Poetry for Hopefulness | Bright Poems for Dark Days

bright poems for dark days, poems, hope, poets, hopefulA fitting release for this years National Poetry Day theme of choice, Dr Sutherland’s curated collection features poetry from across globes and generations to find the perfect words of affirmationpositivity or hopefulness to aid you in moments of need or stress.

🌸 Choose from 8 themes to fit your needs, from hope to nature & escape or joy to gratitude & comfort and more

🌸 Choose words and poems from literary greats, such as William Blake and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, to modern greats like Maya Angelou and Carol Ann Duffy to name just a few

🌸 With stunning full-colour, original illustrations from artist Carolyn Gavin (@carolynj)

bright poems for dark days

An anthology for hopefulness from William Blake to Warsan Shire

Dr Julie Sutherland
Illustrated by Carolyn Gavin

Bright Poems For Dark Days Published by Frances Lincoln | £12.99 | 19thth October 2021

We all have days when we find ourselves in need of some positivity and a few hopeful words of affirmation. This collection of poetry was carefully curated and compiled by bibliotherapist Dr Julie Sutherland, an expert in the healing power of words, along with original illustrations from Carolyn Gavin, make this beautifully-bound book a worthy aid to your mental wellbeing:

  • The collection is split into 8 themes: hope, resilience & courage, joy, nature & escape, love, tranquility, gratitude & comfort
  • A diverse range of writers and words are featured; from Oscar Wilde to Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson to Maya Angelou, William Blake to Warsan Shire
  • The selections are accompanied by explanations and illuminating context that reinforces the positive mental health message
  • Combining uplifting lines of verse with joyful illustrations means this unique book can provide a much-needed dose of hopefulness and happiness in turbulent moments
  • Perfect as a thoughtful gift for someone in need or a resource of solace that can turned to whenever needed
Image

 

 

 

In difficult times, the words of others can lift us up.

 

 

 

Image

 

Bright, joyful art to inspire hopefulness is combined with a curated collection of poems, chosen to lift the spirits through the healing power of words.

Image

 

Dr Julie Sutherland is a writer and editor based in Ontario, Canada. She is a bibliotherapist for the ReLit Foundation, facilitating and presenting a wide variety of reading for well-being events in Canada, the US, the UK and online. She is passionate about the capacity of literature to effect change in the human spirit.

Carolyn Gavin is a painter, illustrator and designer based in Toronto, Canada. Vibrant, playful and happy are perfect words to describe her style. She is principal designer for Ecojot, a family-run eco-friendly paper business and also licenses her work for fabric, homewares and packaging. Find her on IG @carolynj (460k followers).

A Poet For Every Day of the Year By Allie Esiri

A Poet For Every Day of the Year is an essential buy. The concept of this book is so clever: every day there is a new poet to discover. A biography of the poet and one of their poems is there to discover for every day of the year.

This book is gorgeous on the outside and just as gorgeous on the inside. Perfect for adults and children. I cannot recommend this well-researched and luscious book enough. Get your hands on a copy now.

Award-winning and bestselling poetry anthologist, ALLIE ESIRI has lit an explosion of interest in poetry, through her carefully curated anthologies and exciting live performances.

Allie’s books have sold over 250,000 copies in hardback

 

·       Her three poetry collections, A Poem for Every Day of the Year; A Poem for Every Night of the Year and Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year have been chosen as Books of the Year by The Times, The Observer and New Statesman and they have featured in the top five poetry titles every year since 2016.

 

·       Allie has been announced as the Chair of Judges for the CLiPPA Awards 2021, following in the footsteps of Michael Rosen and Roger McGough. She is also a judge for The Trussell Trust Food for Thought poetry competition 2021.

 

·       A Poem for Every Night of the Year had its best sales year in 2020 – five years after publication.

 

·       In 2020, THREE of the top ten children’s poetry titles were curated by Allie, though her books are enjoyed by all ages

 

Allie is the NUMBER ONE author across children’s poetry in 2021.

 

A Poet for Every Day of the Year, Allie’s newest anthology, is published by Macmillan Children’s Books. It introduces readers to 366 of the world’s greatest poets, juxtaposing diverse, exciting, vibrant new voices alongside the enduring giants of the form, with fascinating mini biographies of each writer.

