Follow us for a feast of good poetry

Over the last few years I have been sending out Oversteps Newsletters as email attachments, and many of our supporters say they have appreciated this. Obviously I have no idea how many people opened the attachments, but judging by the encouraging messages and orders, the response rate was reasonably good. However, the process was rather labour-intensive, so I have decided to experiment with using a blog instead. I will continue to send emails out for a little while, informing people that there is a new blog, but I hope enough of you will follow the blog to make this unnecessary before too long. Some of the people on our database may be lost, but they will probably be the people who were least interested in what we were doing.

There is so much going on at Oversteps: excellent books being published, readings by individuals and groups of Oversteps poets all over the country and beyond, glittering prizes being awarded, and poetry flourishing everywhere there is an Oversteps poet. I think it is worth letting people know about all this, and I hope you will agree.

If you are not familiar with blogs, you will find a ‘Follow’ button on the right hand side. If you would like occasional news, please click this button and, if requested, add your email address. You will then receive a notification each time I post a blog, and can then click on it to read the Oversteps News. I don’t anticipate putting up many more than five or six blogs a year, though the process will enable me to send out smaller items of information and photos between the newsletters if that seems appropriate.

I am informing only a few people about the blog for now, as I want to make sure it is working properly before the next major posting in the summer. I very much hope you will follow the blog, because if you don’t, in a few months’ time you will not receive our news and it will be more difficult to stay in touch.

Oversteps News 26

Oversteps News
26 May 2013

I’m pleased to let you know about the latest two Oversteps books.

I am not a fish by Marie Marshall (ISBN978-1-906856-37-3) £8 This is a highly unusual collection based on such characters as Mr Coelacanth (who, despite the evidence to the contrary, insists that he is not a fish), Beatrice the Rat, the Old-Man-of-the-Woods, the Lamb of Tartary and others. Marie Marshall, who lives in Scotland, has previously had one poetry collection and one novel published.

Taking Shape by Elisabeth Rowe (ISBN 978-1-906856-40-3) £8 This is the second collection by Elisabeth to be published by Oversteps – the previous onebeing ‘Thin Ice’ in 2010.

As in that earlier volume, ‘Taking Shape’ contains plenty of word play, intelligent reflection and humour, both light-hearted and sometimes surprisingly dark. All Oversteps books, along with a sample poem from each collection, can be seen on our website, and can be ordered either by post or on-line from www.overstepsbooks.com.

Oversteps events coming soon
Susan Taylor, Simon Williams and Alwyn Marriage will be reading at the launch of the next Domestic Cherry in Swindon at 7.30pm on 16^th May
A C Clarke will be reading at the Second Light Spring Festival at 2.00pm on 17^th May, at the Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1, and at Langside Library, Sinclair Drive, Glasgow on 23^rd May
Simon Williams is reading with Matt Harvey at the Charles Causley Festival on 7^th June
At the Week of Good Poetry in Bath, R V Bailey will be reading at 3.30pm on 12^th June, and Alwyn Marriage will be reading at 2.30pm on Saturday 15^th June. Alwyn will also be sharing a session with Patricia Oxley on publishing at 10.30 that morning, and with Patricia and William Oxley, selecting poems to read from the festival’s anthology
Charles Bennett will be reading at the Althorp Literary Festival at 4.00pm on 14^th June, at which event his poems will be paired with poems by John Clare. He’ll also be reading at Summerfield School, Oxford at 4.45 on 28^th June
Angela Stoner and Susan Taylor will be reading at the Penzance literature festival at 4.00pm on July 21^st at Penlee Coach House, Penzance.
In the next few weeks, R V Bailey has readings in Bristol, Chew Magna, Bath, London and Manchester, as well as a short course in Birmingham.

Most recent prizes and other news
Several Oversteps poets made it to the long-list in this year’s National Poetry Competition, and there have been plenty of other prizes and commendations. For example,
Christopher North won both second prize in the Writer’s News small collection competition, and the short poem prize in the Flamingo poetry competition
and Oz Hardwick won the Sentinel Annual Poetry Prize.
Joan McGavin was highly commended in the first Bishop’s Castle Arts Festival poetry competition, Alwyn Marriage in the Hastings international poetry competition and Simon Williams in the Gregory O’Donaghue International poetry competition.
Simon Williams was elected Bard of Exeter for this year, Caroline Carver was appointed as poet-in-residence at the Marine Institute, Plymouth University, and Jean Atkin has been selected to be poet in residence at Logan Botanical Garden in Galloway throughout August, as part of the Walking with Poets project.
Charles Bennett’s new libretto, ‘Five Days that Changed the World’, will receive its world premier at Worcester cathedral on 26^th July.

And just in case there isn’t another newsletter before July, please make a note of this year’s Oversteps Day at Ways with Words in Dartington, which is on Saturday 13^th July.

Alwyn 
Managing Editor, Oversteps Books

1 book = £8 plus p&p,   2 books = £15 plus p&p,   3 books = £20 plus p&p
To Oversteps Books, 6 Halwell House, South Pool, Kingsbridge, Devon, TQ7 2RX
Please send
….   copies of I am not a fish  by Marie Marshall at £8 each plus p&p      £
….   copies of Taking Shape by Elisabeth Rowe at £8 each plus p&p         £
Postage and packing, for one book: £1.20 in UK; £3 abroad                 £
P&p for 2 books, £2; 3 books £2.50 (£4 / £4.50 abroad)                     £
Total                                                                                                                          £
Name & address: ………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………..

Any other Oversteps books that are for sale on www.overstepsbooks.com can be added to this order.

Money can be sent either by post to Oversteps, with cheques made payable to Oversteps Books Ltd; or by email: sales@overstepsbooks.com, using Paypal.