Music with Tanisha....

My lovely friend, Tanisha Christo, is a brilliant blogger. She is also an avid music fan and has been doing wonders for sharing, exposing and celebrating new music and sounds to the world with her blog, 'Monday Mephobics.'
It was with great pleasure that I put forward some music choices for her a few days ago ( as she has quoted me saying, music is abundantly amazing.... it was extremely difficult to get it down to just three songs!) But hey ho, here it is, Tanisha's blog, where I have put forward Matt Corby, Seth Lakeman and Marty O Reilly... enjoy x

http://mondaymephobics.blogspot.in/2015/11/musical-interlude-november-edition.html

Burrow into a Book

Oliver Jeffers has become one of my favourite author/illustrators over the last few years. I remember my housemate showing me his book Lost and Found and immediately I was swept away with his simplistic yet stunning style. I love the way he presents his illustrations on the page and the different mediums he uses to create such a beautiful, colourful world.

His collaboration with author Drew Daywalt, The Day the Crayons Quit is a fantastic book that I have steadily been recommending since I first read it. No.1 on the New York Times Best Seller List, it is brilliant for young children as it is not only a beautifully crafted book with Jeffers squiggly, funny, rustic illustrations, but one that also really engages with the reader. It highlights and questtions ideas of creativity, individuality, duality and purpose in a fun, relaxed way. Why is is that we only use the Blue crayon to colour in skies, whales and seas? Why not use the pink or the yellow? Why does Mr White feel so empty and why is the Mr Beige always second to Mr Brown?

It is a book that is such as strong talking tool between parent and child. Each crayon personally writes a letter to their artist, Duncan, detailing, what they do and do not like about the way he uses them in his drawings. This itself is highly entertaining and insightful writing from Daywalt; the conversation between the adamant Orange and Yellow trying to decipher who is the true colour of the sun is  especially memorable. It is also a chance for lovely illustrations from Jeffers - via the use of different mediums, each letter 'stands' off the page (it is a picture of a real piece of paper) and is surrounded by various creatures, things and characters all coloured in using the colour in question.

It is such an imaginative story that literally ties in all the colours of the rainbow. For adults and children alike, this book will make you look at your crayons in a totally different way. Pure brilliance.

Burrow into a Book

"All I did was go to the library to borrow some books....."

The Strange Library is the first book I have read by the masterful Murakami, an author that I have always meant to read.

For my first encounter, this short story was engrossing, intriguing and a feast for the eyes. Along with the story were absolutely stunning images and interesting, odd facts, all on donated marbled pages from archives found in The London Library. This was an element that really made the book, for me, beautifully strange. The typography over pages was very effective, instantly bringing a childlike innocence into a warped dark world which made me think of Alice in Wonderland and helped link me to the main characters joint feeling of bafflement and intrigue to the situation he found himself in.
I don't want to give a synopsis of this as I feel you should read it fresh for yourself, but I will say a few words that come to mind when thinking of the book;

Lyrical darkness, cartoon-character-moodswings, fairytale-carnivalesque-oddity, subversion, playfulness, fright, magic, wide eyed interest. Oh and don't forget sheep and birds.

I recommend this as a quick, indulgent on the eyes and stinging on the mind, read. It is a brilliant book, I can't wait to read more of his work. Definitely one to read at night if you want to scare yourself a little.

Meg Burrows Music

Tuesday 13th January was another great night at The Grinning Rat's Open Mic. It was really good to be back amongst friends and sharing the stage with a brilliant selection of local musicians, including the host herself, Sophie Jill Welham, Nick Brown, Megan Hughes, Jordan Hay and our local events promoter and poetry enthusiast Amy Wragg. I was very lucky to be asked to be the showcase performance for the evening and was given the opportunity to play five of my own songs, plus a few covers, with the wonderful accompaniment of Jonathan Coy. I hadn't planned to, but I ended up performing one of my poems 'A Circle is an Open Shape' as well which went down positively.

Friday 16th I was at the Cult Cafe Bar on Ipswich Waterfront supporting the marvelous Hattie Briggs. Hattie, who has a lovely, pure voice, is currently on a mini-tour of East Anglia and has recently announced she will soon be touring with Sean Lakeman and Kathryn Roberts this spring. Her CD My Sheperd's Hut is lovely, I have been listening to it a lot since last week. I personally love Hattie's song Old Eyes which, on realising it was written about her dog, appealed to me even more. My own set went well, a mix of my own and covers, with a few requests from the audience too. It was great to see to so many friendly faces in the audience, thank you to all for coming and thank you to Mike and the team for having me to perform again.

http://www.hattiebriggs.co.uk/ 

https://www.facebook.com/MegBurrowsMusic

https://soundcloud.com/m-e-g

Burrow into a Book

As I have mentioned before, I do like picking books sometimes by their covers. My eye is caught by something and oops, there I go, veering course in the bookshop.

