poets afloat at Seend

normally, a poetry audience looks really miserable in photos. This must have been a funny poem

On Saturday, the Poets Afloat group had its first public airing, as part of the Seend Lock open day organised by the Canal and River Trust. The poetry event in the Barge Inn, next to the lock, was organised by Helen Wuscher, who, when she isn't working in the CRT Devizes office is busy putting on her one-woman show about Emily Dickinson, or writing and doing other stuff. She kindly suggested we might like to join in, and sifted through poems to make an appropriately canal-themed set list, comprising old and good work from Shakespeare, Kenneth Grahame, Patrick Kavanagh and the like, to modern and good stuff from folk such as Jo Bell,  former Canal Laureate and continual Good Egg; and us lot too. 

And Nancy Campbell, the new Canal Laureate, showed up as well; not in the canoe that she's touring the network in, as it was probably a bit far to paddle from Oxford on a Saturday morning. But it was nice to meet her.

here's Nancy! She doesn't really have a blue quiff, that's the overhead projector

Gail Foster took some rather good photos in so unobtrusive a manner that we never knew about it, and here they are. Gail is another Poet Afloat, as she lives next to the canal in Devizes and has a special affinity with Bridge 140. Here's her blog. Go to her for photos, occasional verse and reviews in the Devizes area.

Helen Wuscher got to read her own poem too

Jinny Peberday with a found poem

Emma Whitcombe's poem was about the stankie. The what? aha...

Simon Kirby, a CRT customer services manager who turns out to be a poet too!