 

The day-by-day format inspires readers to make poetry as much part of their daily routine as breakfast or bedtime. It encourages them to discover theinspirational, the life affirming, the provocative and the entertaining in each and every day.

 

“Allie Esiri’s books take you by the hand with poems to restore you and make your toes tingle, that will take you away for a little while and home again, with your spirits a little higher than before.”

Helena Bonham Carter

 

Allie Esiri, on her new anthology, A Poet for Every Day of the Year:

 

Poetry at its best has always enabled us to see different worlds, or rather, our own world differently, without ever having to leave our home. It has articulated our muddled thoughts, given a voice to the voiceless and lent an ear to the otherwise unheard. But most of the anthologies we have at our disposal seem to view poetry as an almost exclusively white, western, male craft, almost untouched by women or anyone from another background or ethnicity. I think now is the time to redress this.

In this book, you’ll not only find a great poem for every day of the year, but you’ll also learn about the life, times, and work of each poet, and discover connections between writers that transcend the established canon and chronology.

I hope readers of all ages and backgrounds will be inspired by the poets they find within this anthology. As the mother of mixed-race children, I’m especially and personally proud to present a book that represents them, and countless other diverse readers like them.

A POET FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR , poems, poets, books,  Allie Esiri

Poets featured in A Poet for Every Day of the Year include:


Maya Angelou

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Brian Bilston

Eavan Boland

Lord Byron

William Carlos Williams

Lewis Carroll

Wendy Cope

Imtiaz Dharker

Georgia Douglas Johnson

Helen Dunmore

Bob Dylan

Louise Glück

Jackie Kay

Michael Rosen

Christina Rossetti

Stevie Smith

Ocean Vuong

William Wordsworth

 

 

 

ALLIE ESIRI is an accomplished curator and host of live poetry events, featuring some of our best-known actors – from Helena Bonham Carter to Dominic West – at the National Theatre, the Bridge Theatre, and major literary festivals.

 

She lives in London with her husband and three children.

The book is available here.

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: JANE CABLE ON HER FATHER POET, MERCER SIMPSON

As I have written in Frost before, my formative years were spent in and around the vibrant Anglo-Welsh poetry scene. Writers such as Tony Curtis, Dannie Abse and Gillian Clarke were taking over the mantle from the Dylan Thomas generation and my father Mercer Simpson was in the thick of it.

First as an expert on the genre – he wrote the section on it in The Bloomsbury Guide to Literature – and a reviewer. Then as poet himself. Except he wasn’t Welsh by birth – he was English, although in the end he lived in Cardiff for the last 55 years of his life. His first – and last – collections were through Rockingham Press in East Anglia, but I think the one of which he was always most proud was Rain From a Clear Blue Sky which was published by Gomer with the help of Welsh Arts Council funding.

Having a poet as a father gives a unique insight into their lives. This is not to say all poetry is autobiographical – it’s certainly not – but my father was very clear that some of his were and there is a section in Rain From a Clear Blue Sky that deals with childhood memories. All this was easy to accept as my father’s past, but when the present reared its head, it could be harder. Or simply incredibly beautiful, like these lines about a rose bush that stood in my parents’ garden.

Fruhlingsgold
shakes her
curling-papered head,
the wind’s
premature blow-drier
scattering news
of dispersed beauty,
the white petals
leaving the golden heart
on each stem…

But there were certainly times when the insights seemed far too close to home and I still find parts of his last two collections difficult. Not just because I helped him to correct the proofs of the last one when he was in a nursing home, dying. It wasn’t a bad time – apart from the obvious – we became even closer over those galleys – and we were able to discuss what was going to happen surprisingly easily.

Six months before the Welsh Academy had put on an eightieth birthday reception for him in the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay. For him it was the pinnacle of his acceptance as an Anglo-Welsh poet and I will never forget how much it meant to him. I was more than proud to be at his side as we listened to Tony Curtis, Ruth Bidgood and others read from their own work and celebrate my father’s. And he read himself – of course he did – he had been a lecturer, had even taught public speaking, so he was a consummate performer.

There was a humour in his work, even in the most serious of subjects, particularly in Honest to God, a poem he read that night and I read at his funeral. And pathos too. As the child of a poet, there are times you get to look inside your parent’s soul.