This was very much the case with The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Theriault. I was immediately drawn by the front cover with its delicate cherry blossom, it's intriguing title and it's modest size - of late I have been reading sizeable books and in all honesty I was excited by the thought of enjoying this in one sitting. I then saw the stamp of Radio Two Book Club which, for me, is always a good sign. To further my interest, I found the main characters name was Bilodo ( my Tolkien inspired brain immediately jumped to Bilbo and again, took it as a good indication) and I was also happy to find that the story based around a communication of Haiku poetry. Being an enthusiastic, if not sometimes haphazard poet myself and an avid letter writer, these final details sold the book to me.

The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman revolves around just that, the life of a young, introverted postman, Bilodo, who, for thrills, reads other peoples mail. It is through this past time that he stumbles upon a beautiful exchange of Haiku poetry between two people called Gaston and Segolene. Swept up in her penmanship and elegant words, the postman soon begins to fall in love with Segolene, a woman he has never met. When a sudden, tragedy occurs, Bilodo takes action so as to keep his new found obsession of Segolene and her poetry safe, but it is through these actions that his life crashes down around him.

I felt that I met Bilodo in an odly charming manner, very similar to how I felt when I first read Jonas Jonasson's The Hundred-Year-Old-Man-Who.....'  This makes sense when I realised that both books were published by Hesperus.The delivery of the first page lines 'In the meantime, he was a postman. He was twenty-seven years old' was brilliant, specifically after the mention that Bilodo, if the opportunity was made available, could master any hypothetical stair-scaling Olympic event. It clearly showed Bilodo as a young man caught in an ageing routine, living a rather seemingly solitary life and yet a man who has an underlining potential, mystery and want for more.

It was my first time reading Theriault and I am happy to say I would highly recommend him as an author. Often compared to Murakami and Julian Barnes, his craftsmanship of writing is very entrancing, yet understated, very poignant, yet, at times blunt. He en captures a truly human quality, a very honest voice, with a great sense of longing but that which makes you question the lines of privacy, right and wrong and what defines companionship. At times I couldn't believe the lengths that Bilodo was going to, teetering on the perverse and insensitive but then suddenly he would say or write something endearing and pity for the poor postman would overtake; especially during moments with the eager waitress Tania.

I particularly liked the imagery, use of metaphor and the lyrical aspect of the book; the scenes during which Bilodo moves into Gaston's apartment I felt a real sensuality with the surroundings and a very vivid image and clear understanding of how much Bilodo craved to be in his world and close to Segolene but also the reality of how wrong it was at the same time. Coinciding with this, I am a fan of the old fashioned Haiku and love letter and it was through these that again the reader was elevated into this height of poetic love that Bilodo had for Segolene. It was really enjoyable to see how the Haiku's progressed to Tanka alongside the progressing relationship of Bilodo and Segolene and back again;

“And so the history of the haiku’s birth repeated itself : stripped of superfluous words…the naked essence of the poetry emerged.”

I was also pleased that there was a Q & A at the back where Theriault discussed his writing process, inspiration for the story and also the history and philosophy of the Haiku and its ancestor, the Tanka.

 A quote that stuck with me was regarding different types of writing and how Theriault describes them;

"The screenwriter is never far behind the novelist, but he stays in the shadows, it is necessary to make good literature."

Overall, a small book with big worth. I have to say that the ending left me wanting more? I appreciated the metaphorical link and how it supported the books Zen philosophy but I was expecting just a little more.

Still, I will be lending this to many friends for when they want a train ride companion, Haiku inspiration or a short, truly evocative story about a well meaning, if not slightly deluded,
young postman named Bilodo.

Postcard Poetry

For the love of words, stamps, people and imagery I started the project 'Postcard Poetry.' I have for years, collected Black & White postcards, sent them, sent letters and written poetry and I thought, why not combine them together?

