You are warmly invited to come along. Doors open at 12 noon for anyone who wants to socialise and bring some lunch, and we'll provide hot drinks. We'll start the AGM at 1 pm prompt running up to 3pm, then enjoy tea, coffee and cakes, followed by a session of reading our own poetry to each other. So bring along 1-2 poems that you'd like to share (and any cakes!), any announcements that you'd like to make about poetry events, publishing etc. and bring copies of any books, collections or pamphlets of your work to showcase and sell to other members.
   
Moor Poets Committee 2012 - We have the important business of electing our new committee at the AGM to run our activities and programme for 2012, and invite you to consider joining this committee to help make this happen. 

Moor Poets Committee meets approx. 4 times a year, with emails and phone calls in between. Its work includes deciding who we invite to be our poetry workshop tutors, organising and publicising our poetry writing workshops programme and events, and any other public events where we present poetry (e.g. readings at Ways with Words, Exeter Poetry Festival, other poetry festivals), managing our book-sales and finances. We have also been working on the Arts Council funding application for publishing our next anthology (see below.)

We need (at least) 3 new people to join the committee, with fresh ideas and energy to keep Moor Poets happening - are you that person?? People usually join the committee for one or more years. Currently Graham Burchell, Maria Bojanitz and Pat Fleming are offering to be re-elected onto the committee. Fenella Montgomery (Secretary) and Susie Shelley (Treasurer) are stepping down. The main Committee roles include chair, treasurer, honorary secretary, and publicity officer, all of which will become vacant and open for election through members' vote at the AGM.  Current Committee members can explain what is involved with each role, if you'd like to discuss any of these further. The secretarial role may well be split into two, one person looking after the membership and taking event bookings, the other person organising committee meetings and taking minutes.

If we simply do not get enough people coming onto the committee, then we'll need to take the unwelcome option to fold Moor Poets at this AGM and distribute our not inconsiderable assets sympathetically to like-minded organisations. We currently have a healthy bank balance of around £3000 and another £1000 approx. worth of assets in unsold books and CDs, also a good PA system for poetry performance. This is not an option that we want to happen, so please help us go forward by coming onto the committee! We need your nomination or offer to come forward as soon as possible, by Jan 6^th 2012 at latest.

Please contact Pat Fleming (01364 631233; email: pat@wylde.gn.apc.org) or Graham Burchell (01626 867382; email: authorburch@yahoo.com) if you want to discuss being on the committee, or have any questions, or can help in any other way.

If you are not able to attend the AGM but want to put yourself forward for the committee, or to vote (by email or post) on the nominations for the committee and committee roles, please contact us as above. We will organise a postal or email vote in January before the AGM, if needed.


Other help in running Moor Poets - We have had a newsletter editor and distributor who worked closely with the committee, but was not actually on the committee. This role is currently vacant, needing a good wordsmith familiar with emailing. We also have Jennie Osborne who will continue to look after all our publications supply (Moor Poets Anthologies Vols I and II, 'Wild Thoughts' pamphlet and 'Uncharted' CD) including to bookshops and Dartmoor National Park shops. (01803 840541; email: jenniewordwitch@gmail.com)

Our Poetry Workshop Programme - We've had some brilliant and very useful workshops this past year, with good feedback from both participants and tutors. There have been a number of suggestions for tutors and workshops ahead, including requests for more Totnes-based workshops, for editing and performance workshops, and for writing days 'out in nature'. Julie-ann Rowell is still happy to offer her Botanical Poetry workshop, which was postponed because of an injury. We would love to put on a Spring concert of music and poetry this coming year, and have offers of singers/musicians to do this at St Lawrence Chapel in Ashburton.

But we still need at least 3 new committee members to run these events!

Moor Poets Anthology III - Alas we weren't successful in our application for Arts Council England funding this year for our next poetry anthology, due to sheer competition for funds, so we want to reapply to the Arts Council. We have had clear advice from them on how to do this. Much of the work for this bid work is in place, plus a proposed programme of activity to launch the anthology in 2012, if we succeed with obtaining a grant. If we don't succeed, we've got a plan B with a cut-down budget, using what funds we can muster to pay for getting the Moor Poets III anthology into print. So we will definitely need to pull together to make this happen. 

We welcome any feedback from you, and look forward to seeing you at the AGM later in January (weather permitting!) Meantime wishing you a great Yuletide and a Happy New Year.

With best wishes,