Who is a winner? Welcome to June

Well, winter has struck here in my corner of Australia. Snow on the mountains, frost in my garden.

In this Newsletter, I have two prize winners to announce, and some questions to ask of you, if you're willing.

I also have a poem that I've written for this month's Newsletter to share but first a small request.

A number of subscribers to this Newsletter have let me know that their copy seems to be ending up in with their SPAM mail.

To make sure this doesn't happen, please take a moment to add the email address - FrankPrem03@gmail.com to your email address book or your 'safe senders' list.

If you think you may have missed receiving your Newsletters, check the Spam folder of your email account and see if it is there. Otherwise, let me know and I'll make sure you can access your copy.

Now, for that frosty poem!

winter (biting)

who can deny

winter

I feel the crunch

and crush

beneath

my feet

white

is the coat he wears

old man winter

and the bite

of his touch

on my fingers

chills my soul

Questions that only you can answer!

I've been puzzling a little about the attitude of readers, generally, towards poetry as a desirable form of reading in these contemporary times.

I'm aware that, in some ways, we are awash in poetry and poets. The social media and blog-o-sphere play host an enormous range and array of verse.

But who reads it? Why do they read it? How do they find it? What forms of poetry appeal the most? The least?

These are questions that intrigue me and it would be helpful to me to get your input. So over the next few Newsletters I'm going to invite you to inform me, if you have a little time, by asking one or two questions.

With permission, I may post the questions and some of the answers on a page over at www.FrankPrem.com, to facilitate even more discussion.

First up:

Do you consider yourself to be a poetry reader, and if so, what sort of poetry do you find interesting to read? Where do you find it?

If you don't consider yourself a poetry reader, can you share your thoughts on why not? Did you ever enjoy reading it, but not anymore?

A YouTube Channel.

I'm excited to be able to share with you that I now have a functioning YouTube Channel, with some of the poems from both Small Town Kid and Devil In The Wind available to be viewed.

I enjoy reading to audience very much and it was a delight to record these. Do check them out here. I really enjoy getting feedback, so let me know what you think.

Who is a winner of Devil In The Wind?

A couple of Newsletters ago I said that I'd give away two signed copies of Devil In The Wind to Newsletter subscribers who volunteered to receve and advance reading copy (ARC) of the book, with a view to providing feedback and, possibly reviews of the book.

In all, there were 22 subscribers who were able to be considered and I managed to do a random draw of numbers 3 and 12.

Congratulations to the two lucky subscribers - Justine (who happens to live not too far away from where I reside, and Elaine, who hails from the UK.

I am awaiting confirmation from the winners, but expect to have signed copies of the book winging their way to Justine and Elaine shortly.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the ARC exercise. The collection has received some simply magnificent reviews.

Finally

I have just this week sent off a fresh manuscript for external editing, layout and cover design.

Tentatively titled the new asylum - a memoir of psychiatry, this collection follows our hero from Small Town Kid into and out of the local mental asylum where his parents work, on through student nurse training, out in the wide world of acute psychiatry and contemporary madness, before finally returning to his roots in the public mental health system.

it should be a cracker, and I hope to have some exciting developments to share exclusively with you, here on the mailing list, along the way.

Remember, if you think you might have missed receiving a Newsletter, let me know and I'll point you to a copy, but please check your spam folder and don't forget to add this email address to your address book or safe senders list'

Hooroo, for now. I look forward ot hearing from you about my questions or anything else mentioned here today.

Frank