Maps and Legends launch

Last night saw the official launch of Maps and Legends, the new anthology celebrating five years of Nine Arches Press, at the Library of Birmingham.

Jo Bell compered, and her introductions were poetry in themselves. In particular, she paid fitting tribute to Nine Arches editor Jane Commane, whose tireless work has seen the press go from strength to strength. She's a very active editor, working through manuscripts with poets with great perception, supportiveness and patience, and I know I'm not the only Nine Arches poet who would say that that, above all, is what makes being published by the press such an honour.

Readings were by Angela France, Daniel Sluman, Maria Taylor, Roz Goddard, Myra Connell, Deborah Tyler-Bennett, David Morley and myself, plus Jo and Jane reading the work of David Hart and the much-missed Milorad Krystanovich respectively. It was great to hear so many fine poets together, and I think the occasion also brought out some poems that don't always get an airing otherwise. In keeping with the book's theme, I read Warning Against Using These Poems As A Map, plus Watching Woodcocks (well, once Jo had teased the appreciative audience with the clitoris reference, I felt I couldn't let them down). We adjourned to the Prince of Wales for a swift one afterwards - I only wish it had been longer.

Finally, a word about the library itself. What a glorious building! I'd seen a lot of it on the regional news, but I was still taken aback by just how big it is, and it looks fantastic, inside and out (especially at the moment, with the surrounding square and streets lit up for Christmas). It is, I suspect, the only reading I'll ever give/hear in which a huge illuminated ferris wheel is the backdrop to the readers. Birmingham has always had a lot of fine civic buildings, and this one is a more than worthy addition.

Oh, and one more thing. The anthology is priced just £10.99, and you can find full details here.

Maps and Legends

This is out from Nine Arches Press next week, just in time for Christmas. It's an anthology celebrating five years of Nine Arches, and is edited by Jo Bell, featuring poetry from Claire Crowther, David Morley, Luke Kennard, Maria Taylor, Angela France, Daniel Sluman, Alistair Noon, Tom Chivers, David Hart, Roz Goddard, Phil Brown, Deborah Tyler-Bennett, Ruth Larbey and myself.

The anthology will be launched with a reading next Wednesday, December 11th, from 7.15-9pm, at Room 101, Library of Birmingham. Tickets are £6 / £4.

Now it's even easier...

...to buy Nine Arches Press books. The new online shop is up and running, meaning you can directly order copies of Under The Radar magazine, short stories by Joel Lane, or poetry from the likes of David Hart, David Morley, Roz Goddard, Luke Kennard, Myra Connell, Claire Crowther, Ruth Larbey, Simon Turner, Mark Goodwin, Peter Carpenter and myself.

You don't need a PayPal account (no bad thing, given the problems I've had getting my account to work lately), and postage is just £1 per item.

There are also seperate pages for each publication now (here's the one for my collection, hydrodaktulopsychicharmonica), and a sneak-preview of some of Nine Arches' forthcoming publications.

Kaleidoscope

Yesterday's Nine Arches Press reading at Warwick University, as part of the Kaleidoscope conference, was just that bit different to any reading I've done before.

After Jane Commane had talked about how the press uses colour in the design of its books and chapbooks, Roz Goddard, Matt Nunn, Maria Taylor and myself took turns to talk a little about how colour figures in our work, and why we used particular favourite colours, before reading poems that, hopefully, illustrated what we'd mentioned.

To be honest, I really enjoyed the preparation for the event. It's very strange going back through your own work in detail, and I found myself noticing a couple of themes, and more than a couple of stylistic tics, that I hadn't really noticed before. When I get a bit more time, I'll post some of my notes on here, maybe.

There was a small but very responsive audience, and it all closed with a discussion of what we'd just read that I only wish could have gone on longer. Lots of food for thought.

My set was:

Crash
Glass
Halcyon
Yellowhammers
Poem
Kilter
Azul

A Nine Arches reading with a difference

On Sunday, I'll be reading along with Matt Nunn, Roz Goddard and Maria Taylor at a conference at the University of Warwick, entitled Kaleidoscope: new perspectives on the humanities. Our Nine Arches Press Showcase takes place at 1.30pm, in Milburn House. More details are here.

