Sonnets before supper

Poetry lovers gathered at The Terrace in Hunstanton on Thursday evening (25th April) for the launch of Ian Enters’ new book - Forms from Chaos.

Organised by local bookshop ‘by the book’, the evening began with an introduction by Adrian Eden from by the book before Ian Enters took to the floor.

A Docking resident, Ian’s career began as a teacher in Brixton having graduated from Trinity College, Oxford.

He has written four collections of poetry, three novels and an opera (that he also produced). Amongst his other accomplishments he was the winner of the BTS International Sonnet Contest.

Forms from Chaos was born from lockdown when Ian was in Somerset. He challenged himself to write every day and the book is a collection of forty-one sonnets divided into sections. In the Day by Day section he was concentrating on thinkers and poets; he says he was getting angry as lockdown carried on, and hence the next section is Polemics. The final section is Nature.

Following Ian’s reading, an open mic session included readings from members of the audience and by Adrian and Anna, owners of the Hunstanton by the book shop.

Ann McKimm said: “It was an interesting evening of poetry and good conversation.”

And David Redfield commented on the “lovely convivial atmosphere; great food; warm and encouraging hosting; an attentive audience; masterful reading by a great poet; and some wonderfully varied supporting work from the open-mic participants. Recipe for a very memorable and enjoyable evening.

Thanking Vicky, owner of The Terrace, for the delicious food, Adrian said the evening had been enjoyed by all - "and we (by the book) plan to hold a similar poetry evening about 3 or 4 times a year.... so looking at something for July."