Monday 3 March 2008

Troy Town - out now!

I'm delighted to be able to announce that my first full poetry collection, Troy Town, is available now from Arrowhead Press (well, the publication date is actually March 1st, which pleases my Welsh half no end). It's an 80-page hardback book, priced £8.99, and is available by following that Arrowhead link, or by emailing me here if you'd prefer.

Naturally, I'm absolutely thrilled, and I'm very grateful to Roger Collett and Joanna Boulter at Arrowhead, whose hard work made it possible, to Alison Brackenbury and Tom Jenks, who kindly read the manuscript for me and provided mini-reviews, to Tom Bailey, who provided a splendid cover pic, and to everyone else who has encouraged and helped me along the way.

The title, by the way, refers to one of the turf mazes that crop up here and there, usually on village greens, throughout the UK. Their layout was supposed to be based on the walls of Troy, although they were often known by other names, such as Julian's Bower. No one's exactly sure what the mazes were created for, although it's more likely they were there as part of the May Day games than for any ritual or religious purpose. But whatever - the term also came to mean a state of pleasant confusion, and perhaps that's the angle that most strongly appealed to me.

Finally, I've decided to create a temporary satellite blog, imaginatively titled Troy Town, to deal with all manner of news, reviews and background material relating to the book. Polyolbion, meanwhile, will continue on its meandering way.

10 comments:

Andrew Philip said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andrew Philip said...

Congratulations, Matt. That cover design is lovely.

Hooray for HappenStance poets!

Matt Merritt said...

Thanks, Andrew, and hooray for Happenstance!
I'm really pleased with the look of it. I like the house style, and Tom Bailey, who's our in-house photographer at Bird Watching, went out and did some great pics.

Rob said...

Great stuff, Matt. I look forward to reading it.

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Matt! They seem to have put the book out very quickly.

Off to buy my copy now.

J

Matt Merritt said...

Thanks, Rob and James. It feels like ages, but you're right, it's ahead of the original schedule.

LouAnn Muhm said...

Can't wait to get it! Congratulations!

Matt Merritt said...

Thanks LouAnn. Hope you enjoy it.

Frances said...

Well done Matt. The cover looks greatand I really like the title. I'm definitely after a copy.

Matt Merritt said...

Thanks very much, Frances. I must say I'm delighted with the way it looks.