3:4

29 Edited easter sunday, garden, Hijk, On The Sonnet, discard :: 6 and The Names Of Here :: America, Bedford, Cambridge, Keighly, Norfolk (renamed from Norwich) and Sandy.
28 Added The 13th CCCP and Hijk; with apologies to Stephen R. (who used the word to meditate Keats in a poem performed in a session I was forced to miss).
27 Added discard :: 6, The Names Of Here (renamed from Why Place Names) :: Norwich and Cambridge, edited America. That’s 17 poems in last two weeks. This is concerning. Fortunately, at the moment, no more queue up.
26 Added Why Place Names :: America, Bedford, Keighly and Sandy. Norwich and Cambridge want to be written, as does discard 6. Poems are queueing to get out. And I heard some brilliant stuff at the CCCP today; new forms to explore and build into my work.
25 I’ve just returned home from attending the first reading for the 13th CCCP (Cambridge Conference of Contemporary Poetry) event.
24 Read On The Sonnet and To Let at a Borders Cambridge event last night. The audience seemed to get the first, but not the second. I made the silly comment that “…and then I realised I’d written a sonnet” after the first, and said nothing after the second. Are these simple poems really too clever?
22 Edited easter sunday, On The Sonnet and Different Horizons.
21 Edited Different Horizons (renaming it from Non–horizontal Horizons), easter sunday, On The Sonnet and garden.
20 Added easter sunday, On The Sonnet, Non–horizontal Horizons, edited garden and discard :: 1 5. I’ve just heard the Radio 4 programme on Rebecca Elson’s poetry. I remember her reading a number of times at CB1, and I remember those poems. I feel sad now. Incidentally, On The Sonnet is nothing to do with Rebecca.
19 Added Epigram On Visiting San Francisco (which I half remember creating when I visited the city years ago), edited garden and discard :: 1 3 5.
18 Added garden, split discard into a sequence, editing 1, adding 5. Updated my CV, adding a Word version for all those computer agency staff who don’t understand computers, such as the detail that Word can import HTML CVs.
17 Edited discard and To Let (renamed from Convenience); and promoted both of them.
16 Added Convenience.
15 Edited discard.
14 Edited discard.
13 Added discard.
11 Added Tuesday’s set to the set of sets—to be accurate, added the set I wanted to read, and not the one that got chopped down because time ran out (there was so much audience the coffee bar queue took too long to vanish).
9 This was Matt Harvey’s evening. He integrated his clever and self–depreciating comic poetry seamlessly into an excellent comedy act. I chose to read a serious set, with no introductions, because I knew my comedy would compare badly with his. I got some pleasing complements from the kind of poets I admire (John Drew, Margaret Moore, and apparently Matt himself). I returned home to discover the postman had delivered a dozen copies of The Whether Or Not Edition of Page 84, publishing two of my poems. It’s unfortunate, though no–one’s to blame, that I received the magazine after the reading.
8 Edited glist, scratby, Underneath The Loch and the three monks.
7 Edited an engineering rush :: new scientist, poetry :: pah!, swoop :: 2 4 5, when the trains first came and Copyleft Is Not Exclusive. I’m nervous for my reading tomorrow. A letter today from Mrs. T. at Never Bury Poetry gave me a damned helpful boost. Ok, so they’re only ‘enveloping’ some of my poems, but I’m going to mark them as intent to publish because I don’t want to let the possibility otherwise deflate that boost. I’ll correct the situation later, if necessary.
5 Promoted Bush War and ghost; modified and promoted glist.
1 Edited my draft General Arts Licence including the copy in the potato press files. Corrected the headers of glist. It’s April 1st; I wonder what the papers say… (much later: I ain’t got a clue; the day got very busy).