Andrew Motion was fab. I had bought a ticket to see him at the local theatre and was wondering before the show if it was money well-spent. I had never read any of his poetry. Having heard my tutor's poetry at the dayschool, I thought that hearing poets recite their work improves it. A while back, I went to informal poetry reedings in a bookshop with a friend who had discovered writing poetry to help him through his depression. I didn't venture to read any of my own work.
The set up for the evening was 40 minutes of the Poet Laureate reading his work; he started reading from his memoirs. Then, he read poetry. After the interval, there was a 25 minute question and answer session. He was saying that poems are formed over a long period with many several revisions. People asked him about previous Poet Laureates and what he thought his role is. Inspiration – his hometown is full of inspiration for him. He writes poetry avout his faimly, his parents, his mother, his father and I presume at the moment, he has been pouring his feelings out for a member of his family isn't a well bunny. I felt a lot of sadness about him. I bought a collection of his poems and got an inscription to me.
The evening was brilliant. I saw a couple of people I know in the audience, one is an OU tutor. I said I was behind on the course, and haven't done any coursework for ages. I hope I can catch up. There is a writing week scheduled in the calendar for the tma, so fingers crossed that I can get something submitted.
I won't be able to take part in the online tutorial as I am away without a pc over Easter. Maybe that will concentrate the mind on writing. With the spring in abundance and better weather, I have been in the garden and allotment with vegetable seeds and seedlings. It felt so good transplanting the broad beans yesterday. Maybe over the winter, I suffered from seasonal affected disorder and had itchy feet for gardening. Maybe I decided to start the course to take my mind off seed catalogues, plants for bean frames and cloches. Maybe I was just sheer bored this winter for something to do. Perhaps I should have started with the level 1 writing courses instead of taking this course in its first year of presentation. Maybe I should just quit moaning and get on with it.
