Patricia M Osborne

Patricia’s Pen recently welcomed poet, Gill McEvoy, to celebrate the launch of her new collection Selected Poems published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press. Today she blogs about the collection. Without further ado, it’s over to Gill.

Selected Poems

Gill McEvoy

It is always a great feeling when another of your books comes to life!  And whether it’s a pamphlet or a collection a good deal of hard work goes into preparing it. My inspiration comes from many sources: nature, especially birds and trees; family; trauma (my husband’s illness and death; my own struggle with ovarian cancer), and things I observe. Keeping your ears and eyes open is so important: a chance phrase overheard, a small incident noticed, all can lead to poems.  In this particular selection I have used childhood memories of country life including its cruelties like skinning rabbits, slaughtering your much-loved pig etc. I have drawn on family, uncles, aunts and grandparents; and creatures – bats, bees, fish; other poets; and ending with my favourite – birds.

I try always to form my work into some kind of rough arc shape so that poems flow from one to the other without the reader noticing. So in this ‘Selection’ I have not gathered them in order of collections published but have taken from previous work poems that can sit side by side comfortably. First I write down the titles of all the poems I think might fit in a collection, then I try to group them into subject matter before laying the printed poems out either on the floor or clipped in a folder and then reading aloud to see how they work together. Then I weed out anything that doesn’t feel right.

With my earlier collection Are You Listening? (Hedgehog Press,2020) which was about the loss of my husband, I decided to begin with the actual burial and work backwards from there, through his illness to happier times, and coming at last to forgiveness. That collection was also punctuated with other poems that felt right, poems about Derek Jarman, the war photographer George Rodgers, a poem about an encounter with a gravedigger. No face-to-face in Lockdown so that collection never had a launch!

But this new book is going to be launched at least twice, and I hope to do readings from it as often as I can to make up for that!

About Gill McEvoy

Gill McEvoy began publishing poetry in the 2000’s, previously wrote fiction. Three pamphlets from Happenstance Press, the third of which “The First Telling” won the Michael Marks Award for pamphlet poetry. Two collections from Cinnamon Press: “The Plucking Shed” 2010; “Rise”, 2013.  And from Hedgehog Press “Are You Listening?” 2020) and Selected Poems (2024). Gill’s interests apart from writing are wildlife: she is an active member of a local group, Bee-Wild, which works round her neighbourhood, planting flowers and trees, to encourage insect and bird life. She runs a well-supported monthly poetry reading group to encourage others to enjoy poetry.

To order your signed limited edition you can message Gill via Twitter

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Recent books can be bought from The Hedgehog Poetry Press

(Sadly previous books are all out of print)

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February was a busy month for guest features on Patricia’s Pen. Here’s a chance to catch up before March guests make their entrance.

Opening with Patricia’s Pen’s first art feature was Karen Pierce Gonzalez

followed by another artist feature with Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad

Next we had novelist Lisette Brodey blogging about writing her new release, Twice A Broken Breath.

and closing February’s doors was poet, A R Williams with his brand new release, A Funeral In The Wild.

Patricia’s Pen also hosted three launch features:-
Gill McEvoy with Selected Poems. Gill is also back tomorrow chatting about her poetry.

The Broken Spine with The Whiskey Tree

and Brian McManus with A Tangle of Terror

Watch out for March guests which includes Patricia Pen’s first photography feature

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Book News

House of Grace is seven years old on 8th March 2024. To celebrate this, the price on Amazon Kindle ONLY has been reduced to £1.99 for the rest of March.
Watch out also for reductions for The Coal Miner’s Son fourth birthday on the 9th March 2024 and The Granville Legacy’s third on 17th March 2024. These reductions will be for one week only.

To order on Kindle go HERE – Also available to download if you’re enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.

Please join me in congratulating, poet, A R Williams, as he celebrates the launch of his new poetry collection, A Funeral in the Wild. He has come along to Patricia’s Pen to share his creative journey, so without further ado it’s over to A R Williams.

My Creative Journey

A R Williams

My creative journey began in early childhood with a paintbrush in hand, quickly turning drawing and painting into my first loves. Yet, as I grew, so did my interests, evolving into a keen fascination with music. By my middle school years, I learned to play drums, and before long, I picked up the guitar too. This musical passion led me to join various alternative rock bands in high school, marking a significant development in my creative path.

