'The Holy Place' chapbook, Published Poetry and CV

Welcome ...

This blog is an ongoing experiment. I am hoping it will enable me to keep abreast of my published poetry and related activities. I am using it to supplement the more static information on my website. The ('blogpost published') dates against each post, initial post apart, are often of little significance.

Editors and others: if you see a poem title on this blog that might fit with an anthology theme or be of interest in some way, please feel free to contact me via the comments box or via the email on my profile page here. Thank you. 

Please see below for The Holy Place chapbook, Published Poems, Readings etc.

The poem is here

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2017

Forthcoming Gigs and Readings

• July: I shall be the guest reader in Bury St Edmunds. Details to follow.
• September: I shall be reading as a guest of Munnings Museum Poet in Residence, Tim Gardiner, at a Poetry Recital at the Munnings Art Museum in September.  

 

 June 2017

• 'Hawker's Hut' [25/2016] has been published in the June edition of Reach Poetry #225, Indigo Dreams Publishing.
• 6 June: read my anti-slavery poem, 'Trade Winds' [33/2009], at the Ipswich Poetry Cafe (theme: liberation), which took place in the beautifully restored church of St Mary at the Quay, now known as Quay Place.  

May 2017

• Attended the launch of the Stanley Spencer Poems, An Anthology (published by Two Rivers Press) at the Cookham Festival. I read my anthology poem, 'On Reflection' [22/2016], in response to Spencer's painting, 'The Harbour, St Ives'.  
• Attended the 4th Festival of Suffolk Poetry and read 'A Drop in the Ocean' [20/2016] [22/2016]. I enjoyed a workshop on music and poetry led by Gregory Warren Wilson. Terry Waite CBE was one of the guest Festival Readers. 
• My poem, 'Scales of Sorrow' [12/2017], paired with Jongo Park's artwork, 'Voice of the Sea', has been published in the 2017 eBook anthology of the Immagine e Poesia movement. Huguette Bertrand and Lidia Chiarelli were the editors. 
• I read '1st May: Red Kite at Strata Florida' [6/2017] at Arlington's Poetry Cafe on 2nd May. 
• Two poems, [25/2016] and [11/2017] accepted for Reach Poetry, Indigo Dreams Publishing.

 April 2017

• 'Lost' [6/2017] has been published in Reach Poetry #223, Indigo Dreams Publishing. I read this poem at Arlington's Poetry Cafe on 4 April. 
• Awarded Third Prize for my kyrielle, 'Grace and Gratitude' [30/2015], in the Best Fixed Form Poet of the Year Competition for Metverse Muse (ed. Dr. H. Tulsi, India). 
• 'First Pressing, Hadrian's Villa' [14/2017] has received a Highly Commended in the Binsted Arts 'Harvest' Competition.  

March 2017

• 'Shepherd's Hut, Sutton Hoo' [20/2015] was published in advance of UNESCO World Poetry Day in a Saturday supplement of poems from East Anglia in the EADT/EDP for 18 March 2017.
• Two poems, [6/2017] and [31/2015],have been accepted for publication in Reach Poetry, Indigo Dreams Publishing.
• Four short poems [3/2016], namely three Tanka, 'sunfish and dolphins', 'ripples...' and 'your song...' - plus one Haiku, 'twilight walk', have been published in wild voices, an anthology of short poetry and art by women, edited by Caroline Skanne of wildfower poetry press. 
• I read 'Lament of a Lewis Chessman' [23/2010] at the Suffolk Poetry Society AGM.   

February 2017

• I am the poet in profile in the 'Poet Profile' slot in the current edition of The Seventh Quarry #25 (winter/spring 2017, ed. Peter Thabit Jones) on p.39. My piece includes an interview and four of my poems - [8/2014], [17/2015], [24/2016] and [1/2017].
• 'Salubrious Passage' [16/2016], published in Reach Poetry #221, Indigo Dreams Publishing.
• 'On Reflection' [22/2016] to be published in the (Cookham Festival) Stanley Spencer Poetry Anthology.

January 2017

• 'Barn Owl, Flatford' [2/2016], published in Reach Poetry #219, Indigo Dreams Publishing, took Second Place (£15 prize) in the Readers' Votes for the December issue.  
• I received a 'Commended' in the 2016 Indigo Dreams Publishing Pamphlet Prize.  
• 'Paper Princess' [26/2013] published in Star Tips 117 (ed. Wendy Webb) 

2016

December 2016

• My poem, 'Barn Owl, Flatford' [2/2016], has been published in Reach Poetry #219, Indigo Dreams Publishing. 
• My poem, 'Quills and Spills' [21/2016], has been published in the first Zoomorphic anthology, Driftfish, edited by Susan Richardson and James Roberts. UPDATE as of April 2017: Driftfish made the Saboteur Awards Longlist for the 'Best Anthology' category.
• My Poetry and Other Writing blog is listed in Matthew Stewart's Rogue Strands Best UK Poetry Blogs of 2016 list. 
• 'Master of Arts' [7/2006] is due to appear in the forthcoming Bugs anthology, edited by Roxanne Hoffman (publisher: Poets Wear Prada, NJ, USA). 

