One Night Stanzas

Fridge poetry. Know one of those I-don’t-get-poetry-I’ll-never-like-poetry-don’t-talk-about-poetry-in-front-of-me people? Fridge poetry is the perfect gift. I’m serious: I have an old cast-iron fireplace in my living room, which I have covered with fridge poetry tiles, and I know plenty of poems-are-the-work-of-satan type people who’ll happily park themselves in front of it and spend hours making strange and silly sentences… all the while blissfully unaware of what it is they’re doing. You can get all sorts of fridge poetry tiles, too — Shakespearean, Scots, computer geek jargon — so there’s bound to be an option that fits your poemophobe’s personality. Magnetic Poetry is a good place to start.

The Simple Diary. Expect more Simple Diary rantings from me in due course… I have just finished filling my first one of these and my goodness, it is weird and brilliant. Basically, rather than being your usual tyrannical page-a-day, the Simple Diary is blissfully date-less… you just fill in a page (or two, or three) whever you feel like it. And it’s not ‘what I did today’ type stuff — you’re asked bizarre and puzzling questions, given mini IQ tests, asked to draw tiny sketches and all sorts of other wonderful stuff. Basically, the Simple Diary is not about recording the events that your concious mind experienced through the day, but the things your subconcious mind was doing in the background. Perfect for encouraging the creativity of someone who thinks creativity isn’t their thing. Find out more at simplediary.com or buy copies here.

GIFTS FOR THE POETRY NEWBIE…

A fabulous contemporary poetry anthology. So your poetry ninja-ing has paid off and you’ve converted a friend to the wonders of poetry… go you! But now your poor friend is probably thinking ‘where the heck do I start?’, faced with so much previously undiscovered poetry. The answer? A really good anthology of contemporary poetry — get them up to date with recent developments, and chances are they’ll work their way back through the rest on their own. A poetry anthology is a great thing for someone who’s new to the genre — it shows in a very obvious way that hey, if you don’t like one poet’s stuff, just read the next one… no two poets are the same. Personally, I’d recommend Being Alive in terms of bang for your buck — over 400 pages for only £8! — also Women’s Work because it’s chock-full of gems, and of course the fabulous Poetry 180 and 180 More.

A good notebook. If they’re a newb, chances are they haven’t yet discovered this vital fact: forget dogs, the notebook is man’s best friend. Whether they write themselves or not, if they’re reading great literature, they should have a pen and paper to hand at all times to scribble down ideas and responses, doodles and daydreams. Choosing a notebook, though, is a fine art — and I may elaborate on this in a future post — you don’t want something so fancy and expensive that it feels like a crime to write in it (I have so many of these), but you also don’t want a tatty 20p exercise book. For a good balance, I like Moleskines — favoured by many a great writer (and unfortunately, many an irritating hipster), they’re sleek, durable and lovely.

GIFTS FOR THE AMATEUR POET…

A subscription to a good poetry magazine. Personally, I like Poetry Review. Yes, they only publish you if your collection is with Faber&Faber and you studied at Oxford (NB obtuse commenters: that’s exaggeration, but it does feel that way reading the thing), but because of that the poems are really, really, really good. It’s also bargainously cheap for what you get. I also like Mslexia, though it is girls-only. And if you want to support a smaller outfit, check out Anon. A subscription is a really good way for your poet friend to keep up to date with what’s going on in contemporary poetry (or in the case of Poetry Review, its highest eschelons), and a good way for them to get inspired and move towards sending their work out for publication!

A “to read” journal. I had one of these a while ago and found it incredibly useful… I was constantly wandering round bookstores furiously scribbling down names, titles and publishers. It’s incredibly easy to think “I’d really like to check out X poet”, and then find that their name has totally slipped your mind, never to return. A book like this is a great way to organise your reading and make sure you get the chance to sample all those spotted-in-a-bookstore-once or recommended-by-a-friend collections and anthologies. I particularly like this ‘books to check out’ journal from the Literary Gift Co.

GIFTS FOR YOUR FELLOW POETRY NINJA…

Materials for poetic assimilation. Stuff that your fellow ninja can make use of to spread the poetic word, basically. Personally, I am a huge lover of stickers, and there are some truly fabulous (and erm, truly hideous) ones on Zazzle. My favourites? Tattoo Poetry // Mock the poet // Two Roads // Being a good poet // I’d Dylan Thomas… // Rimbaud. & of course, there’s the One Night Stanzas Zazzle store, too…

Got any poetic gift suggestions of your own? You know where the comments box is!

(Photo by the happy honeybee)