The Open University Poetry Society, OU Poets, promotes interest in poetry writing, reading and criticism. Its main activities are:
Circulation of its workshop magazine, 5 times per year, for members to contribute poems for comment by other members.
Annual publication of anthology selected by member votes from the workshop magazines during the year
Annual weekend poetry workshop with external tutors
If you would like to join us, membership at £20 per annum (£15 concessions) is open to students and staff of the Open University (present or past).
More information is available on our website http://www.oupoets.org.uk
or from the Secretary, Adrian Green, at adrian@greenad.co.uk
Open University Associate Lecturer to author study of former Poet Laureate
Associate lecturer Dr Edward Hadley has secured a contract to write the first book-length critical study of the works of Andrew Motion, the former Poet Laureate.
Due to be published in 2013 by Liverpool University Press, Andrew Motion: A Critical Study will draw upon both published and unpublished works, together with manuscripts and correspondence.
Edward, who teaches a number of OU English literature courses in the London and East of England regions, says the book will aim to offer a 'fair and comprehensive appreciation of the works of an often divisive poet'.
Edward has previously published The Elegies of Ted Hughes (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and is the founding editor of The Ted Hughes Society Journal.
Associate lecturer Dr Edward Hadley has secured a contract to write the first book-length critical study of the works of Andrew Motion, the former Poet Laureate. Due to be published in 2013 by Liverpool University Press, Andrew Motion: A Critical Study will draw upon both published and unpublished works, together with manuscripts and correspondence. Edward, who teaches a ...
An ode to my ma
I’ve never had to wonder where in the family I got my ‘cleverness’ from. My dad is incredibly logically minded and is fantastic at solving puzzles. I don’t mean jigsaws and crosswords (although he’s ace at logic problems and riddles) but he’s good at looking at a problem and breaking it down into its component parts and perhaps looking outside of the expected scope to find a solution. That probably explains why he spent most of his working life as a mechanical engineer.
My mother possesses that skill too, but in a slightly different way. She’s spent her whole working life doing crafty things like dressmaking, knitting, sewing etc. She’s able to look at a piece of clothing and picture the pattern pieces laid out on a piece of fabric in her head; a skill I WISH I had! She can do the same with recipes too – eat something then mentally write out an ingredients and method list. She won a scholarship to the Dumfries Academy when she was young; a very proud accomplishment no doubt, although she got rewarded with 50p for the honour where her older sister got a brand new shiny bike just for passing her 11+. Hmm... So whilst my dad’s ‘cleverness’ mostly takes the form of theory and being able to apply common sense to tackling problems, my mother’s is definitely more practical and creative.
Every now and again my mother surprises me and shows her more internally creative side. When I turned 13 I got the most fantastic present ever, she wrote me a birthday poem. I’ve since lost the card which had it in (a beautiful card with a picture of a Manx cat on the front), but I’ll remember the poem word for word until the day I die. It goes like this:
You are our darling daughter, you are so sweet and dear
But you’ve grown up so quickly, has it really been 13 years?
You used to be so tiny, but now you’re in your teens
So if you don’t want to out-grow Jamie, you MUST cut down on beans!!
Just to clarify, Jamie is my older brother (he’s secretly far more intelligent than me, but I always joke that I got the brains and he got the looks), and I used to have a mild obsession with having a full tin of beans on three slices of toast (cut on the diagonal, NEVER through the middle and NEVER buttered with a serrated edged knife, I’m a lefty, serrated knives just rip toast to shreds), topped with cheese, as a snack.
It still tickles my mother that I remember it.
Well the other day when I was round visiting and regaling tales of finishing my degree she pulled out a beautiful handmade card with a mortarboard on the front with the words ‘Well Done’ in gold lettering below. I opened it up and immediately felt 13 again. Inside was written:
Our clever wee girl thought “I’ll give it a whirl”
“Should only take a few years”
A degree was your aim, with an honours acclaim
You thought “how hard can it be?!”
You sweated and slogged, rarely down were you bogged
You took it all in your stride
In between times you worked, volunteered, wrote a blog
You seemed superhuman at times!
Then at last came the day, of the last EMA
It’s done, at last, “It’s MINE!!!”
At the bottom, below this poem was the words ANY child loves to hear (read) from their parents; “Well done darlin’, we’re so proud of you”. My mother is clearly the force behind my ability to write.
Ma and da, I love you both more than you’ll ever know and have such admiration and appreciation for you for letting me wander off in supermarkets (you know what I’m talking about) xxx
Pictured: Carrie on her 7th birthday
I’ve never had to wonder where in the family I got my ‘cleverness’ from. My dad is incredibly logically minded and is fantastic at solving puzzles. I don’t mean jigsaws and crosswords (although he’s ace at logic problems and riddles) but he’s good at looking at a problem and breaking it down into its component parts and perhaps looking outside of the ...
Find out more about poet and playwright William Shakespeare
The birthday of William Shakespeare, the English poet and playwright, is traditionally celebrated on 23rd April. Find out more about him and his work on OpenLearn.
The birthday of William Shakespeare, the English poet and playwright, is traditionally celebrated on 23rd April. Find out more about him and his work on OpenLearn. 2 Average: 2 (1 vote)
National Poetry Day 2011
National Poetry Day 2011 will be held on Thursday 6 October. This year's theme is 'Games'.
It’s a great time for poets to get together and share their interest in poetry and to raise awareness of poetry through the media, and some festivals, for instance the Essex Poetry Festival, arrange their events to tap into this awareness.
The theme, which changes every year, is intended to give a focus to events and stimulate attempts at writing in schools and amongst others who need that extra spur to awaken their creativity. But is the theme this year a deliberate attempt to tap into a national obsession with sport, a happy co-incidence approaching Olympic year, or a cynical attempt to tick some boxes on a grant application form? And can the arbitrary selection of a theme result in great poetry?
National Poetry Day 2011 will be held on Thursday 6 October. This year's theme is 'Games'. It’s a great time for poets to get together and share their interest in poetry and to raise awareness of poetry through the media, and some festivals, for instance the Essex Poetry Festival, arrange their events to tap into this awareness. The theme, which changes every year, is intended to ...
