hall
for dates and details of the fairs...
MR. Books is now listed on the Poetry Society web site as a recommended shop for poetry enthusiasts, so it's only fair to link them here. Poetry Society members get 15% discount off poetry and literature books on production of membership card.
Fine Scribes 2008 poetry competition results: 1st prize of £100 went to Margaret Beston for her beautiful poem Darning, second prize of £40 went to William Wood for Silent Night and 3rd prize of £25 went to Trevor Lawrence for The Not So Few. All the winners and commended entrants have been awarded their prizes, well done everyone. The standard and number of entries was the best to date, so well done to everyone who entered. Fine Scribes 4, an anthology of the winning and commended entries, is now available to order from Mr. Books bookshop or by mail order, price £4.95 (plus £2.50 p&p.) Treat yourself to one.
The 2009 competition has now been launched:
Open to UK residents only. Entry is £3.50 per poem (unlimited entries per person) Contact by phone or email for an entry form or just send in poems with cheque or PO made out to the co-organiser, Green Arrow Publishing 6 Green Bank, Stacksteads, Bacup, Lancs, OL13 8LQ. Entries should bear a title and be hand written or typed. Max. 40 lines please. Alternatively pay by credit/debit card or cash in MR. BOOKS Bookshop. The closing date is October 9th, 2009.
2008 Winning Poem by Margaret Beston of Tonbridge
Darning
On those winter afternoons
with her chores all done,
the pinny hanging neatly by the door,
she would change into a frock,
release her hair from its turbaned scarf
and put some lipstick on.
Then we would settle by the fire,
re-darning darns in my father’s socks.
Practised fingers worked the needle
drawing wool through wool,
weaving a mesh of warp and weft,
granting a short reprieve to worn-out heels
before relegation to the cleaning box
and pairing with the Johnson’s wax.
As chilling mist like dank grey cobwebs
descended on the grainy world beyond
the glowing focus of our room,
we watched for fairies dancing in the flames
as she talked to me of ‘home’ –
of waking to the riddling of the range,
the turf fire heating for the breakfast soda bread;
the smell of wood in her father’s workshop,
catching handfuls of shavings as they fell;
of the Ceilidhs in the kitchen,
chairs pushed back and all the neighbours in.
On those winter afternoons
she caught me up like a loose strand
drew me into this world I’d never known
and she could never leave behind.
2007 winning poem by Emma Harding of Tonbridge:
Heathrow, 5 a.m.
The airport that never sleeps
is sleeping; on plastic seats
shapes are curled under coats
like Vesuvian corpses
felled in transit, faces veiled
as though ashamed at nature’s urges.
Submerged beneath fluorescent
are echoes of footsteps, a phantom
trolley, the lullaby of escalators
that carry no one on their backs,
while endlessly revolving doors
fan flightless wings in the empty air.
The time of your departure
is programmed on every synapse,
yet still you check the ticket wording,
sift handbag muddle for passport leather
in case, somehow, it bailed out
between car park and carpet-lawned hangar.
You try to ignore the parting lovers
who cling in tears beside Departures,
remember the sleeping form you left
two hours ago, mumbling incoherent
at your slapstick exit. No grand farewell
for four days’ absence.
The cabin crew in royal blue
carnival past on well-oiled wheels
disdaining you with bright efficiency.
This rare moment in your life,
the implausibility of flight (yours)
to them a humdrum commonplace.
You drain the dregs of your coffee cup,
pull up your DVT prevention socks,
assemble boarding card and mint imperials
to join the bleary queue. On board soon,
flying backwards through the time zones.
Finger your boarding card. Now, voyager.
Copies of Fine Scribes 2005 1, 2 and 3, with the winning entries from the
2005/6/7 competition are still available at £4.95 from the shop, at the
book fair or by phone or email.
Poetry on the web: feel free to send some verses in for publication on both mrbooks.co.uk and tonbridgeBlog.com if the moment grabs you....
Send them by email to mrbooks@btinternet.com