The 2012 Aldeburgh Poetry Festival runs for the 2nd-4th November, and for the next week, Ink Sweat & Tears will be featuring poems on the theme ‘Poetry as a Lifeline’ which is the subject of the IS&T-supported Discussions and Short Takes at the festival this year – (the link will take you to the first of several ‘Short Takes on Poetry as a Lifeline,’ supported by IS&T)
I’m delighted to say my poem Migration – After ‘Katherine and Millie,’ Barbara Skingle has been accepted by Ink Sweat and Tears for publication in their ‘Poetry as a Lifeline,’ week, on their webzine – and it will be posted HERE tomorrow (Monday) at midday.
Last week, in the wake of the Savile revelations, writer Kathleen Jones wrote a brave post on her blog, about sexual abuse. At last women’s voices are being heard. Survivors (men and women) are finding a voice and are being believed. As someone who worked with sexually abused women through the 1980s and 90s at HMP Low Newton and who encountered huge resistance to the work we were doing I can only hope that the climate has changed irrevocably. I trust that finally we are ready to face up to what has been called ‘the best kept secret,’ – the sexual abuse of children in our families, our communities and our institutions.