Dear God
I hope I’ve got your correct address:
with so much mail going astray these days I wouldn’t want this letter
to get lost in the post.

I hope you don’t mind me leaving the writing of it rather late
but I felt I had to thank you for letting me stay in your house for so long.
I know I haven’t been the easiest of guests,
stealing your son’s bread and helping myself to his wine…

…Now that my time is nearly over
I insist on having the last word which must be gratitude:
gratitude for the miracle of your world that I, who might have died at birth,
was spared to live in…

…So please forgive me if I seem impertinent
in asking if I may come back and visit you again some time?

 

 

 

WELSH WRITING WEDNESDAYS: GLYN JONES – POET, AUTHOR, GENTLE MAN – A PERSONAL APPRECIATION BY JANE CABLE

I have a confession to make. When I first signed up to write this article, the subject matter was to be twentieth century Anglo-Welsh poetry, but slowly it dawned on me I could not do justice to those wonderful writers so Tony Curtis, Gillian Clarke, and even my own father, Mercer Simpson, will have to wait. Glyn Jones must take centre stage.

In later life Glyn and his wife Doreen were great friends of my parents. Glyn and my father met through the Welsh Academy (of literature) and found a common bond in their love of words. They lived quite close to each other in Cardiff and on sunny afternoons the Jones could often be found in my parents’ garden, tucking into tea and homemade cakes. Glyn was the ultimate gentle man, always unassuming, with a quiet sparkle about him. The last time I saw him was at a party my parents held to celebrate both my qualification as a chartered accountant and my engagement. A quiet man himself, my husband-to-be adored him too.

Both in the years before, and after, Glyn’s death, my father became the go-to expert on his work. He was interviewed extensively for a BBC documentary about Glyn’s life made in 1996 and wrote the introduction to the University of Wales Press collected poems published the same year. In that he wrote:

‘Generous in his encouragement of younger writers and in his remarkable gift of friendship, Glyn Jones was so modest about his great gifts that they have still to receive the critical attention they so richly merit.’

Although a friend of Dylan Thomas’, Jones was his polar opposite, a chapel-goer all his life, a man steadfast in his beliefs (he lost his teaching job after becoming a conscientious objector in World War Two), he was indeed too modest to push himself forward. While Jones never created a masterpiece like Under Milk Wood – few people do – he was still a master of his craft as a writer, and his epic poem-play, Seven Keys to Shaderdom, which was unfinished at his death, certainly comes close:

‘Before a dazzling evening’s lemon glow all your repose,
Your writhings, were there alone in open pasture. Bareness
Assumed, in spring’s hysteria, against the soaking snow of
Clouds, green fabrics of your opening foliage, glittering
Sunlit deluges of grain-like silver’

His novels were published in the 1950s and 60s to critical acclaim. The Island of Apples is one of my all-time favourites, a coming of age story told from the viewpoint of a pre-adolescent boy, with descriptions so vivid and perfect it makes you want to stop and read them again and again. I remember becoming so completely lost in the time and place I can picture it to this day.

Glyn Jones also wrote short stories and translated poems, plays and other literary works from welsh to english, bringing them to a wider audience. But it is his poetry for which he is most remembered. Or perhaps what I most remember him for. The morning my mother died I took his Collected Poems from the shelf and read to her. Her favourite was The Meaning of Fuchsias, but in the end I decided to read Goodbye, What Were You? at her funeral:

‘At the voice of the mother on a warm hearth,
Dark and firelit, where the hobbed kettle crinkled
In the creak and shudder of the rained-on window,
This world had its beginning
And was here redeemed.’

My ultimate tribute to Glyn is taking his name in my pseudonym, Eva Glyn. I just hope I can live up to his example.

 

 

 

 

 

YIELD – CLAIRE DYER’S MOVING AND DEEPLY PERSONAL POETRY COLLECTION ABOUT HER CHILD’S TRANSITION FROM SON TO DAUGHTER

Reading Claire Dyer’s latest poetry collection, Yield, is to share an intimate journey told in a way very few people – if, indeed, anyone else – could tell it.

A collection of poems that tell a recognisable story is a rare and beautiful thing, but at times this story is not beautiful, although it does have a happy ending. As a mother, how do you feel when your son comes home and tells you that they are really your daughter? What does it mean to accompany them through their transition from one to the other?

