This week, two of our editors were invited to talk about Under Milk Wood on the radio in advance of International Dylan Thomas Day on 14th May. We were also joined by Matthew Hedley Stoppard, the Otley Town Poet, who discussed Town Under The Steps, his own radio play and homage to Under Milk Wood. The show can be heard on internet catch-up here. We have also organised the Leeds event for #dylanday on Sunday and the details can be found on Facebook here.

APRIL POEMS OF THE MONTH

We received a lot of votes this month, and the winner of the READERS’ CHOICE POEM was:

Care – by Andrew Turner

Andrew will be getting his customary prize mug in due course.

The EDITOR’S CHOICE POEM was selected by Carole Bromley. Her winning choice was

Action Man is 50 – by Duncan Chambers

She commented that “I chose Action Man is 50 for its economy and wit, its arresting title and punchy ending.”

As well as her winning poem she singled out a few more that she especially enjoyed from the April selection – The Echo Chamber by Matt Duggan, First Date by Lesley Quayle, Winter storm and glow-worms by Noel Whittall, Care by Andrew Turner, Oldham:1970 by Marg Roberts, Allotment by Vivien Jones and Jeff’s Watch by Julian Dobson.

All of those poems mentioned will be in issue 4 of the Algebra of Owls quarterly anthology, which will be available through the website at the beginning of June.

ATRIUM POETRY

Atrium Poetry is a recent addition to the growing poetry e-zine scene in the UK. It is edited by two former contributors to Algebra of Owls, Claire Walker and Holly Magill, and is well worth checking out.

Their first published poem was by another AoO stalwart, Oz Hardwick, and was particularly wonderful. You can read it here.

STRIX MAGAZINE

We have also recently heard that two other Leeds poets, Ian Harker and Andrew Lambeth have teamed up to launch a brand new poetry print magazine, Strix. The mock-ups of the new magazine look absolutely gorgeous, and if you are interested, here is the blurb on how to submit.

“So do you want to be in the first issue? Send us some stuff – poetry and short fiction. The submission window closes on 31st May. The first issue will launch in Leeds on Saturday 1st July. Email us (Word attachments preferred): strixleeds@gmail.com

Up to 3 poems, max 40 lines each.
Up to 1,000 words of fiction.

The work must be your own, and must not have appeared in print or online before. Please include a short bio (100 words). Each contributor will receive a free copy of the magazine.”