Sunday 29 June 2008

Technical info

A computer wizard, probably aged about 14, is to come by in a couple of days to tweak-up the grey haired Poet-in-Residence computer system. The poet has been assured by the tie-fronted commission salesman with a grin as broad as a toothbrush advert that the old computer will then enjoy a zippy zest for life.
Meanwhile Poet-in-Residence is taking the tablets and lying down in a dark room.

Monday 23 June 2008

A box of books

They have arrived! A neighbour found them under a tree and brought them in. And so Poet-in-Residence is now the proud owner of a box of books. Proud? Yes, why not, because at the mature poet age of 60 he has a box containing 50 books of 40 of his own poems. He will now share these with contributors to this blog, with his family, with his friends, with reviewers and anyone else who takes his bardic fancy. Yuletide shopping and birthday present problems all solved in one swoop. Thanks is due to publisher Martin Holroyd at the Poetry Monthly Press* who has worked patiently through three major editings, to produce the finished, and it must be said, good quality product.



*Poetry Monthly Press is NOT the place to go if you want a carelessly rushed job and your ego massaged. There are other presses more than happy to oblige in that respect.

Friday 13 June 2008

Genteel Messages now available

Is this Friday 13th an auspicious day?
Genteel Messages, the first published book of poems (approx. 60 pages) by Poet-in-Residence alias Gwilym Williams is now available. A photograph of the book's cover, a poem, an introduction and details of how to order can be found at http://www.poetrymonthly.com (quick-link to POETRY MONTHLY in the alphabetical list in left margin). Scroll the Poetry Monthly Bookshop's list of authors and click on GENTEEL MESSAGES by GWILYM WILLIAMS to bring up the relevant page.

Tuesday 10 June 2008

Poet-in-Residence Poetry at The Recusant

Poet-in-Residence is pleased to inform readers that a second poem of his own making has made it onto the highly regarded The Recusant pages alongside the work of many famous and infamous poets of quality. When visiting The Recusant by means of a simple mouse-click (see P-i-R's alphabetical link list) look first in the top right corner of the 'Welcome' page for the 'NEW' features. Poet-in-Residence's second The Recusant poem is titled 'On Attending a Poetry Reading'.
The Recusant editor Alan Morrison has contributed a stylish piece of new writing - 'The Silent Poet' is an essay on the life and works of the late Harold Monro, a talented poet awaiting mainstream rediscovery.

Poet avoids Euro 2008 football tournament...

Poet-in-Residence made a bolt for the border when the current Euro 2008 football tourney was about to get underway...but not before leaving a little poem on the subject with Charles Christian at the world famous Ink-Sweat-and-Tears poetry website (the new, revised, updated, clear, tried & tested and foolproof re-alphabetically ordered sidebar link will take you there quicker than a Del Piero tap-in). The trouble with the escape-from-it-all idea was that there were no suitable locomotives available to drag the so-called Euro-City Express over the Alps, the best engines having been commandeered to cart the colourful flagwaving masses around the Alpine territories of Austria-Switzerland the host nations.
Poet-in-Residence's train, complete with dining car and trailer carrying a motor car and two motor cycles lurched to an unexpected halt at the top of the first climb of the day. Unfortunately this happened to be in a long tunnel. After half an hour a second engine arrived but this was also from the second division of rail stock and also broke down after a short pull. Finally a modern locomotive arrived, possibly diverted from some footballing location, and completed the task.
Poet-in-Residence and his companion arrived at their Italian seaside destination 90 minutes late - the length of time it takes to play a football match.
On the way back, believe it or not, the same thing happened again. Yes, it really did! This time the delay was even longer - 120 minutes - a 90 minute football match and a 30 minute period of extra time.
To sum up - two 7 hour train journeys required a total of 8* locomotives and 3.5 hours extra!

*the 2 additional locos are because the European train system requires that trains from/to Austria/Italy change locomotives at the border.