Saturday 3rd May 2025

Trowbridge stanza representative NINA PARMENTER very kindly invited Stanza25 members to join the Poetry Workshop held on Saturday 3rd May in the wonderful Drawing Projects arts centre in Trowbridge. The building is beautiful. The work space is great. The Arthaus Cafe is a welcoming gem. Nina’s workshop, deservedly, has a large enthusiastic following of poets eager to follow her imaginative and inspiring prompts. For all these reasons, the afternoon was a delight.

Nina challenged us with a revelatory journey through poems by Anja Konig, Sylvia Plath, Ilya Kaminsky and Jane Burn, ending the afternoon with a read round of one piece each from ( almost) everyone in the room. Bridge House is right beside Trowbridge Rail Station which also has generous car parking, on a Saturday at least. If you like writing to live prompts under the guidance of a person with a fearless and eclectic passion for poetry, look out for Nina’s next workshop in this lovely place.

I have invited NINA and members of the Trowbridge Stanza group to join us in Queen Square for our SUMMER CONCERT OF READINGS on Saturday 21st June. This will be our Stanza’s first ever open mic event.

We have decided to create twenty open mic spaces, ten for Trowbridge and ten for Bath and to ask the Bath poets to put together some refreshments for the afternoon. Thank you very much to GREG SPIRO, ANN PRESTON and CAROLINE HEATON who have already offered to help with this.

Booked in to read 5th May : SUE BOYLE, ANN CULLIS, MARILYN FRANCIS, CAROLINE HEATON, NICK KEARNEY, NINA PARMENTER, MIRANDA PENDER, ANN PRESTON, AMANDA SAUNDERS, GREG SPIRO, JUNE WENTLAND (11)

The format will ask for ONE POEM of no more than 200 words, with each reader introducing themselves and saying something about why they have chosen this particular piece for our Stanza Celebration Afternoon. It will be a good idea to bring two poems so that you can choose which one to read when you discover the undercover story and mood of the afternoon. We may also find that we have spare reading time if lots of readers go for very short pieces, as they might.

Choose a poem to capture the attention, to delight or intrigue perhaps, to entertain, to surprise. What lingering impression you would like to leave with the audience? Share your sense of who you are as a poet. Take us into your special world. Choose something that will make us eager to hear you read again.

If you would like a reading place in the Summer Concert, please contact SUE BOYLE or NINA PARMENTER depending on whose mailing list has your details.

Looking forward very much to seeing and hearing you in Queen Square.