Fenland Poetry Journal

08/04/2024

David Morley's poems are a force of nature, reflecting his background as an ecologist, but chiefly his traveller heritage. These are poems written from within (not about) romany life.

I highly recommend David's poetry collection, Fury, about boxer Tyson Fury. Also, locally, please check out the events taking place in Fenland to celebrate traveller and show people's histories.

https://www.travellerstimes.org.uk/features/come-write-me-down-three-poems-david-morley?fbclid=IwAR0ou-6EXRs9u06oxvOOxQVT8tJArJ3lT-0F5e0mR_jno1X86e2AVf3mGmY

16/03/2024

Fenland Poet Laureate Awards 2024:

Thanks to Tim Chapman for all the amazing photographs. Tim is known locally for his excellent photo skills and for the past few years has kindly volunteered his services at the FPL Awards. To say I'm extremely grateful to Tim is an understatement.

Thanks also to the Culture, Arts & Heritage Committee members, particularly VC Sam Hoy, to the portfolio holder, Chris Seaton, to the officers Jaime-Lea, Phil, Amy, Charlotte, Jon and Ann, to my fellow judge Qu Gao, who was last year’s Laureate, to Katherine from Twenty20 for her support to include setting up the venue, to Etec who sponsored the trophies, to the Fenland Culture Partnership, to the two Town Mayors (Kim and Kay) in attendance last evening, to everyone in the audience, to the poets who took part and to His Majesty's Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, Dan Schumann, for such lovely closing remarks.

Although all the selected poems varied greatly in tone, topic, and structure, every single poem offered a fascinating perspective on the people, histories, and landscapes of Fenland. The poems on the shortlist display writing that is confident and grounded in accurately-observed detail, some questioning the self through the eyes of the landscape, others employing interesting metaphors and structures, and all of them showing an appreciation of the Fenland landscape. Ultimately, these poems reminded me of the importance of poetry, the reasons for its hallowed place among the arts. Co-judging the 2024 YFPL and FPL Awards was a nourishing experience.

Photos by Tim Chapman.

01/02/2024

Entries have now closed for the 2024 Fenland Poet Laureate Awards. All entries are now with the committee. Thank you to everyone who entered the Awards and helped promote them.

I'm delighted to say that the admins received a passel of poems! Qu Gao and I look forward to hearing the poems sing and fly off the page! 😀

23/01/2024

There's about a week left to submit your entries for the Fenland Poet Laureate Awards, one of the county's most prestigious literary events.

👉 All shortlisted poets and winners will have their poems published in a keepsake anthology.

👉 Winners (1st, 2nd & 3rd in each category) will receive a beautiful trophy, kindly sponsored by Etec.

👉 All shortlisted poets and winners will have the opportunity to read their poems at a ceremony in March Town Hall, in association with 20Twenty Productions and FDC.

👉 All entrants are welcome to be part of the Awards Ceremony, attended by special guests.

👉 Throughout the year, there will be opportunities for winners and shortlisted poets to take part in special events.

Please circulate widely! Young Fenland Poet Laureate entries are particularly low this year.

22/01/2024

A reminder that I'll be reading at Cafe Writers with Peter Wallis on Monday, Feb 12th at 7pm. Looking forward to sharing some Abilene with everyone (who doesn't like a bit of twisty Fen gothic!😄) and catching up with Peter who I haven't seen since our Norwich workshop days with Helen. 🙂

27/10/2023

All subscribers and contributors should be receiving Issue 9 within the next few days.

The FPJ will be going on hiatus now. There shouldn't be any outstanding issues due. If, however, you have any queries, please contact me via my main FB page.

Thank you for your continued support.

Elisabeth Sennitt Clough

01/10/2023

29/09/2023

I just stumbled upon this. I hope my book lived up to Jen's excitement over it! 😀 What a great explanation of the Forward's and poetry publishing to people who don't know about the industry. Thank you, Jen!

There are four categories in this year’s Forward Prizes, and if you want to know more about what’s in each category then this video should help. Below are li...

