Fox Boy visits Little Venice

I read some poems at the Parole Parlate 2nd Birthday celebration last Thursday. It is held upstairs at Little Venice and always has a good mix of performers. I felt a whole range of emotions whilst listening: one poet called Amanda Bonnick made me cry with her beautiful and evocative poems about her father. Catherine Crosswell and Gary Longden both made me laugh so much I couldn't get my breath. The poems were so witty and performed with perfect comic timing. Andrew Owens captured the fear and anxiety of losing a child in a busy shopping centre in his story. Claire Walker was a delight to listen to read as she has a lovely perceptive view of the world that comes across in her words. Read the whole review of the night on Gary's blog (an excellent blog to visit for poetry news in the West Midlands.) Garyswordz

photo by Geoff Robinson

'Closing the first half was Ruth Stacey who performed a bold and imaginative sequence entitled The Fox Boy. Densely layered , it borrows from the Red Indian of North America tradition of using animal characters that are half animal/half human to explore existence. It is no twee anthropomorphic jaunt. Ambitious in intent, it is an invocation to break out of the restrictions of our own skin to explore beyond. Cleverly, the device of transcending the confines of that skin embraces mixed ethnicity too- “skin is just a covering, to keep the flesh tidy and the heart, in place”. It was very well received and proved that challenging, serious poetry can be performed out loud and succeed.'

Review by Gary Longdon

'The Fox Hunt' by Winslow Homer 1893

How a bear took over one of my poems...

The girls had run away, but the bear called after them: "Snow-white and Rose-red, don't be afraid; wait, and I'll come with you." Then they recognized his voice and stood still, and when the bear was quite close to them his skin suddenly fell off, and a beautiful man stood beside them, all dressed in gold.

The ladybird book about Snow White and Rose Red. Snow White was quiet and liked housework, whilst Rose Red liked running in the forest and laughing. This meant that Snow White gets the Prince at the end and Rose Red has to marry his brother, who has not been mentioned in the story at all and never described, poor Rose Red, does she have a choice? The moral of this tale: quiet domesticated girls get rewarded. 

As a child I always liked Rose Red best...

Rose Red exactly how I imagine her, bravely dealing with the annoying dwarf whilst Snow White looks all anxious and scared. Painted by Arthur Rackham

I love this story. Anthropomorphic animals always get into my poems and novels. I am writing my dissertation about them. My poem about Rose Red details the reality of falling in love with a bear.

Bears make lousy lovers, they crap in corners and the hair gets everywhere.

I read three poems at Parole Parlate, spoken word event in Worcester and got a great reaction from the audience about the Bear poem, I guess everyone wanted to know what happens when you fall in love with a bear. Read the review of the night below.

Parole Parlate Spoken Word Night : Review