Richard Fleming
-
Versatile, unflinching and soulful. Richard Fleming’s tour de force
Stone Witness by Richard Fleming, published by Blue Ormer Publishing Richard Fleming’s new collection is a tour de force, harvesting poems which include some of his strongest work to date. The best of Richard Fleming’s work is possessed by soul; that unmistakable sense that the poem you are reading is inhabited by something other than…
-
Richard Fleming’s magnificent poem for the BBC: La Gran’mère du Chimquière
I feel very proud of my friend Richard Fleming this week. As the best poet on Guernsey, Richard was recently approached by the BBC to write a poem for the National Poetry Day. The poem, La Gran’mère du Chimquière read by Richard, should be – must be – listened to here. Drop in at the 41 minute mark or a smidge before.…
-
Home is where the hurt is
For someone who hates flying as much as I do, I seem to travel a lot. Countries as far apart as Mexico, Chad, and Japan have seen me emerge from the plane blinking in gratitude to the sky gods for my safe arrival, and ready to explore. But when I return to Guernsey I feel I am coming home. I…
-
Genius Friend
Edward Chaney’s long-awaited book on G.B. Edwards, Genius Friend is being published and launched at the Guernsey Literary Festival today. And I’m very sad that I’m not there to see it. G.B. Edwards wrote The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, which is by a country mile the best book written about Guernsey. It is essentially…
-
How not to annoy a poet
In the granite cliffs of the south coast of Guernsey is a particularly beautiful spot called Icârt Point. I proposed to Lorraine my wife there two years ago, and I have known and loved the place all my life. I have written poems about it, with two even having been set to music. When it comes my time to join…
-
La Gran’mère, a Guernsey goddess
I am an idolater. This is not something many of us can say in this godless age. My Goddess is somewhere between three and five thousand years old. She was hewn from a large lump of granite until, around the time of the Romans, she was carved again, adding the garments and, possibly, the face she wears now. She…
-
An exile’s lament
I am an exile, but I am not alone. Most people I know live far away from where they grew up. Though born in London, my mother moved to Guernsey to live with my grandparents when I was little. I started school on the island, and my brother was born in the old granite cottage…
-
Strange Journey by Richard Fleming
Richard Fleming’s new collection Strange Journey rings true. It is the poetry of biography filtered through a charged and fiercely honest imagination. The viewpoint is often that of a person assessing their own life from a position of uneasy maturity. The skill with which this is done forces the reader into what can be an occasionally…
-
Richard Fleming’s Strange Journey on the BBC
My pal Richard Fleming reading from his new book (after a quick discussion about dogs) on the Jenny Kendall-Tobias show on BBC Guernsey. from 3:08:50. You have seven days to listen…
Peter Kenny: a writer's notebook 