Posted on

Frogmore 96 has landed!

The 96th edition of the literary magazine The Frogmore Papers – our very own Covid-19 lockdown issue – has been published.

Cover of The Frogmore Papers 96. Artwork by Leona Akehurst

With a distinctive monochrome cover by Leona Akehurst, the issue contains poetry from Mike Barlow, Peter Carpenter, Ian Caws, Clare Crossman, Robert Etty, Jacqueline Gabbitas, Wendy Klein, Christopher Southgate, Anne Stewart, Michael Swan, J S Watts and many more, alongside prose from Robert Charles, Anthony Johae and Kevin Tosca, and artwork by Marysya Rudska.

All ten poems shortlisted by Maria Jastrzębska for this year’s Frogmore Prize can also be found in 96, including Ron Scowcroft’s winning poem ‘Greylags in Fog’ and the runners-up by Simon Maddrell and Chloe Balcomb. Two previous winners of the Prize, Sarah Barr (2015) and Howard Wright (2004 and 2009) also have poems in this issue.

WHERE DO I GO WHEN I’M NOT HERE by Marysya Rudska FP96

Where and how to buy? The Frogmore Papers can be ordered for £5.00 (post free) from The Frogmore Press, 21 Mildmay Road, Lewes BN7 1PJ (cheques payable to ‘The Frogmore Press’; or email frogmorepress@gmail.com for details of payment by BACS or PayPal). It can also be purchased from Skylark in the Needlemakers, Lewes, by readers locally resident.

Please support independent publishers and bookshops. Thank you.

Posted on

Ron Scowcroft wins 34th Frogmore Poetry Prize

This year’s Prize has been awarded by adjudicator Maria Jastrzębska to Ron Scowcroft for his poem ‘Greylags in Fog’.

Ron Scowcroft, winner of the 2020 Frogmore Poetry Prize

Originally from Greater Manchester, Ron has lived in the Lancaster area since 1985. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies and on literary websites. They have also featured in exhibitions by artists Jayne Simpson and John Morrison and been adapted for video by Morph Films. His pamphlet Moon Garden was published by Wayleave Press in 2014. Ron is a founder member of Lancaster based April Poets.

 

Of his winning poem Maria Jastrzębska commented: ‘‘Greylags in Fog’, was a poem I returned to for its tenderness. I read it as a love poem. Between people and also between people and nature, the animal world. Everyone can identify with that sense of being lost in a fog – the utter relief of being found. I loved the backward and forwards of the poem’s ‘call and response’. It’s a poem written with the utmost simplicity and spareness capturing something as intangible as a moment. It doesn’t preach or try to convince but tells its story with great lightness of touch.’

Ron wins the sum of 250 guineas and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers.

This year’s runners-up were Simon Maddrell with ‘The snow leopard bites its own tail’ and Chloe Balcomb with ‘Blether’. Other poets shortlisted were Sarah Barr, Lia Brooks, Wendy Klein, Rebekah Miron and Rosamund Taylor.

All shortlisted poems will be published in the September edition of The Frogmore Papers, available for £5.00 (post free) from:
The Frogmore Press, 21 Mildmay Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1PJ.

Posted on

Frogmore news: Frogmore Papers 95, morphrog 20, and deadline for the Frogmore Poetry Prize 2020

The Frogmore Papers’ 95th number has now been published (ahead of the arrival of spring!) and contains exciting new work from writers of poetry and prose and contemporary artists. The issue features poetry by Sharon Black, D A Prince, Myra Schneider and many more, including translations of work by Italian poets Sara Comuzzo and Paolo Febbraro. There are new translations of the Lesbia poems of Catullus by Isobel Williams, artwork by Leona Akehurst, and flash fiction by Craig Dobson, Matt Gillick, Michael Loveday and Catherine Smith. The issue boasts a striking cover design by Paris-based artist Eva Bodinet and contributions from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland and the USA, making this one of our most international issues ever. The Frogmore Papers number 95 celebrates 37 years of Frogmore and is available post-free from the Press or, for locals, from Sky Lark bookshop in the Needlemakers, Lewes. The submission window for number 96 of the Papers is 1 – 30 April.

morphrog celebrated its tenth birthday in January with the publication of morphrog 20. ‘Poetry in the extreme’ from Michael Bartholomew-Biggs, Sara Comuzzo, Izzy Lamb, Angela Kirby, Chris McDermott, Gerry Stewart, Roger Suffling and Anthony Watts is complemented by stunning photographic images from Martin Kay. The submission window for morphrog 21 is 1–31 May.

And finally a reminder that the deadline for submissions to this year’s Frogmore Poetry Prize is 31 May. Full details are available here. This year’s adjudicator is widely-published Brighton poet Maria Jastrzębska, who will read all entries. The author of the winning poem will receive the sum of two hundred and fifty guineas (£262.50 in new money) and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers as well as joining an illustrious list of past winners. All shortlisted poems will be published in the September edition.

Posted on

Maria Jastrzębska to judge 34th annual Frogmore Poetry Prize (2020)

We are delighted to announce that the Frogmore Prize for 2020 will be adjudicated by poet and translator Maria Jastrzębska.

Maria Jastrzębska

Maria has published four full-length collections of poetry, most recently The True Story of Cowboy Hat and Ingénue, and two pamphlets. She co-founded Queer Writing South and South Pole and co-edited Queer in Brighton with Anthony Luvera. Her poetry featured in the British Library project ‘Poetry Between Two Worlds’ and her drama Dementia Diaries toured nationally to sell-out audiences. Maria will read all entries for the Prize.

The 2019 Frogmore Prize was won by poet and artist Polly Walshe, who joins a long list of winners which includes Sharon Black, Tobias Hill, Mario Petrucci and Lesley Saunders, since its inception in 1987. The winner of the 2020 Prize will receive the sum of two hundred and fifty guineas (£262.50) and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers. Full details are available at www.frogmorepress.co.uk/frogmore-poetry-prize/submission-details-for-frogmore-poetry-prize-2019/.

All shortlisted poems will be published in number 96 of the Frogmore Papers (September 2020).

Posted on

‘Pale Fire – the Moon in Poetry and Art’ at the New Venture Theatre in Brighton on 29 November 2019

If you missed the launch of Pale Fire – New Writing on the Moon earlier this year, here is your second chance to hear from some of the contributors, at a very special venue.
The Moon has inspired lovers, poets and artists since time began and was in fact our first timekeeper. This year it has been 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon. Join us for an evening of lunar poetry hosted in collaboration with the The New Venture Theatre in Brighton.

Writer and editor Alexandra Loske will introduce new and classic writing on the Moon, composed, chosen and read by contemporary poets and NVT members.

Poets performing will be: Jeremy Page, Maria Jastrzębska, John O’Donoghue, Chris Sykes, Stephen Plaice, Chris McDermott, Seema Kapila, Claire Booker, Zel Norwood, Neil Gower and Janet Sutherland.

Friday 29th November 7.45pm (doors open at 7pm)
New Venture Theatre
Bedford Place
Brighton
BN1 2PT