Dark Angels Note 131

Dearest Friends—
Welcome back to our weekly Friday Note. 

Observing

This week marks the birthday of Nazim Hikmet (15 January 1902 - 3 June 1963) Hikmet had a varied writing career, working as a journalist, scriptwriter, proofreader and translator while writing poems and plays about love and war. He was considered to be the first modern Turkish poet, introducing free verse to Turkey in the 1930s, though his work was later banned from the country until a few years after his death. Many of his published works have been translated into English, including his novel in verse, Human Landscapes from My Country, which, like much of his work, was written during his imprisonment. 

Listening

Things I Didn’t Know I Loved, a poem written after he was released from prison, notices and celebrates the simple things in life with an “almost childlike appreciation for sky, earth, and the cosmos.”Listen to writer Tina Chang as she reads the poem on 92Y’s Read By podcast. 

Writing

Use the title, Things I Didn’t Know I Loved, as a prompt and spend five minutes writing down the everyday and simple things that you love and appreciate.What makes them special to you? What is it that you notice about each of them that others might not? 

Sharing

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

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Diary

Save the Dates

Words Are Seeds – New Course19th - 23rd June 2023, Bore Place, Kent
Neil Baker and Gillian Colhoun are offering five days of writing, rituals and nature connection at Bore Place over the summer solstice.We’ll be in 500 gloriously unspoilt hectares of the Kent Weald but only 35 minutes on the train from central London, and 45 minutes by taxi from Gatwick airport.With a gorgeous market garden, organic dairy, and 60 acres of ancient woodland there’ll be bountiful opportunities to forage for the physical and metaphorical fruits within the interior and exterior landscape.We’re expecting a lively, stimulating and playful experience, with plenty of time for individual pondering, wondering and wandering – and writing. There’s no need to have completed a course with us before, and you don’t have to think of yourself as a writer to participate fully.We’ll arrive on Monday afternoon June 19th and leave before lunch on Friday, June 23rd. All rooms are single occupancy, with bathrooms shared.We’ll confirm a fee soon. No commitment is needed yet, but we’d love to pencil you in. Register your interest by dropping Susanne a quick email. 

Hearts, Inspired 16-21 June 2023
Join Jamie Jauncey and Richard Pelletier for a 5-day writing retreat on Whidbey Island, in the US Pacific Northwest. We’ll explore writing, creativity and inspiration through guided writing, personal projects and time in nature. Find out more here. 

Weekly Tuesday Gatherings
Join us for a reflective hour of reading, writing and communing led by Neil Baker. Everyone is welcome; in fact, invite a friend along. We meet at 7pm UK time. To join us, click here on the night. There’s no need to register in advance and we’ll be using the same link every week from now on. 

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

From everyone at Dark Angels   
Photo by furkanvari on Unsplash