Starting on National Poetry Day 2014, fellow poets, writers and postcard enthusiasts embarked on the project, a project which I refer to as a 'Chinese Whisper' of poetry via postcards. I started it by writing a poem at South Bank on NPD 2014 about Bubbles ( my Grandma) and gave it to the next poet on the list (I cheated slightly as it was my boyfriend so I didn't post it but hand delivered it.)
I had intended to take one of my postcards off my infamous 'wall' but I forgot in my dash for the train that morning, so instead I very quickly squiggled a biro doodle. This is something I'm encouraging the other poets & writers to do - drawing your postcard would be great as this project is very much about the art as much as it is about the words.

I will be keeping a log of the postcards as they go on their journey with the hope, that possibly, I can bring the postcards and poets together at the end of it for an exhibition.

The third postcard, from Justine de Mierre to Brendan Way is on the left and on the right is what Brendan used to write his poem and send to Amy Wragg, a.k.a Amy Soapbox

After attending Aldeburgh Poetry Festival yesterday (which was fantastic...everyone, go and check out Hannah Silva immediately and her incredible show Schlok!) I know that the postcard is currently with Amy and soon shall be on it's way to Suffolk based poet, Bob Lenney.

As I've already said, for the first postcard I had intended a black and white postcard, but due to running late for the train, I doodled an image ( this can be seen down below in the blog.)
However, since then I have written the starting poem on the black and white postcard, here it is;

If you would like to be involved, please contact myself, Meg Burrows, via email or Twitter;

thingsfromtheburrow@gmail.com

https://twitter.com/M_e_g_Burrows 

Burrow into a Book....

I was very lucky growing up to be surrounded by books and those that love books. Ever since I was young I have read a range of genres. I am very much a lover of books, their pages, their smells, their drawings - I have always treasured children's books and picture books. Authors such as A A Milne, Michael Bond, Roald Dahl/Quentin Blake, Cornelia Funke, Jacqueline Wilson, Lemony Snickett, Shirley Hughes, Beatrix Potter, Walker Books, Chicken House, Oliver Jeffers.
I am also a great Tolkien, Rowling and George Martin fan. More recently I have discovered authors such as Neil Gaiman. I am currently reading, as part of Waterstones bookclub, Joshua Ferris - I hope to read more of the Man Booker shortlist - Jonas Jonasson, Khaled Hosseini, John Williams & Maya Angelou.

Americanah is Adichie's third novel. As always, the front cover doesn't disappoint and reflects the author's own subtle, lyrical beauty with flecks of colour over a blurred image. I'm not afraid to say that sometimes I chose a book purely by it's cover, I feel it is a way to find new material without any pre-conceptions stopping you. This is very much the case with Chimamanda Adichie's books; I found Half A Yellow Sun stunning, bought it and hence started a love affair with a great female writer.

I found her writing when I was sixteen. I remember at the time I was reading Ibsen's A Doll's House, exploring Nora's character and very interested in the representation of women in writing. Adichie is an incredibly readable author, she immediately caught me with her fluid, immersible writing style and ever since continues to do so. Reading her work is so enjoyable because it feels as though she is with you, showing the story right before your eyes with such ease, allowing you to get engaged, involved and thinking profoundly of both domestic, human emotion and political, racial and gender based issues. She has great conviction and talent for bringing together the day to day lives  of characters against much more complicated, deep rooted backdrops.

Shortlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction,  Americanah is predominantly a love story between two Lagos teenagers, Ifemelu and Obinze, who take different paths in life and who soon face triumphs and complications. However, their journey's spread over three different continents - America, Britain and Nigeria - and with that we see both characters striving their way through life during significant cultural, social and political change. Throughout the book, Adichie discusses at length race, gender and identity with bold yet confident flair and highlights universal, social experiences, such as depression and how it is received in different cultures, brilliantly. Something that I also greatly admired is the honesty and authenticity in Adichie's voice and characters, especially concerning social acceptance and avoidance and social interaction;

“If you don't understand, ask questions. If you're uncomfortable about asking questions, say you are uncomfortable about asking questions and then ask anyway. It's easy to tell when a question is coming from a good place. Then listen some more. Sometimes people just want to feel heard. Here's to possibilities of friendship and connection and understanding.” 
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah

A reoccurring theme is that of Ifemelu's hair and the treatment of it - although I cannot personally relate to dealing with black hair politics, it is something that I can relate to as a woman in the sense of conformity and the growing expectation and consensus of image, product and style, which has greatly resulted from our media saturated society.

