Dark Angels Note 162

Dearest Friends

Welcome back to our Friday Note – our weekly collection of writerly thoughts.

 

Observing

This week marks the anniversary of the death of Edna St. Vincent Millay (22 February 1892 – 19 October 1950).

Millay was a prolific poet and playwright who first found acclaim when her poem “Renascence” earned fourth place in a poetry contest in 1912.

She went on to publish poems in magazines such as Vanity Fair, write short stories under the nom de plume of Nancy Boyd, and win the Pullitzer Prize for poetry in 1923 for The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver.

 

Watching

Johnny Cash was so inspired by The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver that he included a recording of the poem on his first Christmas album.

Watch: Johnny Cash recite The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver on YouTube.

 

Writing

From Fleetwood Mac’s Dragonfly to Arctic Monkeys’ I Wanna Be Yours, some poem lyrics lend themselves to songs. But what about the other way around?

Can you pilfer a poignant line or two from a song and use that as the starting point for a piece of writing?

We’d love to see what you come up with if you’d like to share.

 

Sharing

This week’s Sharing is from Ettie Holland who wrote this centena in response to last week’s writing prompt.

 

 

Keep sending us any 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

 

Weekly Tuesday Gatherings

Join us again 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.

 

26 Wordstock @ The Bloomsbury Festival, 21 October 2023

A mini-version of 26’s Wordstock created in partnership with the Wildlife Trusts – a three-and-a-half-hour exploration led by Neil Baker and featuring a selection of speakers (from poets and artists to experts on the natural world). Get your tickets here.

 

A journey into the Sahara, 19-26 November

This is our intrepid journey deep into the Sahara Desert. Jamie Jauncey and Neil Baker will meet you in Marrakech, and take you east into the Atlas mountains, about ten hours later arriving at a stunning desert retreat centre called Cafe Tissardmine. Find out more here.
Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here.

From everyone at Dark Angels

 

 

 

Photo by Alen Rojnic on Unsplash