The end is the beginning

The end for me in this case is the end of my studies at Edinburgh Napier - my cybersecurity masters is complete although it will be July before I graduate officially. I took time out I suppose to finetune my geek side but the poetry never stopped of course. Alongside the study, the day job, birds, orienteering, travel and family, I managed to get new poetry out in some fantastic publications: what a joy it is when the acceptance note comes in!

A pretty list below:

• The Cormorant
• Causeway/Cabhsair
• The Interpreter’s House
• The Writers’ Cafe
• HU 
• Abridged
• Algebra of Owls
• Gutter
• Ink Sweat & Tears
• Northwords Now 
• Ambit 
• Pure Slush
• Under the Radar
• The Blue Nib
• Eildon Tree

And many thanks to the editors and others - you know who you are - for keeping the faith while some percentage of my mind was untangling hex etc.

So now it comes time to get back to the The exact colour of snow manuscript " a book of weather & maps" which now needs to be supplemented with my copious notes of walks, absent buildings and birds. Before I have found it daunting to write the book but assembling a circa 20000 dissertation over the past 6 months has deleted any worries on that score.  Around about June I should have something but if you are interested in taking a peek with a view to publishing - a dm on Twitter or through the usual email here will do the job.

Currently writing a poem about salt and mangroves inspired by this Jurassic pond in Bo'ness - so back to business as usual.

Bit late for St Bridget's day

A very pleasurable start to the new year with 2 beautiful magazines Ambit and Under the Radar arriving on my doorstep featuring many delights including some of my poems.

You buy copies here and here.

Garden and bird projects continue and I will post on this in a bit.

Also been hanging around some Dublin universities and checking out Xbox gamertags for ladies.

More on this on insta and twitter - enjoy. I will leave you with the mission of finding your own way there. Tip: if in doubt, look up.

New work

If you are interested in new work from me this year:

• Check out a fresh and multi-faceted magazine The Blue Nib edited by Shirley Bell which the Southbank Poetry Library made me aware of - I have some poems in Issue 13 here https://magazine.thebluenib.com/article/3-poems-by-bridget-khursheed/
• A couple of poems in The Eildon Tree - the wonderful and unique Scottish Borders publication driving the arts forward throughout Scotland and globally through the agency of Carol Norris, Sara Clark, Julian Colton and Iona McGregor -  https://issuu.com/borderssportandleisure/docs/eildon_tree_-_may_2017__2_
• If you missed it, I had a poem in Open Mouse - btw I suggest you subscribe if you missed it because this is a fantastic almost daily treat of online poetry curated by Colin Will https://theopenmouse.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/bridget-khursheed-4/
• I have a poem appearing in the Abridged Wormwood issue (I can't tell you how natural a fit that topic was - Greg McCartney the editor has a knack of coming up with the most addictive themes for poets and artists; not to mention the impact of the photography throughout the magazine series); there is a preview here http://abridgedonline.com/abridged-0-51-wormwood/
  The physical version of Abridged "is generally available at art galleries and arts organisations in Belfast, Dublin, Derry, Galway. Usually for a limited period as they go very quickly". Free PDFs are also available from the website.
• I have a poem in the soon to appear Issue 20 of Under the Radar http://ninearchespress.com/magazine.html - copies available from the website; take a look at the range of poets featured in previous issues and you will understand why it is well worth getting a copy sooner rather than later as they sell out quickly.
• If you like a more regular dose of p&g can I suggest you go over to https://www.instagram.com/poetandgeek/ where I post photos taken with a Windows Phone most of the time

Thank you to all the editors and teams for taking the time to read and publish these. Delighted to feature alongside some great poets, artists, writers and photographers.

Other news: I am doing an MSc in Advanced Security and Digital Forensics at Edinburgh Napier University and still doing my regular geek day job. As usual I am confident I can do all of these things and still write the poetry I want to. It is part of my practice to work and write. A theory borne out by presidential/solder/mother/doctor/lawyer/publisher/priest/spy etc poets everywhere and throughout history. Poetry doesn't stop things happening. It makes things happen.

My insta ego

Well thanks for that update p & g. And for making me sounding like a total ego-head.

In response, I guess that is what insta and possibly being a maker of any kind is all about.  On insta you are making photos and clearly creating an illusion even if counter - intuitively an illusion that everything you put on there is spontaneous. At least one account I follow does appear to do that.

The clash between what appears and what is has been central to everything I write. Blame George Eliot, Hardy, James and above all Dickens if you like. And countless A-level and uni exam questions on Appearance and Reality from Little Dorrit onwards. And then blame life and experience. For example, the idea that the borders was once a highly developed industrial centre exporting wool to Flanders in mediaeval times and cloth globally tends to get lost sight of - especially as the general electorate has gone back to forelock-tugging the Tories. How can rural be industrial? How can empty space - the dull landscape that Dorothy Wordsworth dismissed - be full?

A couple of Sundays ago I was walking around near Harestanes by Ancrum and found more ramsons and bluebells growing just a few metres off the A68 than seemed believable. A burn raced by and growth was luscious. I had come with a friend. All good. But when my eye is in I always catch sight of the old wall overgrown by ivy. The space where a huge beam once rested. And after that it started to be quite easy to pick out channels and pools where the water had once sped through and turned the mill wheel. The random mounds and pits were engineering spaces. The beauty. The lushness. Perhaps at some level they still fed on rich soil from the old mill midden.

So I enjoy insta: for example, the work of Ben Lingard mentioned below, parkour heroes and concrete firms, beautiful cups of coffee and some work going on in general. Everything reduced to a column of boxes and that of course the schematic I also find rather appealing.

And for that final touch of the ego glad to have a poem coming out in Under the Radar in Autumn - thanks guys.