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Showing posts with label dominica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dominica. Show all posts

Saturday, 20 June 2026

International Times: Vitality and Magic

My latest exhibition review for International Times is on 'Hulda Guzman: Please awake – asked Nature kindly' at Turner Contemporary:

'Surrealism and Magic Realism have both had infuential Latin American expressions. The Caribbean islands and Mexico City were all ‘places of convergence and relay for Surrealism’ (including the work of Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington), while Magic Realism was a term originally used in relation to the fantastical elements of European Romanticism and the religious aspects of novels by Fyodor Dostoevesky before becoming a descriptor for the Neue Sachlichkeit paintings of 1920’s Germany and then the strapline for the novels of South American writers, starting with Jorge Luis Borges.

The paintings of Hulda Guzmán find their own significant space within this web of influences and prior expressions.'

My earlier pieces for IT are: an interview with the artist Alexander de Cadenet; an interview with artist, poet, priest Spencer Reece, an interview with the poet Chris Emery, an interview with Jago Cooper, Director of the the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a profile of singer-songwriter Bill Fay, plus reviews of: 
Several of my short stories have been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

IT have also published several of my poems, including 'Spencer Reece at Bemerton' which is based on the visit that I made to Bemerton in 2026 with Spencer Reece, 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, and 'The Edge of Chaos', a state of existence poem. Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. My poems published in Amethyst Review are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'.

I am among those whose poetry has been included in Thin Places & Sacred Spaces, a recent anthology from Amethyst Press. I also had a poem included in All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich, the first Amethyst Press anthology of new poems.

'Five Trios' is a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in the Diocese of Chelmsford. The five poems in the series are:
These poems have been published by Amethyst Review and International Times.

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Joni Mitchell - Sweet Bird.


Thursday, 9 May 2013

Praise Songs - Jane Ulysses Grell


Jane Ulysses Grell is a storyteller, teacher, writer, and poet from Delices, Dominica, who is based in London. She holds a B.A. in French from Fordham University and a postgraduate diploma in French from Poitiers University. In the mid-eighties, she began working with oral storytelling to help boost children’s literacy, especially that of bilingual children, and since 1999, she has dedicated herself full-time to storytelling.

Jane is shortly to published her collected poems entitled Praise Songs. Her work represents "The music of words in the African-Caribbean oral tradition at its best."


Copies of Praise Songs can be ordered from janeugrell@hotmail.co.uk or from Central Books (centralbooks.co.uk) or from other good bookshops or AmazonPapillote People’s Press £6.99 (ISBN 9780957118744).


The book will be launched at the Dominica High Commission (1 Collingham Gardens, London SW5 OHW - nearest tube, Earls Court, Earls Court Rd exit) from 6.30 - 8.00 pm on Friday 14th June. RSVP to janeugrell@hotmail.co.uk.


Jane can be heard reading poems from this collection prior to the launch at an evening of music and poetry to be held at Holy Trinity Hatfield Heath on Monday 27th May from 7.30pm. Jane will be joined for the evening by Mal Grosch (click here for details of his new collection of poems entitled Blackfriars), Jenny Houghton and myself (click here, here and here for book and meditation information) plus music from Colin Burns and the six churches.

This performance evening is part of the Arts Festival for the Barking Episcopal Area, an initiative which began in 2011 and involves quality events from a variety of Arts genre as a way of embracing and celebrating performing and visual arts and engaging with local communities, their people and arts culture. 
 
This year's Festival is being held in Harlow Deanery from 23rd - 27th May in parallel to the Heart 4 Harlow Festival. As in previous years, we have a very exciting programme including the premiere of Korban – a new play on the life of Christ; Art Talks (including Bishop Stephen on Stanley Spencer); art and photographic exhibitions, includingcommission4missionFlower Festival (Hatfield Broad Oak); music and poetry evening (Holy Trinity Hatfield Heath); and Big Lunch and Community Praise, among other events. Click here to see more information and publicity. Click here for the Festival's Event page on facebook. Download the full programme for the Barking Episcopal Area Arts Festival by clicking here.

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Colin Burns - Linger Here.