Integrity and insight are certainly two defining features of not only Adichie's new book but also the author's recent exposure of feminism as a whole in her new essay We Should All be Feminists. From University discussions, to TED talks, to featuring in a Beyonce song, Adichie has vocalised strong, consistent views that can be found amongst all of her works, to which she has gained deserving praise and appreciation.

Adichie has yet again delivered a very human story with Americanah. It is also very important and relevant, not just in retrospect to today's still very prominent social attitudes but to embedded attitudes, reactions and desires for love. I cannot recommend this book, or the author enough.

Postcard Poetry

For the love of words, stamps, people and imagery I started the project 'Postcard Poetry.' I have for years, collected Black & White postcards, sent them, sent letters and written poetry and I thought, why not combine them together?

Starting on National Poetry Day 2014, fellow poets, writers and postcard enthusiasts embarked on the project, a project which I refer to as a 'Chinese Whisper' of poetry via postcards. I started it by writing a poem at South Bank on NPD 2014 about Bubbles ( my Grandma) and gave it to the next poet on the list (I cheated slightly as it was my boyfriend so I didn't post it but hand delivered it.)
I had intended to take one of my postcards off my infamous 'wall' but I forgot in my dash for the train that morning, so instead I very quickly squiggled a biro doodle. This is something I'm encouraging the other poets & writers to do - drawing your postcard would be great as this project is very much about the art as much as it is about the words.

I will be keeping a log of the postcards as they go on their journey with the hope, that possibly, I can bring the postcards and poets together at the end of it for an exhibition.

The second postcard, from Antosh Wojcik to Justine de Mierre .....

If you would like to be involved please contact me via  thingsfromtheburrow@gmail.com

twitter.com/M_e_g_Burrows

Burrow into a Book...

Ipswich Waterstones Book Club


Another Monday evening found me inside Waterstones with fellow members of Book Club. If you live in Ipswich or Suffolk, I would highly recommend you come along, it's a lovely group with wide discussion led by Laura Marshall & Gemma Gooding and did I mention there is always cake, biscuits or both?
It was this Book Club that first introduced me to Neil Gaiman (see previous post.... I absolutely love the man now) and with them I have read two other books and now onto a third.
The last book we recently read was The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jaaskelainen, In complete honesty, it is the first book I have not finished. I am determined to read it again and review it but I was glad to hear that many of the other Book Club members felt the same as me; highly confused and wishing to speak to the author immediately about various elements of his book, mainly being, the entire plot and whether there actually was one, or if it was simply a catalyst for him to express his opinions on literary criticism within a meta fiction...? I have a feeling that if I had read Finnish folklore I may have more understanding of this story. As I said, I will try again. I should probably say also that at the time I was also reading Adichie's beautiful new book, Americanah, which,I easily immersed myself into and digested like a hungry caterpillar - or should I say, bookworm.

The next book we are reading (very excited to say) is on the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2014 (winner is announced tonight!) To Rise Again at a Decent Hour not only has a vibrant, bold design but it confidently states it is the 'Catch-22 of Dentistry' (Stephen Fry you..)

Burrow into Poetry....

I have been writing poetry for a long time alongside my lyrics, fiction and scriptwork. Before and after University I was lucky to have poems published on page in journals and pamphlets. However, I had never thought to perform my poetry.
On reflection, this is surprising as I had come very close to doing so when I was younger and heavily involved in theatre. I would involve poetry into monologues/asides and actually one year, I memorised and choreographed a performance of Roald Dahl's 'Little Red Riding Hood' which won me the school drama festival.

I went to Hammer & Tongue for the first time nearly two years ago now, thinking it was an open mic and instead found myself at a Slam - but what a friendly slam it is. I have to mention that it was the place I met Leanne Moden and her 'Shaving Grace' poem, I saw Raymond Antrobus perform for the first time and where Salena Godden had a telepathic moment with me.

The top floor of the Fountain, where H & T is held, is a great little venue and definitely a welcoming and comfortable space to perform. Fay Roberts, the wonderful lady that she is, runs the nights spectacularly with lots of wit, wisdom and wonder at the poets (her audience warm up of ooh's ahh's and oh's! is testament to this.) With her wonderful sound and light man sidekick, Wes Freeman, the night always promises to be a good one (if you've never been, go, you will love it.)

