Quill creative writing group competition

Quill Creative writing group met last Wednesday to hold the  presentation of prizes for their annual competition The pic shows the group with the three winners ie: myself Sue Ellis, Tamara Minns, and Charles Huggett.

1st prize Tamara Minns

ENIGMA

The sea was spawned before time began,

Long before God blue-printed man

No greed, no poison, no manic wars

Just moonlight shadows on virgin shores

Men of learning throughout history

Have marvelled at its mystery

Searching for answers till their demise

Of a roaring monster in disguise

The mayflower fathers prayed the sea

Would sail them to religious liberty

When they turned their backs on a divided realm,

They knew their God was at the helm.

Sailor there’s no need to pray

The sea won’t heed a word you say.

No songs of praise sung on the quay

Can quell it’s thirsty savagery

Sometimes friend, more times foe

Heaven determines which way it shall flow.

Mother wash those tears away

Your boy would have it no other way

Will the sea remain when time has gone?

Yes mankind is weak, the sea is strong.

2nd prize Sue Ellis

HAIL THE SEA

Hail to the sea, all Mighty, all Powerful,

I salute you!

In awe of your splendour

I bow to thee.

Your beauty, your vastness, and magnificence,

Have inspired many to write reams.

Yet, you hide secrets.

In your deep waters many creatures call their home

Plant life with splendid colourful beauty

Hails another world.

An underwater wonderland is there to be discovered.

If I delve beneath your surface

Breaking through

the calm stillness of your glassy waters,

Dive downward into darkness

Lit only from above with rays of sunlight

That penetrate,

Your depths.

I’ll uncover your secrets.

Secrets

of that other world

Hidden from view.

Yet beware!

Danger lurks.

Your currents can turn,

your mood change

You can refuse to welcome intruders

rebelling from prying eyes

In your fury you can rise up unexpectedly,

Sucking innocent crafts into your towering waves

Destroying all in your rage.

You have my respect

Oh mighty sea

One day you could engulf our lands

And rule the world.

3rd prize Charles Huggett

Waves

In angry turmoil, seas crash and thunder

Water torn, white and ragged

Tops exploding, blown asunder,

Violent crests, sharp and jagged,

Onwards thrusting to the land

To crush it, mark it, with their brand.

Surging, rolling, undulating

Waves rise and swell in endless charging

Like ranks of cavalry unabating

Constantly contracting and enlarging

Desperately spending force to reach

That once distant, nearing beach.

Lapping gently on silken shore

Lazily running, they slide and slither

Softly now, with little bore

They procrastinate and dither

Pausing briefly to kiss the strand

And roll small pebbles on the sand.

A mystery too deep to fathom

Waters just as old as time

Flood and ebb in constant rhythm

Unceasing majestic and sublime

In all its moods uncomprehending

The sea must roll, it’s task unending.

Poetry Competition for Quill

Quill Creative writing group are having a presentation tomorrow 14th Oct. of a Trophy cup to the winner of the 2009 Ernest Peaford award. Their yearly poetry competition for their members. They were lucky to have the poems judged by Rupert Mallin. The winner for the second year running is Tamara Minns with her poem called “Enigma” . Second place goes to myself with my poem called “Hail to the Sea”, and third place goes to Charles Huggett with his poem called “Waves”. The theme this year was on The Sea and there were 14 entries. Ernest Peaford’s son Peter will present the trophy and framed certificates to the three winners. We are hoping to have a photograph printed into the Great Yarmouth Mercury to mark the occasion.

Further news, One of our members Susan Wooden has been chosen as a runner up in the poetry competition to commemorate Herring Day. Her poem will be read out on Sunday Oct 18th at the celebration at the Time and Tide museum. Well done Susan.

Read Herrings Poetry Competition for Herring Day!

Holy Mackerel! A poetry competition for Herring Day!

Local people were invited to make a contribution to the Time and Tide Museum by submitting a short poem about the humble herring for National Poetry Day on the 8^th October.   The winning  poem is reproduced on the new text panel for the  iconic Yarmouth Bloater King sign (see image)  unveiled at Time and Tide’s annual Herring Day on Sunday October 18^th . Entries were judged by published Norfolk based poet Esther Morgan.

