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lowdown events lowdown events
WOMEN IN LOVE OR IS OUR LOVE IN VAIN?
The answer is in a beautiful new anthology we launched at Darlington Arts Centre in December. To a packed house - yes we had to put in extra tables and chairs - Vane Women proudly presented their first hardback Love in Vane. As related below this was compiled after a challenge by the poet Sean O'Brien. It was two years in production. More to do with busy lives rather than absence of material and the permission needed for our gorgeous cover. We had to track down artist Tony Peart whose painting Fear of the Unknown we chose from Darlington Borough Council's own art collection. To our pleasant surprise the painting had already caught the attention of poet Jacob Polley who had written a poem inspired by the work. So we were delighted to get permission from Jacob to include his poem as a coda to our own poetry. A happy ending.
Not least because of the blurb on the back cover written by poet Matthew Caley. Matthew is a fine poet much admired by Vane Women who led us in a challenging master class workshop and was a much admired reader on the Hydrogen JukeBox circuit at Darlington Arts Centre for a few years.
This is what Matthew says, 'All hail this rattle-bag on love from Vane Women - which, forestalling preconception - starts with a conclusion and ends with Jacob Polley. Love in Vane knows the blues are cathartic, lets its categories bleed into each other and exchange bodily-fluids; contains work of all shapes and various positions - prose-poems, ghazals, lists, Twiglets and Bryan Ferry; a bargain, it meets the devil at the crossroads and holds its own. Delve.'
Love in Vane has four categories, Seduction, Intimacy, Desire and Loss. The launch went down a storm despite a cold night and the boiler failing at Darlington Arts Centre. With the help of a few fan heaters and our own warm words (should that be hot? - Ed) the evening was a triumph. Not least because we were partnered by Sheila Binks with another reading from her collection One Hand Waving Free launched in November. It was a home occasion for Sheila too as she lives in nearby Middleton-St-George and members of her family were in the audience. Review of her launch see below.
VANE WOMEN AT DURHAM BOOK FETE WITH LOVE BITES
Book sellers Lindsay Balderson, Diane Cockburn and Jackie Litherland (l-r)
Clothes swap, second hand books, endless readings by authors, a lively scene at the Book Fete, part of the Durham Book Festival, on October 24, and we were there to sell books as well!
Our stall had balloons, courtesy of Lindsay Balderson, and boards decorated with photographs, courtesy of Pat Maycroft, which set us apart.
Our poet, Sheila Binks, was unable to read due to grandmotherly duties to a new-born of about 8 hours old. Jackie Litherland, Diane Cockburn and Lindsay Balderson read poems from her newly launched book, One Hand Waving Free, on her behalf in the 15 minute slot in a crowded programme.
Annie Wright and Diane Cockburn led a Love Bites workshop which was less ferocious than it sounds. It was about the art of writing love letters (surely a lost art? - Ed). The letters were pinned to a remarkable love tree which sprouted plastic red roses and was adorned with glass green leaves which lit up when switched on.
ONE HAND WAVING FREE
Poet Sheila Binks
Pru Kitching and Sheila Binks
Vane Women were very proud to present the launch of Sheila's first poetry collection at the Clayport Library Durham on October 22. Sheila was joined by Vane Woman Pru Kitching who read from her latest collection The Krakow Egg from Arrowhead Press.
The library was delighted with the turn-out and the success of the evening and so were we. Sheila and Pru read their work very well but the real joy of the evening was in the excellence of the poetry.
Sheila is the latest in a long line of woman writers we have nutured from writing class stage to a first collection. Sheila first came to Jackie Litherland's class at Darlington Arts Centre about 12 years ago. The class was then taken over by Joanna Boulter. Both Jackie and Joanna realised that Sheila was a natural poet who benefited from class projects, critiques and discussion. To help prepare her collection Sheila was mentored by Jackie Litherland funded by New Writing North and its Tees Valley Project, Northern Cultural Skills Partnership and Vane Women.
She had married young and brought up four sons. Born in the tiny village of Mordon she counts herself as a Durham lass who knows what it is like to go down to the club or step out on a Saturday night from one bar to another. But Sheila has another life - the life of the imagination. When she wants to escape she takes out her favourite atlas and reads the maps as though they are stories. She heads West to the land of the Great Plains, the buffalo and the Indians, and then onto the coast of California to the San Andreas Fault. Out of these 'visits' tumble her poems. She says she is both rooted in her family and County Durham and wild at heart. In the magical line of Bob Dylan's song Tambourine Man she has "one hand waving free".
