'Polar Corona', my Poetry Pamphlet on Antarctic Exploration (2)

 

Polar Corona, my poetry pamphlet on Antarctic exploration ... is out and available for £7.99 (in the UK). For further details, click here.

Festive Fact

The staff at Rothera Research Station in Antarctica have been given a Royal Mail 'lamp' postbox in time for Christmas. For further details, see here. 

How about a Stocking Filler? 'Polar Corona', Official Release Day

 

And the mice? See page 14

 

TODAY'S THE DAY...

Are you looking for a stocking filler? Or a small gift for yourself? Take a look here. 

Today, Thursday 18th, Flake Appreciation Day (see here), marks the Official Release of my new snowbound poetry pamphlet, Polar Corona (Hedgehog Poetry Press, £7.99). 

*'Signed copy' orders: see here for ordering instructions. You can DM me on Facebook or leave a comment on this blog. Copies ordered up until 3pm/15:00hrs via these methods for UK destinations will be posted First Class this afternoon.* 

 

 From the blurbs: 

“Caroline Gill has produced a beautifully crafted cycle of poems, in which the final line of each one is taken up by the next until the final poem brings us back to where we began, in a perfect round. These poems bring the Antarctic to life, a vast world of ice and snow, a world of astonishing loveliness, illuminated by the stars, and at the same time a world in which human beings and creatures such as penguins live out a perilous existence... To read these poems is to be confronted with a terrifying beauty, and with courage in its purest form.”

– Professor J. R. Watson, University of Durham

“In Polar Corona, Caroline Gill offers a vivid and precise depiction of Antarctica’s landscape and wildlife, especially the seasonal rhythms of penguins’ lives, interwoven with a poignant exploration of human fortitude in this most testing of environments. Her marvellous ear for the music of a poem is evident throughout and the intricate pattern of mostly half rhymes cleverly accentuates the pervading sense of risk and unpredictability...”

– Susan Richardson Author of Where the Seals Sing (William Collins, 2022) and Words the Turtle Taught Me (Cinnamon Press, 2018), shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award

 

“When we introduce people to objects, artworks and archives in our polar collections, they are transported to a time and place far removed from our museum in Cambridge. In Caroline Gill’s evocative Polar Corona, she closes the distance and brings the ‘heroic age’ of polar exploration to life. Her words open a window in our imaginations directly onto Antarctica’s remote sights and sounds.”

– Dr Charlotte Connelly Former Museum Curator, The Polar Museum, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge

 

'Polar Corona', my Crown of Sonnets about the Antarctic

I am excited to say that I have just received advance copies of Polar Corona, my prize-winning 'crown-of-sonnets' poetry pamphlet, published by the Hedgehog Poetry Press.  

 

For further details: click here. 

 

From the blurbs:

“In Polar Corona, Caroline Gill offers a vivid and precise depiction of Antarctica’s landscape and wildlife, especially the seasonal rhythms of penguins’ lives, interwoven with a poignant exploration of human fortitude in this most testing of environments. Her marvellous ear for the music of a poem is evident throughout and the intricate pattern of mostly half rhymes cleverly accentuates the pervading sense of risk and unpredictability." 

 – Susan Richardson, Author of Where the Seals Sing (William Collins, 2022) and Words the Turtle Taught Me (Cinnamon Press, 2018), shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award 

“Caroline Gill has produced a beautifully crafted cycle of poems, in which the final line of each one is taken up by the next until the final poem brings us back to where we began, in a perfect round. These poems bring the Antarctic to life, a vast world of ice and snow, a world of astonishing loveliness, illuminated by the stars, and at the same time a world in which human beings and creatures such as penguins live out a perilous existence."

– Professor J. R. Watson, University of Durham 

  

“When we introduce people to objects, artworks and archives in our polar collections, they are transported to a time and place far removed from our museum in Cambridge. In Caroline Gill’s evocative Polar Corona, she closes the distance and brings the ‘heroic age’ of polar exploration to life. Her words open a window in our imaginations directly onto Antarctica’s remote sights and sounds.”

