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Online Launch!

I’m delighted to announce that tickets are available for the online launch of my collection “Split, Twist, Apocalypse”. And I’m even more delighted to say that the event is being hosted by Cheltenham Poetry Festival.

The launch is taking place on Zoom on Monday, 27th February at 7pm. I’m very lucky to have Kitty Donnelly and Sallie Durham joining me – two fantastic writers whose work is also published by Indigo Dreams.

Tickets are on sale now from the Cheltenham Poetry Festival website. They are available on a pay-what-you-can basis. This year, the festival missed out on Arts Council funding, and would massively appreciate your support. If you can’t afford anything at the moment, that’s OK too.

Click here to get your ticket for my online launch (you don’t need Zoom installed  – you’ll just be sent a link): https://cheltenhampoetryfestival.co.uk/

Click here to find out more about “Split, Twist, Apocalypse”, read some sample poems, see what people have been saying about it, and find out how to buy: https://ninaparmenter.com/my-book 

Find out more about Sallie Durham’s debut collection “I Left My Hair in San Francisco” here: https://www.indigodreamspublishing.com/sallie-durham

Find out more about Kitty Donnelly’s latest collection “In Dangerous Hours” here: https://www.indigodreamspublishing.com/kitty-donnelly

 

 

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Poetry in 3D – S Reeson Pamphlet Review

We are a bit dinosaury sometimes, we poets. We like things like reading from paper. Laying on a bit of warm wine and saying words to a “poetry crowd” of 8 people in the back room of a bookshop. I mean, these are good things (well except for the warm wine). BUT.

It’s 2022, and we have a whole bunch of tools at our disposal. In this respect (and others I’ll come on to), I’m in awe of S Reeson. Her pamphlet Flammable Solid, just released by Flight of the Dragonfly Press, is an interactive experience. Firstly, you get to make your own pamphlet using the sticker set provided. (Mine now has a blurb from Kim Moore on the front and one from Damien Donnelly on the back, making a perfect poetry sandwich). Secondly, you can watch the live launch on the Internet of Words website which is an audiovisual feast INCLUDING SOUND EFFECTS (and me, yes I’m in it I’m afraid). Lastly, the pamphlet comes with a QR code allowing you to access extra notes and thoughts tied to each poem. This is a genius idea, and why isn’t everyone doing it?? I love gaining insight into a poet’s thoughts. It gives the poems SO MUCH MORE.

 

 

Anyway, you think all that is why I called this post Poetry in 3D? It’s not. The title is about the poetry, which when all is said and done is the most important thing. These poems leap off the page in streams of consciousness which take you straight into the poet’s mind. And wow, it’s not always linear in there, thank God.

Allow me to pick some examples.

“Between Mr Einstein and Cake” swings between the massive, the quantum, the personal and… cake.

“Obsession’s uncanny masking plus ability to consume wedges of sponge towers without whom history would be stark hollow dark facsimile…”

“Above Below” encompasses the whole of time whilst telling us it is inadequate to do so:

“Poetry again fails to encompass everything that sits / enduring / long after chattering ape girl’s been and gone.”

“Sunday 9.15am” expresses the internal turmoil even a simple lie in can generate:

“How can I be simultaneously everywhere, and here, where nothing always seems a waste?”

And there is more of this, far more. Personal experience, social injustice, family, BLACK HOLES… these are poems that demand to be read and re-read. And they will give you more each time. And talking of “More”… the final poem (called “More”) about the joy of writing is wonderful, but I’m not including any spoilers on that one.

So… watch the launch. Enjoy your sticker project. Delve into the sister website. But above all, read the poems. Read them. But don’t blame me if you fall right in.

https://flightofthedragonfly.com/shop/

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A Boris Johnson Erasure Poem – Sadly

Nothing to do with eighties disco (sadly), an erasure poem takes a piece of text and rubs much of it out to reveal a poem inside. Here’s my attempt at an erasure poem based on Boris Johnson’s speech withdrawing from the conservative leadership race yesterday.

I have been overwhelmed by people,
I have been attracted to distraction,
I am well placed to deliver the last days;

I, sadly, can’t govern effectively.
We have, sadly, not been able.

I am afraid to
go forward.

I
am
afraid.

 

(By the way, if you’re at all interested, the full text of his speech is here.)

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A Big Pot of Prompts

A poetry friend and I used to send each other prompts, ten at a time. She was a prolific writer and could write poems for all ten of my prompts pretty much in a day. I used to take one or two of them, and it would take me a week. But I have had poems published that were written from those prompts.

But I noticed during that process that it’s so much easier to write prompts for someone else than generate ideas for yourself. I think  you just relax and let your mind go for it. So, to prove my point, I’m going to write as many prompts as I can in ten minutes. Feel free to dig in if one of them grabs you!

