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February 24th 2010
First Time Edition 58 available now!
Issue 58 of First Time is available from Josephine.
November 5th 2009
FESTIVAL NEWS
Join us on the 40th Festival at The White Rock Hotel on Oct 23rd and 24th 2010.
Hotel rates held at same prices as 2009.
Apply:
Josephine Austin,
"The Snoring Cat"
194 Downs Road
Hastings
East Sussex
TN34 2DZ
or josephinepoetry@btinternet.com.
Entry Form
To download an entry form, please "right-click" on the link below and select "Save Target As". You can then print it out and post it.
>> Entry Form << (Microsoft Word Format)
November 2nd 2009
Hastings International Poetry Festival - Weekend 24th - 25th October
Local Poets John D. Robinson, Martin J. Woodfine, Stacey Lane and Carol Bell joined the far travelling bards who converged on Hastings over the weekend of 24th/25th Otcober for the 39th Hastings International Poetry Festival.
Old town Poet, Stephen Mason was awarded 4th prize in the International Poetry Competition with his poem, "Collector of Soles".
Rainer Streng, from Germany had the full house, spellbound with his performance of his poem about a 1000 year old tortoise. Ingrid Riley, another German poet who has been appearing at the festival for many years reading her beautifully constructed work.
Poets from Sussex, Kent, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Shropshire, Isle of Wight, London, Hertfordshire, Surrey and all points of the compass, enjoyed the whole weekend. The White Rock Hotel was the venue and accomodated many of the travelling performers many other guest houses were pleased with their mini tourist boom.
John Towner was the MC and led his folk group 'Titus' in a wonderful end of festival gig to a full house at the hotel on Sunday evening.
Josephine Austin Festival Director stated that this was "one of the best and successful festivals ever - same time, same place next year". Next year being the 40th anniversary.
Winners and highly commended will be published in the spring edition of "First Time".
Brian Austin
Press Officer
27th October 2009
October 4th 2009
FIRST TIME 57 EDITORIAL
A poet friend of mine said that "only time and talent will tell" on the day that Issue No. 1 of First Time was published. Well First Time is standing the test of time and is forever discovering, and what a talented collection of poets are gracing Issue 57. I have kept the same cover and format on the assumption that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' syndrome and, whilst other magazines with hype and financial backing have come and gone, First Time has become established with always an open door for talent.
Many of you have supported and submitted to your magazine for many years and have made it easier and easier for me to continue publishing. You know who you are. Readers all over the world have become fans of First Time through the constant standard and versatility of work published in these pages.
This year sees the return of the Festival after a break of three years. The weekend of 24th & 25th October will be open to all (forms at the back of the magazine for any latecomers) who will be welcomed into a nervous but excited already gathering of Poetry Performers at The White Rock Hotel, Hastings.
The competition is open until 15th October 2009 (once again forms at the back of the magazine).
As summer morphs into autumn, about this time each year with all that is going on I find myself reflecting on the reasons that poets need to communicate with each other and an understanding audience. During my working year, reading, writing, judging and presenting, I realise how fortunate I am to be among so many likeminded people that, in spite of the 'political scene', can still appreciate the range of emotions that the poets of the world transcribe giving meaning to the situations in which we find ourselves.
Now to one of the perks of being Editor and that is I am able to be one of the first to wish you all a very happy, healthy and poetically productive Christmas and New Year.
Once more, may I thank you all for your appreciation and support of First Time.
Josephine Austin, Editor
June 9th 2009
IMPORTANT NOTE
Due to postal problems please be sure to send all entries or correspondence only to Josephine at her current address:
"The Snoring Cat"
194 Downs Road
Hastings
East Sussex
TN34 2DZ
and not to the former Marianne Park address.
Thank you
-- Josephine
October 29th 2008
A History of Hastings International Poetry Festival
“IT IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS” -
and here are the reasons why.
