New writing from students at Tampere University

I have posted some new prose fiction texts written by students on the Creative Writing in English course at Tampere University to a special blog intended to showcase their work. The blog is titled UTA Creative Writers 2015 and you can find it at this address:

writersatuta.blogspot.com


Happy reading.

Three poems from Falstaff's Gut

I have just added a new page to the side bar on the right with three poems from my new collection, Falstaff's Gut. I hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to leave a comment with your response to the poems, if you wish.

I rather like the cover of the collection. The statue's head has a rather Falstaffian aspect, and the fact that it sits directly on the ground, as if the whole earth is his body, chimes nicely with the opening lines of the poem:

This man consumes the world,

digests it and transforms it

into flesh and blood and senses.

Writing by students from Tampere University

Hello All, The purpose of this post is to direct you onwards to another blog that showcases a selection of the work done by students who have taken the Creative Writing in English course at Tampere University in Finland this semester. There's a wide range of texts on show: poetry, both original and in translation; prose fiction; detective fiction; fantasy and science fiction; a magazine column. The blog address is:

http://writersatuta.blogspot.com

Another funny poem

There's another of my humorous poems, The Soul Bares All, on the Crowsfeet website for humorous poetry.

The url address is: http://crowsfeet.xyz

Why not visit the site and bring a smile to your face? There's a lot of good writing there.

Sampola topic for Tuesday 07.04

This is our topic for the class on 7 April.


New Technology

Apple Watch

Have you heard about Apple Watch?
You can find information from this website:
https://www.apple.com/watch/

What can Apple Watch do, apart from tell you the time?
How does the watch enable users to get in touch with each other? (See ‘New Ways to Connect’)
What functions does the watch have that are connected with health and fitness?
What information can users obtain from the watch?
How are the various functions operated? Give some examples.

What do you think of the Apple Watch?
Do you think its functions are useful?
Do you think the price is good value for money?
Do you think you would like to own one? Why (not)?
What do think of the design? Is it attractive?

What are the competition doing?
Are any other companies producing smart watches?
Can they do the same as Apple Watch?

Have a look at some other types of watch technology at this site:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31979004
Did you find one to suit you?
Which is your favourite?

And talking of time …

What do you think of Daylight Saving?
Does it make any sense to move our clocks forward and back twice a year?
When and why did the custom start?
Is there any advantage?
Are you in favour of keeping or abandoning the practice?

Smart Meters

How carefully do you currently monitor electricity consumption in your home?
Do you know at what times of day you use most electricity?
Does the price of electricity vary at different times of day?
How can smart meters help electricity companies and consumers to use energy more efficiently and economically?

Here are three websites with information:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32090577

http://www.fortum.com/en/mediaroom/pages/fortum-completes-smart-meters-installation-project-in-finland.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_meter

The last website has a very long article. You don’t have to read all of them!

Crowzfeet online magazine for humorous poetry

A new web magazine for humorous poetry has been founded at this address:

https://crowzfeet.wordpress.com/

There's some amusing verse there, including one of mine, Defying The Devil.

And here it is here too:

Defying The Devil

Get thee behind me, Satan!
Ah, on second thoughts
perhaps we could come to some
sort of accommodation.
Let's not be rash or over-nice.
What exactly are you offering?
And what's the price?
Before we begin the negotiation
I should point out
that I'm not so naive
as to actually believe
you would answer my every wish.
Nor do I expect you to be satisfied with
something so vague as my eternal soul.
So, if you could see your way
to gratifying some of my more
outlandish little peccadilloes -
those quirks of taste -
and supplying the necessary dosh
for a life of profligacy and waste,
I would be willing to submit
to becoming a social pariah;
to be held up as a bad example,
pointed at, pilloried, reviled
and abused by citizens driven to wild
outrage by my excesses.

I can't manage all that on my own.
I need a backer.
So, how do you feel?
What do you say?
Is it a deal?