This is a beautiful and intelligent collection straight from the heart and straight from the soul.
LOVEBITES AT THE GEORGIAN THEATRE ROYAL!
Vane Women were hot stuff for their performance of Lovebites at the beautiful Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond. Think black for seductive and red for passion and you'll have an idea of what was on offer as we raided our costume boxes for something appropriately elegant and saucy for the occasion! All our thanks to the theatre staff who were pulling all the stops out to help with the promise of atmospheric lighting and some stage props to enhance the red/black theme of the evening and ensure the audience were in the mood!
The audience were in for a treat and had a choc or two as well - AND if you've never been to Britain's most complete and authentic Georgian playhouse then take a virtual tour Georgian Theatre Royal Richmond.
I'm off to locate my powder puff, beauty spot and a flirtatious fan! I think I might have left them behind in the wings(says Vane Woman Annie Wright).LAUNCHES GALORE
We had a month of successful launches for our two books from our Press. We headed up Weardale for a crowded and intimate launch of Collecting Stones at The Hub, Stanhope Front Street. Collecting Stones is an anthology of poems and stories inspired by Harehope Quarry (pronounced Harerup to the natives of Weardale). Local contributors to the book were among the readers enthusiastically received by a packed audience. Wine and refreshments and local gossip (pronounced crack to the natives).
Harehope is a disused lime quarry given new life as a nature project run by Steve Dales. Vane Women were invited to organise workshops for local writers and themselves at the Quarry over a number of months and artist John Longstaff joined them to produce wonderful ink and wash drawings to illustrate the book.
John is well known as the cartoonist Cluff whose work can be seen in the Northern Echo and Private Eye. Here he changes his pen of humourous sketches for exquisite drawings of the Quarry, past and present. It adds up to a fascinating collection of responses to the Quarry which provided, among other stones, the famous Frosterley marble.
Editors were Pru Kitching, Chris Powell, Diane Cockburn, and Anne Hine. Money was raised from The North Pennines AONB Partnership, Wear Valley District Council, Wear Valley Community Network. Thanks to them and for help from Wear Valley Community Partnership.
Durham Book Festival was our next venue for a double bill of our two new books. We had a marvellous launch of Stripping the Blackthorn, the first collection of Vane Woman Lindsay Balderson who recently completed an MA in Creative Writing at Newcastle University.
Our venue was the Alms Houses Cafe on Palace Green and our thanks to the staff who helped to create a great atmosphere. Another packed house. We had wine and refreshments plus a tot of home-made sloe gin by courtesy of Lindsay.
Many of the poems in Lindsay's collection were part of her MA portfolio and represent special studies such as the literature of Incarceration under the tutelage of poet Jack Mapanje who suffered imprisonment himself in Africa.
It is a remarkable collection as it reminds us that terror and beauty live in the same world. When Lindsay Balderson looks at High Force in spate she sees twin towers falling. Stripping the Blackthorn opens our eyes to the shadows in our lives, none darker than the vaults in the minds of torturers. Love is celebrated as the fruit of the thorn, as it should be.
The cover is a reproduction by kind permission of the Hunterian Gallery of the watercolour by Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh called The Legend of the Blackthorns which was painted to commemorate the death of her sister, also an artist. Margaret married Rennie Mackintosh and together they formed the famous collaboration that produced the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow and other integrated designs. Margaret didn't get the credit for her designs but her husband did.
Our third launch celebration was at our base Darlington Arts Centre. More wine, refreshments and sloe gin. To a very well attended Garden Bar, we had an evening of readings from Vane Women contributors to Collecting Stones and Lindsay reading a selection of work from Stripping the Blackthorn. Diane Cockburn and Dot Long managed to recreate the blackthorn tree with suitable sloes looking remarkably like purple Christmas baubles. Vane Women dressed in the colours of the upper Weardale as best as they could. As usual there was a Gala atmosphere in the Garden Bar. It is always special playing at home.
REMEMBERING MICK
We are very sorry to hear of the sudden death of poet Michael Standen, managing editor of Other Poetry, grand impressario of Colpitts Poetry and wonderful guy who took so many people under his wing. As well as being a fine poet, Mick was the heart and soul of many activities concerned with the arts and the well-being of our community. He had special qualities, among them elegance of dress and wit, panache and great warmth and kindness.
