Another Terrific Group Meeting!

We had another terrific meeting today/tonight. It ended earlier than usual, due to commitments of group members. We had a great time catching up though, and general chit chat before getting down to business!

Our task was to write a super-short story (76 words). The results were all outstanding stories, with beginning, middle and ending, fantastic stuff! Paragraph Planet publishes something similar to this, but they require 75 words, with the first few words becoming the title of the story. Click on the name Paragraph Planet for a link to their website for more information.

For next week, we are all to 'Write from the point of view of a disgruntled kitchen or bedroom object. When you've finished, respond as you would to a lover/partner.'

How does that sound? Something you'd like to get your writing teeth into? Go for it, and come back here, or come to the meeting next week and tell us all about it! 3.30 pm, Prince Albert Hotel, Gawler.

Sunday Poets at the Pub

Another fantastic 'Poets at the Pub' yesterday (Sunday) at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler.

What a superb venue and friendly Service.

Maureen Mitson was guest reader this month and gave us a real insight into her upbringing.
Fascinating stuff!


Maureen Mitson

The lovely venue at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler

Poets at the pub is held on the last Sunday of each month from 2-4pm.

Thanks to Martin Christmas for the photos.

We're Growing!

The Adelaide Plains Chapter and Verse Writing Group is well under way now with two new members attending our most recent gathering.

We would like to welcome Marilyn Simpson and Kath Thornton, both very talented local writers who shared some of their work with the group.

One of our discussions this week was around different types of poetry including Sonnets, Villanelles and Ekphrastic poems.

The group will be undertaking an Ekphrastic challenge in the coming weeks which we will report on later.

 Our new members were keen to undertake this week’s challenge set by the group facilitator, Carolyn Cordon. This task is called ‘Digging in the Dictionary’. We were asked to randomly choose a word from the dictionary and write a poem about it, or to feature the word prominently in the poem. As I don’t have a dictionary and I couldn't find my thesaurus. I did the ‘Eenie, meenie, miney, mo’ on my bookshelf and landed on an old Jeffrey Archer short story collection. The random word I chose should make for a very interesting – and challenging poem.
We'll keep you posted!

Poetry Competition

Adelaide Plains Poets, which is the larger body behind Adelaide Plains Chapter & Verse, is currently running a poetry competition. The cost to enter the adult section is $5 per poem entered, with not cost for entries from Primary or Secondary School students. The theme for the competition is 'The Elements' - from the classic elements of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, to the element on your stove, chemical elements and everything in between, it's there to be written about! Entries close on 19 January 2013,

These are the entry form and guidelines:

ADELAIDE PLAINS POETS Inc

POETRY COMPETITION 2012/13

‘The Elements’

1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd cash prizes, plus Highly Commended & Commended certificates as awarded by judge. Total prize pool over $750

 

ENTRY GUIDELINES

• Work entered in this competition must be original, in English, unpublished and not have won a prize in any other competition. Authors retain copyright.
• Theme ‘The Elements’
• Poems entered must in some way refer to the theme
• Open Class - poets 18 years & older
• Junior classes –
• Primary School student (one poem only)
• Secondary School student (one poem only)
• To maintain anonymity, entrant’s name should appear on entry form only, not on poems. Entry forms are to include entrant’s name, address, phone number, titles of poems submitted.
• Entries should be typed where possible, on one side of paper only, one poem to a page
• Poems to be no longer than 60 lines
• Entry fees: Open class $5.00 per poem entered

            Junior classes - no entry fee, only one poem per student

• Cheques to be made payable to Adelaide Plains Poets Inc
• Entries to: Competition Secretary, 1594 Germantown Rd REDBANKS SA 5502
• Entries to be received by close of business 19 January 2013 – entries received after this date may not be considered for the competition.
• Authors should retain a copy of their work, entries will not be returned without provision of a SSAE
• Selected entries may be published in an anthology

For further details contact:

Ms C Cordon (08) 85272412; 0418 806 490; jeebers@aussiebb.com.au; http://carolyn-poeticpause.blogspot.com.au/

With assistance from       5th Element Unearthed, prizewinning olive oil.

ADELAIDE PLAINS POETS INC

POETRY COMPETITION 2012/13

‘The Elements’

ENTRY FORM

Name…………………..……………………Phone…………………

Address……………………………………………..…………………

.…………………………………………………………………………

Email………………………………..

Title of poem/s - ……………………………………………………..

                            

……………………………………………………..

