Today the Cyder Scribes would like to welcome author Jim Potts, who has kindly agreed to answer a few questions.
To start, please could you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.
I began writing poetry as a teenager in Castle Cary, Somerset. I went to school in Sparkford and Bruton, and went on to read English Language and Literature at Wadham College, Oxford. As a postgraduate I studied Film and TV production at the University of Bristol Department of Drama. I have written for most of my life. When I started working overseas, my perspectives changed and widened, although my roots were always in the West Country (Somerset and Dorset). I served in The British Council from 1969-2004 and I was posted to Ethiopia, Kenya, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Australia and Sweden. I wrote documentary and educational film and television scripts for films I made in Ethiopia and Kenya, and I taught a course on Scriptwriting for Documentary Films in Ghana. I became interested in the politics, history and arts of each country where I served.
What was your journey to publication like?
Apart from occasional poems and professional or academic articles, I didn't try to publish very much while I was working. I considered it an important part of my job to help promote other British writers and artists, not my own work. I did edit a number of British Council journals, such as Educational Broadcasting International, and other titles in Australia and Sweden. My first proper book, a collection of poems and prose, was published after my retirement ("Corfu Blues", Ars Interpres, Stockholm, 2006). Some friends in Czechoslovakia had published a small samizdat collection of my poems, ("16 Poems") in English and Czech translation, in Prague, in October 1989, just before the Velvet Revolution. I had no idea a group of distinguished young Czech poets was planning it as a farewell "tribute". Selections of my poems have been published in translation in a number of languages (eg Romanian, Swedish, Greek and Czech). For three years I was one of the judges for the Sydney Poetry Olympics.
I had contributed to other books associated with my official cultural relations work: an exhibition and book called "Literary Links", by Roslyn Russell, a celebration of the literary relationship between Australia and Britain (Allen and Unwin, 1997); an anthology called "Swedish Reflections, from Beowulf to Bergman" (Judith Black and Jim Potts, Arcadia Books, 2003), for which Michael Holroyd wrote the foreword.
To what extent does your local area (Dorset/Somerset) influence your writing?
In the early days Somerset was a main source of inspiration and influence. Latterly Dorset has been a considerable source of inspiration, in terms of landscape, local history and literature (including some minor or largely forgotten Dorset poets and writers, apart from the familiar names like Hardy, Barnes, Fowles and Llewelyn Powys. I have written articles for Dorset Life and Wiltshire Life. I now live in Dorchester (Poundbury).
Are you a member of a local writers group?
No. Although when I was one of the three editors of "Dorset Voices" (Roving Press, 2012), it felt as if I was a member of a Dorset-wide network. I really recommend this anthology of prose, poems and photographs. We discovered some absolutely wonderful writers, many of whom had never been published before.
Who are you favourite local authors?
William Barnes (I have been a member of the Barnes Society for over 25 years); Llewelyn Powys (essays on Somerset and Dorset). Hardy and Fowles, of course. There are probably more painters, artists and photographers than writers who engage my interest at the moment.
Do you have a favourite book set in the local area?
Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, William Barnes.
I should also mention "Dorset Voices" (Roving Press) because of the quality of much of the writing from the many talented contributors, young and old.
Where can people find out a bit more about you and your writing?
I produce a regular blog called Corfu Blues (corfublues.blogspot.com), otherwise my author profile on Amazon.co.uk
What are you working on at the moment?
I have been working on a book about "Art and the Dorset Landscape" for the last three years. I gave a talk on the subject at the Dorset County Museum on 30 April, 2014. It's a costly undertaking, because of the need for top quality colour reproductions of paintings, and the fees payable to museums and galleries around the world. I am still trying to find further sources of support.
I am also working on books about Czechoslovakia and Albania during their Communist and Cold War periods. I gave a talk on the Albanian topic at the Pan-Ionian Conference in May, 2014. The title? "The Attempted Subversion of Albania and 'Roll-Back' of Soviet Power - Philby's Betrayal of Operation VALUABLE/BGFIEND. The Corfu Connection, 1949".
I have contributed three chapters about Greece to several books that will be published this year or next by Cambridge Scholars Press. I have just today been invited to contribute a chapter to an American book on Travel, Tourism and Identity. I still haven't made up my mind whether to write about Greece or Dorset. It's a tight deadline to meet.
I really want to make a collection of all my poetry. For the grandchildren, more than anything else!
Where can we buy your books?
Probably easiest through Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com if in the USA.
Maybe Waterstones still have some in stock that can be ordered.