He will be remembered with affection by many writers. He and his wife Val made their home open to memorable gatherings, often late at night after Colpitts readings, when we would all adjourn for coffee and deep philosophical discussions or arguments. There were the lunches that tended to last all day of writers around the Standen kitchen table. If it was raining a tent was sometimes erected in the garden and rugs given out so that Mick could entertain al fresco as planned. These were the off diary events of a busy working life with the WEA and literature and creative writing classes.
Always one who tended to opt for the grand gesture, Mick organised the legendary Colpitts special birthday parties aboard the boat on the River Wear around Durham. Miroslav Holub was among the guests. Recently Mick gambled on a successful event at the Sage, Gateshead, when he hired a hall to put on international writers, including the French poet Jacques Darras.
Needless to say there was a full house. You will be deeply missed, Mick.
MORE FOOL I...
Vane Women like to keep old customs alive. So April Fool's Day couldn't pass without us getting out motley and jesters' hats at Darlington Arts Centre. There are all kinds of Fools, some wise, some, well, foolish, so we put together a programme to celebrate different kinds of tricks and jokes we play on others and ourselves. Maybe it is something about the Spring which encourages pranks and a bit of mayhem. Self-deception was high on our list. Poems, open mic, and contributions from Shakespeare and Don Marquis.
LOVE IN VANE?
Some time ago one of our most revered national poets Sean O'Brien, who lives in our region, threw down the gauntlet to Vane Women. It added up more or less to this: Why don't we compile an anthology about love and call it Love in Vane appropriately punning on our name which is based on our Darlington Arts Centre HQ address in Vane Terrace.
Vane, by the way, is the name of one of those land-owning families which owned coal mines in County Durham. Famous or infamous depending on your position in society.
Vane Women were not slow to take up the challenge. And Annie Wright will be editing the anthology.
A-WASSAILING
We took this successful show to St. John's Chapel, Weardale, on December 15. Poems, songs, and Vane Women dressed in festive red and green. Wassail is an ancient Toast. The answer is Drinkhail. So when you lift your glasses next time you know what to say. Probably the most popular Wassail drink to go A-Wassailing is mulled cider. But if you can't pop down to the West Country we're sure mulled wine will do or a poker in the beer. The poker is supposed to be red hot by the way, so take care. Not sure why this is a custom but it is supposed to have an effect on the ale.
MISCHIEF NIGHT AT DARLO
Vane Women turned into Women Behaving Badly on Mischief Night (is this unusual? - Ed) at Darlington Arts Centre on November 7. Donning long dresses, long sleeved gloves, hats, feather boas and other adornments, we felt ready to be naughty. In the North apparently Mischief Night is celebrated more or less in the first week of November. Time to throw eggs at doors, tie door handles together, ring bells and run away. Puckish tricks handed down the ages.Hit of the evening was a bit of cursing and swearing. First of all the curse from Annie Wright about an unmentionable subject. Well not to be revealed on this page at least but it has something to do with gentlemen and raised toilet seats. It was a long and blood curdling curse which should have the men worried.
The swearing came from duo Pru Kitching and Anne Hine and concerned the word bugger being repeated rather a lot, meaning damn it, with a bit more force. The poem was written following a reading in Carlisle to which no-one came, so fair enough to say bugger it all the way home. It was performed with aplomb and received a terrific round of applause from the audience which is a good example of adversity being a great muse.
Mischief Night was another of Vane Women's themed evenings that was a success with the patrons. It had the air of an Edwardian music hall without the dancing and singing, but you know what I mean. It ended with the Devil having the last word, translated by his familiar Lindsay Balderson. The devil in snorting devilish gargles told the audience to buy books. And they did.
COMMENDATION FOR CHRIS
Chris Powell's short story THE RUSSIANS ARE DROWNING was one of only four commended entries in the recent BLINKING EYE short story competition, and the only one from the North East! The competition was judged by acclaimed novelist and short story writer Hilary Mantel who said of Chris's story: 'I would have liked to stay longer with the characters ... perhaps meet them in a novel; I was intrigued by their situation and drawn by the author's lurking, dark, comic sense.'In 2005 Vane Women Press published Chris's much admired first collection of short stories, Burning the Blue Winged Boys and she joined the Vane Women collective last year.