21/09/2023

My contributor copy of Contraflow arrived today. It is the second John Greening/Kevin Gardner co-edited anthology in which my poetry has appeared, following on from Hollow Palaces. Both are such beautifully curated collections. I am deeply honoured to be included. Thank you, John and Kevin.

There are over 300 pages of poems to enjoy. Poets include Daljit Nagra, Carol Rumens and Raymond Antrobus, just to name a few. Contraflow: Lines of Englishness would make a wonderful gift. 🙂

05/09/2023

Thank you, Forward Prize team!

13/08/2023

As part of the Forward Prizes interview series, I discuss Abilene and my journey into poetry. This is available on the Forward Prizes website. Also, The Poetry School interviewed me as part of their How I Did It series (available on the PS website). Thank you to both organisations for the opportunity to share some of the context.

“Find out what inspired the Best Collection poets to write their shortlisted collections in this new series by . First in the series is Elisabeth Sennitt Clough on the inspirations behind 'My Name Is Abilene': https://t.co/gpvdt1gbI7”

25/07/2023

Not long to wait until the amazing poetry fest that is the Fringe at Wisbech Rock Festival 🤟 Do drop by and checkout this cool lineup of poets. We have the current Fenland Poet Laureate Qu Gao, the former Bard of Northampton Kezzabelle Ambler, and rumour is the headliner is shortlisted for the Forward Prize 😄. Plus many more poetry greats to include Gary Huskisson Sue Wallace-Shaddad Sami S E Tite Julie Stevens.

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that I have replaced John Lyons (not that anyone could replace John, but you know what I mean), as sadly John had to pull out for health reasons.

15/07/2023

It's the official publication day for My Name is Abilene! I havent organised an official launch, but I'll be reading sections of Abilene's 'twisty fen Gothic' at the Wisbech Rock Festival on 6th August and at the Forward Prize ceremony in October.

“Happy publication day to Elisabeth Sennitt Clough and her Forward-prize nominated poetry collection, ‘my name is abilene’! 🥳🍾🎉 Buy now from Salt Publishing https://t.co/KsIKI1p7Nu”

16/06/2023

This is the amazing lineup of poets whose poems will appear in Issue 9 of the FPJ, forthcoming autumn 2023. 🍂

John Greening, Jessica Mookherjee, Pam Thompson, Sofiul Azam, Natasha Gauthier, Sue Spiers, Shanta Acharya, Chris Kinsey, Andre Mangeot, Alex Corrin-Tachibana, Robert Etty, Gareth Writer-Davies, Melanie Higgs, Judith Wozniak, Jeff Skinner, Tim Gardiner, Sue Wallace-Shaddad, JS Watts, Julia Webb, Pascale Palmer, Scott Elder, Rosie Jackson, Ross McGivern, Tim Relf.

Cover art by Eliza O'Toole

*There's possibly one more poet too, just awaiting confirmation.

16/01/2023

I'm delighted to announce that the following poets' work will appear in Issue 8 of the Fenland Poetry Journal.

Thank you to all the poets below for their contributions. If you've sent work, your name isn't on the list and you haven't had a response, it could be that your submission is still working its way through the postal system.

Special thanks to Eliza O'Toole for providing the beautiful cover art.

In random order:

Qu Gao, Alexandra Alex Corrin-Tachibana, Sarah Hemings, Chris Rice, Jeremy Page, Fiona Cartwright, Chris Hardy, Claire Booker, Dan O'Brien, Eliza O'Toole, Jenny Hockey, Fiona Larkin, Fred Johnston, John Gilham, Gill McEvoy, Ros Woolner, Kris Spencer, Michael Bartholomew-Biggs, Nichola Warwick, Oliver Comins, Sarah Mnatzaganian, Sharon Black and Richard Skinner.

24/10/2022

And it's here! Issue 7 will be making its way out to subscribers and contributors over the next week. Please allow extra time, due to the postal strike.

19/10/2022

Once Issue 7 is on its way out to subscribers and contributors, I will open for submissions for Issue 8 (spring 2023).

19/10/2022

Issue 7 is at the printers. It's been there for a couple of weeks, so hopefully the FPJ will be winging its way out to you shortly.