An interesting year..

We have had an interesting year with some great events and changes of venue.

From January we will continue to meet on the third Wednesday of the month but will be renting a room at Firstsite 7-9pm. This means we will need to contribute £3 each per session to cover our room charges but we will be meeting in a lovely quiet place and in the centre of Colchester’s cultural quarter. The first meeting of the year will be on January 16th and will be a critiquing session so if you have a poem you’d like to share please bring copies. If you have written a poem based on the last workshop led by Sheena and Judith you might like to share this.

Future meeting dates are at https://mosaicpoetry.wordpress.com/about/

Our joint project with RAQs Media Collective (photos below) produced some very high quality poetry and our performance as part of the Theory Opera on December 8th was well attended and appreciated. Many thanks to Karen and Dave for producing a pamphlet and programme of the event. I felt very proud of our contribution and the effort and commitment of all who took part. Firstsite have invited us to respond to any future exhibitions and would host a presentation.

All good wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

Sheena Clover

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Next Mosaic meeting – 21st November at Firstsite 7pm

Please note the change of venue for our next meeting 21^st November – we will be in a Firstsite meeting room 7-9pm. We will be starting the meeting at 7pm.

We will either have a workshop on haiku and / or Japanese types of poetry run by Tim Gardiner or a workshop from Sheena.

Hope to see you there.

Firstsite Theory Opera: Emotional Legacies, Saturday 8th December 3pm

Not Yet At Ease, 2018. Courtesy Raqs Media Collective and Frith Street Gallery

Join us at Firstsite (8th December 3pm) for an afternoon of performance with poetry and dance from Colchester-based Flux Dance Collective and Mosaic poetry group, who will be responding to the themes of Firstsite’s current exhibition Not Yet At Ease. The performances will be alongside a presentation by Professor Michael Roper from the University of Essex, whose talk will reveal the long-term emotional legacies of the First World War.

This event is part of Firstsite’s Theory Opera programme, a fascinating series of public events that brings together different stories, ideas and experiences in response to Firstsite’s exhibition Not Yet At Ease – a major commission by internationally renowned Delhi-based artists Raqs Media Collective exploring the interlinked histories of war, poetry and mental health.

Tickets for this, and all of the Theory Opera events, are £8 (standard) / £5 (concession). Half of all ticket sales will be donated to Combat Stress, the UK’s leading charity for veteran’s mental health.

Find out more and book your tickets via this link: https://www.firstsite.uk/whats-on/theory-opera-emotional-legacies/

The quality of stillness – workshop

MOSAIC POETRY WORKSHOP

Wednesday 19th September at 7.30 pm
The Castle Pub, Colchester

I would like to explore the quality of stillness in a poem.
The simplicity of nothing, the halt on a journey,
waiting for someone or something, when time is suspended.
Silence.

We will close read two poems together – I’ll bring copies.
But I invite you also to bring along a short poem from the cannon
with that quality of stillness to share.

We’ll spend some writing too.

Please do come along!

Anne Boileau.

2018 Stanza Poetry Competition – open!

A reminder that the closing date for the Stanza Poetry competition is Monday 10 September..

Mosaic Poetry

The 2018 Stanza Poetry Competition theme this year is TRADITION. It’s free to enter but you must be a Poetry Society member (if you’re not a member join here) who is also a member of a  Poetry Society Stanza – but you can join any time before the competition closes.

https://poetrysociety.org.uk/membership/poetry-society-stanzas/competition/

Send up to two poems, max 40 lines per poem (not including title). Closing date is Monday 10 September 2018 and the winners will be announced on National Poetry Day, Thursday 4 October 2018. Judge: Penelope Shuttle.

Have a look at the rules before you enter.

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Against the Grain single poem competition – open

The Poetry Shed

Prizes – First prize – £100, Second prize – £50, Third prize – £25

We are looking for a competition winner‘s poem we like enough to submit to the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. First, second and third prize winners will be invited to read at an ATG event. Winning poems will be published on our website.

Closing date – 30th November 2018

Cost – submit up to two poems for £5 or up to five poems for £10

Judges – Abegail Morley, Jessica Mookherjee and Karen Dennison (ATG editors).

Abegail is author of four poetry collections and two pamphlets. Her debut collection was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. She has judged a number of poetry competitions including the Frogmore Prize, Sentinel Quarterly, Canterbury Poet of the Year, Roundel and Paper Swans pamphlet competition.

Jessica is author of two pamphlets, including Joy Ride by Black…

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Mindfizz – call out for poems!

Mindfizz.org are a mental health and wellbeing website whose mantra is “Writing.Talking.Living.” One of their founding members is a Mosaic member, Dawn Vincent.

Mindfizz are currently seeking submissions of poetry and articles on the topic of mental health/wellness for publication on their website. Please email your name, social media/website info and any work you would like to submit to info@mindfizz.org if you would like to be considered for this.

Mindfizz are also hosting an event as part of the Essex Poetry Festival on the 10th October at Colchester Library from 4pm – 5.30pm. If you would like to read or attend then please use the same email as above.