 

  • Think of someone you know who doesn’t seem to quite fit in. What do you imagine they are thinking?
  • Imagine that you wake up in an alternate reality, very close to our own but subtly different. What is the difference? Does it make this reality better or worse?
  • Think about a part of your body you don’t usually give a second thought to. Express your admiration for it.
  • Think about a path. Where is it going to or from? Who might travel it?
  • Imagine you are reading a prophecy. What does it say? Do you want it to come true? Do you not? Why?
  • Write a poem about spices. How do their tastes relate to the way you feel?
  • Write a poem about something below your feet.
  • Which animal do you most feel like today? Describe yourself as that animal.
  • Imagine you are hiding. What are you hiding from? Where are you hiding? What will it take for you to come out?
  • Think about spinning. Wheels, the earth, your mind. Imagine if the spinning stopped for just a second. What would that second be like?
  • Imagine someone is filming a documentary about your life. How would the script sound?
  • Write a personification poem in which you are a vehicle. Does the vehicle enjoy what it does? How does it feel when it is still? How does it feel when it is moving?
  • Think about a negative emotion you felt recently. Describe it, but only in positive terms..
  • Imagine the two most unlikely people who could swap roles. What would happen if they had to?
  • Write a poem in which you die but discover that dying is not all it seems.
  • Write a poem in praise of your favourite food or drink.
  • Describe your favourite sound or sounds.
  • Describe your most treasured possession. Why do you love it?
  • Imagine you are a creator god. What would be your current assessment of your creation?
  • Think about repetition. What would  you do again and again and again if you had the chance? Why? How does your body feel doing this? How does your mind feel?

So there you go! Twenty prompts in ten minutes. (Yes, alright, I jotted them down in ten minutes and then typed them up — I’m not superhuman!) OK — back to not having a clue as to what to write about…

 

If you enjoyed these prompts, follow me on Facebook @parmenterpoetry, on Twitter @ninaparmenter, on Instagram at @nina.parmenter – and please join my mailing list!

 

 

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Ground Zero

The soil cracks into a city grid,
green skyscrapers twist and rise
and morph into spinnakers.
Minarets pop through the eyeline.
A heavy-bellied bee hovers low
like a news crew,
five-eyed in the summer sky,
while a beetle bulldozes a small neighbourhood
to find his prize.

In city hall they speak in hushed tones
of cats, rabbits, foxes,
and all the dangers they pose.
A mile away, or possibly a foot,
the mower drones.

 

If you enjoyed this poem, follow me on Facebook @parmenterpoetry, on Twitter @ninaparmenter, on Instagram at @nina.parmenter – and please join my mailing list! And you can find out about my début collection Split, Twist, Apocalypse here.

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FROME – Launch this Friday!

Just a little note to say that my in-person launch for Split, Twist, Apocalypse will be taking place this Friday, 26th August.

Venue will be the finest bookshop in all the land, Hunting Raven Books in Frome, Somerset, and we kick off at 7.30.

It’s going to be a poetry double-header, with Gordon Vells, who will be launching his beautiful, sharp and touching collection “Wasp Disentanglement for Beginners.”

It’ll be an informal and fun evening, and I don’t know whether to be excited or petrified, but if you live locally to me, please do come! It’s free! There will be wine!

ONLINE LAUNCH NEWS COMING SOON!

I was hoping to be announcing my online launch very soon, but it’s going to be a little later than initially planned, due to Unavoidable Things. Should be later in the autumn, so watch this space!

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“Split, Twist, Apocalypse” is available to order!

I’m so excited to announce that that my debut collection “Split, Twist, Apocalypse” is now available to order! Yesterday I “had a moment” when I signed the first copies (with my special signing pen), took them to the post office and sent them out into the world. It’s such a busy time in my life at the moment, I have to make sure I take these moments in!

My current challenge is answering the question “so what’s it about”? A very hard question to answer when it comes to poetry, and I tend to blether, “Oh, life, magic, gods, science, stuff…”! I think I’ll just photocopy the eloquent blurb that Ronnie at my publisher Indigo Dreams wrote onto slips of paper and hand them out. Take a look at the blurb below to let Ronnie tell you all about it!

Split, Twist, Apocalypse Cover

Anyway, if that blurb (and not my blethering) grabs you, and you would like to see some sample poems and/or order a signed copy, visit the “My Books” page on this website! (And if you can’t do PayPal for any reason, email me, and I’ll send you my bank details.)

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Cover Reveal!

I’m absolutely flippin delighted to announce that my debut collection “Split, Twist, Apocalypse” published by Indigo Dreams will be OUT OUT OUT on July 18th! Details of how to order will follow shortly, but in the mean time – here is my GORGEOUS cover!

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Stephanie

Stephanie

I blew it, said Stephanie,
picking Weetabix clods from her hair
in the light of the burning bureau
as the cat smoked.

I should have listened, she said,
as the threads of her lawn unknitted
and the house found a new equilibrium
behind Tesco.

Of all the people, she said,
to be trusted with this decision!
The crust shrugged and heaved.
Magma rose.

 

If you enjoyed this poem, follow me on Facebook @parmenterpoetry, on Twitter @ninaparmenter, on Instagram at @nina.parmenter – and please join my mailing list!

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Geranium

I thought I had better write a tribute to the only flowering plant that consistently survives my “gardening” – bruises, amputations and all.

A geranium in my garden

Geranium

We understand each other,
me and this ballsy bloomer,
roots as deep as a cheap sandwich,
leaves all thick fists down the alley.

It thrives on my perennial neglect,
dies every day in a new ugly,
screaming ‘Cut off my head, you big nelly!
Pass me a pickled egg and slap me.’

Sneering down at reedy violas –
Bosh! It steals sunlight from the needy,
coming again and again like a prop forward
throwing up to make space for a bevvie.

Red-faced, white-faced, pink-faced,
fat cheeks every colour of pushy,
broken nose flourishing with hubris,
it mocks every nibbling beastie.

Oh, but it is beautiful,
bruising through each new lobotomy,
a rolling maul of carousal.
A lover. A fighter. A softie.

 

If you enjoyed this poem, follow me on Facebook @parmenterpoetry, on Twitter @ninaparmenter, on Instagram at @nina.parmenter – and please join my mailing list!

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