Christmas New Year Giveaways

I've got several books to giveaway here, just leave a note in the comments section if you'd like any of them (please state which) and I'll draw names out of a hat before Christmas and get them sent out in the New Year. Please leave your email address in the comments section to make sure I can contact you if you're successful:

1. 52 Ways of Looking at a Poem by Ruth Padel - a guide to close reading poetry with 52 poems. You can read my review of it on Read Write Poem here.

2. Unleash the Poem Within by Wendy Nyemaster a guide to poetic form for women who are just starting to write poetry or who are unsure about when to use particular poetic forms - you can read my review of it on Read Write Poem here. (When drawing names out of the hat for this one, preference will be given to women)

3. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (signed copy). An engaging book about writing and creativity.

4. Issue 65 of the Rialto magazine, one of the UK's best poetry magazines.

5. Issue 48 of Tears in the Fence, another excellent UK poetry magazine, this issue contains an interesting article about poetic collaboration.

6. Agamemnon's Daughter by Ismail Kadare, read him before he wins the Nobel Prize, because in my humble opinion, one day he will.

7. Yellow Torchlight and the Blues by Emma Lee - a good collection of accessible and moving poetry. You can read my review on NHI Reviews here.

8. The Mirror of Ink by Jorge Luis Borges - a pocket sized book of wonderment

All the books (but not the poetry journals) are registered with Bookcrossing, the international booksharing community. If you win a book you are under no obligation to take part in Bookcrossing. All books were either bought second hand or are review copies.

I no longer have any copies of my old poetry pamphlet Bougainvillea Dancing left to give away, but if you want to buy a copy I think there are a couple left for sale at Wordpower Books.

Susan Tuttle, from Ilka's Attic is also running a book Giveaway. She's offering a copy of her book Mixed Media Demonstrations and Explorations, which sounds as though it is a rtuly inspiring book for anyone interested in mixed media crafts. So if you want a chance to win that book, please go over to Susan's blog.

Walk for Inspiration

My favourite form of exercise is walking. One of the advantages of my current job is that I can walk there and arrive to work feeling refreshed and mentally alert. I also like to go for a short walk at lunchtime to wake myself up, though currently Gorgie Farm is an ice rink, a cobblestoned, in many places steeply sloping ice rink so walking can be risky!

My favourite kind of walking though is through the countryside or a park like the Botanics or the Meadows. Here I can let my mind wander while at the same time remaining observant for interesting birds and plants. My walks are very often times that inspire haiku and equally they often help me to work on poems in progress. I am always refreshed after a walk and in the winter I also like the warming effect of regular walks!

Walking is a very natural form of exercise, no machinery required and you can do it wherever you are, no need for the sterile atmosphere of the gym.

Getting Physical for Write on Wednesday

Another small stone...

I've got a piece up on a handful of stones, you can read it here.

Gorgie City Farm Christmas Cards

Gorgie City Farm Christmas Cards and 2009 Calendars are now available from the Farm Cafe for those of you in Edinburgh! I don't know if there are overseas orders available, but I can ask! Needless to say my favourite Christmas card design is this one, featuring Sugar, who is following in the footsteps of her mother Daisy, in becoming a media star.

A few days after the photo for this card was taken, Sugar dug her way out of the shed she shares with Daisy and Driftwood and was found running about the farm! She was quickly caught and reunited with the other rabbits.

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under the oak tree -
broken acorns lie scattered
on a rock.

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I've joined the team for Winter Haiku, you can read my first contribution here.

Feature on Junk Style Diva

I'm honoured to be a featured artist over on Junk Style Diva today. Thanks, Inge! You can read the feature here. The rest of Inge's blog is very well worth browsing too....

Impatiens by Melissa Fondakowski

Impatiens, by Melissa Fondakowski (Poet with a Day Job) was the 2001 Sow's Ear Chapbook Winner and deservedly so. The poem that gives the collection its title, Window Box, is a description of planting Impatiens in a window box, the narrator at nine 'wondered how a plant could be impatient'.

Many of the other poems in the book, though not overtly to do with nature or environmental themes, have a strong connection to the earth, as these lines from Eve:

I become Adam, alluvial and nascent, waking
under a firmament certain with birds

Impatiens is available to purchase from the sidebar of Melissa's blog

Some of Melissa's more recent poems featured on this joy and ride, you can read them here.

Jessica, over at 9-5 Poet also reviewed Impatiens, you can read her review here.