Transitioning from high school, I immersed myself in academia, eventually earning a PhD from Bangor University in Wales. It was during this intense period of study that I found myself yearning for a more creative outlet in writing, beyond the confines of merely academic writing. Taking a leap into poetry, I discovered a new direction for my creativity that would forever change its trajectory.

In recent years, I’ve taken on the role of editing the East Ridge Review, focusing on showcasing monthly features of poets and their latest poetry books. My goal has been to spotlight fresh, deserving work from incredibly talented writers. This journey into the world of poetry editing has been deeply rewarding, connecting me with some truly remarkable poets.

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The most recent milestone in my writing is the publication of my debut chapbook, Funeral in the Wild. This collection, centered around memory, relationships, and a sense of place, varies in tone from gentle musings to deep inquiries and moments of vulnerability. Publishing this chapbook with Kelsay Books has been a highlight of my journey, and I’m deeply proud of the work.

In terms of style, I gravitate towards crafting concise, imagery-laden lyric poems, blending imagism with lyricism. Inspired by literary giants like Robert Bly, Jane Kenyon, William Stafford, and James Wright, I strive for simplicity and clarity in language that captures emotional depth and reveals the extraordinary in everyday life.

About A R Williams

A.R. Williams is a poet from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley (USA). His poetry has been published widely in various journals and magazines and is the author of Funeral in the Wild (Kelsay Books, 2024). He is also the editor of East Ridge Review.

Find out more about A R Williams and his writing on the following links.

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East Ridge Review (website)

Order your copy of A Funeral In The Wild via Kelsay Books –

or via

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Please join me in congratulating my poetry buddy, Brian McManus, on the launch of his Little Black Book – A Tangle of Terror, published by the awesome The Hedgehog Poetry Press.

A Tangle of Terror – Selected Poems

This short volume of poetry reflects on the aftermath of two of the very distressing terrorist incidents experienced in the U.K, and one which was allegedly conceived and considered but ultimately never executed in the U.S.A. Poems are drawn from the Lockerbie bombing of 1988, the 7/7 London subway attacks in 2005 and the potential fallout from the insurrection at the United States Capitol in Washington in 2021.

‘A Tangle of Terror is not only gripping, but powerful and poignant. Several of the poems brought me to tears. Highly recommend you order a copy.‘ (Patricia M Osborne)

And if you still need convincing, here’s one of the poems as a teaser. Get your tissues ready!

How to order your limited edition signed copy via Brian McManus

Special Launch Price of £3.50 FREE postage and packaging (UK) Other countries check p&p cost when ordering.

Email Brian on brianmcm999@gmail.com

or send Direct Message via Twitter

About Brian McManus

Brian McManus is a former Serious Crime Squad detective officer and latterly served as a Senior Operations Manager with a Richard Branson media company.

Brian has been nominated for the Pushcart Poetry Prize and a further volume of poetry written in partnership with the prize-winning poet and novelist Patricia M. Osborne will be forthcoming from Hedgehog Poetry in due course.

I’m delighted to welcome back the lovely author, Lisette Brodey, to Patricia’s Pen. On this blog, Lisette discusses her latest release Twice A Broken Breath. Without further ado, it’s over to Lisette.

Writing Twice A Broken Breath

Lisette Brodey

DO WE TELL STORIES … or do stories tell us?

I’ve been interviewing authors, both indie and traditionally published, for over a dozen years. One of the most interesting things is how very differently we all approach the writing process. Many authors say that their characters often lead them down a different path than expected. Others believe that approach is nonsense, and that as authors, we have complete control over our characters. Honestly, I think both views are correct.

I would hope that every author does have final control over what ends up in their manuscript. Some finish with a story as originally envisioned. Others end up with one that is very different because, during the writing process, the characters and their interactions go in surprising directions. Does the story have a mind of its own? Who knows? But, I believe that no matter how we choose to define the process, yes, in the end, we do control what we put out there. I’d be lying, however, if I didn’t say some surprising elements creep into my stories that I don’t always credit myself for having written. As many authors have said, “It’s like taking dictation.”

I’ve published thirteen books. For me, the writing of each novel has been different. A few of them I thought I couldn’t possibly finish (but I did), and some books are easier than others.