– Dr Charlotte Connelly, Former Museum Curator, The Polar Museum, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge

 

 

'On a Knife Edge' Review

 

 

Back in May I blogged about this book on my Poetry and Other Writing blog. In case you missed it, I shall re-post my words here. Juliet Wilson has written a review of On a Knife Edge, which you can read here on her Crafty Green Poet blog. Do take a look. And thank you, CGP, for mentioning my own recent collection of poems, Driftwood by Starlight (The Seventh Quarry Press, 2021).   

*

On a Knife Edge was published by Suffolk Poetry Society as a response to the diminishing state of nature report. It forms part of a collaboration between the Society and The Lettering Arts Trust (Snape), where an exhibition of the same name opened in July. I am delighted to have two poems and a micro-poem about IUCN red-listed species included in the book. 

The topic resonates closely with Robert Macfarlane's work (supported by Jackie Morris and her artwork) in response to an increasing concern over the fact that 'nature words' (for the 'lost words', see here) were being removed from the 2007 edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary. Apparently space was needed for words deemed more valuable in a digital and technical age. You can read my post here about a previous exhibition at The Lettering Arts Trust on this subject. 

On a Knife Edge was primarily created by Derek Adams, Lynne Nesbit, Beth Soule and Colin Whyles. It can be purchased here. 

My Puffin Photograph on the Cover of 'Reading Between The Lines' by Neil Leadbeater

Littoral Press, £8.50

 

Those who follow my blog posts, and perhaps particularly this one, will know that (in normal times) I enjoy watching Puffins as they move about on and off our coastal cliffs. I am thrilled to have one of my Puffin photographs on the cover of Neil Leadbeater's new poetry collection, published by Mervyn Linford of Littoral Press. David and I met Neil back in 2011 as fellow participants at Swansea's First International Festival of Poetry, organised by Peter Thabit Jones of The Seventh Quarry Press (Swansea) with Stanley H. Barkan of Cross-Cultural Communications (New York).

This fine collection includes poems rooted in a variety of rural (e.g. Tarr Steps), coastal (e.g. Aldeburgh) and urban (e.g. Port of Tyne) landscapes. A compelling sense of musicality pervades much of Neil's work, aided and abetted by a sprinkling of alliterations and allusions. I have been particularly enjoying the poem sequences ... and the Puffin poem, of course!  

P.S. This has also been posted on my Poetry and Writing blog since the subject was relevant to both.  

Day 11 #30DaysWild: Puffin Poems posted over at 'The Glow of Emerald Light'

My 'Puffin' Photo Challenge yielded a bumper crop of 5-line poems. I have posted ten on The Glow of Emerald Light, my lockdown blog, and you can read and enjoy them here. Do leave the poets a comment if you would like to do so.

The poems are by the following...

Kieron P. Baird (Scotland, UK)
Michaela Burns (Scotland, UK)
Peter Donnelly (England, UK)
Jeffrey Kemp
Neil Leadbeater (Scotland, UK)
Liz Sankey (England, UK)
Marion Walker (England, UK)
Kay D. Weeks (USA)   
Juliet Wilson (UK)
Lynn Woollacott (England, UK)

#30DaysWild, Day 4 - The Glow of Emerald Light Photo Challenges

Where have the weeks and months gone since the start of lockdown? I am finding it hard to get my head around the fact that we are already a few days into June. The longest day is less than three weeks away.

Unfortunately the threat of Covid-19 is still at hand, but we are becoming accustomed to the rigours of extra hand-washing and the need for social distance.

Back in early April the lie of the land was rather different, and I recognised my need for natural beauty amid the bleakness of the situation. That was where The Glow of Emerald Light came in. In response to local requests for some kind of poetry activity or competition, I decided to run a fortnightly Photo Challenge, inviting anyone of eighteen years or over to submit a 5-line poem, written in response to a 'natural world' photo prompt.

I very much hoped that those who write poetry would join in and that those who would not normally sit down to pen a poem would take an extended coffee break and have a go. The Photo Challenges have submission windows: they are not, in fact, competitions.

I am enjoying the task of selecting pictures from my photo library on Light Room. I have been delighted with the submissions I have received to date, and it has been good to see poets offering a mix of free verse and traditional five-line forms like the Tanka or Limerick.

