Poetry Event in Tampere April 5

Poetry event in Tampere on Saturday April 5 at 15.00 - 16.30.

I'm reading with Donald Adamson in Pispala library, Tahmelankatu 14 (take bus number 25). Free entry.

We're reading mainly in English from our own work, but there will be some poems in Finnish with English translations and the English text of some poems will be projected on a screen. We plan to adjourn to the pub across the road after the event for a drink and a chat. If you're in the area, come along. If you're a poet, bring along a couple of poems.

Ward Wood Publishing special offers

Here´s a message from my publisher, Ward Wood Publishing, with news of some great offers and low prices, and a poetry competition that supports a cold weather shelter in London and offers publication for the winner.


Season’s Greetings From Ward Wood Publishing

To help you celebrate, we have some last-minute gift ideas and a competition
in aid of the homeless in three North London Cold Weather Shelters
that could win you publication of your own short poetry collection with Ward Wood.

It’s never too late to send the gift of a Kindle ebook and we have a full selection
of fiction and poetry at prices starting from just 77p.
We keep our Kindle ebook prices temptingly low, so these are perfect stocking fillers
you can send to friends and family or you can treat yourself.

Our full range can be viewed here
and includes the dark, alternative Christmas novel
Everything is Free for 77p.

Other books in our range are £1.53
(Amazon prices can vary slightly and you need to use the Amazon site for your country to buy Kindle ebooks).

If you prefer a paperback,
we have also kept the prices on our website low,
as it’s a great help to small publishers when readers buy direct from us.
You can see our full list here,

including Pam Zinnemann-Hope’s book On Cigarette Papers,
which will be dramatized by BBC Radio 4 on January 8th at 2.15pm as the Afternoon Play.

We have had a great year at Ward Wood and wish you a happy and successful 2014.

If you would like a chance to be published by us, take a look at the
Lumen/Camden Poetry Competition,
which will be judged by Andrew Motion this year.
The winner will have a short poetry collection published by us, and
proceeds go to the Cold Weather Shelters.

You can also help by buying the prizewinning book by
this year’s winner Patricia Averbach,
or the books by previous winners Caroline Squire and Bob Cooper.

Thank you for your support and Happy New Reading in 2014!

Tampere University Creative Writing In English Course

The students on the Creative Writing in English course that I run at Tampere University have set up a public blog with a selection of work produced on the course. The blog is divided into three sections for different categories of writing: short fiction, poetry and song lyrics. It´s all interesting writing so why not pay the blog and visit and leave a message? Here´s the link:

http://creativewritersuta.blogspot.fi

Enjoy.

Poetry Reading at Arkadia Bookshop

This is the announcement for the poetry reading at the Arkadia Bookshop in Helsinki where I will be reading with three Scottish poets and one Finnish poet. There will be poems in both languages, including some in translation. I will be reading from my collection, Midas Touch, all in English. Copies of the poets´ publications will be available for purchase. Rumour has it that a glass of wine will be provided to relieve the thirst of audience members. The event is free but the Arkadia Bookshop asks for a donation of 3 euros to cover their own costs. If you are in the Helsinki area, do come along.


FOUR BRITS AND A FINN
A Cavalcade of Prizewinning Poets
Tuesday, 15th October @ 6 pm

Arkadia Bookshop (Nervanderinkatu 11, Helsinki)

Donald Adamson: Tampere-based poet and translator, winner of the Herald Millennium Poetry Prize, launches his new collection From Coiled Roots, which explores life, landscapes and history in Finland and Scotland. His translations of Lassi Nummi have been described by Eeva Kilpi as ‘like the humming of the trees around our human suffering and joys.’ www.donaldadamson.co.uk

Liz Niven’s most recent collection, The Shard Box, (Luath Press), uses multiple techniques to address fragmentation and reconstruction through a Chinese lens. An award-winning poet, she has appeared at Literary Festivals across Europe, China and Australia, recently participating in Clunes, Australia’s National Booktown. She has promised to read her Scots versions of the Kalevala! www.lizniven.com