Winner of the Read Herrings poetry competition for Herring Day 2009:

My Silver Darling

By Charles Huggett

Skin tanned and burned by the keen east blow

Burnished rosy cheeks shine and glow

Back complaining and feet sore

Hands chapped bleeding red and raw

Still you can laugh and share a smile

Although you know in a little while

The next herring catch will land

So you stand ready knife in hand

To gut and wash the silver throng

And so you work all day long.

Your clothes are coated in silver scales

And glitter my eye assails.

Like sequins on a fine ball gown

Or diamonds set in a royal crown.

Transformed from dull and dowdy starling

To my shiny glistening silver darling.

But no ball will glimpse her sparkling clothes

Just a small dark pub in the Yarmouth rows!

The Bloater King in person

Quill meets next week

Quill creative writing group meets next week on Wednesday 15th July at 1.30pm until 3.30pm. At the Newtown Methodist church hall in Northgate Street, Great Yarmouth. New members are welcome. We have a guest speaker on this day, namely Rupert Mallin, who will be talking to us about writing plays.

There is a small charge of 50p for tea or coffee and a yearly subscription of £5.

The group has been active since 1999 and at present has 14 members of mixed ages. Our purpose for meeting up is to motivate each other in writing poetry, prose, short stories, monologues and plays.

And sharing them with the group. For further information please phone the secretary on 01493 857956

textVISUAL, online magazine…

textVISUAL is an online magazine of poetry and visuals edited by Rupert Mallin which can be viewed here  http://textvisual.wordpress.com/

textVISUAL 1 features work by acclaimed poets Martin Stannard, Ian Seed and Peter Hughes. Norfolk and Suffolk artists and poets contributing to this first issue are: Tim Lenton, Linda Chapman, Lisa D’Onofrio, Gerald Nason, Michael Fenton, Mark Sargeant and Claire Hamburger.

The Giro Years by John Dashwood

This poem is from a collection I have just published under the title “The Giro Years”.

Barrie’s World Renowned Bacon Rolls

Lonely I wandered the early morning streets
Floating past the market stalls
Past the litter bins and seats
Past the crumbling old town walls
Where beer and busking is not allowed
Where gulls the cobbled pavement peck
I wandered covered in a shroud
Broke and hungry – what the heck!
Torn and tired of being thrifty
Plunged into my pocket
Pulled out roughly one pound fifty
With a mind to madly hock it
Never known to be so shifty
I shot like a rocket
On a sudden spending spree.
(Money talks, so please don’t knock it.)
Tea and bacon roll – far out!
Tasting such a damned delight.
Steamy and succulent, there’s no doubt,
My expense account was right.
Barrie’s bacon in a roll
Marmalizes lucky me
Sizzles to my very soul
Like my magic mug of tea
Helps my day get off the ground.
O what a place to be
Barrie’s bacon world renowned
In Yarmouth by the sea.

poetry and writing

I  recently joined a inspirational writing group and i am enjoying it very much.  below is a piece of work by one of the

members.

BLUE BELLS

Secretly i wait

In the garden

Under the trees

It was an orchard once

My family scattered

The orchardhas gone

Houses take their place

Hard stones no beauty there

A fewof us bluebells

live to tell the tale

In pockets of green

In the bubbling blue swathes

we were saved

And left to show

The cool blue

A shadow of an orchard

Bluebell heaven

Helen Huggett

poetry in motion

Hi! My name is charles and I m a member of Quill writing group tht meets at great yarmouth each month  I like daft poems as well as serous writing. Here is a poorexample:

These little oxo cubies

Rarer by far thanrubies

Or Smarties in their tubies

Putsome inpots or stews

Sue from Quill

I am new to the site and am finding it all very exciting . Quill creative writing group are still going strong, those of you that are familiar with the group will know we have covered various topics of creative writing. At the present time we are trying to write plays and each of us are taking it in turns to read out our various efforts .  New members have joined the group and injected fresh ideas. We are hopefull they will stay with the group.