The Fountain

I'm one of those people who looks optimistically forward to the arrival of the post each morning - enthusiastic about what it might bring.

This morning I was rewarded with a late draft of a poetry booklet which Pete Presford is producing. It is called "The Fountain / La Fontana" and has an Italian theme to it. It includes two of my own poems from 'Umbrian Images'. It is beautifully produced - there is wonderful poetry and illustrations included in the booklet. Pete's Malfunction Press has produced some really interesting and attractive chapbooks over the years. One of my favourites is 'Terrazzo' by Bill Costley which was the inspiration for my own 'Umbrian Images'.

The arrival of this booklet spurs me on to produce the two booklets which are waiting in final form for printing ('zen words' and 'Umbrian Images') under my own bluewater books imprint. This was due to be completed by the end of August - the delay was caused by a combination of the general malaise and the fact that printing booklets is a rather tedious task. It must be done though - I feel really positive about getting into print, and getting things moving. Things are beginning to come together really well!

These two poems in Pete's booklet bring my total of poems published in magazines and booklets to 62. Time for the big push to get to 100!

On the subject of writing, the poems for the new sequence - 'the alice conversations' - are emerging slowly. Some more thought is needed about the underlying themes of this booklet to give it a clearer focus. This work will be carried out over the next couple of weeks.