Tim Knight ( https://twitter.com/CoffeeShopPoems) opened the evening for us with some fantastic poetry. A young poet whose style reminds me at times of Sarah Kay and Simon Armitage, performed his brilliant poem, The Parent Trap. It was a true favourite of ours on the front row, as was his piece about making a 'mixtape.' Using domestic details well, he delivers with great nostalgia and gentle, humorous reflection. Definitely one to watch.
The evening commenced into the slam, finding us some great new poets to take to the stage. Something that is great about H & T, you will find a good range of poets come up to slam and keep the dynamic varied. I personally hadn't decided what I was going to perform (I have been writing a lot of new material at the moment) and in the moment walking up to the mic settled on my poem 'A Circle is an Open Shape' and '3rd Rate Underwear' - a poem about purple pants which went down very well it seems. I was very proud of fellow Suffolk poet, Dan Clark, who gave a tremendous performance and went on to win the slam.
The last feature of the night was amazing, I cannot recommend seeing Jonny Fluffypunk enough. Forget your comedy clubs, here is a man who will make you cry with laughter and listen intently with his fantastic, hillarious and extremely insightful poetry. His performance made me think more of a cabaret and his observations of people,things and life are spot on, not to mention his quick fire banter with the audience; it is pure brilliance. I think The Independent describes him perfectly;
"Acute social observation, intricate humour, surreal fantasy, sharp irony and wit..... and England's most pretentious moustache."
http://www.jonnyfluffypunk.co.uk/

The next Hammer & Tongue Cambridge event is on November 12th, details can be found here;

https://www.facebook.com/events/536833813114536/

Meg Burrows Music

Friday 3rd October was such a good gig at the Cult Cafe. It is a brilliant venue and bar and not to mention, it does some pretty mean brownies.....
We ended up playing for just over an hour and thankfully no more as I had only just recovered from a horrible cold (apologies to all the previous weekend missing my other gigs...... really disappointing I couldn't make Duck Day or Vagabonds!)
I ended up singing more covers than originals due to audience, sound and equipment but it was a fun set and the audience were grand to play for. Feldspar who followed us were fab, a really tight group with a distinct sound - they made me think of Seth Lakeman, meets Mumford, meets Stornoway.

You can listen to their music here; https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNG16OMw6jC1LKoEseJb8CQ

I'm currently in the process of writing new songs, but I'm also keen to write lyrics for others. Here is an up to date gig listing of our next few shows, if you are around, please come along and say hello :)


OXJAM Sunday 26th October      Geldeston Locks Norfolk  music from 2pm

Halloween Gig   31st October     Steamboat Tavern Ipswich (Gavin Mitchell & Jordan Hay) 8pm

Children in Need   Nov 7th          Novotel Ipswich ( £5 ticket all proceeds to charity) 7:30pm

Live at Isaacs      Nov   30th         Isaacs   Ipswich   3pm

 https://www.facebook.com/MegBurrowsMusic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y-jwYpA8Tw&list=UUU3jzo7PrQKOjEVThFenQEA

Postcard Poetry

For the love of words, stamps, people and imagery I started the project 'Postcard Poetry.' I have for years, collected Black & White postcards, sent them, sent letters and written poetry and I thought, why not combine them together?

Starting on National Poetry Day 2014, fellow poets, writers and postcard enthusiasts embarked on the project, a project which I refer to as a 'Chinese Whisper' of poetry via postcards. I started it by writing a poem at South Bank on NPD 2014 about Bubbles ( my Grandma) and gave it to the next poet on the list (I cheated slightly as it was my boyfriend so I didn't post it but hand delivered it.)
I had intended to take one of my postcards off my infamous 'wall' but I forgot in my dash for the train that morning, so instead I very quickly squiggled a biro doodle. This is something I'm encouraging the other poets & writers to do - drawing your postcard would be great as this project is very much about the art as much as it is about the words.

I will be keeping a log of the postcards as they go on their journey with the hope, that possibly, I can bring the postcards and poets together at the end of it for an exhibition.

Here is Antosh's photo - a postcard from me, Meg

If you would like to be involved please email;

  thingsfromtheburrow@gmail.com   (Meg Burrows)

National Poetry Day!

Happy National Poetry Day everyone :)

I am now home after a full day of poetry in London - I am very lucky to say my favourite person is also one of my favourite poets and I got to spend the day with him watching some of our favourite poets, celebrating poetry at National Poetry Day Live at Southbank Centre, London.

It was a brilliant day filled with poets such as Ross Sutherland, Raymond Antrobus, Kei Miller, Joshua Idehen, Hannah Silvas & John Hegley. Two brilliant poets who helped produce the day also performed - the fantastic Sophie Fenella and a finalist for this years Young Poet Laureate, Rachel Long. I felt a lot of word, voice and biscuit love today, it was truly wonderful.

