Update, 2016

I've been a bit slow in updating the blog. In the past few years there have been a few notable achievements for previous CdR attendees, in addition to Don's 40 Sonnets Costa 2016 win, and  2015 T.S, Shortlisting.

Claudia Daventry won the Bridport Prize  in 2012.
Barbara Marsh the Troubadour Prize in 2015,
Helen Mort  won the 2014 Fenton Aldeburgh Prize 
got herself a fellowship at Leeds University 
and has a new collection out this year
Jacquie Saphra the 2015 Saboteur Award 
Rachel Curzon is one of the Faber New Poets for 2016
Judy Brown has a new collection, Crowd Sensations

Apologies if I've missed anything.


 

Fiesta del agua

When it rains, the water reminds me of the Fiesta del Agua held at the beginning of August. Here are some pics taken with a waterproof disposable camera. (If a little blurry at times, it's as much due to the water as the cheap lens).

We participated, as do most of the villagers and visitors, and this was our fourth.

Water for the village comes from a constantly running source in the hills, not from a reservoir, so if it's not used it runs off to the river.

There is only a smallish tank and processing plant above the village, and after about an hour when the tank's getting empty, the fiesta draws to a close. By that time, everyone is worn out and just wants to stand in the sun to dry off and have a drink or two.

Good news for Helen Mort:

From The Telegraph:

TS Eliot Prize 2013: shortlist announced

The shortlist for the 2013 TS Eliot Prize has been announced, with poets including George Szirtes, Robin Robertson and Helen Mort in line for the lucrative award

Image 1 of 2

Daljit Nagra, Helen Mort and Anne Carson, three of the shortlisted poets for the 2013 TS Eliot Prize Photo: Andrew Crowley / Poetry Book Society

By Charlotte Runcie, Arts and Entertainment writer

10:13AM BST 24 Oct 2013

Comment

The complete shortlist for the 2013 TS Eliot Prize has been announced, and features names including George Szirtes, Michael Symmons Roberts and Robin Robertson.

The full list of nominated poets and collections is as follows:

Dannie Abse Speak, Old Parrot (Hutchinson)

Moniza Alvi At the Time of Partition (Bloodaxe)

Anne Carson Red Doc > (Jonathan Cape)

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Sinéad Morrissey Parallax (Carcanet)

Helen Mort Division Street (Chatto & Windus)

Daljit Nagra Ramayana: A Retelling (Faber)

Maurice Riordan The Water Stealer (Faber)

Robin Robertson Hill of Doors (Picador)

Michael Symmons Roberts Drysalter (Jonathan Cape)

George Szirtes Bad Machine (Bloodaxe)

Michael Symmons Roberts was this year's winner of the Forward Prize. Helen Mort is the surprise inclusion on the list, after having been shortlisted for her first full collection. Born in 1985, she became the youngest ever poet in residence at the Wordsworth Trust in 2010, and is now Derbyshire's poet laureate. She has previously published two pamphlets of poems.

The shortlist comprises 10 books, including four collections (those by George Szirtes, Michael Symmons Roberts, Moniza Alvi and Anne Carson) which have already been named Poetry Book Society Choices from 2013. PBS Choices are automatically shortlisted each year.

The winner, who will be announced on January 13 2014, receives £15,000. Each of the shortlisted poets receives £1,000. The judges are Ian Duhig, Vicki Feaver and Imtiaz Dharker.

Last year's winner was Sharon Olds, for her collection Stag's Leap. She was the first female American poet to win the award.

Two years after first hearing the news, Helen Mort's first full collection, Division Street, is finally available from Chatto and Windus. Why things take so long in this electronic age, I don't know.

 It is also available from Amazon

Helen spends a lot of time climbing, though not socially, and more power to her for that...

As part of the what seems to be a once a year ( or once every two year) update,  I am so far out the loop that I missed Claudia Daventry's success as the winner of Bridport, 2012.

(Great Pic!)

You can hear her read her winning poem here

Another CdRian exiled to Darkest Cumbria!

Judy Brown has swapped cottages and districts. As the new Wordsworth Trust Poet in Residence for 2013, she will be spending time in a little house in Grasmere in the Lake District, instead of a little house in Wirksworth in the Peak District.

See The Wordsworth Trust for details.

So congratulations and best wishes for a great year.

"Fire, to destroy all you've done..."

Another year, another blaze - this time started one morning as a tiny fire near the road between Jimera and Cortes de la Frontera (probably a cigarette butt thrown from a car).

By the time the Bomberos arrived from Cortes and Ronda, it had taken firm hold and it took six helicopters and two planes as well as over 50 firefighters to bring it under control.


The helicopters were still at it the next day. They take their water from the local swimming pool - it's quite exciting...

Don Paterson: Selected Poems

Don had a collection of his poems published by Faber last month.

Containing his own selections from his past six books, the new volume gives an excellent idea of the range of his work over the past twenty years since  Nil Nil in 1993.

Helen Mort's First Collection

I was very pleased to see the news, officially out this month, that Helen will have her first collection published by Chatto and Windus.

Assistant editor Parisa Ebrahimi said:

"Helen Mort is one of the most promising poets of her generation. Hers is a wonderfully distinct and assured voice, and the poems are taut and punchy, yet capable of moments of astonishing tenderness, as well as being superbly musical and accessible. We're thrilled to be welcoming such a gifted young poet to the Chatto list."

Titled "Division Street", the book is scheduled for early 2013 (yes, 2013, such is the speed at which the mills of big publishers grind... but the collection will certainly be fine... and hopefully not small)

So it will be a bit of a wait, but well worth it.

Next month Helen is at the Geological Society in Piccadilly for their Poetry and Geology celebration on the 10th of October. I'm going, so we'll get a chance to catch up then.

Forward Prize Shortlist

First news for a while - and great news too:

Judy Brown's new collection "Loudness" has been shortlisted for the Forward prize for a first collection, so congratulations and best of luck to Judy for the prize.

The collection is published by Seren, and should be available soon from their online shop.

The Forward Prize for Best First Collection shortlist:

Rachael Boast Sidereal
Judy Brown Loudness
Nancy Gaffield Tokaido Road
Ahren Warner Confer
John Whale Waterloo Teeth
Nerys Williams Sound Archive

The Forward Prize Best Collection shortlist:

John Burnside Black Cat Bone
David Harsent Night
Geoffrey Hill Clavics
Michael Longley A Hundred Doors
D Nurkse Voices Over Water
Sean O’Brien November

The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in memory of Michael Donaghy shortlist:

R. F. Langley To a Nightingale
Alan Jenkins Southern Rail (The Four Students)
Sharon Olds Song the Breasts Sing to the Late-in-Life Boyfriend
Jo Shapcott Bees