Under The Radar 7

The new issue of Under The Radar arrived in the post the other day, and a very handsome publication it is too. It's now perfect-bound, giving a higher quality feel to what's already a fine magazine.

It's a short-story special, too, a welcome boost for a form that has been increasingly sidelined in the last few decades, but which seems to enjoying something of a resurgence. Joel Lane (whose poetry collection The Autumn Myth I'm currently reading) and Tony Williams are among the writers featured. UTR publishers Nine Arches Press are planning to launch a series of short story pamphlets - HOTWIRE - so expect to hear more.

On the poetry side, there's excellent work from the likes of Nigel Hutchinson, D A Prince, Roy Marshall and A C Evans, plus Alison Brackenbury reviewing Anne Stevenson, Roz Goddard on three HappenStance chapbooks, and my reviews of Angela France's Occupation and Deborah Tyler-Bennett's Pavilion. All for just £4, too. What are you waiting for?

Leicester Shindig!

The latest Nine Arches Press Shindig takes place at The Looking Glass, Braunstone Gate, Leicester, next Monday (the 11th) at 7.30pm.

Featured poets are Roz Goddard and Michael W Thomas, and there'll be music from Jen Elvy too. As always, open mic slots will be available - you can sign up on the door.

Roz Goddard's The Sopranos Sonnets & Other Poems is a streetwise, bittersweet pamphlet collection from Nine Arches, based around 10 sonnet-portraits of characters from The Sopranos, the TV series about a dysfunctional mafia boss and his family. I've been enjoying it since hearing Roz read from it earlier in the year, so I recommend it highly.

Port Winston Mulberry, Michael W Thomas's new collection, takes its name from the artificial harbours used for the D-Day landings in June, 1944. The title poem highlights one of the poet's abiding interests – giving voice to anonymous witnesses when history throws a fit. It's a varied collection, though, with many other strands to explore.

Last night's Shindiggery

I popped over to Leamington Spa last night for the latest Nine Arches Press Shindig, and a splendid event it was too.

Featured readers were Roz Goddard, Deborah Tyler-Bennett, Maria Taylor and Julie Boden, and they worked very well together. Roz read from her just-launched Nine Arches chapbook The Sopranos Sonnets & Other Poems, and Deborah from her recent Smokestack book, Pavilion. I'm looking forward to reading both, because The Sopranos is a long-time obsession with me, while Deborah's book is themed around British dandies and eccentrics, and you can never have enough of those.

In addition, there were loads of good open mic readers - I'm terrible at remembering names, but I think it was a chap called Nigel Hutchinson who read a really good poem titled Lammergeier. There were some excellent poems from Simon Turner too (I've only just got round to buying his new book, Difficult Second Album), and I read a couple, Cahoots and Drinking With Godberd.

I came away with plenty of new reading material (Roz's, Simon's and Deborah's books), and I'm looking forward to the next Shindig, at The Looking Glass, Braunstone Gate, Leicester, on August 9th. It's billed as Shodfest, and will see the launch of Mark Goodwin's new Nine Arches collection Shod. More details soon...

Shindig, Sopranos and more...

The latest Leamington Shindig takes place on Sunday, 18th July, at Wilde's Wine Bar, The Parade, Leamington Spa, with special guest poet Roz Goddard. Doors open at 6.30pm, with readings and open mic from 7.30pm. Entry is free.

Roz Goddard's The Sopranos Sonnets & Other Poems, from Nine Arches Press, will be available on the night, both as a standard Nine Arches Press chapbook, and as a signed limited-edition pamphlet in a print run of 100 copies only.

It features acutely observed, streetwise and bittersweet sonnet-portraits inspired by the TV series The Sopranos (the greatest ever? I could make a good case for it), about a mafia boss and his family. I'm a huge fan, so I look forward to seeing the book. It'll be interesting to see if either of my favourite characters - Tony Blundetto and Silvio Dante - are featured.