Gill Andrews (Frogmore Poetry Prize 2008) shortlisted for the Picador Poetry Prize 2010

Frogmore poet and prize winner Gill Andrews has been shortlisted for the prestigious Picador Poetry Prize 2010.

Her first pamphlet, 'The Thief', was published by HappenStance in June 2010. She won the 2008 Frogmore Poetry Prize for the single poem 'Estd in 1769 London'. More about Gill Andrews here.

New date for Poetry SouthEast 2010 launch: 18 January 2011

The launch of Poetry SouthEast 2010 will now take place at the Meeting House on Tuesday 18 January; full details to follow.

URGENT MESSAGE regarding tonight's 'Launch of Poetry South East 2010'!

Owing to the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions across the county, this evening’s launch of the Poetry South East 2010 anthology at the Meeting House, University of Sussex, has, with regret been postponed.

Meeting House, Sussex University
Photo by J. Hakner

Upcoming events featuring Frogmore writers

Catherine Smith’s Weight: three stories about secrets will be performed at the Con Club in Lewes, East Sussex at 8 pm tonight, 25 November 2010. Details at:

http://www.leweslivelit.co.uk/  

Jeremy Page’s short play Loving Psyche will be performed at Kioto, the Lagerhaus Schildstrasse in Bremen on Wednesday 1 December at 8 pm. Details at:

http://www.fb10.uni-bremen.de/newleaf/events/

And finally, Clare Best will be reading from her prose memoir - ‘reflections on growing up in a family shaped by loss, ghosts and silence’ at Needlewriters at the Needlemakers, Lewes, on Thursday 9 December at 7.45. Poets Judith Kazantzis and Lee Harwood will also be reading.

Details at:
www.needlewriters.co.uk/#/whats-on/4539813579

Launch of POETRY SOUTH EAST 2010 at Sussex University, 30th November 2010

For those of you who missed the first launch of POETRY SOUTH EAST 2010 at the New Venture Theatre in Brighton a few weeks ago, here is another chance to see and hear poets reading their work from the anthology:

NEW METAPHYSICAL POETRY
You are warmly invited to attend the launch of
POETRY SOUTH EAST 2010

Edited by Jeremy Page and Catherine Smith, published by Frogmore Press, this is the first anthology for ten years of poets from Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Readings will be by some of the featured poets, including
Clare Best, Tom Cunliffe, Alison Dunn, John Feakins, Charlotte Gann, Joanna Grigg, Lydia Hill, Judith Kazantzis, Kim Lasky, Julia O'Brien, John O'Donoghue, Rachel Playforth, Sarah Salway, Colette Sensier, Sonya Smith and Anne Stewart.

WHEN? Tuesday 30th November 2010 at 6 p.m.

WHERE? The Meeting House at Sussex University

HOW TO GET THERE? Click here for info.

HOW MUCH? £5 FULL, £3 CONCESSIONS, £1 STUDENTS

Car parking is free on campus after 5 p.m.

Further information: please contact Patrick Bond 07932-141918

Launch of Poetry South-East 2010 at the NVT

The first launch of the Frogmore anthology Poetry South-East 2010 took place last night at the New Venture Theatre in Brighton.

It was a wonderful evening, compered by the inimitable Catherine Smith, with moving performances by Lorna Thorpe, Ros Barber, Brendan Cleary and Maria Jastrzebska. Two other contributors from the anthology, Rachel Playforth and Colette Sensier, bravely grabbed the open mic and read their poems. I took a few pictures of the poets on the bill, as well as Catherine (see below). As a special treat here is a clip of Brendan Cleary reading 'Physics':

Brendan Cleary reading 'Physics' from the Poetry South-East 2010 anthology,

22 October 2010, Brighton

Compere Catherine Smith:

Lorna Thorpe:

Maria Jastrzebska:

Ros Barber:

Frogmore poets in new anthology 'Did I Tell You? 131 poems for Children in Need'

'Did I tell you? 131 Poems for Children in Need' and is an anthology on the theme of'Childhood' in aid of Children in Need - available November 2010. All profits from this anthology will be donated to the BBC's Children in Need appeal.