GETTING TO KNOW OUR CHARACTERS

My latest novel, Twice a Broken Breath, is a suspense thriller, which begins in Trenton, New Jersey, where Liam lives with his wife, Carly, and their eight-year-old daughter, Rayelle. The story takes off when Liam learns that Carly has cleaned out their bank accounts, taken Rayelle, and plans to leave the country in twenty-four hours with her first love. Hopping on a train to New York City, Carly’s home town, Liam begins a frantic search through the never-ending rain to find his beloved daughter.

Neither Liam nor I knew what would happen once he arrived in New York. I put the ball in his court, and he came through. As he gets off the train at Penn Station, he says, “I’m in a huge hurry. If only I knew where I was going.”

In my own life, when things are overwhelming, I subscribe to the one-day-at-a-time adage. It’s tough not to catastrophize when worried, but focusing solely on the next step is often the only sane way to reel in our fear. And this is what Liam does. He finds a place to start. And he keeps going. Step by frantic step.

Before I wrote the first page, I spent a full month on Liam’s back story.

That was a necessity. Of course, as I got to know him throughout the writing, his backstory changed to align with his character. He’s one of the most interesting characters I’ve created in my books, unlike anyone I know. He didn’t let me in right away. I wrote and deleted a great deal of dialogue until his character was clear—or as clear as it could be during such a time of turmoil. And when a character doesn’t know themselves, that can make an author’s job tougher.

WHERE TO SET THE STORY

I couldn’t imagine setting this story anywhere but New York City, where I lived for ten years. With a ubiquitous electric air and a frenetic pace unlike any other city I’ve known, Twice A Broken Breath belonged here. My previous novel, All That Was Taken, is set in a sleepy beach town on the California coast. The settings couldn’t be more different, but each setting called to the respective stories and the secrets long held.

Lastly, as my characters help me a great deal while writing books, I must admit, they’ve been utterly useless in writing this blog. I think it’s time we have a chat.

About Lisette Brodey

Lisette Brodey was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. She spent ten years in New York City, and now resides in Los Angeles. She’s a multigenre author of thirteen novels, writing character-driven stories about flawed people. Having worked in the entertainment industry off and on throughout her life, she has been member of SAG-AFTRA since 2012 and works occasionally as a background actor.

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Please join me in congratulating The Broken Spine on the launch of this gorgeous anthology, The Whiskey Tree.

The Whiskey Tree is a vibrant collection of poems that delve deep into the myriad facets of nature and human experience. Curated by Alan Parry, it features diverse poets, each offering a unique lens through which we can view the natural world. From Alan Parry’s Mother of Seas to Anne Walsh Donnelly’s A North Mayo Blessing, The Whiskey Tree traverses a landscape rich in emotion and imagery. It’s an expedition into the heart of our natural world, inviting readers to lose themselves in the untamed wilds of poetic imagination.

Featured Poets

Anne Walsh Donnelly, from the west of Ireland, adds a bold and experimental style to TWT. Her work explores rural Irish life, giving voice to the voiceless. Her previous works include The Woman With An Owl Tattoo and Odd as F*ck.

Matthew M. C. Smith, a Welsh writer from Swansea, contributes insights into landscape, history, and identity. His works like Origin: 21 Poems and The Keeper of Aeons reflect his deep connection to Welsh culture.

Morag Anderson, a Scottish poet, enriches TWT with her award-winning poetry rooted in Scottish landscapes. Her debut chapbook is Sin Is Due to Open in a Room Above Kitty’s.

Karen Pierce Gonzalez brings a unique blend of creative writing and anthropological insights, with works such as Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs and Family Folktales.

Vikki C., a British poet and musician, infuses TWT with themes of science, spirituality, and existentialism, as seen in her chapbook The Art of Glass Houses.

Order your copy via Amazon or directly from the authors. Select independent bookstores local to the writers will also stock copies.

The Whiskey Tree will be launched on the 17th February 2024 through a ticketed online event featuring several poets from the collection, alongside open mic spots for readings on the theme of unbridled nature.

Tickets via Eventbrite may be ordered HERE. The event hosted on Zoom, promises to be a celebration of poetry and community.

Contact Links

For media inquiries, contact Alan Parry at The Broken Spine

Twitter – Alan Parry

Twitter – The Broken Spine

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Email: mail@thebrokenspine.co.uk

Individual authors are also available for interviews

Please join me in congratulating poet, Gill McEvoy, on the launch of her poetry collection Selected Poems published by the awesome The Hedgehog Poetry Press.

