Thanks (& so the days grow longer...!)

What is life, but a dream? Sometimes the thing can seem so harassed and bloodied, and heavy and terse, that we forget this. But, recently, I've been feeling it. Life's lighter, sunnier... So much so, that I can almost see through my own arms. Things are not as solid as they were. I see things more as motes of dust, rather than stones being thrown.

Earlier in the year, however, there were whole clouds of dust, and at the time every mote felt more like a comet than a crumb: a planet, rather than a particle. Now that I am seeing things in a sunnier light, I would like to thank all the people who were supportive during the time when I was having trouble with this... I was also pretty ill with a swift succession of kidney infections, which didn't much help matters.

So! My sincerest thank yous to......

Lisette, the bestest housemate ever! Nothing like a straight-talking Cockney wench to help you see things straight.

Fiona, the wise and beautiful dancing sprite, for sleep overs and advice and energising dance classes.

Kevin, who has a heart of gold, despite being a filthy, funny fucker (watch this clip!).

Cheers, also, to hep-cat Nicholas and cool-cat Marsha, simply for existing; to my sister Linds and brother Mao for their timely advice; to Emma Syrup and Will Ford, for listening when I ranted on; and also to the various ladies who I bumped into when distressed, and who were very nice to me: Sheryl; Coral; Yin; and everyone else.

Thanks to all my lovely, funny Facebook friends - FB gets a bad rap, like 'it's not real life' and that, but conversing/interacting with so many sweethearts *did* help, and *does* make a happy difference to my life.

Thanks to my meditation/healing group for being like little sparks of sunshine in a dark, dark world, and for showing me where and how to find the Light in myself :-)

Apologies to all the many people I did not get back to, esp. Jack Pascoe and Rachel Jones - I hope you will forgive me!

Thanks to the 'friends' who got in a huff/struck out when I was feeling low, really glad you've fucked off/I've told you to fuck off/I don't see you anymore! :-)

Thanks to Buzz Magazine for being so understanding and giving me some great opportunities this year, and to Write Out Loud (esp Greg Freeman) for allowing me to blog for them.

Thanks to Chapter Arts Centre, for hosting PechaKucha Night; and to Annie Haden at the Dylan Thomas Birthplace for being so kind and supportive.

Thank you to everyone who supported my cultural trip to Japan earlier in the year. See the full list of people who helped fund the trip here: but I would also like to thank those two who funded the most money (because I said I'd write a blog about you, and I havent yet): marvellous performance poet Anthony Fairweather and the super-talented singer-songwriter Cheryl Beer. 

Thanks also to Cheryl for asking me to perform at the wonderful Celtic Women festival.

And to Luke Wright, who helped sponsor my trip *and* booked me for the Latitude Festival, which was great fun.

To Leona Medlin of Mulfran Press for the lovely, poet-y London trip.

Thanks to Hirono Chikako of the Kansai St David's Society for asking me to perform at their festival in Osaka, Japan, and to photographer Rhys Jones for recommending me.

Thanks to the National Botanic Garden of Wales (David Hardy, in particular) for having me as their first ever Poet in Residence.

To Steven, for driving me to the Latitude Festival; for the sweet moments; and for making me realise I prefer dogs to cats.

And to many other people, too many to mention here!!! You know who you are, though!!! Much love to you, and a very happy Winter Solstice to you all!!!!! xxx

Five Words for Christmas

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important. ~ Gary Provost

Recent Adventures #1: Swindon Lit Fest & Aunty Beeb

Because I am constantly having lots of poet-y adventures, and always getting caught up in the midst of multiple activities, and am a bit of social can't-believe-it's-not-butterfly with too-many-things to see/hear/do, actually settling down to write about these adventures is often a little bit tricky.

Happy in Swindon

However, for your delectation and delight, and having found a few minute minutes to spare, I thought I would put pinkies to paper (well, laptop) and let you know about a few of the more recent, rather more exciting occurrences in Mabville.

First up, I performed at the Swindon Festival of Literature as part of a BBC Radio 4 show called Wondermentalist. This is described as a "comedy-infused, musically-enhanced poetry cabaret" and is presented by the very witty Mr Matt Harvey. The music comes courtesy of the super-talented Jerri Hart, who I bumped into at the hotel we'd all been booked into just as I was leaving for the gig. The other guest this time was the incredibly clever and funny Alex Horne.

A short taxi trip later and we were at Swindon Arts Centre, where I met Alison (the lady who'd Arranged Everything, from train to hotel to taxis to red wine upon arrival - manythanksindeed!) and Mark, the show producer. It was also really good to catch up with my poet friend Anthony Fairweather, who I did a show with last year as part of the Exeter Fringe Festival. 