Frogmore poets Clare Best, Jeremy Page, Rachel Playforth and Catherine Smith will be published alongside the likes of Andrew Motion, George Szirtes and Vicki Feaver  in a new anthology  to be sold in aid of Children In Need  in November. Did I Tell You? 131 poems for Children in Need will be launched at the University of Kent on 16 November to raise money for the children’s charity. The collection, based on the theme of childhood, has been put together by Kent poets Nicky Gould and Vicky Wilson.  The anthology will be on sale at www.wordaid.org.uk, at the various launch events and via Amazon; news of events linked to the publication can also be found on the website.  Other contributors include Liz Bahs, Ros Barber, Mara Bergman, Geraldine Cousins, Martyn Crucefix, Michael Curtis, Maggie Harris, Maureen Jivani, Caroline Price, Sarah Salway, Carole Satyamurti, Maggie Sawkins, Myra Schneider, Derek Sellen, Anne Stewart, John Whitworth and Susan Wicks.

To pre-order a copy of Did I Tell You? please send a cheque for £12 (includes £2 p&p), made out to our publisher Categorical Books, to 70 Margate Road, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 7BH. You can also pre-order 3 copies at the special price of £27 (includes £2 p&p) .

Online ordering will be available from 1 November 2010.

Latest issue of The Frogmore Papers is out!

The 76th issue of The Frogmore Papers has just been published and is now available from the Frogmore Press at £5 per copy (post-free). This issue includes all the poems shortlisted by Stewart Conn for this year's Frogmore Poetry Prize, as well a controversial piece of flash fiction that has already raised eyebrows. I left a copy of the issue lying around in my workplace and was informed by a colleague that the piece by Ashley Chantler (editor of Flash magazine) was "the smuttiest thing I have ever read". The managing editor has decided to take this as a compliment.

The splendid artwork, which combines British pub culture with Chinese calligraphy, is by Michael Munday from Lewes.

POETRY SOUTH EAST 2010 : out soon, and there will even be a launch party (or two)

It’s been ten years since the poetic pulse of the South East (for these purposes the counties of Kent, Surrey and East and West Sussex) was last taken with the publication of Poetry South East 2000 (seen here on the right), so a repeat of the exercise seemed timely.  Poetry South East 2010 has gone to the printers, with a stunning new cover by Neil Gower (on the left)

Catherine Smith and Jeremy Page are pleased in Poetry South East 2010 to publish work by several poets whose poems appeared in the original series of Poetry South East back in the days of South East Arts – poets such as Ian Caws, Judith Kazantzis, W H Petty, Derek Sellen, Ted Walter and John Whitworth; and to publish them alongside the work of younger and/or emerging poets from the region. As with most anthologies, there are a number of omissions we regret, but we hope that Poetry South East 2010 nevertheless provides a snapshot of the remarkable range and variety of high-quality poetry that is being produced in the region today.

The launch will be at the New Venture Theatre in Brighton on Friday 22nd October at 7:45pm.
Tickets are £7 (£6 members), details here: http://www.newventure.org.uk/whatson/sep10-dec10/
 
Compère at the launch:

Catherine Smith is a poet and writer of short fiction. She has published a pamphlet The New Bride (Smith/Doorstop 2001) and two full collections of poems The Butcher’s Hands (Smith/Doorstop 2003) and Lip (Smith/Doorstop 2007).

Readers at the launch:
 

Ros Barber has published two collections with Anvil, the second of which Material was a PBS Recommendation. Ros lives in Brighton.

Brendan Cleary was born in Carrickfergus and now lives in Brighton. His latest collection is goin’ down slow (tall-lighthouse), selected poems 1985-2010.

Maria Jastrzebska was born in Warsaw and grew up in London. She now lives in Brighton. Everyday Angels was published by Waterloo Press last year.

Lorna Thorpe is the author of Dancing To Motown (Pighog Press, PBS Pamphlet Choice 2005) and A Ghost In My House (Arc, 2008). She lives in Seaford.

The result of the Frogmore Poetry Prize for 2010 - a very international affair

THE FROGMORE POETRY PRIZE 2010


Sponsored by the Frogmore Foundation and adjudicated by Stewart Conn.
More on Stewart Conn here.

Stewart Conn
Photograph by Jemima Kuhfeld


The Frogmore Poetry Prize for 2010 is awarded to A K S Shaw of Templecombe, Somerset for the poem COAST GUARD. He receives the sum of two hundred guineas and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers.

The first runner-up is Frances-Anne King of Bath for the poem FLEET. She receives the sum of seventy-five guineas and a year’s subscription to The Frogmore Papers.