Also today, I have launched my own project, 'Postcard Poetry' by giving the first Postcard Poem away! I wrote it next to the Thames this morning.... felt very in the spirit of NPD.

Here is another poem I wrote today on the theme, 'Remember;'

You get yourself ready in the dark depths of remember....
You turn off clocks, stop your watch and surrender, to all the cliches and cut outs of memory, to all the expectations of grief and unsaid comments to longing, but I shout out in relief!
This is the time to be LAUGHTER, to gather up the goodness in echoes and let them bellow through streets, through greets, hands and meets and let them reverberate her undeniable character all the way back to you.



P.S Here is a link to my favourite poet, Antosh Wojcik  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG5J1kFIjT8

Burrow into a Book.....

Over the months of July and August I was reading these books above and reviewing them for myself, Suffolk Book League (who also collaborate with Suffolk Magazine) and Waterstones/Amazon/Good Reads. 

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey – A review by Meg Burrows

I had the pleasure of meeting Emma Healy in Ipswich Waterstones at the IpArt festival this year. An incredible author, she presented Elizabeth is Missing with such poignancy and quiet conviction. When she read an extract of her book and explained her inspirations for the story, I cried. Now, for me, that isn’t usual, but I couldn’t help but relate to Maud, Healey’s main character, who is suffering from the early stages of dementia and who consequently propelled me to my own memories of my Grandmother battling Alzheimer’s.

The story follows Maud, who’s slowly straying away from normal life. Her own family wont listen to her and her ramblings, let alone the police. When her focus solely encompasses the question “Where is my friend Elizabeth?” we follow her down memory lane with serious consequences quickly arising. Soon Maud is enveloped into both Elizabeth’s disappearance and that of her sister Sukey, who disappeared back in World War II. 

A riveting read, I found moving between Maud’s daily struggle, her search for Elizabeth and then memories of her sister Sukey very realistic but also propelling – the dynamics of the book were always moving, always propelling you to read on and learn more about both the present day and past mystery. What was also brilliant was seeing the differences and similarities between the two Mauds, young and old.

Not only on a personal level but as a writer, Healey goes after my own heart, focusing on the domestic details of scenarios to paint a bigger picture. How she has got completely into Maud’s head and with such conviction and strength in the voice, is brilliant – the constant reference to the old shopping list, tins of peaches, or how the material of her coat felt or the sounds within a cupboard sounded, takes us right into the heart of the situation with Maud.

Memory sits on a hinge and with it does the reader, eagerly learning who committed the crime all those years ago. I read this book in two days, I couldn’t put it down. It is incredibly enticing and along with Maud you feel the frustration of trying to collect thoughts and memories into something tangible to help solve this long standing mystery. I cannot recommend this book enough, it was so captivating and personal, it is beautifully written and has a real sadness to Maud’s predicament. It is one to read this year folks, for sure.   

Burrow into a Book......

Over the months of July and August I was reading these books above and reviewing them for myself, Suffolk Book League (who also collaborate with Suffolk Magazine) and Waterstones/ Amazon/Good Reads.


The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - a review by Meg Burrows

I am an avid fan of Stardust the film. Seeing pirate sky ships, magical spells, real live stars in the form of Claire Daines and Robert De Niro wearing a frock, is just, well, beautiful.

I never knew until recently that it was written by Neil Gaiman, an author who’s name has been dropped into my ears so many times over the last few years. Throughout University I meant to read his material, but other stories and authors would always get in the way. I constantly passed his adverts on tube walls and funnily enough it was the day after seeing the poster for The Ocean at the End of the Lane ( I got very excited by the imagery used in the advert itself) that I heard my local Waterstones book club was reading his new book. I eagerly bought my copy and for a little while simply stared at it. The cover is delightful and engaging and immediately took me to swimming in the ocean. I already knew that I liked Mr Gaiman – he has brilliant designers working with him.

The book itself starts with a narrator driving away from a funeral to a familiar place and reminiscing over his seventh birthday party; a terrible ordeal where no one came. The farm that he finds himself drawn back to is that of the Hempstock Women, three very influential people (the power of three couldn’t be more poignant in this book) in this mans life. He begins to think of Lettie, a remarkable girl he met growing up and what she did for him. What follows is transportation into memories, dreams and forgotten moments into dangerous strange lands of frightening aliens, beautiful moments of heart warming safety and haunting scenarios of betrayal, confusion and anger.

