So this Saturday, I had a wonderful time performing with poets Dan Holloway, Fay Roberts, Paul Askew, Anna McCrory, Laila Sumpton, James Webster and Tina Sederholm as part of the Chipping Norton Literary festival’s fringe.

Ringmaster Dan Holloway

We were performing under the banner of the New Libertines, a fluid troupe masterminded by Dan which is starting to take Festivals by storm. The idea is to gather a large-ish group of poets for short fiery sets of poetry. The format worked really well on Saturday, and showcased the varied voices gathered by Dan. From the plosive Fay to the provocative Tina, from Laila’s archaeological poetry to Paul’s arch surrealism, from Dan and James’ moving sets to Anna’s uproarious ode to geekdom.

Laila Sumpton

Dan summarizes the new Libertines as such:

“The New Libertine movement, if it can be labelled a movement, stands for human experience in its glorious, messy, complex entirity, and stands against everything that is blank, bleak, and brutal, one dimensional or slick in contemporary culture, especially current literary culture. With roots that spread to burlesque, Beat, fin de siecle France and ecstatic mystics before slapping its influences around the face with a knuckle-dusting of postmodern wit and Modernist anger, New Libertinism is a celebration of light in dark corners, desire in the face of boredom, despair hidden beneath the underskirts of affluence – of everything it means to be human.

We need writing that serves up the whole of life, in the smallest microcosms maybe, single truths told in single voices, but told in the full – the ugly and the beautiful; the hopeful and the despairing; the angry and the aspiring; that wrings art, words, life itself until they offer up every last secret, every hidden pain, every unexpected and delightful pleasure; that gives life in the full. Free from judgement. Free from taboo. Free from pretence.”

Paul Askew

Well, all I can say is that you should keep your eyes out for further appearances of the New Libertines by following Dan’s website, eight cuts.

Penning Perfumes is my latest poetic adventure, created in collaboration with the wonderful Odette Toilette, who runs Scratch and Sniff Events in London. Sometime around the end of 2011 I became excited by the idea of pairing poets with perfumers and creating an event that combined the two. It luckily turned out that Odette was on exactly the same wavelength and thus, the project was born.

We have sent twelve poets an anonymous flask of perfume, from which they must create a poem. In turn we are also sending six poets to perfumers all over the country for a collaborative exchange. These perfumers will be creating a scent based on a poem donated by the poet at the meeting. The poets involved include Lavinia Greenlaw, Tim Wells, David Morley, Valerie Laws and many others, each with their own unique take on scents.

If you want to hear and smell the result of these exchanges, then do come to a special Scratch and Sniff event at the Book Club, London on 12th June 2012. Book now!

We will also be publishing a poetry pamphlet, which will be on sale at the event, and subsequently available to purchase in bookshops and online.

You can find out more on the website, here.

We are very kindly sponsored by Seven Scents and funded by IdeasTap!

The anthology Adventures in Form: a Compendium of Poetic Forms, Rules and Constraints (Penned in the Margins, 2012) in which a poem of mine appears alongside the work of 45 other poets has been selected as a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation!

Buy it now!

Well I’ve got quite a few good pieces of news to announce.

Firstly, I am in the upcoming anthology Lung Jazz: Young British Poets for Oxfam. I’m in really quite excellent company and looking forward to reading at its Manchester launch in May. There will be other launches including two in London, here are the details:

“Cinnamon Press @ The Poetry Library for the launch of Lung Jazz
Join five of the most talented young poets writing today on Wednesday May 2nd
@ The Poetry Library, Level 5, Royal Festival Hall
Please note due to limited space the poetry library needs to know the guest list, all welcome, but please let them know you would like to attend: specialedition@poetrylibrary.org.uk

or join us for the Oxfam Celebration Fundraiser
with ten poets reading from Lung Jazz
on Wednesday May 16th @ Goodenough College
in the heart of Bloomsbury – more details to follow”

Next I’m excited to say that my poetry will be appearing in a couple of other anthologies: Coin Opera 2, Birdbook 2 and Adventures in Form.

To top it all off, I have upcoming publications in three splendid publications: Epicentre, The Morning Star, and Ink, Sweat and Tears.

