Under cover of day – new work from Norwich poet Tim Lenton
Award-winning Norwich poet Tim Lenton presents a new collection of his work, Under cover of day. Written between 2010 and 2020, Tim’s poems have been inspired by a wide variety of subjects, notably the Norfolk landscape, UK and overseas travel, Norwich Cathedral, The Rosary Cemetery in Norwich and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under cover of day, price £6,is published by Paul Dickson Books.
Tim Lenton explains the background to his work: “These poems were written largely between 2010 and 2020. They reflect various places and styles. Although I enjoy writing to a strict structure, as in haiku and tanka, most of my poems are based mainly on rhythm and aim to be accessible and a bit mysterious at the same time.
“Life is in many ways a mystery, and to ignore this will make writing in verse forms too facile and unrewarding. But the poet must have a philosophy of life – a belief, if you like – that attempts to make some sense of the mystery.
“Poems must have a certain depth to make them worthwhile. But of course different readers will enjoy swimming at different depths. My aim as a poet is to make my words deep enough, but not too deep – rather as Einstein urged us to make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
Tim Lenton is a prize-winning poet who has been writing and performing poetry for many years. He is a winner of the Fish International Poetry Prize and the Norwich Writers’ Circle Open Competition.
Tim’s work has appeared in a number of anthologies and he has published several books, sometimes with photographs and sometimes in conjunction with Joy McCall, an internationally recognised tanka and ryuka poet. These books include:
Mist and Fire, Jokerman House, 2003
Off the Map, Jokerman House, 2007
The Road Ends, Pictures and poetry from Iona, Cockleshell Press, 2014
Stillness Lies Deep, with Joy McCall, tanka poems and pictures from Norfolk, Mousehold Press, 2014
Waving from a Distance, Skylark Publishing, 2016
Norfolk Ways, with Joy McCall, tanka poetry and pictures, Mousehold Press, 2017
He has also edited books and written poetry on behalf of the Paston Heritage Society. Published by Cockleshell Press, these include Another Country (2011), Oxnead: A Paston Treasure (2013) and In the Footprints of the Pastons, which includes a guided walk round medieval Norwich (2017).
Under cover of day is on sale at Amazon, City Bookshop Norwich and Revelation Bookshop Norwich.
Joseph Crompton: A Journey of Faith – new booklet about Victorian Norwich churchman
Church historian, Nicholas Groves has uncovered the remarkable ecclesiastical career of Victorian Norwich churchman, Joseph Crompton (1813-1878) in his new booklet, Joseph Crompton: A Journey of Faith. Published by Paul Dickson Books, price £5, www.pauldicksonbooks.co.uk, £1 from the sale of each booklet will go to The Octagon Chapel.
Crompton’s journey of faith began as a Unitarian minister at the Octagon Chapel, before he branched out and established an independent congregation called the Free Christians, which met at Blackfriars Hall, the former chancel of the Domincan Friary. He then joined the Church of England and ended his career as Rector of St Lawrence, in the wake of Edwin Hillyard’s Ritualist era, which had involved the notorious Father Ignatius and his ‘monks’.
“To the glory of God and in affectionate remembrance of the Rev Joseph Crompton, MA. Erected by public subscription as a mark of respect and esteem for his devotion to the poor and great interest in the welfare of the city.” Inscription below the Crompton memorial window at St Lawrence.
Nicholas Groves explains his interest in Joseph Crompton: “I first encountered Joseph Crompton when researching for my doctoral thesis, which was on the Ritualist churches of Norwich. The church of St Lawrence was an early (indeed, the second) convert to the Ritualist cause in Norwich, and Crompton became its Rector after a very turbulent period which involved the notorious ‘Father Ignatius’ (Joseph Leycester Lyne).”
“ Looking into his background, I found that he had started out as minister of the Octagon Unitarian Chapel, and thought at the time that that was a remarkable change of views. It was not until forced idleness over the summer of 2020 gave me the opportunity that I was able to look further into his life. What I was not to know in 2008 was that I should mirror his journey in reverse, going from St George Tombland, another of the churches which had a Ritualist tradition, to the Octagon. In my case, organ-playing was the catalyst.”
“What the members of the Octagon thought of the goings-on at St Lawrence we can but guess; likewise we can only guess (though probably with some degree of accuracy) what St Lawrence’s thought of the Octagon. It takes a degree of fortitude for someone to change their religious views so much, but to do so in the same city, as a clergyman, even more so. That Joseph Crompton came out of this with goodwill on all sides says much about him.”
Nicholas Groves has been involved with various Norwich churches since 1981. He has taught at both school and university level, and is now a freelance writer and lecturer. He is a trustee of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust, and of the Octagon Unitarian Chapel, where he also plays the organ.
His previous publications include The Medieval Churches of the City of Norwich (Norwich HEART, 2010); Sarah Anna Glover: a memoir: (Curwen College of Music, 2006); An Exceptionally Busy Life: William Stephen Gilly, a memoir (edited and completed from a draft by Hugh Norwood; Lasse Press, 2014); St Julian’s Church (with Sheila Upjohn; Norwich, Friends of Julian of Norwich, 2018), as well as several booklets on the histories of various other Norwich churches; Charles AH Franklyn: a man of strong opinions (Burgon Society, forthcoming). He also edited the two volumes of papers from the 2014 and 2105 NHCT Conferences, Of churches, toothache, and sheep and Redundancy and Renewal (Lasse Press, 2016).
Joseph Crompton: A Journey of Faith is on sale at Amazon, City Bookshop Norwich and Revelation Bookshop Norwich.
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