Throughout reading I kept thinking of Coraline and a real sense of fear from a child’s perspective overtook me. The last time that I had felt such active anger towards a character I think it was when I met the horrid Professor Umbridge for the first time. To hook my emotions so quickly and easily, I give my hat to Gaiman; a man who is very in tune with both his characters and readers but also a man who highlights clearly the idea of whether there is such a thing as an adult or just children pretending to be grown up.

The ease at which Gaiman takes the reader from reality to fantasy is incredibly smooth, yet so vivid at the same time. I absolutely loved the metaphorical execution of re-working memory; cutting away the fragments of the unwanted dressing gown and re-sewing it was brilliant. Memory and deciphering between what is real and what isn’t, is so realistically jumbled; how we change and forget and re-assemble our memories in hope of re-capturing the presence of the moment we are remembering.  On the back of the book there is the quote that is very apt to the whole book;“ they are memories hard to believe, waiting on the edges of things.”

The use of imagery is so distinct and incredible at times and coincides well with this idea of being on ‘the edge’ of reality, dream, memory and safety. I felt fully immersed into a cartoon at one point, especially concerning the characters Ursula and Lettie.

I would highly recommend this book. I know some hardcore Gaiman fans weren’t as positive but as a first time reader I absolutely loved it and I am extremely excited to read more. It was a brilliant balance between fantasy, thriller, drama and it is filled with so many great snippets, like, a memory. I personally feel that it is more a book for adults willing to delve back into their own past than for children; this book is childhood and I think those that have experienced one will get much more from the story; it’s honest, scary, funny, magical and nostalgic but with the freedom to be as memorable as you want it to be.   

Burrow into a Book..........

Over the months of July and August I have been and still am, reading these books above and reviewing them - not just for myself but for Suffolk Book League (who are in conjunction with the Suffolk Magazine) and also I post them onto Waterstones reviews.

She Rises by Kate Worsley – Review by Meg Burrows

A book of two tales set in the Eighteenth Century, She Rises follows the story of young dairy maid Louise Fletcher and fifteen year old Luke.

Louise, who has been warned of the sea’s lure by the loss of her father and brother, finds herself new employment in the naval port of Harwich to the fickle, proud Rebecca, daughter of a wealthy Captain. With its hidden smuggling passages, busy streets, wavering tides and shadowed corridors, Harwich is a labyrinth that Louise learns to unravel and soon begins to love.     

Fifteen year old Luke, after he has been drinking in a local tavern, wakes to find himself in the belly of the Essex, where he is forced into the harsh world of the Royal Navy. Longing for memories gone by and escape from his new sudden brutal environment, Luke quickly learns that the sea will be his maker. Both Luke and Louise are on their own rolling paths, but like the sea, their waves soon collide in a very organic way.

Luke’s story especially grabbed my attention and supported the wonder and atmosphere of the book as a whole; Worsley really heightens the unpleasant, aggressive and realistic side of naval life very effectively and quite quickly I found myself wanting to help the character out of his predicament.

The setting of the Essex farm where we first meet Louise and the port of Harwich felt very nostalgic for me and like Louise, I was transported into strong imagery and a real thirst for the excitement of the sea and its possibilities. At times I found the book to be a little lengthy but overall the use of description and imagery from Worsley was executed well in a very evocative way and I found myself clearly picturing places and people.

The book is essentially focused on a love story but with both characters, Worsley effectively explores themes of identity, gender & survival and how the world you find yourself in can be embellished in excitement and adventure but with great danger and ultimately, great consequence.  The book, with its two engaging voices, dynamic pace and not to mention, enticing front cover, is certainly worth a read this summer. 

Meg Burrows Music

Over the last few weeks I have had the chance to play some lovely gigs all around Suffolk.

On Saturday 2nd August I happily ventured back to The Sweffling White Horse, one of my favourite pubs. With its quirky yet homely feel, low ceilings and lovely wines and ale I felt very relaxed to play a set of both my own songs and covers with the help of my guitarist Jonathan Coy. I felt very proud to come back and actually play some of my own songs on the guitar - the audience in the pub were lovely and supportive and I couldn't have asked for a better night. It was really good to be back at the White Horse, it had been a year since I had played there.