The order of poems in any collection is key and Yield is punctuated by poems with the same name, but numbered; Yield, Clinic, Coming Out. They give the book unity and rhythm, and show the reader the key elements of the transition process, the ones that I guess everyone would go through.

Some readers find poetry difficult; I think because some poets consider their role is to obfuscate, but Claire Dyer’s style is very different. There is a clear communication of ideas, through a clever use of everyday language, for example the opening lines of Abroad:

“the waiters mistake us for sisters.
No, we say, laughing.

We know they know we’re not,
but we’re more than

who we seem.”

In this poem and in others there is a real sense of storytelling; vignettes from mother and child’s life before, during and after the transition process. Fireflies is about a sleepless winter night; the stunning Doing Cartwheels at the Ritz speaks for itself; Wardrobe the heartache of a mother clearing boyhood clothes – which has a truly joyful counterpoint in Shopping:

Let us go then, you and I, to Primark, Zara, Reiss.
The sky’ll be brilliant and,

around us, shoppers will burst into song,
dance on the up escalators and the down

as we load our arms with gorgeousness,
lacework brushing our shins.”

I do wonder if one of the reasons I love this poem so much is because I know Claire to be an expert shopper; so elegant in her own dress, and generous in her time to help those less  ‘expert’, like me. I remember once we spent hours in Reading as she guided my choice of the perfect handbag, which I would point out that was no mean feat as I detest shopping and had multiple – and not always compatible – criteria, for even this simple requirement.

There are other moments depicted in Yield that, having been alongside Claire for at least some of this journey, I recognise. To have listened as Claire talked about her son becoming her daughter, inch by painstaking inch, was a privilege and I was proud to be confided in, but not being a mother myself there was so much I could not understand.

Not least was that for a long time we called Lucy ‘L’. Having read one short poem, I now get it completely. And that is what great poetry does; it increases our understanding.

I wrote your names

                 with a knife on my heart and voiced them
in black ink and blue ink   I typed texted

and dreamt the names you were meant to pass on
that you’ve passed on now you have names

I can’t say because try as they might they’re not in my chest like
the rest that are still holding fast to the bones

in my back and my neck and my mouth is full
of dry grasses rivers and trees”

 

Yield is Claire Dyer’s third poetry collection and is published by Two Rivers Press.

 

 

 

A POEM A DAY DURING LOCKDOWN IS NOW A PUBLISHED COLLECTION

Guest article by gatepost poet Liv Mulligan about her debut collection

I certainly never imagined that lockdown would turn me into a ‘published poet.’ In April 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdown, my mother suggested that I write a poem each day inspired by the self isolation. She suggested that we then display each day’s poem at the end of the drive on the gatepost for passers by to read. “It might make people smile,” she said.

I agreed to the challenge because, let’s be honest, what else was I doing? I had already re-arranged my sock drawer three times that week and it was only Tuesday. Or was it Wednesday? Anyway, I didn’t have a good enough excuse to not agree. I decided to leave a phone number for people to text in suggestions for topics for the following day’s poem, so the whole village could feel part of the project too.

I then took on the ‘Daily Poem’ task quite literally as that, ‘a task.’ Something to do to fill the time.

However, as the days went by and as the collection grew, it has become so much more than that. Writing these poems became the highlight of my day. And hearing from the residents of the village, many who I had never spoken to before, telling me how much joy they receive from reading them – I owe both my mother and the 2020 lockdown experience a huge thank you.

The book, Poems On The Gate Post is now available in paperback, hardcover and ebook.

One of my spoken word poems, ‘The Lockdown Conversation’ was aired nationally on BBC iPlayer at their 2020 Upload Festival.