The second runner-up is Carolyn King of Ventnor, Isle of Wight for the poem WRIT IN STONE. She receives the sum of fifty guineas and a year’s subscription to The Frogmore Papers.

Other poems shortlisted were:

HOME   Pat Borthwick
BREAK OF DAY   Charles Evans
THE GREEN CHILD    Paul Groves
...AND NOT A TRACE OF BASS   Ruth L Hill
RIVER, LAKE, SEA   Melinda Lovell
MAIRI IT IS SUMMER   Morag McCarron
CARLYLE ALONE   Tracey S Rosenberg

It is remarkable that this year's shortlist contains poems by writers resident in England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, France and Italy.

These poems will all be published in number 76 of The Frogmore Papers in September 2010.

morphrog.com...poetry in the extreme - Vol 1 Issue 1 is now online

morphrog has gone live. Click here to access it.

morphrog.com...poetry in the extreme


Volume 1 Issue 1 is edited by Jeremy Page and Peter Stewart
morphrog is published bi-annually on 1 July and 1 January. Subscription is free.
Please send your email address to: morphrog@googlemail.com


CONTRIBUTORS TO morphrog 1

Liz Adams has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Her work has appeared in Iota Fiction, The Frogmore Papers, and is forthcoming in Stand. Her first collection of poems, Green Dobermans, will be published by Lazy Gramophone Press in 2011.

Robert Etty was born and lives in Lincolnshire. He is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently Half A Field’s Distance: New and Selected Poems (Shoestring 2006).

Michael Fraley lives in San Francisco, within walking distance of the zoo. His poems have been published internationally.

Susan Shingleton is a Londoner, educated at Oxford. Retired from university lecturing in the Far and Middle East, she enjoys seeing her three grown up children and their families. Her interests include writing, reading, bird-spotting and travelling.

K V Skene is a long-term expat Canadian (born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario), resident in Oxford. Author of numerous collections of poems, including Edith (Flarestack).

Ivor C Treby chose, annotated but did not edit Uncertain Rain – Sundry Spells of Michael Field (De Blackland Press). He is also the author of several collections of poetry.

Roddy Williams lives, paints, writes and works in London. A radical atheist, his Haiku Diary of Common Sense can be found at http://hairybloke.blogspot.com/

In and Out of The Dark Wood

A new chapbook of poems by Jeremy Page, editor of The Frogmore Papers, has been published by HappenStance Press.

In and Out of The Dark Wood brings together poems written since the publication of his last collection The Alternative Version in 2001. Copies, which cost only £4.00, can be ordered through any good bookshop or direct and post free from HappenStance’s online shop: http://www.happenstancepress.co.uk/zencart/

HappenStance also publish Clare Best’s Treasure Ground.

Closing date for the Frogmore Poetry Prize is 31 May 2010

A reminder that the deadline for submissions for the 2010 Frogmore Poetry Prize is approaching.

The Frogmore Poetry Prize was founded in 1987 and has been awarded annually since then. The Prize money is currently two hundred guineas but the true Prize is the kudos of joining a select band of winners which includes Caroline Price, John Latham, Tobias Hill and Mario Petrucci. Many leading poets - Carole Satyamurti, Pauline Stainer, Linda France, Paul Groves, John Mole, Sophie Hannah, Elizabeth Bartlett and Susan Wicks among them - have adjudicated the Prize and all winners have been published in the pages of The Frogmore Papers.


Winners of the Prize have been David Satherley, Caroline Price, Bill Headdon, John Latham, Diane Brown, Tobias Hill, Mario Petrucci, Gina Wilson, Ross Cogan, Joan Benner, Ann Alexander, Gerald Watts, Katy Darby, David Angel , Howard Wright, Julie-ann Rowell, Arlene Ang, Peter Marshall and Gill Andrews.



This year's adjudicator is Stewart Conn.
Stewar Conn has lived in Edinburgh since 1977, and was the capital's inaugural poet laureate, under the title the Edinburgh Makar. His poetry has been widely anthologised and translated. Among many individual volumes are Stolen Light: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 1999) and Distances: a personal evocation of people and places (Scottish Cultural Press, 2001), and Ghosts at Cockcrow (Bloodaxe, 2005).


