Dark Angels Note 154

Dearest Friends

Welcome back to our weekly Friday Note.

 

Observing

This week marks the birthday of American poet Lucille Clifton (27 June 1936 – 13 February 2010).

Discovered as a poet by Langston Hughes, Clifton went on to be a Pulitzer finalist, Poet Laureate for Maryland between 1974-85, Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, and win the Ruth Lily Poetry Prize in 2007.

Clifton believed herself to be a medium, or “two-headed woman”. Her book, Two-Headed Woman, published in 1980, was her first published collection of spirit writing.

Her work covers themes of racism, gender, and family life. Its style is often short and lacking formal punctuation.

 

Reading

“And imagine, some people wonder if poems matter.” – Reginald Dwayne Betts.

Read In Praise of Lucille Clifton to find out how poet Reginald Dwayne Betts used Clifton’s poetry to form a better understanding of himself.

 

Writing

Taking inspiration from the quote above, think of a poem that matters to you. Re-read it and then reflect on why it matters. Why does it resonate with you? Has it led you to a better understanding about anything?

 

Sharing

John Simmons, Tim Rich and Therese Kieran will be featured reading poems from Dark Angels, Three Contemporary Poets on Eat the Storms poetry podcast at 5pm on Saturday 1st July.

The podcast is produced and hosted by Irish poet Damien B Donnelly and broadcast on 12+ platforms including Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, OverCast, PlayerFM, Radio Public, PocketCast, CastBox, iTunes, Podbean, Podcast Addicts and many more.

Further information on the podcast can be found here.

 

Keep sending us your poems, writings, links and writerly whatnots that you’d like to share with the wider Dark Angels family. We love to read them.

 

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Diary

 

Writing What We Hear, 8 September 2023

Join us for a one-day workshop in Highgate Woods to explore what it means to really listen, and to see how we can use whatever we hear as inspiration for writing.

Get your tickets here.

 

Weekly Tuesday Gatherings

There’s no Gathering on 4 July. Back to normal the week after.

Join us for a reflective hour of reading, writing and communing led by Neil Baker. Everyone is welcome – from the Dark Angels community and beyond. We meet at 7pm UK time. To join us, click here on the night. There’s no need to register in advance.

 

Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here.

From everyone at Dark Angels