Looking Back and Moving On
Despite beingin many ways a challenging, if not a downright difficult year, 2014 seems to have passed in a flash. This, as I recall my grandmother, Matilda, trying to explain to me, has something to do with the business of growing older. Also, though, I think it is a phenomenon that has arises out of being happy because I have to admit to being happier these past four years than I have ever been at any point in my life so far. This, of course, as anyone who knows me well will know, is largely the result of having found - at long bloody last - my soul mate in the shape of the very wonderful David Rowland. He will blush when he reads this but another saying of my grandmother's was: 'Credit where credit is due'.
Still, it has to be said, finding your soul mate does not necessarily make life perfect and, this year, David and I have encountered some difficulties, mostly not much talked about in public, which have required us to look to our inner resources and, as they say, 'dig deep'. By and large, these problems are over and done with now and we have come through more or less unscathed. The trouble is, though, that having had the wonderful good fortune to find such happiness rather in life, I sometimes find it hard not to dwell on all those accidents that might so easily snatch it away from me. I try not do this, of course, but it's a hard thing for me to change. Deep in the core of my being there still resides that frightened little girl, the one who was taught to be believe that she is not worth very much and does not deserve to have good things happen to her.
In 2014, however, good things did happen. Indeed, looking back, there are so many good things it is hard to pick out the highlights. Right at the beginning of the year, David and I made our CD and, in the process, came into being as The Fool and the Liar. Over the year, summer and autumn months, we made a number of appearances at local events and festivals. This was, on the one hand, anxiety-provoking and, on the other, really good fun. We hope to make a second CD in the not too distant future.
Another highghlight for me was the publication towards the end of the year of Wave Hub: New poetry from Cornwall edited by Alan Kent and published by Boutle which carries ten of my poems. It is a privilege to be published alongside the likes of Mick Paynter and Alan Shepherd and, ineed, Alan Kent himself. At about the same time, I was included in a feature in myCornwall. The piece was accompanied by a lovely photograp and one of my shorter poems, a previously unpublished piece about bathing with my father at Kennack Sands.
So far as publication is concerned, it has been a good year for me. I have many poems published in a whole range of different outlets. One of them, Transcendance magazine, was not only new to me but was itself a new venture for 2014. It is gratifying, therefore, having had a poem in each of the first two issues, to see that Transcendance has been included in Up The Staircase Quarterly's list of Ten New Magazines Worth Taking A Look At. Not surprisingly, the editor in chief, Keri Karadrakis, is a very happy bunny indeed.
Another literary highlight of this year was acting as one of the judges for the Hysteria Writing Competition. The competition itself proved to be a big success, attracting many more entries than the previous year and the whole thing was made all the more pleasurable and rewarding by the fact that my friend and writing colleague, Vicki Morley. turned out to be among the winners in the poetry section with her poem 'Cairo' being publ;ished in this year's anthology. Not only that, the organiser, Linda Parkinson-Harman. was kind enough to me send a £20 Waterstone's token. Win, win, as they say these days. Next year, perhaps, I will revert to being a hopeful entrant.
Other events that spring to mind include The White Ships of Winter event at The Godolphin Arms, Marazion in October and being asked to perform, together with Alan Shepherd and Jak Stringer, at an event commemorating the work of the poets of The Great War. There have been lots of others but these two stand out, not least for the great beauty of their surroundings, the first in the newly refurbished premises overlooking The Mount and the second overlooking Porthmeor Beach on one of the warmest days of the year. Lastly, I cannot not mention winning the Penzance Writers' Cafe Flash Fiction Contest - - in the face of some tough competition - with my piece about Olive Oatman. I have not yet spent the prize money but members can rest assured that it will go on a book.
So, what about 2015? What do I have planned? Well, in some ways I want to make this a year when I do a little less performing and organising and a little more staying at home and getting on with the business of writing. I have an idea for a poetry performance project that is likely to dominate the first half of the year and, indeed, may not come to full frution until September or October. At the same time, I also have work to do on compiling and editing a fifty-page collection of poems and my proposed 'verse almanac'. This will be a collection of light-hearted and/or quirky pieces prompted by significant events in history and interesting anniversaries. There ought to be, I think, one short poem for every single day of the year. This, however, may well prove to be beyond my feeble talents.
In addition to my writing, though, I want this to be the year that I devote more time to other forms of creativity. Crafting is one area and I would like to try my hand at painting. One of David's presents to me was a set of calligraphy pens and drawing inks in a range of wonderful colours. As a girl I learned calligraphy at school and I am looking forward to taking it up again. It would be nice to acquire sufficient skill to be able to make copies of some of my shorter poems which, I believe, rather lend themselves to that kind of thing.
There are other things, of course, but this blog reflects my main thoughts at the moment. It only remains, therefore, for me to wish all my family and friends the very best and happiest of years. May blessings acrue to you. Abi
