We had on of our occassional unusual evenings last night (30th April 2013). For only the second time we had a guest reader, André Mangeot. The room was crowded, and he deserved it. His reading was both entertaining and thoughtful.

He read mostly from his book Mixer, in which all the poems have some sort of relationship to cocktails. He also read new poems that are yet to be published, although the potential new book is ready to go.

The sonnet writing workshop with James Knox Whittet drew together twelve poets wishing to write a sonnet for the first time or improve their grasp of the form.

Poetry Aloud this month (March 2013) seemed to bring the renewal expected of Spring, although Spring itself didn't seem to be taking any notice. It was bitterly cold outside but in the warmth inside we had new (to us) poets, one of whom (Hil Jennings) had travelled from across the county. Read his excellent contributions in the archive.

This is a précis of an article by Rod O'Donoghue that appeared in the Suffolk Poetry Society's Twelve Rivers newsletter.

Desert Island Poems with Nick Wells on the 8^th May 2012 at Benson Blakes attracted an audience of 35-40 people. They came from all parts of the county. Some were SPS members, others from Poetry Aloud plus new faces who came out of interest.

After last year's Sturm und Drang which came near to seeing the end of SPS as we knew it the Society has now entered calmer waters ( though some of us may regret that the previous skipper had so determinedly nailed his colours Poetry Anglia to the mast that he felt he had to jump ship altogether).

Real thanks to everyone who came, read,sang, clapped, made cakes, ate cakes, moved chairs -- we certainly broke the silence of the Meeting House on Saturday!

The Chairman and especially the Treasurer were very happy - we more than covered our costs!

What  variety! I think I enjoyed the dialect poems best and some of the music. But I should like your views!

If we have another event on similar lines (say next year) what would you like to see?

Last night was a rapidly-assembled gathering of 31 poets from all parts of the English-speaking world to protest against the Arts Council's undoing of its support for the Poetry Book Society. It was also a fund-raising event to help make up the deficit. The redoubtable Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate, was the driver.

The first time I saw and heard Katie Bonna performing was when she read one of her poems at Waterstone's Bookshop in the Arc in Bury St. Edmunds, the second was when a few days later I went to see a performance of 'The London Merchant' at the Theatre Royal where she played the maid, the joint female lead.

Our third birthday celebration with our Pick of the Poets event and Katie Bonna, the performance poet, entertaining seemed to go down very well. We had a very good attendance with some old friends returning. They will be back!

Joe has written eloquently on the latest Poetry Aloud Workshop; in fact he has captured the essence of all of the meetings held thus far over the last few months on the website.
For anyone new to Poetry Aloud, or who has yet to attend a Workshop, let me offer this encouragement to attend.