                            

……………………………………………………..

(use back of page for additional entries)

Entrants’ names or other details must not appear on poems

Declaration by author: I agree to comply with the Entry Guidelines and declare that the written work submitted in my name is my own original work and has not been copied in part, or in full, from any other source.

Author’s signature…………………………………..date…………………...

Date of birth (if entering junior section) ………………………….……….…..

Name of school (if entering junior section) …………………………………….

$5.00 per poem (OPEN CLASS ONLY – NO FEE FOR JUNIOR ENTRIES)

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES 19 January 2013

Cheques/money orders to be made payable to Adelaide Plains Poets Inc, and sent with entries to Competition Secretary, 1594 Germantown Rd REDBANKS SA 5502

         

Authors should retain a copy of their work, entries will not be returned without provision of a stamped self-addressed envelope, and a written request.

 With assistance from       5th Element Unearthed, prizewinning olive oil.

Gawler Poets at the Pub

Well-known Poet and great SA character Nigel Ford.

Gawler 'Poets at the Pub' takes place on the last Sunday of each month, in the Prince Albert Hotel, Gawler, starting at 2pm. We have a core group of people who almost always come along, and extras who show up when they can. The event is put on by a committee, of which Carolyn Cordon is a member, and it's the friendliest little poetry reading around!

This event was taken on in 2010 by the committee when long time organiser Martin Johnson stepped back after running it in various pubs in Gawler for fifteen years. Martin did a mighty fine job, and I believe the committee is doing a good job too!


Those who want to read their work are asked to write down their name in the book and put a gold coin donation in the tin. Then they have their time to read their work, to be appreciated by the attentive audience. If the reader hands in their poems read as requested, they'll have the chance to be considered for the anthology which is put together annually.


This is all going well, and we've had some fine guest poets to entertain us, and are always open to requests from poets for the guest position if they have a new collection or any other exciting poetic happening. So if you like or love poetry and you can get to Gawler on the last Sunday of the month, come and join in!


There is a Facebook page for Gawler Poets at the Pub, you'll find it here http://www.facebook.com/groups/GawlerPoetryReadings/


The committee is made up of Helen Lindstrom and Carolyn Cordon.

Our Venue

The Adelaide Plains Chapter and Verse Writing Group meet weekly at the historic Prince Albert Hotel, 109 Murray Street in Gawler (that's the main street). It's a lovely pokie-free, family pub with a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and the proprietors and staff are very welcoming.

This hotel is also the venue for Gawler Poets at the Pub, which is held on the last Sunday of each month from 2 til 4pm.

The bar serves good coffee and a great menu if you decide to stay for a meal.

How to Join Adelaide Plains Chapter and Verse (APCAV) Writing Group.

Do you...

•  Write for pleasure?
• Write as a way of expressing your thoughts and feelings?
• Want to develop/expand/improve your writing?
• Attend writing classes or study creative writing?
• Already write professionally?
• Want to share ideas and inspiration with like-minded writers and poets?

If you answered 'Yes' to any of the above, then it sounds like the Adelaide Plains Chapter & Verse Writing Group is perfect for you.

So..How do you become a member? Well, that's the easiest part. Simply turn up at the Prince Albert Hotel in Murray Street, Gawler any Thursday afternoon from 3.30 onwards and check us out. We're usually there till at least seven o'clock - sometimes longer. Drop in for an hour, two hours, four hours - whatever suits you.

If, after your first visit, you decide that this is the group for you, then it's simply a matter of joining the Adelaide Plains Poets Inc., which costs a mere five dollars each year. Ask Carolyn or Colleen for a Membership form and 'Conditions of Membership' form. It's that simple!

 

Big News, Group Numbers Double!

Well, the last meeting was a huge success, with two new people arriving to join in on the fun! I'm not a mathematician, but as fas as I know, two original members plus two new members means the group size has indeed doubled. Double the people means more than double the fun! 

Last night at our meeting, we heard pieces of writing from members based on the challenge set the previous week. This challenge was to write something based on the much vilified story beginning, 'It was a dark and stormy night...'. The results were amazing!

I'm looking forward to the wonders that will happen next Thursday! If anyone out there is able to get to the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler, please, feel free to join us and we can help you with your writing.

It was a dark and stormy night

Our group has just set a challenge for members. The task is to write a poem using those age old words 'It was a dark and stormy night'.

