Monthly Archives: May 2013

What can History Tell Us?

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Denny's Diary

≈ Leave a comment

I have been reading an excellent book by Norman Davies called, Vanished Kingdoms.  It concentrates on how the different European tribes, groups etc ebbed and flowed around the space we now call Europe eventually settling into countries by either war or marriage.  If we concentrate on these islands it is plain to see that we are not one but many peoples who over time have fought the inhabitants, took over or just slipped quietly in and settled.  We are a nation bound by a mindset of freedom and justice.  If we taught the complete history in our schools instead of concentrating on the exciting Tudors, empire building Victorians or major recent wars perhaps we may have a future generation of British adults who understand that respect and tolerance is the preferred option. Violence and intolerance will breed similar reactions and that is the slippery slope to anarchy and destruction.

I am not trying to lecture but I am frustrated, alongside many others I am sure, that some people believe the only way to win an argument is to punch the other person on the nose. Should we revisit some of the old Anglo Saxon laws we may be surprised at the tolerance and sense of fair play some of them contained. My hero, King Alfred the Great, will be turning on his plinth that we have moved on so little from the 9th century.

Love and peace

Denny Bradbury

Keats and Nature

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Denny's Diary

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

As I re read some of my favourite works of Keats (in sunny Dorset) I am reminded of the links with nature that the Romantic poets had in great number.  I love the imagery from ‘On the Grasshopper and the Cricket’.

The poetry of earth is never dead:

When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, and hide in cooling trees, a voice will run

from hedge to hedge about the new mown mead: That is the grasshopper’s – he takes the lead …

It is a poem full of hope and wonder in the smallest of creatures keeping the earth song going while others rest. I have tried to convey the hope of nature and her renewing spirit in my latest poems, De:versify and it is a real comfort to know that the voice of this great poet still has as much relevance today as when he wrote those lines.

Denny Bradbury

Poems of Robert Frost and the Forest of Dean

12 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Denny's Diary

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

We have just spent a week in the Forest of Dean where every twist and turn of the forest byways reminded me of Robert Frost’s poems. Many poets capture the essence of forests but he in particular seems to embody a sense of belonging within the trees. The spectacular Symonds Yat with its steep wooded hillsides and foaming river Wye is so dramatic it begs to be written about. I’ll put that poem in Book 3.

Nature never fails to inspire. I wish you joy in your exploration. Denny Bradbury

A Day In The Life…

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in Misc

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Saturday April 13th and in the quiet village of Wingrave in Buckinghamshire, a film crew were gathering….

Denny Bradbury, the acclaimed author and poet famous for novels such as ‘Borvo’, an Anglo Saxon tale, and her first poetry collection ‘Denagerie of Poems’, is waiting to be interviewed about her recently published second book of poems entitled ‘De:versify’.

The opening scene is filmed outside the village’s picturesque church as the presenter and interviewer, Julie Davis, welcomes the viewers to Wingrave and sets the scene for who we are about to meet.

A short walk from the church and we are outside Denny’s house; a knock on the door and we are led in to meet the author herself.

Much of her writing takes place in a small study, full of books and personal memorabilia that inspire her to write the poems she does, be it a photo of a trip into the mountains of another country, or a letter from the office of HRH the Prince of Wales, recognising the issues that Denny tackles in her poetry such as the destruction by man of our green and pleasant land as a cause close to His Highness’ own heart.

Through the course of the interview we learn more about Denny the author, poet and person – she talks of how often inspiration for her poems can suddenly come to her whilst she is out walking or in the middle of the night when she cannot sleep, sometimes in their entirety, other times in short bursts that take a while for the full poem to form.

Her love of nature and the creatures that exist within it shine through the poems in her new collection – ‘Hare in the Moonlight’, one of her favourite poems from her new collection, was borne from an appreciation of a painting of such a subject whilst ‘Stars Tonight’ was written under the Dorset sky where the lack of light pollution means a clear, star-gazers paradise.

Denny shares with us how some of her poems are personal to her own life whilst others are brought to life by other events she has witnessed on the news or in print that have in some way touched her.

Future works consist of a sequel to ‘Borvo’ and as we walk with Denny and her dog, Rufus, through the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside, she shares with us how walking aids the creative process.

A charming and extremely talented lady and we, as her readers, look forward to what the next few years hold for Denny and her creative offerings.