Members’ News
I was amazed recently when I spotted a pair of kingfishers on a very urbanised stretch of the River Wandle near where I live in south London. I wrote this short piece about them for Caught by the River.
– Jill Hopper
Image from ‘A history of British birds’ (London, Groombridge and Sons, 1862-1867, via the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
I’m one of the speakers at this year’s Poetry in Business online conference. I’m on a panel with fellow 26er Rishi Dastidar. This online conference is now in its second year, run by Dr Kate Jenkinson who does a fantastic job in bringing closer the worlds of business and poetry. The conference is all day on Friday 14th November and you need to book your place soon. Should be enlightening from start to finish, closing with a PechaKucha session involving another 26 member Olly Davy. It’s been much talked about on LinkedIn, you can find out more here.
– John Simmons
My poem “Red (Westminster Bridge)” had its 26 Bridges appearance on the 8th; Fringe999 published my 2016 poem “Exhibit at ‘Inside'” on the 11th; I’ll read and sing my new sequence “That terrible vestry meeting” on the 27th, in memory of hymn tune composer Robert Jackson (1840-1914). Quite a month.
– Aidan Baker
Members’ Recommendations
I’ve just started Suleika Jaloud’s Book of Alchemy. The book has 100 prompts for journaling, each introduced by a short essay from contributors who include George Saunders and Liz Gilbert. The invitation is to write daily for 15 minutes on the prompts, for 100 days. I’m on day 4 and have already found it to be both enjoyable and insightful – I’m not a regular journaller, but am looking forward to finding out what the prompt is each day. I would recommend it to anyone looking to start a daily writing practice or is to looking to explore ideas for their next project.
– Olivia Sprinkel
I’ve just read books one and two of On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle. This is a novel in seven parts, translated from the Danish, about a woman living the same November day over and over again. But forget any parallels with Groundhog Day – this is a profound meditation on mortality and how we choose to spend our days. Book three is due out in November so I’m on tenterhooks for that.
– Jill Hopper
Max and I (along with many of London’s smallest children) visited the London Transport Museum last weekend. We spent most of our time in the upper galleries, which cover the earliest publicly-available modes of transport in the city, including the boats, omnibuses, and steam trains that carried nineteenth-century Londoners to their long-ago destinations. We especially enjoyed stepping into the restored and replica vehicles and printing off old bus tickets with a smiling volunteer. You can purchase a year’s entrance for the same price as a day pass – I think we’ll be back to see the rest!
– Chloe Green