Excited & nervous backstage!

Anyway, hanging out before the show was fun (except where the chaps started talking about sport) and performing, as always, was a lark. The heavy red curtains of the theatre space reminded me of one of my very first gigs at the Swansea Grand Theatre, where I'd had a strong deja vu-kinda experience being on stage with similar scarlet drapes... It was a feeling not just of I've-been-here-before, but also of belonging/being 'in the right place'. I often get this in theatre spaces, but when the red curtains are there I get it even more strongly. Maybe it's the womb-coloured comfort of the things, or maybe it's something left over from a past life... Either way, at the risk of sounding like a lascivious luvvie, one of the places I feel happiest is in the theatre. It's true, dah-ling!

A great gig, in any case, which I'll let you all know more about when it's aired (sometime in the autumn).  The Swindon audience were reeeeally up for it. And, it was fun hanging out after with Matt, Jerri, and some of the audience/people I'd met in the area before (hello @FestChroniclr et al!) afterwards, too. To cap it all off, Matt gave me one of the caps he had made. Here is a picture of it. 

So, thanks to Mark, Alison, Matt, Jerri and everyone else for a toptastic time. Swindon is cool - well, cooler than Slough (*in-joke*) - and I look forward to going there again (re-book meeee!).

More adventures to follow soon xxx

Queen Mab!

I remember reading Spenser's The Faerie Queen and always wanting to be the royal mistress of my own garden abode. Now, that youthful dream has come true... and I have been crowned as the first ever Poet in Residence of the National Botanic Garden of Wales!

At the time of that imaginative fantasy, I had no idea or even plans to become a poet. Poetry is a thing I accidentally stumbled into... Certainly, I wanted to be a writer, but not the Wendy Cope/Pam Ayres-a-like I seem to have turned into. I wanted to be a seeeeerious writer; a novelist; the voice of Wales! Instead I find, like my mother, I am a chatty girl who can't stop a bit of Cardiff humour spoiling her attempts at being/sounding high-minded/philosophical...

Except sometimes, when the personal or political aspect of a subject becomes a little too meaningful. The poem I wrote about the biggest bud in Wales, in bloom last year in the National Botanic Garden, and which led to me becoming Poet in Residence, was not just about this evil, blood-drinking killer-plant, or even how it transforms into a beautiful, nectar-offering delight when in bloom - it was more about a girl who is at first an ugly duckling, then something like a starlet... I don't think I will ever write a poem that is 'just about a flower' - though, I've got a whole year in the Garden, so, never say never!

Yes, a whole year... Of flouncing and pondering, mooching and meandering, walking and writing - and, since I am a performance poet, in true troubadour spirit I will also be engaging with visitors and staff, through research, workshops, readings, and blogs/social media. Poetry isn't just about the printed page... It's been in existence before the printing press was invented! And that's something I would like to promote during my Garden time, really.

So... A good first weekend in the Garden. I performed some poems in the Great Glasshouse, which is beautiful. I made some notes in the Hot House - some amazing palms, gingers, and orchids in there. AND - I got to see some some animals, including meercats, boa constrictors, and these baby jennets (pictured). Not quite the lion that the Faerie Queen is pictured with above, but - I'll get there! Maybe. Can we get some lions to Llanarthne, please?? Thanks very much!

Please follow my blog, on the right hand side, to keep up with my Garden/poetry adventures! Here are some news articles about it, too:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17782102

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/walesarts/2012/04/mab_jones_poet_in_residence_national_botanic_garden_of_wales.html

And, a radio interview! With Bethan Rhys Roberts and Oliver Hides. I am 2hrs 24mins in :-)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01g80bk/Good_Morning_Wales_20_04_2012/

Keep Calm!

Poetry can be contemplative, meditative, calming... It can lull you, soothe you, relax and relieve... It is a wonderful sort of stress-relief. Of course, I'm not saying *my* poetry will do this, but many of the great poets will! So, in times of angst and unease... You know what to do!! (Writing poetry is tops, too) ;-)

Kansai St David's Day Festival

Hirono Chikako, festival organiser

On 23rd March this year, the Kansai St David's Society held their annual event celebrating Wales and Welsh culture in Osaka, Japan. I was lucky enough to be asked over as the event's special guest, after a recommendation/introduction from last year's guest, photographer Rhys Jones.

Normally, I am a comic poet who performs on the stand-up, burlesque, cabaret, and spoken word circuits. However, I have written a few serious things (some short plays, several poems) and I thought it would be more appropriate to write something more traditional/historical for this event, rather than the rude and ribald rhyming that I enjoy so much. Somehow, I didn't think my best ever rhyme, a coarse coupling of the words 'Venus' and 'penis' would go down very well here!