This is a spot to remember poets and writers we have lost in recent years: Jon Silkin, Gordon Brown, Barry MacSweeney, Andrew Waterhouse, Ric Caddel, Andrea Badenoch, Michael Donaghy, Julia Darling, Bill Griffiths, Chrissie Glazebrook and Michael Standen.
Any news? Gossip? Let us know. Email in confidence and we'll tell the world (Please NOTE: When emailing replace <at> with @ to fool the spammers).
lowdown epostbag lowdown epostbag
Hello!
Would you have time to look at my website:HappenStance Press?
And decide whether you'd like a link. If you publish pamphlets, which I think you do, I ought to have you on my list. Also, you should know about Sphinx, a magazine about to be Born, very very imminently, which will be wholly dedicated to chapbook poetry and review only poetry in that form.
Let me know what you think.
Best wishes
Helena<HE11@beatonh.freeserve.co.ukThanks Helen
I've looked up your website. And I've put the site into the links below. It's good to be in touch. I very much like the idea of promoting pamphlets/chapbooks. Obviously that fits into the work that Vane Women Press has been doing in the not-so-far North (as you in Scotland) down here. I can recommend that all writers interested in similar ventures contact your site.
Ed.
Hi All
Just dropping you a quick line to ask if you want to exchange website links.
As you are probably aware, I've published the entire contents of The AA Independent Press Guide online. It can now be accessed totally free. I want to let as many people as possible know about this development; and one of the ways of doing this is to set up website link exchanges.
If you have a website, or are involved in a group or magazine that has a website, please post a link to The AA Independent Press Guide.
Dee Rimbaud<thunderburst@ntlworld.com>
See Links Below and impressive logo (Ed.).
Dear Vane Women
I thought your readers might be interested in our humor poetry contest, now in its fourth year. Taking a page from Dave Barry, this contest invites people to make up absurd poems and send them to 'vanity contests' as a joke. Prizes are awarded to the best bad poems. There is no entry fee. Please let me know if you have any questions.
ANNOUNCING THE FOURTH ANNUAL WERGLE FLOMP POETRY CONTEST
Prizes of $1,190, $169, $60 and 5 honorable mentions of $38 each. No fee to enter. A humor contest with a special twist. Judge: Jendi Reiter. Deadline: April 1. Submit one poem online at: Winning Writers Comp
Regards
Adam Cohen<adam@winningwriters.com>
866-WINWRIT
Dear Vane Women
I'm writing to let you know about a new print-based poetry magazine called Anon that employs anonymous submission and assessment procedures. For full details (our agenda, how to submit poems, how to subscribe), please visit our website:
www.blanko.org.uk/anon Anon
Anon seeks to provide a level playing field for poets, known and unknown, and is generating considerable interest. With Issue 1 we intend to establish a significant presence in the world of poetry magazines.
We feel that this project will be of interest to all Vane Women who are committed to poetry. We would be very grateful if you could forward this e-mail to them, or print it out and take it to one of your sessions. And if you approve of what Anon stands for, you might even consider linking to us?
Mike Stocks
Editor<mike@volta1.fsworld.co.uk>Dear Mike -I've passed your news to other Vane Women and now anyone reading this site. I've also put a Link below to anyone going straight there. Good Luck with your 'hush hush' submissions.
Hi,
I've just put Julia Darling's new web site online at www.juliadarling.co.uk and I thought you might like to give it a boost in the Lowdown section of the Vane Women website. An innovation, at least for us, is that Julia is running an online diary at www.juliadarling.co.uk/weblog/ and says she'll try to update it every day. Enjoy! Roger.<roger@cornwell.nu>Dear Roger, See Links below! (next to Diamond Twig).
lowdown links lowdown links
Here are a few nifty links for writers. We'll add to the list as we grow. Any sites out there who want a link from us, let us know at low.down<at>vanewomen.co.uk (Please NOTE: When emailing replace <at> with @ to fool the spammers).See you surfing!
Selkirk Lapwing Press
HappenStance Press
The AA Independent Press Guide. A free online writers resource, listing over 2000 magazines and publishers and 700 internet magazines
Independent Northern Publishers
Sand magazine
Anon magazine
Pat Maycroft
Shore Women
Flambard Press
Diamond Twig
LOLLIPOP List of Little Press Publications
Fire
Durham City Arts
New Writing North
Durham Writers
Northern Arts
Rain Dog
Jack Drum Arts
Visit Poetry.net
Arrowhead Press
Web site design by Roger Cornwell.
Last updated on December 14 2009.