This is just for fun, and to test our skills - the poems written will be read out/handed around at the next meeting, which will be on 22 November. If you can come along to our meeting that will be fantastic! If you can't be at the meeting, it would be wonderful to be able to read out more poems for the challenge. 

So far, some members have accepted the challenge, how about you? Do you want to have a go too?

The meetings are held at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler, starting at 3.30 and going on for several more hours. The front bar is close to our meeting place, and there's food available later on. 

Now for the rules - the poem must use the words 'It was a dark and stormy night'. They can be used as they are there, or shifted around to make something quite different. Any style of poetry is allowed, rhyming or free verse, with a limit for the number of lines for the poem - let's say it must be between one and forty-one lines. 

There, that's it, you have until 3.30 22 November to get your poem in!
(If you can't get to the meeting, but would still like to take part, please send your poem to my email address, which is in the 'contact' section on this page.)

There may be a prize for the poem judged to be the best entry.

Things are Happening!

New groups can go in various different ways. They can grow and grow until they're set for life, they can wither and die, or they can go many ways in between. This group so far is sending out roots and spreading its branches, with people beginning to enquire about it, with the thought, perhaps, of getting involved.

So far, it's still only Colleen and myself meeting, but I won't be surprised if we have at least one new person there next week. I've been involved in many different groups, poetry groups, parents & friends groups, dog breed groups and writing groups. 

The main thing I can see that will help this group is the positivity of the two people starting it all. With such a positive beginning, and with an open and accepting attitude, this should take off. The venue is open to poetry, we are known to the publican, and there shouldn't be any problems with us being there...

I have been going regularly to this hotel, the Prince Albert Hotel for many years. The Gawler poetry readings moved to this hotel from a less welcoming hotel in Gawler and the poetry just took off. I'm on the committee organising the monthly poetry readings, and this year we've seen more and more people coming to listen, or to read their own work.

There's a guest reader every month, and an anthology of the best poetry is published every year. We've gone from the front bar, at the beginning, to Victoria's Room, which is a quieter space, with lots of tables and chairs, and with a door we can close to cut out the sound. 

We've also gone from having a mike and pa system, with all of the hassles involved in lugging that around, to now going 'unplugged'. This was an idea of one of the regular attendees, who has a vast experience in the theatre, and the experiment showed it was a better way! Trying things out was certainly worth it on this occasion.

So with my experiences with the Poets at the Pub, and my earlier experiences with critiquing the written work of others as well as my own work, this new group is well set up to help new writers. It can also be there to help people looking at new ideas, new genre, new ways of getting their words down on paper, or online.

I also have experience with self-publication, and am able to share my ideas and knowledge on this exciting venture. I know many writers in Adelaide, particularly poets, and can help others to make connections with people who may be helpful to know.

If you'd like to spread your writing wings, please, come along, the front bar's close handy and the food is great!

What is this all about?

This is a blog created to introduce the brand new writing group 'Adelaide Plains Chapter and Verse' to the world. It was begun recently by two women with time on their hands, and a desire to take their writing further.

The group meets weekly at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler, South Australia. The hotel was well known to one of the two, Carolyn, because she is involved in Gawler Poets at the Pub, which takes place monthly at the Prince Albert. Colleen, the other group member knew of the hotel, because she lives close to Gawler.

So far, there have only been two members of the group, but people have been sniffing around the edges, and with a Facebook Page set up, and a recent article in the local newspaper, the Bunyip, things are beginning to take off!

Carolyn is mostly a poet, with some interest in longer forms of writing, while Colleen has been writing short stories for many years and is now exploring poetry more as well as prose. Between them, these two have years of experience in helping people to achieve better things in their lives. With this new writing group, they both hope to continue doing the same, for others and for themselves!

The group shares words, reading their poetry, or in written word format, and we do writing exercises there too. Any new members are encouraged to bring notebooks to write in, bits of their writing to share, and something to write with!

One of the first poetry writing exercises the group did, was for each member to think of themselves as a herb or spice, and write a poem about it. Group members got stuck into it, after much thinking, to produce two very different poems. Neither of them could think of an appropriate herb of spice, so creatively side-stepped and chose a different form of flavouring. - Colleen opted for Sugar and Carolyn went with Salt.

The results with the first drafts on the night were pleasing enough for them both to do further drafts, to create fine poems to share the next week. We envisage doing many more such writing exercises, and will continue to post details about what the group is doing here into the future.

If you're interested in this group, please get in contact - details are on this website - we'd love to hear from you!