November 2016

• Two poems, [2/2016] and [16/2016], accepted for publication in Reach Poetry.
• Attended Poetry in Aldeburgh workshop on 'Edge of the Depths', led by Anne-Marie Fyfe. 
• First Prize in the 2016 Disability Arts Cymru Poetry Competition. Poets were encouraged to write in response to art work, with the added theme of 'austerity and extravagance' to take into account. 'Shoreline Symphony' by Eileen Harrisson was my artistic starting point (9th canvas down on the left side of this link).

October 2016

• My Shakespeare anniversary poem [12/2016] has been shortlisted in the Writing Magazine competition (November issue p.43).  
• My marine life poem [21/2016] has been accepted for publication in the Zoomorphic anthology (poetry editor, Susan Richardson). Launch December 2016.
• 4 October: I read my poem, 'S.O.S.' [22/2013], at Arlington's Poetry Cafe. The theme was 'messages' to tie in with National Poetry Day. I also read this poem at the Loolout on Aldeburgh Beach as part of the Suffolk Poetry Society's NPD celebration. 

September 2016

• Completed my Writers' Bureau course on The Art of Poetry Writing.

August 2016

• Submitted my final submission for The Art of Poetry Writing course under tutor Alison Chisholm at the Writers' Bureau. 

July 2016

• Publication of 'Mapping You' [6/2015] and 'A Wealth of Summers' [18/2014] in Metverse Muse (#41-43, 2016-2017, India).
  
• 'Bittern (Botaurus stellaris)' [16/2016] has been published in The Migrant Waders (Dunlin Press 2016, published and edited by MW Bewick and Ella Johnston, superb artwork by Ella Johnston).  
• I read 'Bittern (Botaurus stellaris)' [16/2016] at Arlington's Poetry Cafe, Ipswich. The poem has been published in The Migrant Waders (Dunlin Press 2016, published and edited by MW Bewick and Ella Johnston, superb artwork by Ella Johnston).

  

June 2016

• Publication of 'Without Me' [4/2015] (about a Roman wax writing tablet in the Corinium Museum) in #213 Reach Poetry from Indigo Dreams Publishing. 
• Publication of 'Above St Govan's Chapel' [33/2003] in Seeing Beyond the Surface, edited by Joanna Swank, USA.

May 2016

• I was one of three readers representing the Arlington's Poetry Cafe at the 3rd Festival of Suffolk Poetry on Saturday 28 May 2016. My set comprised the following: 'Monte Testaccio: Mound of Potsherds' [53/2003], 'On Emily's Moor' [13/2004] and 'Pepys Island' [12/2014]. I attended Dean Parkin's Festival workshop on 'Where We Live'. 
• 'Penmon Song' [14/2007] about Puffin Island has been published in the 'Poesia e Immagine' 2016 ekphrastic eBook, produced by Lidia Chiarelli and Huguette Bertrand. My poem has been paired with artwork by Jongo Park from South Korea. The eBook can be downloaded here.
• Talk on Poetry, 'Of Rain and Rainbows', Mothers' Union, St Andrew's Church, Shotley, Suffolk (1 June 2016). This included readings of the following poems: 'St Andrew's, Rushmere' [33/2015], 'Monte Testaccio: Mound of Potsherds' [53/2003] - and a very early poem, 'Koala Bear' [1/1972].  
• Three poems published in Orizont Literar Contemporan, #52: 'Isle of Skye: Aquiline Encounter' [1/2010], an On-ce poem called 'Pompeii; a Tale of Two Dogs' [14/2010], and finally, 'Migration Mirage' [6/2005], which was first published in The Seventh Quarry. These poems were translated into Romanian by Florian D. Mirea, and published bilingually.

April 2016

• 'Bittern (Botaurus stellaris)' [16/2016] has been published in The Migrant Waders (Dunlin Press 2016, published and edited by MW Bewick and Ella Johnston, superb artwork by Ella Johnston). 
  
