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February news

19/2/2021

Dear all,

Greetings to all of you from an overcast day here in London. I wanted to share a couple of things with you, one event in particular that is happening TODAY.

I very much hope some of you will be able to attend this incredible event planned by The Poetry Exchange. It is happening this evening (UK time) and is called In the Company of Poems. It starts at 7pm UK time/2pm US East Coast time/1pm US Central time and you can book tickets here: https://www.thepoetryexchange.co.uk/events

It promises to be a very exciting event. The line-up of readers will include Hafsah Bashir, John Mcauliffe, Malika Booker, Natasha Gordon, Roy McFarlane, Tobias Menzies and William Tuckett, alongside Poetry Exchange podcast hosts, Fiona Bennett and Michael Shaeffer. They will be reading some of the world’s greatest poems, including poems by Keats, Carol Ann Duffy and Derek Walcott.
Second, I’m happy to say I’ve updated my website to include the full video of the launch of The Ministry of Flowers along with more videos of individual poems read by all of the amazing readers, including Hafsah Bashir, Fiona Bennett and Michael Shaeffer. Just go here.

Lastly, there is a brand new Goodreads Giveaway here that just started this morning. There will be five winners of signed copies of The Ministry of Flowers, each with a hand-painted bookmark. Would love if you enter or share!

Sending lots of flowers to all of you – extra flowers for those who are being so badly affected by the winter storms in the United States. I hope you are all in places of shelter, keeping safe and warm.

Warmest wishes
Andrea

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⚘January 2021⚘

15/1/2021

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A JANUARY HELLO

A warm hello to all of you on this grey day here in London.

I sincerely hope the year ahead is a kind, generous and peaceful one for each and all of you. While it is true that the first couple of weeks haven't been exactly peace-filled (!), I feel hopeful that happier times lie ahead. To quote Neruda “You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”

That said, I hope all of you who posted selfies with flowers from the launch have now received your hand-painted bookmarks. If you haven't, please just email and there will be one on the way as soon as the paint dries. If you'd like to special order some bookmarks, just let me know. I'm happily in the process of creating my own studio in a now-empty bedroom of our house, which means not only new hand-painted designs for bookmarks, but also that I can finally work on larger canvasses, a dream I've had for ages. For now, a small sample of art is available here on my website with 20% of all sales going directly to Children International.

Most of all, I'm super excited to share the first three video-poems from the launch and introduce the first two of the eight readers. Although The Ministry of Flowers doesn't have named sections as such, the book moves through the complex ideas embedded in a tiny poem of Emily Dickinson's, whose first line (and title) is "Between My Country — and the Others." And what a line. The first poems in the book explore the possible meanings tucked within.

The first of the three is 'Letters from Abroad,' a poem that explores what it might mean for each of us to be a 'country' that necessarily has boundaries and borders -- and yet perhaps it's even more a reminder to self that we are never alone, even when -- maybe especially when -- we feel the most alone.

The second poem 'Remember when we thought we'd live forever?' is read by Sally Anglesea, the incredible event coordinator of the launch. The poem was inspired by a night out in Paris a couple of years ago with my 21 year old daughter and her three friends as we sat in a rooftop bar overlooking the lights of the city. I wrote the first draft in a quick flurry as soon as we returned home that evening. There was a sweet, nostalgic joy that came from being with out with such young people -- memories of how life felt at that age, when the future was full of that heady mix of frightening, wonderful possibilities. How could the buzz ever end?

The third 'Memory is not a peacock landing on a sleeve' is read by my amazing poet-friend Valerie Wallace. Although the title of the poem sat with me for a while before writing the poem, once the poem arrived, it came out as a long, 40+ line poem. With time -- perhaps like memory itself -- the poem became shorter and shorter. I wanted it to be an experience like memory itself -- like the whisper of a wren, as brief and fleeting as the flutter of wings.

All three poems and even more importantly, introductions to the readers, can be found here with more to follow soon!

Before I leave you, a quick word about the endorsements of The Ministry of Flowers. The quotes on the back of the book are tiny excerpts from generous, thoughtful, rich endorsements from a variety of people I admire. I'll share a new one with each newsletter as each is like a small poem in itself. The first one below contains beautifully-rendered words from John Sibley Williams, a poet whose work never ceases to astound me.

Writers really do feel genuine joy when we hear from readers. I have so enjoyed your emails. If you enjoyed the book, one of the ways you can help me most -- and help the book reach more readers -- is to do a review, however brief, on Amazon (UK), Amazon (US), Goodreads or any other book-site. Of course, buying and sharing the book is amazing too. Thank you all for your help with that. If you haven't bought the book yet, the direct link for purchasing through Valley Press is here.

And with that, I will get back to my diligent efforts to make 2021 a happier one. Thank you for being here.