The Hedgehog Poetry Press are proud to be able to share with you, the Selected Poems of one of the UK’s finest poets, Gill McEvoy.

Taking work from collections published by Happenstance Press, Cinnamon Press and the Hedgehog Poetry Press, Selected Poems shows a genius for finding the beauty in the everyday, and a perspective entirely her own. This is a masterful collection of work covering twenty years of the career of a poet that is truly unique.

Here’s a little taster to the collection.

Signed Copies are available direct from Gill McEvoy via Twitter and Facebook

Gill McEvoy will return to Patricia’s Pen on 5th March 2024 when she’ll discuss her writing.

I’m delighted to welcome artist and poet, Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad, to Patricia’s Pen. For this blog, Oormila is sharing details about her artwork. You’re going to love it.

My Artwork

Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad

Painting is my favorite form of therapy. When I find myself in a rut, I take my art supplies out and play around. The disquiet just melts away. Making art, for me, is the way to feel centered and grounded.

I have been painting for as long as I can remember. Even though I have never been to art school, I had many wonderful mentors at different points in my life who helped shape my practice. I find inspiration in everyday sights and scenes, and these are the main subjects in my work.

Song for Wintering, 8.5″x 13.5″ mixed-media on canvas grain paper, painted in response to Kaitlyn Bancroft’s poem of the same title. Published as a broadside by Thimble Literary Magazine.

In the early 2000s I used to be an IB English teacher. When I quit teaching to be a full-time mum to my kids and moved to Singapore, I took up painting seriously. I set up a studio space, and embarked on a-painting-a-day goal for a few years. I also started exhibiting my paintings at local galleries.

When I emigrated to Australia in 2015, I joined an amazing group called Art Together. We were a bunch of artists who painted together every week at a pub in the city. Then a chance meeting on a train with a nurse who worked at a renal hospital, resulted in a three-year gig where I taught painting to elderly patients while they underwent dialysis. I found immense joy in this art-therapy undertaking. The patients and I created over 50 paintings together which we exhibited in a gallery space. Eventually, I started teaching art to young kids at an after-school program. Then Covid struck and I lost my job. And a lot of things changed for me and my creative practice—I discovered the exciting universe of literary magazines and started publishing both art and poetry in journals and anthologies. I also moved away from my impressionistic roots and began dabbling in collage and mixed-media.

Dragonfly, 8″x11.5″ mixed-media on canvas grain paper.

I love vibrant, bright colors. I am an optimistic person at my core, and I want my art to affirm life, to celebrate the beautiful moments. I like to make pretty things from waste materials and scraps. I have several shelves in my studio that are stacked with what most people would call junk: assorted wrapping papers, packaging tissues, cloth bits, lace trimmings, and all sorts of random odds and ends. I love to mix and match these in my artworks, experiment, and explore the possibilities.

Hill Street, 8.5″ x12″ mixed-media on canvas grain paper.

I am deeply inspired by the works of Carol Marine, Froyle Davies, Mike Bernard, Elizabeth St. Hilaire, Carol Nelson, and France Papillon. I am a life-long student, keen to pick up new skills and techniques, always looking to improve and try new things. I value the process of creating more than the finished piece. I often donate my works to fundraisers and charities I love. I am very grateful for this gift of expression I’ve been given—art has helped me navigate life’s vicissitudes, connect with people, and above all, find peace and purpose.

About Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad

Oormila is an Indian-Australian artist, poet, and improv pianist. Her art has been featured on the covers of several journals including Pithead Chapel, Stonecoast Review, and Amsterdam Quarterly Yearbook. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and multiple times for the Best of the Net in both art and writing categories, and was a finalist in the Dai Fry Memorial Award for Mystical Poetry 2022. Her poetry book, Patchwork Fugue, is forthcoming from Atomic Bohemian Press (Wales) in February 2024. She lives and works in Sydney on traditional Gammeragal land.

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I’m delighted to welcome back, poet, Karen Pierce Gonzalez to Patricia’s Pen. Karen is also an artist and today she’s here to discuss her artwork. You’re going to love it!

Karen’s Artwork

Karen Pierce Gonzalez

For this blog, I decided to focus on only one of the natural elements I work with.