Challenge 1 came with a photograph of two Peacock Butterflies. You can find the poems here.

Challenge 2, on the theme of 'wash', was accompanied by a picture of waves on Loch Scavaig: the poems written in response to this are here.

Challenge 3 with my favourite bird can be found here.

Challenge 4 has just been posted (here), and is perhaps the picture most open to interpretation.

I am so grateful to all those who have engaged with an aspect of the natural world by responding to these challenges so far. The Photo Challenge email is glowofemeraldlight@gmail.com. It gives me great pleasure when I click open the inbox and find a new submission with a five-line poem that will add its own unique glimmer of light to the landscape of these unprecedented days.
 
 

Early Signs of Spring in St Mary's Churchyard, Martlesham

A few years ago a couple of local friends suggested that we should go and see the spring flowers in the churchyard of St Mary's church above the river Deben in Suffolk. On that occasion the carpet of crocuses was so spectacular that we have returned once or twice each spring. We paid a first 2020 visit last weekend, and were particularly heartened by the plentiful drifts of snowdrops.

We were a bit early for the crocuses, but there were a few purple, white and orange ones here and there.

I grew up in East Anglia, and have loved the flintstone facings one encounters ever since. 

The snowdrops and crocus...

...were joined by a clump of primroses.

The next photo, taken just below the church and gravestones in the photo above, is a sign of things to come. 

More snowdrops...

...and hidden among the leaves, a single Daisy.

'The snowdrops first—the dawning gray;
Then out the roses burn!
They speak their word, grow dim—away
To holy dust return.'

From: The Flower-Angels

by George MacDonald (1824-1905)

Various Sightings and Suffolk Wildlife Trust Nature Summit

I had seen records of the Garden Tiger on the web so I knew the adult moth was on the wing, but I had not expected to encounter this larva on the path at Dunwich Heath last weekend. It hardly seemed real, even when we looked closely. The white hairs seemed so long! 

I was particularly pleased to find it as I have poem in my chapbook (The Holy Place, co-authored with John Dotson) about the metamorphosis of a Tiger moth. 



Not hairs this time, but spines! We went outside two nights ago and were thrilled to hear a munching noise under the Silver Birch tree, and, yes, there was a hedgehog making its way along the back of the fence. We didn't want to disturb it, and in any case, it was not easy to see: the photo above was taken in the dark, hence the 'cropped' appearance! 

Neither hair nor spines this time, but the beautiful scales that make up the wings of the Wall butterfly. I have only seen this species once before. This butterfly was at Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Carlton Marsh reserve near Lowestoft on Saturday.

We also saw our second Common Frog of 2019 on the reserve...

... and I say second because a few days before, we had found our first in our own back garden. It was a first not only of the year but for my home patch species list. Perhaps it likes our all-too-tiny pond!

I mentioned Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT). We are members of the Trust, and I am excited to report that we are off to the SWT Nature Summit later this week. It should be a really interesting evening.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2019

 

I did my RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch survey today. The weather was cold and clear, with a fair bit of sunshine. The gusting wind had died down, but it was still breezy.

I decided to take a slightly different approach this year, and I hope it didn't mean that I missed too many birds in the process. Inspired by sculptor and fellow blogger, Jennifer Tetlow's bird-watch, which resulted in her clay 'Wren', I decided to add a creative element (not to the counting, of course!) by writing a draft Haiku/俳句 for each species seen. I am leaving these Haiku in their 'raw' organic state for now, but may polish them up in due course. I thought you might be interested to see how I got on...

small, bright and hungry,
hanging on the silver birch –
blue as this cold day

Blue tit (right) and Great tit (left), 28 Jan. 2019

here for a moment,
the Great tit departs at speed,
its bill full of fat

Goldfinch (record shot), 28 Jan. 2019

the clock ticked slowly:
suddenly a single finch
sprinkled red and gold

Long-tailed tit, 28 Jan. 2019

so slight and graceful,
Long-tailed tits slip through the leaves –
white clouds, pink feathers

Blackbird (old photo)

she touched down at last,
squeezing her umber feathers
between two branches

Robin, 28 Jan. 2019 (though by this time it had left the nest)

not an early bird,
but its fire-cracker waistcoat
gleamed from an old nest

Wood pigeon (old photo)

last bird on the list 
how strange it was on its own:
where were the pigeons?