The Yorkshire Village Doctor

If I were a doctor
I’d prescribe packs of Yorkshire tea
Safe and suitable for all
It’s like the Master Key

Unlocking a sense of comfort
As your hands snuggle the mug
Unlocking an inner joy
As you sip, slurp or chug

I’d start you off with Yorkshire
With a splash of milk
The colour of a Werther’s Original
Tasting as smooth as silk

But not as expensive as silk:
Works out about three pence a bag
Cheaper than other prescriptions
And cheaper than a fag

You can use it recreationally too
When you want to impress a friend
Pressure’s on though. Make it good.
A bad brew will certainly offend

Once you become a regular
You might like to try the hard stuff
Maybe Green? Mint? Or Ginger?
Or Rooibos if you’re really tough

You might be reliant on tea now
Temporarily, your freedom is gone
But take it easy, take a breath
And stick the kettle on

I wonder…

I wonder if I wander there alone
Unknown eyes will stare, watch to harshly judge
Judge my feet on the public paths of stone
Sharp eyes reflect my purpose as I trudge

Heaving my lockdown legs up hills I’m free
Blood moves to circulate and rinse the doubt
But car-park eyes they’ll soon latch onto me
Cold critique of my Covid whereabouts

I too critique the man with watching eyes
My rambling thoughts will question his desire
Our woodland wishes watered down with whys
With bitter thoughts of others we conspire

I long for pine tree shadows without shame
Perhaps my unknown stranger feels the same

 

The book is currently stocked in White Rose Book shop (Thirsk), The Little Ripon Bookshop and Minskip Farm Shop. If you’re not about in North Yorkshire, it can be purchased from most online bookstores.

You can keep up to date with Liv’s poetry antics and spoken word videos on Facebook: Olivia Mulligan Poetry

 

 

Free Poetry Book To Celebrate National Poetry Day

poetry, poetry book, poems, women authors, Scottish writers, poetry book, female writers,Today is National Poetry Day and to celebrate you can get a copy of What Do You Think? A collection of poetry from Catherine Balavage, Frost Magazine’s owner and editor-in-chief. One of her poems is below.

 

Loved person

Broken promises I knew you could not keep
You only ever tried to love me and in gratitude I lay at your feet Because I was in love too, but my love was different

My love was the notion of life, a good one
All I wanted from ear to ear; a smile from my own mouth
It did not work
You loved me so selflessly I could not leave
Although I know now it was only through your love for me that I loved you You lost your own identity
You chose mine but I wanted mine to keep

Still. Here I am
This time only crying at your ever loving feet
I owe you too much to leave
So for the rest of my life. If I never find the courage I will be the living, loved dead
Even though I see
Your love in an otherwise cruel world binds me Forgive me. I doubt for all that I was ever worthy

 

Get your free copy of What Do You Think? now.

Frost Magazine interviews acclaimed Instapoet, Arch Hades

High Tide, the debut collection of poetry by the Instapoet, Arch Hades, is making waves in poetry and social circles. In this Frost Magazine exclusive, we find out more about the writer behind the verse.

By Lucy Bryson

Q: Were you aware of the ‘Instapoets’ concept when you first began writing? Have you witnessed any snobbery from traditional literary publications towards ‘Instapoetry’?

A: Yes, I was aware of the ‘Instapoets’ concept. I can’t say I’ve experienced any snobbery (I, of course, only speak for myself). I’m just a poet who shares some of my work on that platform. We live in a sharing society, Instagram has done wonders for poetry, not only has it helped people re-connect to this form of expression, it has done so very successfully and on such a large scale that I will gladly applaud the medium for this revival.

If anything, I hope traditional literary publications rejoice at this new-found popularity of poetry and especially the new-found interest people express in their own publications. 

Q: Your work is personal and emotional – did you feel any vulnerability when you first published your poems online? Are there any experiences you would say are out of bounds in sharing with readers?

A: I can’t say I felt particularly emotionally vulnerable when first sharing my poetry. I’ve always been very honest with people and very open. I don’t see the point of not saying that I mean and not meaning what I say. I want to continue being raw and open and emotional, I don’t want to shy away from it, I want those who do share in loss and heartbreak to feel they are not alone, I want to connect with them and support them.

Q: Can your Instagram followers expect to see new, previously unpublished work in High Tide? 

I only began posting online after the publication of High Tide, so far I’ve only posted fragments of poetry, and I am grateful that the reception has been warm, so yes, I will estimate that the vast majority of High Tide is yet unseen by my followers (apart from those who bought the book already).

Q: Have you always sent postcards while travelling? Did you have any reservations about sharing this personal correspondence in your book?

