Monthly Archives: April 2013

The Blue Rose

I loved this story as a child so when I rediscovered it a little while back I turned it into a poem. You can read it here.

It’s the story of a king’s search for a suitor for his daughter. It needed to be someone who would prove worthy of her wisdom and intelligence of course. You may remember it – an impossible task to seek out a blue rose. I’ve still got my copy of ‘The Favourite Wonder Book’ and so have been able to re-read this and other familiar stories in adulthood. This particular story can also be found online here.

Bridport Prize

I’m pretty confident I won’t be mistaken for any of the judges this year! I’ve taken a look at their photos and made a quick comparison.

In 2011 Carol Ann Duffy was judging poetry and after the last show – a wonderful evening of laughter and poignancy with short story judge, AL Kennedy – I was surprised when someone came up to me as I reclined against the stage saying that she wanted to stand nearby to “catch some of that vibe and get some inspiration”. It did eventually dawn on me that she had mistaken me for Carol Ann but by then I hadn’t the heart to disappoint and simply responded “You’re Welcome” when she thanked me for coming to Bridport and wished me a safe journey home.

This year’s Bridport Prize marks the 40th anniversary.of the competition and Bridport will be welcoming Wendy Cope, Michèle Roberts and David Swann, respectively judging poetry, short story and flash fiction. Closing date is 31st May – follow this link for more information.

From Page to Screen

Bridport’s ‘From Page to Screen’ film festival is a great annual event. Being so local means I can get into the atmosphere even if we only manage to go to a handful of events. This year’s chosen tasters turned out to be excellent choices (although I suspect if we’d gone to a different three I may be saying the same!) and last evening’s showing of Quartet was made all the more special with a Q&A session with producer Finola Dwyer. If you haven’t already seen it, look out for the interesting comparison with rap and opera.

Treasured recording

What a treat to hear my grandfather’s voice once more. I’ll be posting his story soon but tonight I have listened again to the tapes where he is reading his story of ‘The Long Walk’ and remembered with fondness his principled and gentle ways. Twenty-seven years since his death yet tonight it seems like he was with us only yesterday.

Read the foreword to The Long Walk

Storytelling Workshop

How exciting. I’ve just booked into the storytelling workshop with Shonaleigh at the Bridport Arts Centre on 1st June. Entitled ‘Stories of Myself – the Root of My Journey’, it’s perfect timing to coincide with my current ‘storycraft’ project with the Bees-on stories. Shonaleigh will also be performing at the next Story Café at Bridport on 31st May – should be a treat.

Hand-written and precious

I transcribed my grandfather’s story many years ago, some years after his death but whilst my father was still alive and able to help me make contact and share copies with close friends of my grandfather and near and distant family members. There is also a copy in Birmingham Library, lodged there by Carl Chinn who also kindly wrote a piece in the Birmingham Mail as part of its ‘Old Brum’ magazine features.

book and article

Book and newspaper article

But it is in re-visiting my grandfather’s story now that I have once again picked up his hand-written notebooks and it’s like newly finding a lost precious object.

There are tapes too, where he recorded his story but those I will need to find a way to clean up. For now I want to spend time with his notebooks where he scribed his childhood memories and reflected on the wisdom of his years.