I’ve been so busy this year that in the scramble to get everything done, that the week’s designated task (ie get this week’s herb in) has been as much as I could manage, far too often. But although the herbs project is enormously interesting, and it’s expanding in directions I didn’t expect, and then had to be reined in again, it’s not the only, nor even the biggest thing in my writing life.

The third issue of Stravaig is now on-line. The theme we chose was ‘geopoetics in practice’ and it resulted in the widest selection of work we’ve ever had – essays, poems, travel, life-writing and artwork. Go look, and maybe dig  into some of the earlier issues. Or send something for next time – the closing date is the 1st October, and the designated theme is ‘intellectual nomads’ – writers who travelled, made connections, found new ways of thinking because of their questioning of the settled culture. We’ve had a few submissions already. Rimbaud is a strong presence, but there’s also Robert Louis Stevenson, Brendan, Thoreau – and of course Kenneth White.

You can find my poem Walking the Territory towards the end, which was the first poem to come out of that project – but also the one that took the longest to write, (and rewrite, and rewrite again). I’m hoping it will be the title-poem in one section of The Territory of Rain, which I’m revising furiously and welding into a proper shape and form. I’m using a phrase I’ve lifted from David Morley ‘imaginative inhabitation’ to describe what I’m after in this book, as everything began to fall into place when he used it in a workshop.

I’ve also been to a number of launches of some very exciting new poetry collections.  I missed J L Williams (Locust and Marlin from Shearsman) and Marion McCready (Tree Language from Eyewear), but I did see Niall Campbell (Moontide from Bloodaxe) and Gerrie Fellowes (The Body in Space from Shearsman). And still to come are Richie McCaffery’s Cairn from Nine Arches, and Brian Johnstones Drystone Work from Arc. I’m hoping to review some of these here, later in the year.

Also, I’ve been assisting Anne Connolly,  to judge the Vernal Equinox poetry competition of the Federation of Writers (Scotland). You can find a list of the winners here.We’ll be at the award ceremony in Glasgow next month which should be a good night!

It’s been a busy few months, but full  of interest, and new adventures – and as far as I can see, life is only going to get more interesting as we go into summer.

This is the lovely venue – Wenlock Pottery – where four Dark Mountain poets, Sophie McKeand, George Roberts, Susan Richardson and myself, introduced by Nick Hunt showcased some varied, original often innovative poetry, and frankly, had a ball. The venue was packed and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

The day was also wonderful for me because I got to a workshop led by David Morley, in the grounds of the ruined Abbey. I’m a bit blase about abbeys – there’s one almost at the bottom of the garden, after all, but it was a good one – a bit more romantic than ours, and very pretty. And I went later to a reading from his latest book The Gypsy and the Poet. I had enjoyed his previous work, Enchantment, which I reviewed here, but these new poems seem much freer and looser, (though many of them are sonnets, which adds structure and direction) and have more energy – although maybe I feel like that, because his readings are so extraverted and lively.

Also I was able to meet up with the Dark Mountaineers I’d only met by email, and Jean Atkin, whose residency at Logan Garden I’d followed on line last summer, and to reunite with Susan, Cora Greenhill and Emily Wilkinson, whom I’d met at a Dark Mounatin weekend in scotland last year. Emily lives in Much Wenlock at the moment and is lucky enough to have a residency here

This is Wenlock Books, which must be the most beautiful bookshop on the planet – though the Watermill at Aberfeldy would give it a run for its money. And there is also a second hand bookshop Much More Books, where I got a copy of Richard Mabey’s Flora Brittanica – a book so big and so lavishly produced I never thought I’d be able to own it.

The Wenlock Festival isn’t as big as StAnza, but there was the same buzz about it, lots of helpful and welcoming volunteers, and a lovely Poetry Cafe. Many thanks are due to Antonia Beck, the Festival Producer, and her team who made the whole thing happen.