Other writers operate in different ways, but as a poet more
and more nowadays I tend to write my poems (apart from little poems which pop
out with no place) designed to go into folders.
Some of these folders will likely never get finished into
books / sequences etc and some have been going on as far back as my first book
‘Return to Kemptown’ or even longer, but thought some of you may find it
interesting how my head works with my poems at the moment.
1) Mystery
Stories…. Last year, Orgiami Press published six short poems of mine into a
tiny little chapbook, all stories in the framework of six little poems. Plan
now is to write another six to send over to them later on this year (Currently
have three done).
Completion date – Maybe end of Summer.
2) Europa
II. Just over a year, Nick Armbrister a fellow anti war poet like me approached
me to do a split book with him on Anti War Poetry called Europa. After a long
break, I am now ready to write a second book with him called Europa II. My
plans this year are to write around 20 to 25 short poems, all based from
research on stories in the prisoner of war camps in the Second World War.
Completion date - Currently I am on my 7th poem for this
but I reckon another year or so this should be done and maybe out for next Autumn
(2016).
3) From
the Diabetic Ward. This originally was going to be my second full length book
instead of the end of summer inspired by Hugo Williams topic on his own health,
but this book at the time proved very hard to write as it involved writing in more
detail than I was really ready to write about it (It took some time to accept
the changes Diabetes enforced on me). However, it is now ongoing and I would
like to write say 40 or so poems on it.
Completion date - Currently am on my 8th, so some distance
to go but would like to get this finished some day.
4) Nightmare
on the tracks. The plan for this to write an epic poem told in Chapters of what
happens what a man stumbles into something he shouldn’t have done on a walk
through some meadows.
Completion date - I think at the moment, it is around 25 pages or
so so it’s certainly over half way (Aiming for around 40 pages or so) or at the
end of Chapter three (Aiming for 5 Chapters), so we’ll see if and when this
gets done but it’s looking good.
5) The
Beast within. If I complete Nightmare on the tracks, I do have an idea brewing
for the above which will be a sequel set on a camping trip.
Completion date – watch this space.
6) A
Means to an End II (Or Songbook). Now my band ‘A Means to an End’ is almost finished,
it is looking likely an album will follow before the end of Summer. If this
goes to plan, I will release a little book (Only Short) containing the lyrics
to a lot of the more well known lyrics the band has done including ‘Return to
Kemptown’, ‘Leaving Belfast’ and ‘Tandle Hill’ been just three that I wrote
either the lyrics for or the bulk off it and offer it free as a download from
where you can download the album from. Watch this space for this baby.
Completion date – Autumn maybe.
On-top of this, I will carry on with my podcasting on
http://andyn.bandcamp.com/. Plans include
currently to do podcasts monthly for my split book with Jeff Dawson (aka Jeff
Dawson) from 2011, A Means to an End, a selection of pieces from my love songs
for Cathy (done with permission) and Europa (with Nick Armbrister). Once I have
got these completed, I will then move onto some of the above and would like to
do eventually do podcasts of new and older revisited poems on a monthly basis.
I am also carrying on with my Ocean in a Bottle eps on a
monthly basis too, (
https://oceaninabottle.bandcamp.com/)
although it is looking less likely they will be less Piano for the next few
months as I want to do some ambience based material for a bit now as the next
two will be called ‘Homage to Aphex’ and ‘Conversations with the Dead’ (Demos
have already been done for both).
Sadly my band ‘A Means to an End’ has finished but not
before doing a nice gig as a goodbye the other week which I do have a nice
recording off (Will upload soon) and also will record an album over the summer.
And I will want to keep submitting to magazines / journals
etc.