I’m not a trained artist. My artwork is an intuitive conversation I often have with elements of the natural world. The result of this interplay with whatever I discover when outdoors is always a surprise because the journeys we take together are not scripted. I really don’t knowwhat the outcome will be.

The walnuts, similar to most of the other tree-related art I make are what remains. As shown in the group photograph, they’re what’s been left behind after serving their primary purpose (tasty inner meat for crows and squirrels).

How they start

I find them along The Laguna de Santa Rosa path, near where I live in the North San Francisco Bay Area. This particular one-mile strip of packed earth is a favorite spot for local walkers, joggers, and bicyclists. What that means for the walnut shells is that they are often further fractured by human traffic.

Walnut

The fragments I bring home dry in sunlight streaming in from my studio’s south facing window. : Like so many other aspects of my life, where I have learned to ‘make do’ with what I have at hand, I dialogue with these walnuts using a limited supply of art materials.

When I am ready to begin working with them, I always reach for whichever color I am drawn to. I experience this as a sensation of being thirsty for a particular shade or hue. Usually I start with a standard colored pencil then move onto watercolor based pencils, then perhaps onto glitter or thin sticks of oil pastel for texture.

Shell half-life

Over time, and because I have collected a whole tray of these bits  in various shapes and sizes, I began to explore with other materials, such as  ink tense and metallic pencils which, I discovered, offer deep degrees of color, and acrylic paints which can add another dimension of texture.

However, what matters the most to me is the joy I feel when creating these pieces. Partly because I am always in awe of how the colors highlight certain cavernous qualities otherwise unnoticed, but also because I can make something ‘broken’ whole, and beautiful beyond my expectations.

Basically, the final piece is a collaboration, a give and take in which the shells take in color and give back a new level of being, a new life.

After the Feast

These are small, ranging in size from .75 to 1.5 inches (1.90 – 3.81 cm) in height. And, as such, it is difficult to show them in galleries as I have larger works of found nature, etc. So I  photograph them and share them in on my website and related websites like the National Arts Program (USA) and on social media platforms. This year I plan to also submit them to literary journals where I hope they’ll be as well-received as my pine cone and bark pieces have been.

Still in the Sea

About Karen Pierce Gonzalez

Karen Pierce Gonzalez’s visual artistry focuses primarily on assemblage art from elements found in nature. To date, 50+ of her art images, including six cover images, have been or are scheduled to be published in a range of literary journals/magazines. In March her larger textile-related pieces will be on display at the Vallejo Museum and in April she has been invited to share 31 of her art pieces in The Wombwell Rainbow’s National Poetry Month Ekphrastic Challenge.

An award-winning writer, Karen’s work has appeared in numerous print and online publications, radio, and podcasts. Her chapbooks include Coyote in the Basket of My Ribs (Kelsay Books), True North and Sightings from a Star Wheel (Origami Poems Project), and forthcoming Down River with Li Po (Black Cat Poetry Press). Details of a fifth collection are currently under discussion with a North American publisher.

Find out more about Karen’s art and writing over on her website HERE

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January was a full on month for guest features on Patricia’s Pen. Here are the links again for all features in the event you missed them, or you might like to read them all over again.

Poet Julian Day kicked off the new year on 9th January 2024 with his poetry feature. Go HERE

Next up in line was author Mary L Schmidt chatting about her new release. Go HERE

Patricia’s Pen’s first artist feature came from Giuseppina Brandi. Go HERE

And to complete the month Patricia’s Pen returned to poetry with Corinna Board blogging about her new release. Go HERE

February is another full on month with two features from artists, an author discussing her latest novel release, and a poet chatting about his new poetry collection. Why not subscribe to the blog so you never miss a post?

February Guest Features

6th February 2024 – Karen Pierce Gonzalez (Artist Feature)

13th February 2024 – Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad (Artist Feature)

20th February 2024 – Lisette Brodey (Author)

27th February 2024 – A R Williams (Poet)

Did you know that all my novels are available to read for FREE on Kindle Unlimited? Or you can buy on Kindle or in Paperback.

You can find out more about them HERE – UK HERE – (.com) or if you don’t like ordering from Amazon the paperback can be ordered via any bookstore. Haven’t got any funds? Check with your local library and ask them to order my books in.

My poetry books published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press, available from my website shop, are signed limited editions. They can be purchased via Amazon but the quality isn’t the same. The poetry books may also be ordered in bookstores or via your local library.

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