Up-and-coming poet and translator Aila Juvonen collaborates with Liz Niven on sequences of interactive/correspondence poetry in English and Finnish. Her poems have been read at the Edinburgh Festival and published in Northwords. She is currently working on a novel and a poetry collection. Aila has also published books on her work as developer of the Skidikantti Children's Training programme. www.skidikantti.com

Award-winning writer Chrys Salt has authored five poetry collections. A poem in her fourth collection GRASS was selected as one of The 20 Best Scottish Poems 2012. Described as ‘brave, beautiful and deeply unsettling’, her latest collection Home Front/Front Line records a dialogue in poetry and prose between her and a soldier son, who was mobilised to Iraq in February 2003. www.chryssalt.com

Based in Tampere, Mike Horwood is a UK poetry prizewinner. He has published a translation of Martti Hynynen´s poetry collection, island, nameless rock, and a collection of his own, Midas Touch. Jo Shapcott has commented on `his ability to make simple things in the material world resonate with mystery´. He has also published a novel, The Finn’s Tale.

Lecture: The Life and Work of William Blake

I´m giving a talk about William Blake on Friday 20 September. William Blake is one of the most interesting and influential British poets and artists. He is a forerunner of the Romantic era, a visionary, and held revolutionary views about society, human nature, perception and art.

I´m going to talk about the main events in his life, a little about his personality and discuss a selection of his poems, illustrations and paintings. I will handle these topics at a fairly general level but I hope to be able to give a clear impression of his ideas, beliefs and philosophy and to show how these are apparent in his writing and artwork. and I will have to select examples from his work, of course, because there won´t be time to go into detail. The talk will last about an hour and I hope there will be time for questions afterwards.


And now you want to know where this is going to happen. Here are the details in full:

Friday 20.9 at 18.30 in Tampere main library (Metso), we will be in the upstairs lecture room which is called Pietilä-sali. The talk will be in English. It is organised by the Tampere branch of the Finnish-British society. It is free and all members of the public are welcome.

If you´re in or near Tampere on the 20th September, drop in. I look forward to seeing you there.

Poetry reading at Arkadia Bookshop in Helsinki

This is some advance information for anyone who will be within striking distance of Helsinki in mid-October. I´m reading at the Arkadia Bookshop in Helsinki on Tuesday 15 October (not sure about the exact time yet, but definitely in the evening). The program is titled, `Four Brits and a Finn´, and I´m one of the Brits, but the only Englishman; the other three are Scots. The Arkadia Bookshop has a very attractive website:

http://www.arkadiabookshop.fi/

The poetry event is not listed there yet but I imagine full details will be posted closer to the time. I will also post full details, including names and information about the other poets reading and confirmation of the time, here on my blog in good time. Arkadia offers a lovely environment for a poetry reading, plus the opportunity to browse and buy books at bargain prices so I have a strong suspicion that this is an event not to be missed.

Have you read The Finn´s Tale?

This blog receives between 200 and 300 visitors a month on average. I´ve been wondering how many of you have read my novel, The Finn´s Tale, and if so, which country you are from. The novel is easily obtainable via Amazon, Book Depository and the publisher´s website so international markets are well served. In addition, Stockmann´s Academic Bookshop in Finland and Pocket Books on Helsinki railway station have sold a considerable number of copies and I wonder how many of those have been purchased by foreign visitors to take back to their home country as a souvenir as well as a source of information about the Finnish way of life and culture.

So in this post, I am making a request for those blog visitors who have a copy of the book - and that includes the Kindle version, of course - to add a comment indicating their home country. If you´d like to offer a comment on your response to the novel, I´d be very interested in that as well, of course. It would be great if we could find readers from around the world and on every continent so do please let me know where you are (including Finnish and English readers). I´m looking forward to hearing from you.