Sadly, a number of our 'usual garden suspects' (Dunnock, Wren, Chaffinch, Coal tit...) failed to show up. This may be because of the weather or on account of a recent Sparrowhawk visit. Others were 'there', but could not be counted because they did not land. The rest of the Goldfinch flock fell into this category along with two Collared doves (I hope one was the dove I hadn't seen since the Sparrowhawk paid us a visit) and a Carrion Crow. A Magpie and a Starling showed up almost immediately after my time was up so could not be included. I took photos of them. 

The numbers on the chart below indicate the birds I counted in my garden from 12.30 to 13.30 today...

The animals I have seen in our garden during the last year (just Grey Squirrel and Hedgehog)...  It's quite possible we saw a Stag beetle in among the Cockchafers, but I can't be sure: we definitely had a dead one on the grass a couple of years ago.

And, sadly, I didn't have a single House Sparrow. We rarely see House Sparrows in the garden. 

These are the birds who came just after the count...

(Ringed) Starling, 28 Jan. 2019

Magpie, 28 Jan. 2019

Suffolk Flora Preservation Trust Poetry Competition Event

I am just back from the Suffolk Flora Preservation Trust Poetry Competition (SFPT). Many congratulations to Tim Gardiner for winning the £50 adult prize in the SFPT Poetry Competition on the theme of the aquatic life in the Fromus Valley Nature Reserve. Lord Cranbrook hosted the event at Kelsale Village Hall this afternoon.

Tim's poem, along with three other commended entries including my own (about the Wandering Snail, Lymnaea peregra aka Radix peregra), will feature in the Suffolk Flora Preservation Trust's 2018 Adult Education volume on the reserves at Simpson's Fromus Valley and Orchid Glade. The judges were Kaaren Whitney, Poet-in-Residence for the reserves, and Suffolk Poetry Society Chair, Florence Cox. Sue Wallace-Shaddad and Sue Mobbs also read their poems to the enthusiastic audience. It was a real pleasure, too, to hear the winning and commended poems written by those who had entered the young people's section of the competition. 

Northern Holiday, 2017 (2): Aberdour Castle Grounds

Painted Lady, Walled Garden, Aberdour Castle

In my previous post I included a photograph of a stained glass window on Holy Island, depicting a Puffin and an Eider duck. We left the Holy Island area and moved north into Scotland.

We had rain most days, but the sun shone for us at Aberdour Castle, a site we had not visited for some years. The warmer weather (and doubtless the nectar-rich flowers) enticed a Painted Lady butterfly out into the shelter of the wonderful walled garden. I have hardly seen any Painted Ladies this summer, so this sighting was a particular joy.

The castle backs on to some fine terraced walks.
jj

David ducked his head and explored the 'doocot'.

A sundial built into the wall. 

I believe I had noticed the spider's web, but I am not sure I had seen the spider (if indeed it is the spider!) when I took the picture...

I'm guessing this is a bat-box in the castle wall. 

I couldn't resist a few more photos of the Painted Lady...

We did not see nearly as many birds as we usually do in Scotland. The particularly unsettled weather will have had something to do with this. However, we did hear a few Curlews calling (such a special and unique sound); and perhaps what we lacked in numbers, we made up for in terms of quality sightings, like this fine king-of-the-castle Robin.

We congratulated the castle gardener on her wonderful planting in the walled garden...

... and we were not the only ones to appreciate the flowers. 

Just as we were leaving, I noticed this little Haiku lurking in the soil. I have just discovered that it is part of the Aberdour Poetry Trail.

You will have noticed that the Painted Lady features prominently in this post. I have been paying particular attention to butterflies this year as a result of reading two fascinating books...

• In Pursuit of Butterflies: a Fifty Year Affair by Matthew Oates
• The Butterfly Isles: a Summer in Search of our Emperors and Admirals by Patrick Barkham

It has been particularly rewarding to read them sequentially as Barkham alludes to butterfly expeditions in the company of Oates.