So, I decided to take some mythical Mabinogion tales and translate them into verse form. Of the six stories I chose, only two of these involved rhyme - the others were in blank verse form, although often I employed some vague, internal half-rhymes, assonance/alliteration, and other connecting devices. Line repetition/echo played a part sometimes, and was particularly helpful in plucking moral meaning from these sometimes quite surreal stories. 

The event, I am happy to say, was full-house, and other interesting elements and activities included a show of beautiful photographs by Hidetoshi Ochiai; Welsh cake-tasting; an exhibition of art and poems by Hayase Yamagishi; and a set of lovely Welsh songs from the Osaka Male Voice Choir. This included the Welsh national anthem, which you can see here:

All in all, then, this was a marvellous event, and a wonderful time was had by all. Some more pictures from the event can be seen on Facebook here. Thanks to all who came along, and to Chikako Hirono for putting the whole festival together. Diolwch!!

The Crowd Fund

As many of you may know, I was unable to obtain match funding for my Japanese trip from Wales, so set up a page on a crowd-funding website to obtain this. The Sasakawa Foundation in Japan kindly gave me 100,000 yen (about 800 pounds) but this would have been barely enough to cover travel, both to/from and within the country.

So, I set up a page on Sponsume... And I am very pleased to announce that I hit my 800 pound target!

Thank you VERY much to: Anthony Fairweather (x 3!); Sam & Sarah Collins; Sara Constable; Lily Ayre; Sarah Snell-Pym: R H Morgan; Clare Ferguson-Walker; Clare Potter; Jeremy Dixon; Tim Brenan; Laura Howe; Nicholas Whitehead; Gregg & Angela Platt; Tony Lewis-Jones and the Various Artists; Daffni Percival; Jaci Dunsford; Elin ap Hywel; Lucy Caldwell; Karin Mear; Attila the Stockbroker; Hazel Saville; Howard 'Wood' Ingham; Lynn Roberts; Leona Carpenter; Rhys Jones; Luke Wright; Cheryl Beer; Sophie Thomas; Huw Ellis; Maura Hazelden; Deirdre Brannigan; Fiona Winter; A F Harold, Matthew Hollands.

YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!! Many thanks indeed!!!!!

Mab xxx

Japan Old & New

Japan, as one might expect, is a place of contrasts. The drinks vending machine situated within the ancient, incense-infused temple; the pachinko (pinball) parlour screaming neon not far from beautiful, old-style wooden houses. Kyoto has more temples and shrines than bus stops, but it has a hell of a lot of bus stops, the usual glut of western-style advertising boards, noisy aural product promotion, and so on.

However, there are places of peace and, unlike, Osaka, the "little Tokyo" just a short train ride away, there has been an attempt here to minimise the pandering to consumer needs, and to retain something of the older ways. This is where you can still see geisha and maiko (trainee geisha) walking down the streets; where there are still wooden temples/houses un-touched by the bombs of the second world war, which laid waste to so many castles and temples across the country. You can purchase plastic souvenirs, but this is where people from all across Japan come to witness tradition; to remember their history; to enjoy ancient beauty; and to pray.

Plum blossoms are blooming!

Kyoto is one of my favourite places in the world, and already the plum blossoms are adding to the beauty of the city, which is more like a village in its genteel ways. I feel very lucky to be here. Of course I enjoy the faster pace at times, but its this glimpse of ancient Japan that works as a wonderful balm to my oft-overworked, poet-performer soul. I highly recommend a visit here! Until anon - Mab xxx

In Japan!

So, I finally made it to Japan! A flight cancellation, followed by a delay, missed connection, re-routing via Korea, and lost baggage could not stop me!!! (Though, I did get my baggage back, eventually.)

So far, I have seen several temples (impossible not to, really, in Kyoto, where there are more temples/shrines than there are bus stops) and eaten various delicious native foods, e.g. omurice, a lovely mound of rice wrapped in an omelette-y jackey. It looks like an Eskimo wearing a yellow parka. But, it tastes delicious! I also went to this great sake bar with a photographer friend and got introduced to several types of the famous rice wine. Tasty, as well as dangerous! The sweetness belies its potent alcoholic content. Must be more careful in future....! ;-)

Now I am looking forward to performing on Sunday. Speak soon!!! x

Write Out Loud - Discovering Japan!

I wrote a blog for Write Out Loud:

Write Out Loud - Discovering Japan: Mab Jones on a cultural trip to the far east

Enjoy!!! x