On discovering that Ana Sampson was compiling a poetry anthology about legends for Macmillan Children's Books, I knew I wanted to get a poem included.
Which stories of legends really interest me, I thought. Being born in a cemetery, I've always been drawn to anything in the horror genre.
So my decision was made: let's write a poem about Vampires and/or the origin of Halloween.
I read Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, which predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 25 years and wrote two poems inspired by the story. Neither one made it to the shortlist even though I still love them both.
Luckily, I also did lots of research about the origin of Halloween and Samhain. I learned all about Oweynagat, the cave of the cats and Rathcroghan in County Roscommon, Ireland. I was hooked by stories of Ogham stones, Queen Medb and portals to the otherworld and hell.
But how do you put it all in a poem?
I copied and pasted all the fascinating stories surrounding the origin of Halloween and Oweynagat into a word document and began picking out the imagery that needed to be told.
Letting myself be carried away into a legendary world that existed 2000 years ago, far away from the trick and treating commercial spectacle that Halloween has become, the poem kind of starting writing itself. It's joyous when that happens.
Anyway, months later, I was overjoyed to get an email saying my poem, 'Oweynagat' had been accepted for inclusion in Ana Sampson's 'Heroes and Villains: Poems about Legends'
The icing on the cake was finding out that the super-talented Chris Riddell would be illustrating every single poem in the anthology.
So here it is: an idea, hopes and fears that once only lived in my head manifested into an illustrated poem in a book that lives in the real world - just like the ideas, hopes and fears that once lived in an ancient world, 2000 years before where the origin of Halloween was born.
I love writing poetry but always doubt myself when reading my own work ... but I felt the fear and did it anyway.
Oweynagat poem, written and read by Mark Bird about the origin of Halloween.
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