So, me hearties, last night we foregathered in the forecastle (possibly) of HQS Wellington to launch Caroline Davies excellent book of poetry entitled ‘Convoy’. It deals mainly with the siege of Malta by the Axis Powers during WWII* and also with the homefront in Wales, and has as its foundation Caroline’s grandfather’s war and her mother’s memories of it.
Jan Fortune, who is Cinnamon Press – ‘Convoy’s’ publisher – left her Welsh eyrie to spearhead the event. Vanessa Gebbie (author of ‘The Coward’s Tale’, published by Bloomsbury) acted as compere and interviewer for the occasion, leading Caroline to appropriate points in the collection for a reading. I suppose I ought to declare an interest in that I had a hand in the Blurb on the back of the book. But I don’t write blurbs for just anyone. Dear me, no.
The reading was splendid. Caroline’s delivery suited the poems so well: slightly puzzled, slightly sad, slightly worn, slightly toughened by experience.
Mr Caroline (!) took many photos. I hope I may be able to lay hands on one or two and if I can I’ll post them here.
How delightful it was to be bobbing gently up and down on the Thames. Strange how much easier it was to get off the ship than get onto it. It may have been that the very nice wine imbibed counteracted the roll of the ship. Or it may have been that the tide had come in. I believe it was the latter. But I won’t argue with the former.
I had to ask what HQS stood for and was told, with a touch of asperity ‘Headquarters Ship’. I didn’t have the nerve to ask ‘headquarters of what?’ – so if anyone knows do put me straight below.
*(anyone who doesn’t understand that acronym should write immediately to Mr Gove with intimations of support).
If you want to know more about Caroline Davies her blog is here: http://advancingpoetry.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/his-last-letter.html
And if you think you might like a copy of ‘Convoy’ a link to the excellent Cinnamon Press (its publisher) is here : http://www.cinnamonpress.com/convoy/
Published by Judi Moore
Hi there,
I hope you find something to interest you here.
In July of 2022 I published my fifth book: a volume of short stories set in and around Weymouth. I came to live in Weymouth in 2016, and one of the first things I looked for was a creative writing workshop. In fact I was lucky enough to find two – Off the Cuff and Weymouth Writing Matters – both of them exercise based. Those twenty minute exercises every week produced a lot of very short fiction that could only have been made here, in Weymouth.
When Covid closed down our lives in March of 2020 I immediately cast about for a writing project to keep me busy for the duration. There sat 10 notebooks full of workshop writings, never revisited. I wondered, what’s in there?
So through lockdown I keyed up the draft scrawls in those notebooks, finishing some stories, editing and polishing them all. While I was doing that, I was lucky enough to pique the interest of a talented artist friend, Mat Cross, who has made a full page illustration for each story in the collection (and a kick-ass cover for it too). Nowhere is the pandemic mentioned, because all these tales were told between 2016 and 2019. I’m sure there are many stories to be told about our Covid experiences, but these are not they. I don't believe you need to be a Weymuffian born and bred to enjoy these stories. Give them a go, why not.
In December 2017 I published my fourth book – ‘Wonders will never cease’. It’s a satirical campus novel set in the fictional Ariel University in 1985. If you enjoyed Tom Sharpe’s Porterhouse novels, Willy Russell’s ‘Educating Rita’, David Lodge’s campus novels or Malcolm Bradbury’s ‘The History Man’ back in the day, you may enjoy revisiting the ivory towers of 1980s’ academe thirty years on. See what you think.
In the autumn of 2015 I published a volume of short fiction: 'Ice Cold Passion and other stories'. It contains 9 of my longer, better stories. Some of them won prizes before I collected them up and published them.
In 2014 I released a novella 'Little Mouse', which is an historical fiction set in Berlin and Edinburgh during and after World War II. It attempts to consider how war pursues those caught up in it for many years after the actual events.
My first novel, 'Is death really necessary?' I released in 2009. It is an eco thriller set in 2039, the basic premise of which is that petrol is, suddenly no longer available. I'm rather chuffed that the book is still topical nearly 15 years on. And my take on future technology (which has, of course, long since been overtaken by events) stands up pretty well [preens]. Take a crack at it, why not, and see if you agree.
All my books are available from all good online bookshops and FeedARead on paper, and as e-books on Kindle.
On a semi-regular basis, and about a month after the event, I post here reviews which I do for Big Al & Pals, the premier reviewer of indie books, based in the States. My interests tend to thrillers, SF, magic realism and other quirky stuff.
On this blog are also posted the reviews I did for Leighton Buzzard Music Club between 2010 and 2015. LBMC present annual seasons of eight monthly chamber music concerts at the Library Theatre in Leighton Buzzard, Bucks. They select young musicians just beginning to make their name - and the concerts are usually magnificent. I was very proud to be associated with them. I am delighted to report that they have survived Covid and are still running. Here is a link to their webpage. If you live in the area their concerts are well worth attending. https://www.lbmusic.co.uk/
From time to time I review other books I've enjoyed, and occasionally music, theatre and exhibitions.
BTW - it says the link to Facebook is broken. I dispute that. Click it and see what happens? In any case I am easy to find on FB, and very happy to see you there.
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Judi Moore 
hear hear! I do have a few photos of Caroline reading
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Brilliant, Carol – if you’re happy for me to post them to support this post send them to me and I’ll add them – with attribution, of course. It was very pleasant gossiping in our Amen Corner while the evening worked up to Caroline’s reading, wasn’t it?
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Thank you very much Judi for the mention on your blog and for your company on Monday. The Wellington is the headquarters ship of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners and a most splendid ship. Well worth a visit for anyone who can come to London especially as there is currently an exhibition (free of charge) about the Atlantic convoys.
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Thank you, Caroline. And who are the Hon Co of Master Mariners? They sound very venerable.
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Hello Judi
The Hon Co of Master Mariners are indeed venerable. The company goes back to the 1920s. In order to become the captain of a merchant ship you needed to have obtained your masters ‘ticket’
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I’m a bit surprised to learn that the Hon Company of Master Mariners ONLY goes back to the 1920s – I somehow thought of them as associated with the clipper ships. I daresay it was a long haul to get a Master’s certificate. Many years of long hours in all weathers.
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