Cover: Photograph (c) J. G. Betts. Ducks in Tessier Gardens Torquay.
It has been a summer of drought, but no break in the flow of verse, so LUPO presents its seventy-fifth autumn edition with a cast of cats, elusive chirpers, naked mole-rats, ostriches and woodpeckers, not to mention human overthinkers, philosophers and runners. Footballers make an appearance too via the recent World Cup, along with the Pixel-Slinger of the Potomac.
Exerting themselves in the four Intervals come Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Marshall Begel, Jerome Betts, Joanna Bird, Jane Blanchard, Paul Burgess, Michael Calvert, Terese Coe, Pat D'Amico, Tracy Davidson, D. R. Goodman, Julia Griffin, Steven Kent, Susan McLean, Moray McGowan, Colin McNairn, L.A. Mereoie, Alan Millichip, Brian O’Sullivan, Martin Parker, D.A. Prince, Harry Ricketts, Steven Searcy, David Seddon, Henry Stimpson, Gail White and Russel Winick.
Welcome aboard to this autumn’s nine LUPO-debutantes, Hassan Ismail Adekunle, Paula Mahon D’Entremont, D. R. Goodman, Karla Jacobs, Ralph Keats, Thomas Michael Mulligan, Brandon Robshaw, Bruce Rogowski and Christopher Uhl.
Pondering their pun-tally is the small band of Competition 74 survivors, namely Marshall Begel, Daniel Galef, Julia Griffin, L. A. Mereoie, Mike Mesterton-Gibbons and D.A. Prince.
NB. Please note addition (bullet point 4) to the submission guidelines.
With thanks to Madoka Yoshiike for the use of a photograph, and apologies to those whose work has had to be held over till December, best wishes to all LUPO’s readers and contributors in the currently hot or cold halves of the globe.
However, here before the main issue, is a brief appreciation in memory of Chris O’Carroll and Bill Greenwell, two stalwarts of our corner of the literary world, who have both sadly left us since the last issue.
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Chris O’Carroll (1951-2026) died peacefully surrounded by family on the 9th of June this year.
He was a highly valued contributor to LUPO, as well as stimulating correspondent, from Issue 14 in June 2011 up to his last piece What do clouds weigh? in Issue 74. He clocked up thirty-six appearances in thirty-two issues over the years. He was an actor, journalist, editor and writer in his varied career. Six months spent in England when his wife Karen was at Leicester University, gave him a useful insight into things over here and he met both Martin Parker, LUPO’s founder, and Bill Greenwell on his last visit to England some years ago.
His acting background enabled him to project his verse really effectively on stage or via Zoom during the Covid years. Many readers will have noted his ability to retain his sense of humour and write defiant verse while undergoing treatment for colon and pancreatic cancer over the past few years, coupled with his generous appreciation of the work of newcomers and others.
All in all, we have lost one of the brightest stars in our firmament with his inventive, carefully-crafted, witty and entertaining output, though his serious side, as in his third book The Joke's On Me, was impressive, not least his pieces about birds in that collection.
More detail about his life can be found at : Christopher O’Carroll Obituary (1951 – 2026) – Pelham, MA – Daily Hampshire Gazette.
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It is also sad to have to record that Bill Greenwell (1952-2026), a founder contributor to LUPO, died on the 15th July. Four pieces of his, including three Blake parodies appeared in the first issue of March 2008 and three others on such topics as rewilding, Sylvia Plath and Robert Mugabe, in 2008 and 2009.
He was a lecturer at Exeter FE College for twenty-eight years and LUPO’s web manager remembers him reading at the open-mic nights she and Martin Parker used to run at The Plough, Torrington, in North Devon. He returned to his native north-east after 37 years down in the-south-west.
His later contributions to LUPO were regrettably few but included a sparkling second parody of Sylvia Plath (Issue 31) as well as one of Ted Hughes (Issue 36).
His output of high-quality light and entertaining verse was amazing in innumerable competitions and as a weekly house-poet for The New Statesman 1994-2002. Another giant of the genre has gone.
