We have received notification of the fourth troubadour international poetry prize, cut-off date 15th Ocober 2010:

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I went to a very special event on Fri. night in Norwich:

ON COMMON GROUND, the story of poet John Clare as told by master storyteller Hugh Lupton, accompanied by Chris Wood with songs, violin and guitar plus the Big Sky choir directed by Sian Croose. (They also sang renditions of poems by the likes of Emily Dickinson in the first half)

It was good to see so many at the recent meeting - and good to have such a fruitful outcome to the 'business' meeting held beforehand.

It was, rightly, decided that we should have a Poetry Aloud bank account and this will have been done by the time of our next meeting.  But it was not thought necessary to form a committee as we could not imagine taking major decisions - e.g. about our venue - without consulting all who attend, anyway.

What a bumper month! Fifteen poets and a huge range of topics, from the eight times table to the upright ladies of Nepal (in the proper sense of upright!). Some interesting serendipitous links between poems as well.

Yet again we were regaled by poets we had not heard before. There were five new voices this month. Is everyone in the west of Suffolk a poet? It certainly feels like it. They are all welcome and I hope we hear them again.

To liven up our pages, I have asked a friend, Robin Crandall, to design a logo to represent the character of our poems.

The initial version (perhaps it is the final version) is now gracing our header.

Please make your comments, good and bad, for consideration.

The gathering at Benson Blakes in February was held under onerous conditions. The room we usually use had been double-booked so it was in use by a drama group. Thus we assembled in the bar area and had to contend with much noise.

You will notice this on the recordings.

But this did not prevent the evening being hugely enjoyable. There was a large gathering. Each month we seem to meet new poets. It is astonishing how many there are in Suffolk.

So look at the archive (bottom left) and enjoy the poems that have been submitted to us.

Someone recently asked me how to add comments. They said they had tried but couldn't see how to submit the comment.

Unfortunately we have to have various protections in place to stop the many bad people out there who are constantly trying to add things we really don't want on the site.

Poetry is undoubtedly flourishing today - maybe most people will have heard of half a dozen poets, and Carol Ann Duffy is doing a great job. It is wonderful to read of the Poets for Haiti Appeal.  Suffolk is one of the best places to be with the four cafe poetry groups, the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and its own county-based poetry society.   

‘The Isles come to Sudbury’ may seem a strange title for the event held in the Quaker Meeting House of Sudbury on the 14th November. But we British are all islanders, none of us living more than 100 miles from the sea, and the songs and poems mainly from the Atlantic fringes of our country touched the vein of deep nostalgia that is perhaps inside us all.