Beeston Poets, up and running... moving on

In 1996, when Five Leaves was merely a small twig we published Poems for the Beekeeper, an anthology of poems from the first fifteen years of  Poets in Beeston (that's Beeston in Nottinghamshire). Poets in Beeston had been a substantial series of annual readings by the top names in British - and sometimes world - poetry. Contributors included Danny Abse, Fleur Adcock, James Berry, Alan Brownjohn, Catherine Byron, Wendy Cope, Robert Creeley, Kwame Dawes, Carol Ann Duffy, Helen Dunmore, Gavin Ewart, UA Fanthorpe, Elaine Feinstein, John Harvey, Adrian Henri, Selima Hill, Mick Imlah, Jenny Joseph, Jackie Kay, Liz Lockhead, Michael Longley, John Lucas, Roger McGough, Ian McMillan, Wes Magee, Adrian Mitchell, Henry Normal, Brian Patten, Tom Paulin, Nigel Planer, Peter Porter, Peter Redgrove, Christopher Reid, Vernon Scannell, Penelope Shuttle, Jon Silkin, Ken Smith and Charles Tomlinson. The collection is well worth buying still (yes - we have some left!) for a snapshot of the best the poetry world could offer from the 80s and 90s.

It is pretty remarkable that these, and so many more, pitched up in the back room of a suburban library to read. The County Council was happy to fund the series, and it was run personally by Robert Gent, the librarian there. Robert also edited the collection.

Prior to attending Beeston I'd had no interest in poetry at all. I'd started doing bookstalls at the events on behalf of the shop I was working in, and, well,  you have to listen, don't you? In due course Five Leaves published the collection, launched with a memorable reading by Jackie Kay, to celebrate the first fifteen years.

Some time afterwards Robert left the library and I took over running the series. In Robert's absence it was not the same, and I was also starting to organise poetry readings across the county. Rather than putting all the available money into Beeston I decided to abandon the series... with new sets of readings in Newark, Worksop, Ollerton and other far flung parts of the County. And Southwell Poetry Festival was established.

Many years later, though Southwell Poetry Festival survives as a County Council project, the readings across the county vanished, the Council has little money and other public readings tended to be of a performance nature.

Together with Nottingham Poetry Society and Nottinghamshire Libraries, Five Leaves reestablished the Beeston Poets series, on a shoestring. Naturally Jackie Kay was in the first series. The first year ended last night, with Martin Figura's Whistle performance - which will stay in people's memories for a very long time. The series is established. Pippa Hennessy had been the key figure in this, given that she straddles Five Leaves and the local Poetry Society.

We've given it a year, which shows there is a demand for the "formal" and traditional one person or group reading, without the need for open mics. All the readers can perform, but they can be read with pleasure on the page. But our resources are tight and we can't afford to give up work time so generously any more. Other projects are calling our name. Beeston Poets will, I hope, thrive. It will be up to the group which has come together this year as to how it will continue. It would be nice to think that at some stage there will be a second volume of poems for the beekeeper. Go well.

Library day, Beeston

So that was it then, for now. The national day of action on libraries. Down our way 400 people attended a mass borrow-in and read-out in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. Five Leaves organised the read-out with some "friends of the press", at the request of UNISON, which organises the library staff. We were very pleased with the numbers attending as we had no idea in advance how many people would turn up. Beeston Library itself has only a small cut in hours in the scheme of things, but everyone seemed to understand it was not just about Beeston, or Nottinghamshire, but about library cuts in Doncaster, the Isle of Wight and Warwickshire... and the culture in which we live. We all have to play a part. One super opener for my contribution was supplied by the Morning Star which, yesterday, had a big article about celebs coming out against library cuts, including Alan Bennett and Kate Moss. This was illustrated by a nice picture of Bennett and Moss, the latter showing a healthy amount of chest for such a cold time of year. Kate Moss, the friend of arch-tax avoider Philip Green? Libraries? Sure; the article said she had previously been involved in this. To save you trouble I can tell you that if you google Kate Moss and library you get something about the "Leather Library" and hot pants. I can assure you I did not read further. However if you add an "e" and google Kate Mosse and library you get lots and lots of entries. Mosse with an "e" is pretty well known in the book world. Thanks to the read-out gang: David Belbin, Kathy Bell, Helen Henry, Eve Makis, Deirdre O'Byrne and Sue Ward

The power of one and the power of many

Sometime over the Christmas break, Five Leaves towers received an email from Alan Gibbons, children's author and organiser of the Campaign for the Book. I don't have it to hand but to precis it said, look, I know you are still munching mince pies, but what do people feel about a day of action around threatened libraries, let's say Feb 5th. We were not picked out, the email was sent to heaps of people and organisations in contact with the Campaign for the Book. And lo! (as folks say around Christmas) the people said yes. The Campaign is not something you can join, send off £20 and sleep better at night. It is not a campaign with local branches, nor is it a campaign that produces print, guidelines, or has Hon. Vice Presidents. There is an annual conference with speakers, but unless I have misunderstood, it is Alan Gibbons stirring us up and encouraging us to do what is right in our own area. On Feb 5th there is action in many parts of the UK - you can read about some of them at Alan's blog, and enter more in the Guardian's map of protest http://alangibbons.net/?paged=2.

If you are in Nottinghamshire come and join the Five Leaves' staff from 11.00am at Beeston Library in Nottinghamshire (there are also events in Sneinton and Stapleford). We'll be "reading-in" and "reading-out". Bring your library card (returns can be made at any Nottingham City or County Library) for a mass borrow or bring along something to read out. The event has the support of UNISON and will in turn support the staff, not get in their way. Do protests work? You can see on Alan's blog stories of local authorities backing off from library cuts. Not all, but some. And here the Council has put back £400,000 into its book fund and £70,000 back into staffing for 22 of the smaller libraries. The fund and the opening hours for these libraries will now only be cut by 50% not 75% - which takes us from catastrophic to bad. But it does save the jobs of many part-time low paid women and make the service viable if diminished. That those libraries will be returned to viability is the direct result of protest, including a letter signed by 100 local writers. So on Saturday we celebrate a minor victory and read in support of our local staff and library workers and users all over the country.

The Gradgrinds of County Hall

Last night in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, a very articulate child received a sad political lesson. She was one of 100 people attending a protest/organising meeting about library cuts in her area. When she heard that the County Council book fund was to be cut by 75% she asked whether that included books for children. Sadly yes, and because the Library service is now told to stretch the life of a book from 5 years to 21 children's books will be even more at risk because children are more robust with their books than adults, so the books have to go out of commission earlier. Can't see her joining the Young Conservatives. The speakers' list comprised Mike Scott from UNISON, Gail Cooke from the UNISON group of library workers (there were many library workers there) and me, presumably to provide the odd literary reference. The outcome is a read-in at Beeston Library at 11.00am on Feb 5th, part of the national day of action on library cuts. Bring your library card. The meeting was organised by "Nottingham Save Our Services".