Jenny Bradley Writer

There is no better feeling than being amongst other writers.  Last Saturday I ran a poetry open mic for Clevedon Literary Festival at the Theatre Shop. Ten poets, me included, all reading their own poems to a paying audience.  There was no pre-screening of material, simply a focus on providing a platform for local writers to share their work. What wonderful diversity both in poets and poems. Older, younger, published, unpublished, new to poetry, new to open mics, different backgrounds and races, all with the guts to stand up and share. We heard long narrative poems, short unstructured verse, traditional forms, war poetry, nature poetry, a poem with dance hat and belly dance belt.  What a buzz! The chatter at the interval told me everything. What a wonderful thing to be able to do, bring poets together to hear each other's work and share with others.  The best thing? Being among other writers. That sense of belonging, of knowing that they know what that means, how it ...

So I have been lax, slackened off, taken my foot off the pedal... not written this blog for aaaaah, how long? Too long. Or so it feels. I know I need to keep the social media going, a new blog entry at least twice a month. So they say.  But, I haven't.  Last year was a hugely creative year. Locked up, locked down, fed up, creativity poured out. Two plays on the radio - the BBC - and a book published. Brilliant! lovely feeling.  Then this year. Struggling to write, to do much at all for a month or three. Only the odd poem, my usual outlet, my therapy. Those sort, on the whole, not publishable.  Then there is the blame game. Too much else to do. Currently, organising the Clevedon Literary Festival open mic seems to be swallowing up my life. But sometimes, these are excuses. Too busy to do what? Write? The thing I enjoy?  Ok then time for a reset. So today, a new blog entry. Hooray!