More poetry coming up...

I know, I find it pretty surprising too.  Fortunately, I've heard of hype before, so am not too carried away by the description, hoping instead that anyone turning up on the 20th February is not going to be disappointed by the performance.  In reality, Robin Houghton and Joanna Grigg write so well that it's worth coming along to listen to them, let alone the rest of us.  After the scary experience of Brighton, which was the first occasion on which I'd read my little poems in public, I feel better equipped to stand at the microphone in front of all those upturned faces with their expectant look.

I have just started an online course with the Poetry School, which seemed a good idea at the time.  It involves submitting poems over a period of five weeks to the scrutiny of a wellknown poet-tutor (in the present case Catherine Smith) and one's fellow-students.  The course starts with people introducing themselves online.  This has revealed the eclectic mix characteristic of the poetry world, including a woman in Canada who was given the course as a Christmas present by her son, another woman who lives miles from anywhere in the Highlands, a couple of people who have already published collections or pamphlets and a singer-songwriter in his thirties who has turned to poetry from composing lyrics.  We're in the process of uploading poems onto the site this week, and then the comments come in next week.  I am preparing myself for amiable brickbats.

Just like other interests, writing poetry is like mountain-climbing.  You get up to the top of a hill and there's a higher one ahead.  Put another way, "Un train peut en cacher un autre".  I'm still in the foothills, or in front of the level crossing, as the case may be.  We'll see what lies ahead.

Antony Mair