Since 1968, when the idea was born and came into fruition like so many inventive ideas were in the sixties, the Hastings Poetry Festival has staggered, wobbled, tottered and found its feet through three decades. Josephine Austin has achieved this entirely unaided with the exception of Hastings borough Council’s support with the Venue. There have been no Arts grants, nor commercial or financial aid from any other source than her own pocket, but she has had the support of all the fine poets that have attended the festival. In the early days Pat Wooton, her P.A., who worked with Josephine in her business and own career, gave her further support with the Festival and found herself tied up in the administration as it has become today.
The Festival began as a Saturday evening event in a few pubs in the town and in the early seventies progressed to the Lower Hall, White Rock theatre, where for many years the intrepid poets fought against the might of the Annual Scouts Show on the stage above. Poetry accompanied by the verses and chorus of “We’ll be riding along on the crest of a wave”!
Undaunted the festival combined with “Poetry & Pottery”, “Poetry & Art” and for many years “Poetry & Folk Music” with the redoubtable John Towner a M.C . and performing with the folk group “Titus” etc.
The present venue has been home to the Festival for the past 2 years (with the exception of last year) and has become a kind of Mecca to many of us.
Over the years Josephine has presented “The Names” such as Brian Patten, Spike Milligan, The Foggy Duo, Arkwrights Ferrets, John Foreman (the broad sheet king) and Dave Paskett, until the list of poets wanting a platform grew so large that there was no time for “The Names”. Now the Festival has its own “Names”. It has welcomed the editors such as Andy Robson. Geoff Stevens, John Dench, Ian Walton, Morgan Kenney, Adrian Bishop and many more. It has welcomed poets from north of the border, Geordie land, the west country, Wales, Irelend, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Holland and South Africa.
Each year it produces its own ‘stars’. We have been dazzled by ‘The Dodos’, hallucinated with ‘The Hybrids’, wondered with ‘The Wonderhorns’, yodelled with ‘The Yonkliteers’, poeted with ‘Poets Anonymous’, vied with ‘Vertical Images’ and arrested by ‘The Poetry Police’. We have marvelled at the Moira Clarks, the Bryan J. Allens, the Pennelis, the Ingrid Rileys, the Iris Sainsburys, the late Laurence Summerbels, the Sam Royces, the John Tungays, the Phillip Woodrows, the Nola Smalls, the Edna Cosbys, the Family Harleys, the ‘Real’ Bob Jones’s, the Peter Tomlinsons, the Steve langleys, the Eileen Carney Hulmes, the Margaret and Keith Bennetts, the Alan McAlpine Douglas’s, the Hazel Edwards and the late June Also: the locals Kate Sedgwick, Albert Lymer, John Wheeler, Teresa Sullivan, Martin Woodfine and John Taylor and all the many fine poets from abroad – the Rainer Strengs, the Phil McManus’s and the Dordrecht contingency.
There are still those among the audience that remember our short skirted nuns and naked John Vidler (on film) “When all we need is love”. John Vidler was the one that showed John Hedgley the way.
The Festival has released balloons to far off places as Russia and launched bottles with messages that reached Spanish shores. If there has been a way to promote poetry then it has been tried and tested from this Festival. Amongst those who have been tried and tested are Peter Finch, Mark Hewett, John Paul O’Neil and many others whose names still appear on the poetry scene.
Bringing us up to date, our resident video producers Graham and Yvonne Brown film the proceedings and now the Festival is not just a weekend experience but a filmed record of the fine work written, produced and performed by the people for the people of probably the finest Festival in Britain today.
Now to the present.
JOIN US IN 2010 and MAKE YOUR OWN HISTORY.
May 23rd 2008
Josephine's News Update!
There are still a few libraries left in the country which do not hold copies of "FIRST TIME" so may I ask that next time you are at your local library you respectfully ask them, "Why not?". As you know they are available from my address. If The Poetry Library in London and the Poetry Society can hold them, why not your library!!!!
One more thing "First Time" is not just for first time poets but for all poets, published or unpublished. Order a back copy and read for yourself.
Finally, the world needs poetry and never more than at present so don't let the world down and let us help keep the world sane.
Josephine Austin.
©: Copyright Josephine Austin 2003
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