I'm inviting you to my reading at Wolverhampton Original Literature Festival

I'm going to read my poetry at the first-ever Wolverhampton Literature Festival in January 28 and I want all of you to come, please :-) I promise you won't be disappointed and you will enjoy your time listening to my work :-)

It will be on January 28, from 4:15pm to 6:15pm at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

With me, are fellow poets/writers who will also read their work, and there will be a chance for Q&A at the end of the performance.

Please click HERE for more info


Hope to see you there!
x

I'm in Under the Radar

I'm so glad to be in Under the Radar's (Nine Arches Press) current issue. :-)
My poem, Once a Flower, is published in this beautiful magazine. Also, I'm loving the poems and stories I've read so far. :) Wheew! Gotta get back to my reading.

Contributors include well-respected writers like Josephine Corcoran, David Attwool, S.A. Leavesley, and many more.

Writing again

It's been a while since I last blogged! I couldn't believe I haven't written any poem for the last two months too. I have been so busy with university works and my career, that those two months seemed to have past so quickly. I mean, I'd always written something at least once a month before this 'hiatus'!

I'm so glad to share the news that I have been invited to submit a poem to an upcoming themed anthology based in Malaysia, so I have been writing again, and of course, my aim is to produce a very good piece of work for this.

I will also be on the next issue of the excellent magazine, Under the Radar (Nine Arches Press) - looking forward to this! UTR has published well respected poets like Angela Readman, Martin Malone, and many more.    Please watch out for their issue 17 in which one of my poems will appear.

 I had also facilitated creative writing workshops for the young people of Wolverhampton at Base 25. I guess I haven't really stopped delivering creative writing workshops at all!

I will be posting more updates about all of these here; I hope you guys are also receiving good and positive news about your writing.  😊 keep being creative!

I am in Shamrock Haiku Journal

I have  just started writing haiku a few  months ago and I am very lucky that the the two submissions I have  done so far have both been accepted. A few months ago I had a haiku published in Haiku Journal (Prolific Press) in America and this month I have two haiku published online in Shamrock of the Irish Haiku Society. So it makes me a happy bunny :-)

You can view my haiku on Shamrock's current issue HERE

The Cherry Trees of Wyre

I am currently reading this lovely poetry book called ' The Cherry Trees of Wyre' written by Simon Fletcher and illustrated by Ian Emberson. Wyre is a district in Lancanshire England named after River Wyre. 

I never studied Creative Writing or such course and I do not really know how to 'technically' review or study poems but I must say, there are a lot of nice images, words, and honesty in this collection. And I believe 'honesty' is very important in poetry. Most people I know, including myself, can tell if a poem evokes honesty or just a total make-up crap. The former, I must say, is the one which everyone prefers. 

Anyway, this is a 35 page book of poems , all of them are very personal to the poet, I would say, even though a lot of them have references to nature or natural surroundings. I am very bad at writing a 'nature' poem. I think I only had one published as I haven't been attempting to write about it. On the other hand, I am very lucky to have known this very good poet and learn more about his poetry. You can learn more about Simon Fletcher here. 

translating poems

Recently I have tried translating poems from my mother tongue, Tagalog, to my 'second love' English. I found literal translation quite easy as I am fluent in both languages; however, choosing the right/most appropriate words to use in poetry translation is a different matter. You must ensure that the translated poem doesn't lose its linguistic grace, art and musicality. 

So today I traveled to Shrewsbury to meet up with my mentor (a prolific poet) whom I'd like to call 'Mr S' to talk more about translating poems. I recently suffered from pneumonia, today is actually the first time I've been out and about for weeks! I'm still managing to smile and put some make up on; after all the problem is my lungs, not my face!

A view from the train window

a little mayfly joined us during mentoring session

 The ever so lovely, historical river Severn

Yes, this was what I had for lunch!

Robert Frost once said, "Poetry is what gets lost in translation."  I can't really say if I agree or not. I won't elaborate what I really think about that statement. The point is, recently I find translating challenging, it's quite  an enticing break from reading or writing poems! 

Today these are what I learned about translating poems

• stay close to the original poem as ,much as possible - certain words are there for a reason, no need to add or remove adjectives, adverbs, etc. Once you start adding stuff in a translation, it becomes your own poem, only inspired from that original poem or others may actually think it's just an ugly, unethical act of plagiarism. 
• the poet is the master, and you as the translator, is the servant - i need not say more.
• read the poem again and again - until you memorize the words by heart or until you learn its rhythm and its flow so the sounds become a graceful dance. The poem is the lead and you just follow instinctively.
• if possible, know the poet- what does he/she really want to say when the poem is written? what does the poet think of your translation? what could be improved? some words give certain meanings/imagery to the readers; however, traditions and cultures could have a big impact to the significance of these words. For example, in Urdu, a word 'peacock' may symbolize boastful artists/poet, whereas in English, it may just give an impression of something extravagant or beautiful. 
• Lastly, enjoy the process. Never give up, breathe and relax...

Farm and anything bucolic

When I was a kid we used to visit our grandparents in the province during weekends. They owned so many farming fields and animals. I remembered when my grandad taught me (and my siblings) how to plant corns. It was very sunny and sweltering but we enjoyed the process. We used to live in the city of Lipa and going to the farm in Batangas was such a change. Fresh air, fresh fruit, and fresh faces. When I went back this year in January, there were of course some changes as life itself is ephemeral. Having said that some things will always remain the same. 

mangoes my cousins picked straight from the trees

cloudy? only for a while!

corns being dried

mmmmmm.... so fresh, so scrumptious! That's not my hand by the way ;-)

From east to west - a fragment of my provincial memory can now be seen in a historic farm in Shropshire, England. My poem is displayed at the Poetry Fence of Acton Scott. It is a project by the poet in residence, Jean Atkin. Read the beautiful poems tied along the Poetry Fence HERE and visit the historic farm HERE

And below, my dear readers, is my simple poem. 

My first published Haiku

So thankful and excited to announce that my  haiku in traditional form 5-7-5 is published by Prolific Press (Haiku Journal issue 28). 

On the down side, they do not give a contributor's copy, so I guess I will just order one when I am not too skint. The cover looks very nice though, don't you think?

And oh, this is also my first publication outside the UK! My first poem to reach the faraway land of America! lol.

Here it is:
climbing mango trees
swapping sunlight for sweetness -
ants on a dried twig

Read more free electronic issues HERE

whilst I'm off sick

There's nothing more dreadful than being sick. And while I have been coughing up and getting high temperature for weeks, I find solace in reading poems and writing some. Since last week I have been writing a poem a day. Hope some of these will get to be edited and proof-read soon (once I feel more better) and someday find their home on the pages of good magazines.

remembering my first publication

'We're All In this Together' an anthology by Offa's Press. This is where my first publication appeared. Ever since a kid my teachers from school had always told me that I could be a writer, I didn't realise I could -  until this day. This was published late in 2012 and I haven't really been writing much this year and so haven't had much publication; though I swear to be more productive and industrious in terms of my writing. Hope I could see some results in 2014 :) After all if someone wants to be a writer they must write!

Launch of We're all in this together (2012), reading my poem, The Log.

To obtain a copy click here ♥