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lowdown events lowdown events
LOVEBITES AT THE GEORGIAN THEATRE ROYAL!
Vane Women are hotting up 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 a foretaste of what's to come as we raid our costume boxes for something appropriately elegant and saucy for the occasion! All our thanks to the theatre staff who are 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 too gets in the mood!
If you've never seen Vane Women you're in for a treat - AND if you've never been to Britain's most complete and authentic Georgian playhouse you're in for a doubly sumptuous treat (plus heart shaped chocolate!) For a virtual tour try Georgian Theatre Royal Richmond.
I'm off to locate my powder puff, beauty spot and a suitably flirtatious fan! (says Vane Woman Annie Wright). Hope to see you on Monday February 9th at 7.30pm.
LAUNCHES GALORE
We've had a month of successful launches for our two new 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.
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 January 27 2008.
