South African Poet Judy Croome Writes to Change Perspectives: An interview with The Hawk newspaper

Last month I spent a delightful few hours with journalists from THE HAWK newspaper of St Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States of America. Over smoothies and hot chocolate, journalist Leslie Quan, photographer Mateo and I discussed a wide range of topics from the Ancient Greek poet Korinna and her focus on women's experiences being written for women  to how the listening to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in the 1990's as South Africa transitioned to a democracy affected me. 

You can read the full interview here or an excerpt below.

Thanks to Leslie for her thought-provoking questions and Mateo for his photography skills, and wishing both Leslie and Mateo great success in their future careers.

A Poetic Book Tour for "the dust of hope"

Please join Serena and her team from Poetic Book Tours for their Winter 2022 blog tour for the dust of hope: rune poems by Judy Croome, published by Aztar Press in September 2021.

Blog Tour Schedule:

Jan. 27: The Book Lover’s Boudoir (review)

Feb. 3: Anthony Avina Blog (review)

Feb. 8: Wall-to-Wall Books (review)

Feb. 9: Little Miss Star (review)

Feb. 17: Necromancy Never Pays (review)

Feb. 22: Review Tales by Jeyran Main (review)

March 2: Anthony Avina Blog (Interview)

March 8: True Book Addict (review)

March 17: Pages for Sanity (review)

March 22: the bookworm (review)

Follow the blog tour with the hashtag #dustofhope and @judy_croome

The Gift of Poetry

I had great fun presenting "The Gift of Poetry" at Writers2000 monthly meeting on 9/10/2021. Watch the full presentation below or on you tube. or read about it in the Bedfordview Edenvale local newspaper

Topics I discuss include:

* what is poetry?

* what makes a poet?

* loving the language

* the poetic vision

* is poetry relevant?

* why write poetry?

* recommended reading

Find my poetry books on Amazon  https://amzn.to/3vE8TUk

For the Love of Poetry

South African poet Judy Croome was judge of the 2016 Writers 2000 Poetry Competition. 

Read the "BEDFORDVIEW & EDENVALE NEWS" article here.

Listen to Judy Croome present feedback to competitors and announces the winner: 

All the photos of the festive function at Inyoni Creek Club House 

can be found on my Facebook page. 

Here are a few photo highlights:

Andrea Girling wins a volume of my poetry "a Lamp at Midday"

Giving the poetry entrants feedback and announcing the winners

Chairperson Nicki Bosman, Vice Chair Mike Corders and
Burgie Ireland of Writers2000

The Carnival themed Awards lunch had some imaginative and fun masks!
(I'm not wearing a mask!)

David and Gail Robbins from Porcupine Press.
David judged the non-fiction category.

Anthony Ehlers judged the fiction category

Poetry prizewinners from Left to Right: Jill Jacques (2nd placed poem "Sheddings"), myself,
Meggan Preuss (1st placed poem "You and I" and Duncan Steptoe (3rd placed poem "Emergence")

Being a judge has its rewards - not only reading great poetry ,
but also walking off with some lovely gifts!

Thank you to Writers 2000 for a fun filled afternoon!  

a stranger in a strange land

NEWSFLASH!

‪#‎Newsflash‬ Aztar Press is proud to announce the release of

"a stranger in a strange land" Judy Croome's latest volume of poetry.
Currently available from on-line stores as print and eBook. 
Available in South Africa from Loot, TakeaLot or direct from Aztar Press

Read reviews from Vine Leaves Literary Journal (UK) and Readers' Favorites (USA)

a Lamp at Midday

I'm delighted to announce that the paperback edition of my debut collection of poetry a Lamp at Midday is now available for sale at Amazon.com.

As many of you know, the last 18 months have been somewhat stressful as my adored Dad's health continued to deteriorate. I had no time to work on my planned new novel, so I fed my Muse by writing poetry.

This collection is the result and, along with poems on a variety of topics, includes some poems to my Dad that you've seen before on this blog.  But these are not only poems about my Dad. The official blurb is: 

"Containing a wide selection of poems, a Lamp at Midday gives voice to the contrasts and contradictions of modern life. As they challenge complex emotions and explore timeless themes, these poems also have relevance for the reader’s own life. This personal collection of poems is a vivid celebration of one woman's spiritual questioning and earthly existence, speaking with a haunting intensity of life, loss and love. "

Here are some of my personal favourites from the Haiku section in  a Lamp at Midday:

flames

skipping skywards so

fast, burnt orange warmth can turn

to red inferno. 

forget-me-nots 

above the sea of

brightly coloured petals i

wave farewell to you.

halloween

a field of golden

round pumpkins, ripe and ready,

basks in the sunshine.

lightning

suddenly the sky

is furious, and lets loose

a finger of fire.

giraffes 

long necks undulate. 

gentle eyes and jigsaw coats

crown a setting sun.

No book is completed without the help of others. 

As always, my dear writing friends (Debs, Leonie, Janet, LvW) were there to cheer me on when I faltered and fell into deep fits of angst about this work.

Angela Voges of Typographica Manuscript brought her excellent editing skills and insightful comments to the text, while the multi-talented author Michelle Davidson Argyle created the beautiful cover.

And, last but not least,  without the faith and support of my family - in particular my wonderful husband Beric and my incredible Mom, Dawn Heinemann - I'd never write anything at all.

The paperback copy will be available at South African on-line stores from around middle August 2012, which is the same time that the eBook will be available for sale. 

I'll be running giveaways on GoodReads and LibraryThing, so if you want a chance at winning a free copy, keep an eye out for my tweets and Facebook announcements.