Thank you Jim for joining us today.
To start, please could you tell us a bit about yourself and your writing.
I began writing poetry as a teenager in Castle Cary, Somerset. I went to school in Sparkford and Bruton, and went on to read English Language and Literature at Wadham College, Oxford. As a postgraduate I studied Film and TV production at the University of Bristol Department of Drama. I have written for most of my life. When I started working overseas, my perspectives changed and widened, although my roots were always in the West Country (Somerset and Dorset). I served in The British Council from 1969-2004 and I was posted to Ethiopia, Kenya, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Australia and Sweden. I wrote documentary and educational film and television scripts for films I made in Ethiopia and Kenya, and I taught a course on Scriptwriting for Documentary Films in Ghana. I became interested in the politics, history and arts of each country where I served.
What was your journey to publication like?
Apart from occasional poems and professional or academic articles, I didn't try to publish very much while I was working. I considered it an important part of my job to help promote other British writers and artists, not my own work. I did edit a number of British Council journals, such as Educational Broadcasting International, and other titles in Australia and Sweden. My first proper book, a collection of poems and prose, was published after my retirement ("Corfu Blues", Ars Interpres, Stockholm, 2006). Some friends in Czechoslovakia had published a small samizdat collection of my poems, ("16 Poems") in English and Czech translation, in Prague, in October 1989, just before the Velvet Revolution. I had no idea a group of distinguished young Czech poets was planning it as a farewell "tribute". Selections of my poems have been published in translation in a number of languages (eg Romanian, Swedish, Greek and Czech). For three years I was one of the judges for the Sydney Poetry Olympics.
I had contributed to other books associated with my official cultural relations work: an exhibition and book called "Literary Links", by Roslyn Russell, a celebration of the literary relationship between Australia and Britain (Allen and Unwin, 1997); an anthology called "Swedish Reflections, from Beowulf to Bergman" (Judith Black and Jim Potts, Arcadia Books, 2003), for which Michael Holroyd wrote the foreword.
To what extent does your local area (Dorset/Somerset) influence your writing?
In the early days Somerset was a main source of inspiration and influence. Latterly Dorset has been a considerable source of inspiration, in terms of landscape, local history and literature (including some minor or largely forgotten Dorset poets and writers, apart from the familiar names like Hardy, Barnes, Fowles and Llewelyn Powys. I have written articles for Dorset Life and Wiltshire Life. I now live in Dorchester (Poundbury).
Are you a member of a local writers group?
No. Although when I was one of the three editors of "Dorset Voices" (Roving Press, 2012), it felt as if I was a member of a Dorset-wide network. I really recommend this anthology of prose, poems and photographs. We discovered some absolutely wonderful writers, many of whom had never been published before.
Who are you favourite local authors?
William Barnes (I have been a member of the Barnes Society for over 25 years); Llewelyn Powys (essays on Somerset and Dorset). Hardy and Fowles, of course. There are probably more painters, artists and photographers than writers who engage my interest at the moment.
Do you have a favourite book set in the local area?
Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, William Barnes.
I should also mention "Dorset Voices" (Roving Press) because of the quality of much of the writing from the many talented contributors, young and old.
Where can people find out a bit more about you and your writing?
I produce a regular blog called Corfu Blues (corfublues.blogspot.com), otherwise my author profile on Amazon.co.uk
What are you working on at the moment?
I have been working on a book about "Art and the Dorset Landscape" for the last three years. I gave a talk on the subject at the Dorset County Museum on 30 April, 2014. It's a costly undertaking, because of the need for top quality colour reproductions of paintings, and the fees payable to museums and galleries around the world. I am still trying to find further sources of support.
I am also working on books about Czechoslovakia and Albania during their Communist and Cold War periods. I gave a talk on the Albanian topic at the Pan-Ionian Conference in May, 2014. The title? "The Attempted Subversion of Albania and 'Roll-Back' of Soviet Power - Philby's Betrayal of Operation VALUABLE/BGFIEND. The Corfu Connection, 1949".
I have contributed three chapters about Greece to several books that will be published this year or next by Cambridge Scholars Press. I have just today been invited to contribute a chapter to an American book on Travel, Tourism and Identity. I still haven't made up my mind whether to write about Greece or Dorset. It's a tight deadline to meet.
I really want to make a collection of all my poetry. For the grandchildren, more than anything else!
Where can we buy your books?
Probably easiest through Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.com if in the USA.
Maybe Waterstones still have some in stock that can be ordered.
Thank you Jim for joining us today.
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