Comments on: What Seamus Heaney Taught Me About Giving Feedback

By: Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:32:42 +0000

I do know about sharing on Facebook, but I don’t think you need a button on the post to do it. I keep meaning to add a Stumbleupon button as that’s where I seem to get the most/best social bookmarking traffic.

I like your poem. Spring feels particularly urgent this year in the UK because we had such a miserable summer last year. Love the iced whisker.

If you like moorland poetry I assume you know Moortown by Ted Hughes? One of my favourite books, all about the North Devon landscape where I grew up.

I hope you’ll go easy on my contribution to the anthology if you review it - I can tell you now the rhyme scheme is a dog’s breakfast. Remember I was only young.

By: inspired writing research

inspired writing research — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:00:56 +0000

are you joking? LOL - and I thought it was me who was behind the times! I just wanted to ’share on facebook’ your luck in spending some time with Seamus Heaney with the few poets I actually rate - some of us are on the same sites there.

It’s an icon (like those on de.licious/digg/reddit/stumbleupon) where you can instantly post content you value - straight to your profile/minifeed.

I don’t unfortunately have the time to ‘hang out’ there non-stop, like some of the kids, but I do use it to keep up with what some of the other poets/writers are doing.

PS - Here is a poem that just popped into my head as I walked with the kids in the woods hoping to catch the last of the bluebells this evening - at the moment it’s just notes so will get filed away til I have a minute to work on it

sorry, wrong one! LOL - this is the one I wrote when I got back (I have two others on BBC Get Writing Northern Ireland)

Away with an urgent spring
into the black space under the
laurel
flies a fingernail froglet the colour of
speckled hazel eyes.

the iced whisker of webs in miniature
still frozen on the back of my hand
among hot dock weeds.

The bluebell one is unfinished too - and in the last two days out sprang two more (In the Evening The Bees Come and Man Bat) They are all about things I can see from my house LOL! The pomes won’t leave me alone!

‘Downstream in February’ was written for children and is ‘googleable’ - one day I’ll put them altogether as a monthly diary of the Moorland Seasons.

Anyway, I’ll post a link instead (we are at Soibhain M Thomas on Facebook) - nice to talk poetry (esp Nature Poetry - any excuse!!)

I’ll look at the anthology too and will write an article/personal review if I like it.

Poets I like are Gerard McKeown and a few more of the Belfast Poets and some from Get Writing NI

By: Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:32:23 +0000

Thanks. What do you mean by a ‘Facebook button’?

The Anthology’s here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/May-Anthology-Oxford-Seamus-Heaney/dp/0902240129/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210339907&sr=8-1

By: inspired writing research

inspired writing research — Thu, 08 May 2008 22:05:42 +0000

lovely post - no facebook button?

ps - can we get hold of that anthology?