The 3rd August, I found myself at the Hadleigh Eight Bells as part of a charity fundraiser for ICR. It was brilliant to see young Jordan Hay play again - we met at the Spread Eagle open mic a few months ago now and to see how much he has progressed in such a short amount of time is really inspiring. Unfortunately I had to leave fairly soon after my set but I hope the rest of the afternoon went well and successful in raising funds for the charity.

Last Friday, 8th August I organised a gig at The Steamboat Tavern (which is now run by a new landlord, Andy and his wife.) Again, it was another pub that felt really good to go back to after being away travelling. The night was a real success - I decided it would be great to showcase Jordan Hay, Cherise Philips and Nick Brown at the gig as well as having myself and the wonderful Lucy Sampson as features ( check out the links below.) It was great to see so many people there and play some new songs that have recently been written.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQnLsZUgQVg   MEG BURROWS    https://www.facebook.com/MegBurrowsMusic    https://soundcloud.com/m-e-g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5v1eWXQOHY   LUCY SAMPSON     https://www.facebook.com/lucysampsonofficial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lKgLbCYu8Q      NICK BROWN    https://www.facebook.com/SadFolkSongs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0-gFLhC2xw      CHERISE PHILLIPS     https://www.facebook.com/CherisePhillipsMusic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IBf68VxJ-c         JORDAN HAY     https://www.facebook.com/jordanhaymusic



Tomorrow I am off to perform both music and poetry at Folk East (ahheee exciting!) It really is an incredible festival, if you haven't been before I definitely recommend - I am looking forward to all the other spoken word artists and musicians (Bellowhead, Tilly Dawglish, Lucy Sampson & Jon Hart especially) but also to all the things that makes Suffolk special - the skills in art, craft, ale, food and general loveliness. I might even crack out some face paints so keep an eye as I'm sure I'll write about it on here afterwards.

Latitude Young Writers Showcase

July and August have been busy months.... but here I finally am again to write into the void that is Thingsfromtheburrow.

I was very lucky a few weeks ago to win two briefs via IdeasTap - one was to Mouthy Poets event in Nottingham which I was thoroughly looking forward to (I had seen Deborah Stevenson perform a while before at The Gallery Cafe in London) and the other was a slot to perform poetry at Latitude Festival in my home hood Suffolk.
Due to commitments to my day time job (and because its one of my favourite festivals!) I took the brief for Latitude.
It was a tad surreal to be greeted in the woods by a lone golf buggy who drove me off to the performance entrance but once I found my way into Latitude (back entrance of the comedy tent, felt like a VIP) I felt at home straight away. There was the poetry and literature tent, the bridge, the flags, the tree's, the circus tents, the postcard station, the fairy stalls. Where I was performing was right next door to the kids area which I was blown away by - those dinosaur sculptures....

I am so grateful for IdeasTap and Norwich Writers Centre for the opportunity - it was such a fantastic afternoon and evening and to perform alongside other young, local poets was brilliant. Tim Claire was hosting our stage in the woods, of which he did a very fine job - I'm happy my surname brought him such happiness and opportunity to banter with the crowd. I also got the chance to see Deanna Rodgers perform finally - wow, what a poet! If you get the chance, go see go see folks.
I am about to perform poetry (& music) again at Folk East Festival and can't wait - Latitude got me very much into the festival swing with its flowers, words, colours and people.

NaPoWrimo 25 & 26

25

Take the honey, take it down, hold it in your mouth for a few months, maybe even a few spectacular nights of sweet sweet delight,

but wait until the honeycomb crumbles 

and the flowers have hidden

the queen you have so eagerly served will soon show you

how it is to sting. 

26

The humdingers are in a ding-hum of a situation

with the dong hums wondering which direction

the hum dangs have gone.

If the hum dangs are in a swinger of a turn

then it will only make the dong hums even more of a muddle

which will make the hum dingers the dung

as they have become hum drum 

and very much bung in the eyes of the hum dangs

But the hum dangs are silly, they are the ones in a muddle

the dong hums are silly, they are too curious

and the hum dingers are silly, as they forget they are the ones with the ding.     

NaPoWrimo 21 & 22

21 Starre Road

Lavender lotion on paper skin highlights deep set veins that create life maps of tales and truths and hidden things. I follow them with my wide eyes and I take in the smell of roses and powder and early morning conversations over coffee. She closes her eyes as I brush her hair into waves of memory that ebb and flow.

22

I gave up chocolate for lent

and this is how it went;

I didn't think about it

until the creme eggs wept

chocolate tears onto my tongue

and icing on my teeth -

never was there such delight

at such a sweetly meet.