Conditions of Entry

1 Poems must be in English, unpublished, and not accepted for future publication.
2 Poems should be typed and no longer than forty lines.
3 Any number of poems may be entered on payment of the appropriate fee of £3 per poem. Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to The Frogmore Press.
4 The following methods of payment are acceptable: cheque drawn on UK bank; British postal order; sterling.
5 Each poem should be on a separate sheet, which should not include the name of the author.
6 The author’s name and address should be provided on an accompanying sheet of paper.
7 The winner, runners-up and shortlisted poets will be notified by post. All shortlisted poems will appear in number 76 of The Frogmore Papers (September 2010)
8 To receive a copy of the results, please enclose an s.a.e. marked ‘Results’.
9 Poems cannot be returned.
10 Closing date for submissions: 31 May 2010.
11 Copyright of all poems submitted will remain with the authors but the Frogmore Press reserves the right to publish all shortlisted poems.
12 The adjudicator’s decision will be final and no correspondence can be entered into.
13 Entries should be sent to: The Frogmore Press, 21 Mildmay Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1PJ.
14 The submission of poems for the Prize will be taken as indicating acceptance of the above conditions.

Frogspawn

Hello,

just a couple of notes on writers associated with the Frogmore Press.

Jeremy Page, co-founder of the Frogmore Press and editor of The Frogmore Papers, was one of the authors reading at this year's Quick Fiction at the University of Sussex. The event was organised by Nicholas Royle and supported by independent publisher Myriad Editions. His very short short story 'Chaos Theory on a Bad Gravy Day' can be found here. (You need to scroll down a bit.)

Charlie Rolfe, whose new novel The Crying Girl is reviewed in the latest issue of Frogmore (no. 75, Spring 2010) has alerted me to his website Made-up Co., which features work by a collective of self published writers and poets based in Brighton. It is in its infant stage but well worth supporting and having a look at:

http://www.made-up.org/index.html

Keep on reading and have a lovely weekend,

Alexandra

Frogmore Papers Issue 75 is out!

The spring 2010 edition of The Frogmore Papers (number 75) is now out, and subscribers and contributors should receive their copies within the next two weeks. Copies can be ordered by sending a cheque for £5.00 payable to ‘The Frogmore Press’. The new Papers sport a stunning cover from Neil Gower and contain poems by Frogmore stalwarts Peter Carpenter, Michael Curtis, Edna Eglinton, Robert Etty, Sam Gardiner, Desmond Graham, Caroline Price, Alex Smith and Michael Swan alongside new work from the likes of Martyn Crucefix, Katrina Naomi and Martin Reed, prose from Peter Gilmour, Jaki McCarrick, Maria McCarthy and Richard Todd, and artwork from Donald Stuart and Alexey Talimonov. A fifty-two page feast for the eyes and mind!

A new online journal published by The Frogmore Press: morphrog

morphrog, the online journal of The Frogmore Press, will launch in July. It will be edited by Jeremy Page and Peter Stewart.


Issues will be accessible for a strict three-month period (in this case 1 July – 30 September). morphrog will publish poems that operate at the extremes of experiment and tradition and welcomes submission of both very long and very short poems. Copyright in every case will remain with the poet.


The deadline for submissions to issue one is 31 May. Poets are asked to send no more than four poems as a single Word attachment or in the body of the email to: morphrog@gmail.com

Poetry South East 2010

In October the Frogmore Press will publish Poetry South East 2010, an anthology of poetry from writers resident in Kent, Surrey and East and West Sussex. The anthology will be edited by Jeremy Page and Catherine Smith and will consist of fifty-two poems by fifty-two poets.

Poets resident in Kent, Surrey, East or West Sussex are invited to submit up to three poems for consideration for publication in the anthology by 30 April 2010 to Poetry South East 2010 at the above address.

Please include a stamped SAE or email address for reply. Poets whose work has been selected for inclusion will be notified by the end of May and will receive two gratis copies of the anthology on publication in October.

The Frogmore Press
F.A.O. Alexandra Loske
21 Mildmay Road
Lewes BN7 1PJ

A new lease of life

Having just accepted the post of Managing Editor of the Frogmore Press I have decided to revive this blog, not least because 2010 promises to be a very busy year for the Press:

- The Frogmore Papers will publish their 75th number in March.

- morphrog, the Press's new online journal will launch in July.

- Stewart Conn will spend the month of June adjudicating the 24th Frogmore Poetry Prize.

- October will see the launch of Poetry South East 2010, edited by Jeremy Page and Catherine Smith.

Stay tuned and keep on reading poetry.
Alexandra