Forthcoming Appearances at Tears in The Fence festival and Reading in London: Hey UK here I come!

October is the perfect month to head to the UK--as I am eternally reminded of Dylan Thomas' poem "Especially when the October Wind" which begins:

 Especially when the October wind
 With frosty fingers punishes my hair,
 Caught by the crabbing sun I walk on fire
 And cast a shadow crab upon the land,(...)

And so I am off to partake in two UK events:

I) 24-26 October 2014: The festivities at the TEARS IN THE FENCE festival in Stourpaine, Dorset starting Friday evening then going all day long from 24-26 October: see http://tearsinthefence.com/festival/ for info, such as the Saturday events starting at 10am with readings by Featured poets: John Freeman, Lucy Hamilton, and Peter Hughes, A talk by Ian Brinton afternoon readings by Featured poets: Dorothy Lehane, Steve Spence, and Pansy Maurer-Alvarez, A talk by Anthony Barnett then our Round Table: 25 Oct Round Table at 5pm: I will be chairing a round table debate (with Jennifer K Dick, Richard Makin and Jeff Hill) on the theme of my regular TITF column "OF TRADITION AND EXPERIMENT" (see below a paragraph with details on that event). 26 Oct Reading: I will be reading some new work, some of which appeared in a recent TITF issue, and perhaps a touch of the old as well. I am thrilled to be reading with many exciting poets, including: Featured poets: (myself Jennifer K Dick, with) Carrie Etter, Cora Greenhill, and Richard Makin as well as those dubbed "Open readings" such as by: David Andrew, Andrew Henon, Ric Hool, Morag Kiziewicz, Mandy Pannett, and Aidan Semmens. So many poets I love, and a few I will have the pleasure of discovering (such as Ric Hool!) This festival will also be a BOOK FAIR--so come with your moolah and a cart for books you want to drag home!

II) 30 Oct 2014 at 7:30pm: READING at The Apple Tree in London (as the "opening act" I

keep saying to friends) with the amazing authors Eleni Sikelianos and Laird Hunt. Series run by UK poets Jeff Hilson + Sean Bonney. AT: Xing the Line: The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell WC1X 2AE. Entry fee £5 or £3. To keep up on the event, check out the Xing the Line FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/140494812663758/

Info on the Round Table event for Tears in the Fence:

Round Table: Of Tradition and Experiment. To celebrate 30 years of Tears in the Fence a magazine featuring international authors writing in a diverse range of aesthetic and formal styles, join us at 5pm on Oct 25th in Stourpaine, Dorset, UK for this round table discussion on issues of tradition and “avant-gardism” today. Authors Jennifer K Dick, Richard Makin and Jeff Hilson will present, dialogue and discuss some of their issues as authors, publishers and readers with tradition and experiment as well as comment on how they see this issue both on a national (UK) level and on an international scale. Topics will include literary homage, formal choice and language use. We will close with a debate on the new newness—what we think is or isn’t just over the literary horizon! Participants are invited to read the article in issue 60 of Tears in the Fence as an amuse-bouche prepping for the discussion. We hope you will all participate in this lively debate and round table discussion!!!