A: Sending postcards is an old sentiment of mine that originates from my school days. I spent seven years in an all-girls boarding school where cell phone use and access to social media were very restricted. However, we were allowed to post letters and that became my outlet. Handwritten letters and postcards are a form of art in themselves. When you have a limited amount of physical paper to write on, suddenly, you have to be concise, thoughtful and eloquent. It was a challenge at first – when you can write anything, but, you can only write a few sentences. It’s a beautiful game. One doesn’t easily discards letters too. You write your girlfriend a letter, I promise you, whatever happens, she is going to keep that forever. I began writing to my best friend Bobby more than ten years ago, who attended an all-boys boarding school, and we’ve kept it up ever since. 

Postcards, I would say, aren’t particularly personal, at least not my own. I use postcards to capture a momentary state – the external and internal. How wonderful it is to then read again and be transported back to that moment and my frame of mind during writing. I want to encourage more people to write postcards. Not just for future nostalgia, but because at the time of writing it helps you to be present and reflective. 

Q: Poetry is often viewed as an elitist and difficult form of literature for the ordinary person. Do you think this is a fair assessment, and do you feel that the new wave of online poetry is encouraging young people to become interested in the art form? 

A: I understand how people in Britain might perhaps feel estranged to poetry. The most famous British poets are traditionalist like Shakespeare, Byron, Blake, war poets like Aldington and Blunden and more recent poets like Larkin – who are all brilliant and I admire them greatly, but their writing can alienate readers in terms of language, and also in terms of the topics that they wrote about, that the young generation may be alien to. I’ve had conversations about poetry where someone will comment – Shakespeare isn’t for me, poetry isn’t for me. So perhaps poetry can strive to be more inclusive, and perhaps there needs to be a greater awareness of how broad poetry is. 

I of course celebrate new mediums like Instagram, that have certainly made poetry more accessible and have also encouraged so many young people to pick up their pens too. Poetry is a beautiful form of expression and I want to encourage it to all and any. 

Q: In what way was writing the poetry ‘cathartic’? Does your new poetry reflect a more peaceful state of mind, and how does that affect your creativity? 

A: Cathartic is an appropriate word here. My grandfather (also a poet) used to tell me that a problem well stated is a problem half-solved and I can honestly say I used this form of expression to help me through some difficult times. Unfortunately, I have not found my peace yet, but that doesn’t limit me to writing only about turbulent, sad times, there have always been serene moment of love and peace, I just have to focus on those at times and remain hopeful for the future. 

Q: What would you say is the poet’s function in society?

A: In 1825 Pushkin declared that ‘the history of the people belongs to the poet’. They say if you want to know what happened, ask a historian, but if you want to know what it meant, ask a writer. I doubt I’ll be writing history or what it meant, I just want to capture what’s going on around me and how it’s changing. 

Q: Why do you think your work resonates so strongly with others around the world, and how do you think reading your work can help others heal their own heartbreak? 

A: Emotions are universal, we’re all human, we all have feelings and we all don’t like feeling alone. In times of heartbreak, loss, lethal love, unrequited lust and failure, we feel a touch of redemption and solace when we feel we are not alone, that somewhere out there someone also felt that way, and hopefully they don’t feel that way any anymore. It brings us peace, it strengthens us. If that person conquered it, so can I. Luckily, when I started sharing some extracts of my writing, the reaction was very positive and I’m so grateful for it. I’m so glad people find my obscure sorrows and heartaches relatable and when they tell me it helps them feel less alone, it helps me feel less alone too.  

Q: Finally, what three poets, classic or modern, would you recommend to people wanting to discover the joys of poetry, and for what reasons?

A: Three is difficult, as there are dozens I admire. It’s no surprise that I will recommend the confessional poets of the 1950s – Anne Sexton in particular – whose style I believe is very relatable and accessible. 

A traditional poet I would recommend – Alfred Lord Tennyson – ‘The Eagle’ is a nostalgic favourite from my school days, that warmed me to poetry in the first place. 

And something more Instagram friendly – R H Sin – wonderful and warming. 

High Tide: Poetry & Postcards by Arch Hades is an original collection of poignant and relatable poetry about love and loss, which capture a troubled year in the life of the author. It is available now on Amazon UK priced £5.99 in paperback and £4.99 as an eBook. Follow Arch on Instagram @archhades.