With much gratitude
Andrea

A truly compelling and original work, The Ministry of Flowers intimately weaves cultural concerns with family drama and questions of personal identity and societal gender expectations into a dream-like tapestry that’s as sharp-edged as it is gorgeously rendered. Slot’s visceral collection smolders with heartache, gritty natural landscapes, and an insistent lyrical beauty that both celebrates and haunts the edges of our familiar world. Here, even smiles are ‘scar-lined’. Here, ‘Goodbye / frames our lives’. These poems are packed with metaphors and feelings that made my heart fall into my stomach and my mind spin with creative delight. At its core, The Ministry of Flowers is a profound ‘way of / saying, I am here, and here I will remain’.
John Sibley Williams, author of As One Fire Consumes Another, winner of the Orison Poetry Prize
Learn more about John's amazing work here.
FOR THE VIDEOS AND INFORMATION ON THE READERS JUST CLICK HERE

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November 23rd, 2020

23/11/2020

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💐I'm happy to say that The Ministry of Flowers is now arriving in mailboxes (and through letterboxes) in homes around the world. It brings me joy to think of it sitting on kitchen tables, bedside tables and, yes, in loos too--a place of honour surely for any poetry book. :)

💐The launch and celebration of the book on Nov 12th was a warm and happy occasion thanks to the creative beauty and organisational skills of Sally Anglesea and the incredible curator and host Fiona L Bennett. We had an audience of over 100 (age 17 months to 90 years) tuned in from at least 8 countries and 9 time zones.

💐A lot of people asked about the phenomenal readers and organisers of the event so I wanted to share all their names here, too, as they are all incredibly talented people in their own right. I encourage you to look up each and every one of them. Their readings were certainly a potent reminder that poetry is meant to be heard!

💐 I will soon be sharing the recordings of these readings among other Ministry of Flowers whatnots. I’m hoping you’ll follow this blog and/or sign for my newsletter here: https://www.andreawitzkeslot.com. I promise both will be brief and joyful—just some poems, some music, some news, some flowers.

💐Finally, a huge thanks to Valley Press for creating this book with such patience and care and to The Poetry Exchange for all their support in the celebration too. If you love poetry, you will want to get to know both right away. I promise you will not be disappointed.

💐If you'd like to buy a copy of the book (for yourself or anyone who needs more flowers in his or her life!) just go here: The Ministry of Flowers.

May you continue to scatter flowers far and wide.

With warmest wishes and kindest regards
Andrea x

The Ministry of Flowers
by
Andrea Witzke Slot

published
by
Valley Press

on-line launch event
November 12th 2020
created with the support
of The Poetry Exchange

Poetry by Andrea Witzke Slot

Curated by Fiona L Bennett and Andrea Witzke Slot

Producer and Event Co-Ordinator: Sally Anglesea

Introduction: Jo Brandon, Valley Press

Readers
Sally Anglesea
Hafsah Aneela Bashir
Fiona L Bennett
Vanessa Gebbie
Faisal Mohyuddin
John Prebble
Michael Shaeffer
Valerie Wallace
Andrea Witzke Slot

Host
Fiona L Bennett

A few comments from the event:

I don't know if you saw my name among the 70+ names (!), but I was there, and it was fabulous. That poem in which you showed us why you want to die like the dog should be nominated for a Pushcart; and the fellow who read it, for an Oscar. I have so many different images of people and encounters with people in my head right now. Your book is a beautiful reminder to us of the importance of seeing ourselves as communal beings. I can't wait to read and re-read these.

What a wonderful treat to see you and hear the amazing and uplifting collection of poems read so well by you and the other readers! It was so interesting to hear you describe the genesis of the book and illustrations, which made the gathering seem quite intimate. I'm looking forward to reading the collection in its entirety as soon as I get my hands on it.

It's actually the best-attended poetry book launch I've ever been at. So the pandemic brings us some gifts too...

What an incredible evening with your words. I loved hearing your work read by others, that made it really special. Ordered the book, can’t wait to receive it.

Beautiful words - smiled, cried and can’t wait to read them again and share them

Never been to a launch like it, even in real life. So well organised. our instructions were lengthy and precise, the words, music and art flowed seamlessly, I felt. Huge audience! Thank you Andrea!

Utterly magnificent. - Thank you Andrea - and thank you readers! What a rich nourishing bone tingling treat.

Andrea, this was absolutely beautiful! Cannot wait to get my hands on the book. Thank you to Valley Press for bringing us such life!

An incredibly special evening. What wonderful words - so moving. THANK YOU thank you xxxx

Thank-you for this wonderful gift Andrea. So moving, so inspiring, so beautiful and so full of love

I am enjoying hearing your poems in so many beautiful voices. What a lovely idea!

So lovely just to spend an evening immersed in these words. Thank-you to you Andrea and all the readers

I love hearing your playing too, Andrea. Somehow I hadn't know you were a musician too!

Lovely pics and music! And what a crowd!!! Congratulations!

I’m am moved to tears...beauty and compassion are in your poems.

Thank you, beautiful poems and reading xxx

A fine and moving collection Andrea.

Andrea, your new work is so powerful & humane & moving.

I am SO moved, Andrea and all the readers!

Such perfect readings!

Such a lovely reading. I may have cried a bit at these moving poems.

Congratulations - this was a wonderful reading! I can't wait to receive the book!
I loved the lettuce and slug one, it reminded me of a memory as a child, gardening with my mum in the rain. Beautiful readings.

Yes to scattering flowers everywhere in the world!

A lovely evening! Such beautiful readings in the final half. I love the idea of hearing Andrea’s poems in all those voices. Congratulations on the book!

Speechless... HOW wonderful...

Good night all and thank you Andrea for giving us the beauty of life in poetry.

I’ve come to sprig your country’s paths with
forget-me-not blues, all hues
of hyacinth tolls and gentian dues..

‘From Between my Country and the Others—as Ministry’
The Ministry of Flowers

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February news

⚘January 2021⚘

November 23rd, 2020

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