Holiday reading

Nine Arches poet Maria Taylor has posted over at her blog about what she's been reading this summer, and has some very kind things to say about The Elephant Tests - she also features my poem Azul (which is part of the book, of course). I'm particularly glad that she picks out another poem - Ravens, Newborough Warren - for mention, too, as it was one of the most enjoyable in the book to write.

I haven't been on holiday yet this summer (got a week planned in September), but so far my poetry reading has consisted of Jennifer Wong, Ahren Warner, Peter Hughes and Alvin Pang, plus the Bloodaxe anthology, Dear World And Everyone In It. There's lots more in the 'to-read' pile, too.

If you're looking for holiday reading yourself, I can recommend Maria's debut collection Melanchrini very highly. If you've already been, tell me what's floated your literary pedalo this summer.

The Elephant Tests at Peony Moon

My new collection, The Elephant Tests, is currently featured over at Michelle McGrane's wonderful blog, Peony Moon. There are six poems to read - Ganesha, Svalbard, Patsy Parisi's Blues, Red Centre Blues, Always, and Seeing The Elephant.

It's an honour to be on such a consistently fine site again - I've discovered the work of more new poets (to me, at least) through it than anywhere else. At the moment, I'm greatly enjoying Alvin Pang's When The Barbarians Arrive, recently featured there, and well worth investigating further.

Alvin Pang at Peony Moon

Michelle McGrane's blog Peony Moon offers a constant stream of the best new poetry out there, so it's well worth checking daily. Today, it features Singapore poet Alvin Pang, whose Arc collection When The Barbarians Arrive is out now. You can read four poems from the book here.

I like the look of that a lot - I'll be ordering it later. I've been reading a lot of older, 'back catalogue' poetry recently, so it's time to get back to the here and now.