Things have taken a decidedly Cornish turn here, with my poem ‘Fest Noz’ accepted in the next issue of Poetry Cornwall. It will appear next to a translation of it in Breton by my fellow Bretonne and translator extraordinaire Marianna Donnart. On top of this, my poem ‘The Cornish Owlman’ will appear in the magazine’s upcoming anthology celebrating all that is Cornish.

In other news, the Perfume & Poetry Night of 12th June is plodding along nicely and I’ve plotted some exciting new events to take place in Beaconsfield in April to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Come to the tastiest poetry reading on 18th January at The Bell, London.

I’ll be reading alongside the (very) aptly-named special guest Liz Berry, and fellow contributors Jo Bell, Luigi Coppola and Dorothy Fryd. It’s free! There’ll be poetry-cake!

I should probably use this to round-up in various ways the year, but frankly, you’re probably bored of those kinds of posts so I’ll keep it short and sweet!

-Check out a top ten of poetry pamphlets that I did for Sabotage. It’s based on a mixture of personal taste, and suggestions from various people after a call-out on twitter and facebook.

-The next and final Beaconsfield poetry reading series event for a while will be on 11 January, at the Royal Standard. Do come, we have a fantastic line-up including Mark Waldron, Mark Burnhope, Lucy Ayrton, Lily Morris and two special guests… The theme is Shipwrecked Poetry though, as always, we welcome poetry on any theme for the open mic… Entry is free and the evening will start at 7.30pm!

-My next poetry reading will be for the launch and degustation of the latest issue of the Poetry Digest on 18 January at The Bell, London.

After this I am taking a break from the Poetry scene to concentrate on finishing my PhD but I can already tell you that I am plotting an exciting collaborative event between Poetry and Perfumes with Scratch + Sniff on 12th June. Put it down in your diaries, we’ve enlisted some fantastic poets…

Very pleased to announce that I’ll be reading at Aubin & Wills (Notting Hill) this coming Wednesday 14th alongside fellow Warwick alumni James Brookes, and poets Tamar Yoseloff and Luke Wright. The evening starts at 7pm and will be free. I am reliably informed that there are minced pies if you like that sort of thing, but more importantly there will be POETRY. Refreshments will be provided.

Here is the beautiful poster:

The nearest tube is Westbourne Park / Notting Hill Gate

Two reports are now up on Lyrical Badlads, hosted by Eight Cuts Galllery and Adventures Close to Home at Modern Art Oxford on 12th November 2011. Eight Cuts’ report can be found here, where Dan Holloway says that I

“whooped it up with some fabulous audience participation and the sensuality of the Seine.”

Elsewhere, on Sabotage, Alex Campbell also reviews the night. This is what she says about me:

“Claire Trévien was another highlight of the evening, in particular her poem Singbird, which is the first poem with audience participation that I have heard which actually works. The gradual encroachment of the audience’s lines on the poet’s is a brilliant and effective metaphor for the stealing and silencing of women’s voices, and one which came across loud and clear, without being patronising. The use of the tabla against Belleville and Listening to Charles Ives was also more effective than with the earlier, impromptu, poems; perhaps because the performers were more experienced, perhaps because the tone of the poems was more reflective, and the drum provided a quiet heart-beat counterpoint.”

In other news, I am so excited about the upcoming poetry night in Beaconsfield. If you live nearby do come!

This won’t be out until Spring 2012, but I’m very proud of it, so thought I’d share the front cover. Two of my poems, on the Ruff and Red-Breasted Merganser respectively, will feature in this Sidekick Books anthology:

The first Birdbook is out now and is a truly excellent mix of illustrations and poetry by writers such as Emily Hasler, Rachael Allen, Simon Barraclough, the aptly named Julia Bird, Roddy Lumsden, and Chrissy Williams among many others.

The brains behind Sidekick Books are also the editors of Fuselit, a gorgeous themed and hand-crafted magazine, and coincidentally one of my very first publications (the poem was ‘The Vixen’s Wail’ for the Fox issue).

I have only good things to say about editors Kirsten Irving and Jon Stone, unlike many editors they provide thorough feedback. They are also excellent poets in their own rights with forthcoming collections with Salt Publishing. I reviewed one of their collaborative pamphlets here if you want an easy introduction into their work.