• 'A Forsaken Birds-Nest' [6/2016] published on the Wordsworth Trust blog in celebration of William Wordsworth's birthday. 
• 'Turkish Tesselations' [19/2015] published in #211 Reach Poetry from Indigo Dreams Publishing. 
• Took part in the Suffolk Poetry Society's Open Mic. evening on the theme of 'Treasure' at UCS, Ipswich on Friday 15 April 2016. I read 'Of Silk and Spiders' [7/2016] (about a remnant of Roman silk in Colchester Museum) and 'Mah Jong - Clattering Sparrow' [12/2005]. 
• Read 'Shakes and Shivers' [8/2003] from Hidden Dragons/Gwir a Grymus at Arlington's Poetry Cafe, Ipswich on 5 April 2016.

March 2016

• Four short poems [3/2016] accepted for inclusion in ‘wild voices: an anthology of small poems & art by women’ to be published by wildflower poetry press (publisher-editor Caroline Skanne).  
• Read 'Saluting John Buchan' [6/2003] at Arlington's Poetry Cafe, Ipswich on 1 March.
  

February 2016

• Advance notice of the publication later this year by Dunlin Press of The Migrant Waders (ed. MW Bewick and Ella Johnston). This new anthology of poetry and artwork will feature one of my bird poems [16/2015] . 
  
• 'Food for Thought' [34/2015], a poem for children, has been published in Word in Action magazine. 

January 2016

• 'From the Shepherd's Hut, Sutton Hoo' [20/2015] has been long-listed in the Carillon 'Sonnets for Charity' Competition. Money raised will go to Worldwide Cancer Research.

2016 Poetry Summary - here
2015 Poetry Summary - here
2014 Poetry Summary - here
2013 Poetry Summary - here
2012 Poetry Summary - here
2011 Poetry Summary - here

For Awards, Photography, Art and older CV items, please click here. 

To buy a copy of The Holy Place, please click here

Publication of 'The Holy Place' by John Dotson and Caroline Gill

The Holy Place Launch Reading, 2012: co-author John Dotson,
publisher Peter Thabit Jones and me, Dylan Thomas Birthplace, Swansea

Reviews of Caroline's Poetry

“Caroline Gill’s poems are written with an unerring sense of appropriate form. This makes her perception of landscapes and seas emerge all the more powerfully, as she explores places in people and people in places, the ‘rocks and stones and trees’ of Wordsworth’s poem. The effect is that of an enquiring, exciting mind, disciplined and accurate, yet also open to the magical and mysterious that lies just beneath the surface.” 

J.R. Watson, University of Durham, 2012

“Caroline has eighteen poems in a chapbook, 'The Holy Place' ... I really enjoyed reading them and am sure you will too."  

Ronnie Goodyer, Editor of Indigo Dreams Publishing, in 'Reach Poetry', #170, 2012

“I would like to single out the way [Caroline] uses Scottish vocabulary so effectively in a poem called 'The Ceilidh House', which gives a very strong impression of storytelling on Skye ... Complex but clear, Caroline Gill's writing is never wrongfooted."

Sally Evans, Editor of Poetry Scotland, 2013 

“There is rhyming musicality ... in Caroline Gill's pièce de résistance, 'Rhossili: Writing the Worm', a magnificent 8-verse poem ... This elegant poem is so very finely crafted and it virtually 'sings' throughout its 8-verse setting ... Here indeed is a fascinating joint-collection ['The Holy Place']."

Bernard Jackson, Reviews Editor for Quantum Leap, #69, 2013  

“Caroline is a bit of a rarity these days in that she writes formal poetry and writes it well."

Juliet Wilson, Editor of 'Bolts of Silk', Blogger at 'Crafty Green Poet', 2013

“The best poems here [in Caroline's half] are when she combines this close observation of nature with a keen sensitivity to the history and landscape of Wales (and sometimes further afield). 'Preseli Blue', for example, eulogises “the stone that sings of hiraeth” in 16 well-honed lines, while 'Rhossili: Writing The Worm', is the highlight, metrically-surefooted and musical ..."

Matt Merritt, Blogger at 'Polyolbion', 7 April 2013  

“For anyone who has a close involvement and appreciation of nature, place and history, this is an inspiring collection."

Ian Griffiths, Editor of 'Twelve Rivers', publication of The Suffolk Poetry Society, 2013

                             

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To buy a copy of The Holy Place, please click here.  
Copies are £3.50 inc. p&p in the UK.  
For online reviews of The Holy Place, please click here. 

2016 Poetry Summary - here
2015 Poetry Summary - here
2014 Poetry Summary - here
2013 Poetry Summary - here
2012 Poetry Summary - here
2011 Poetry Summary - here

For Awards, Photography, Art and older CV items, please click here.