Amy Jo Philip
-
The Ambulance Box is being reprinted! The final copies of the initial print run were delivered to me on Saturday (that’s another story I’ll tell in a post about StAnza) and a reprint of the hardback will be available in the next few weeks. We had discussed reprinting in paperback, but apparently an order for…
-
A brief note on my plans for StAnza this year. I’ll not manage to get through until the Friday evening. That means I’ll miss the poetry breakfast on the relative absence of young Scottish poets. I have a ticket for the Bill Manhire and Simon Armitage reading, but I’m not certain I’ll make it through…
-
We’ve reached the half-way point of March, which means I take over the mantle of Scottish Poetry Library poet of the month from Rob. This means that, until the end of the month, “The Invention of Zero” will greet you whenever the cyberwaves deposit you on the SPL’s home page. Of course, once March has…
-
I’d been exercised by the second half of this all day, and then I see that not only has Rob Mackenzie blogged about it already, but Roddy Lumsden has replied in the comments section. Briefly, Roddy is baffled by the sparse number of established Scottish poets in my generation: those born in the 1970s and…
-
What can I say about Wednesday night’s launch of The Ambulance Box and The Opposite of Cabbage at the Scottish Poetry Library that isn’t already in the reports by Peggy at the SPL (who does the name dropping for us), Colin Will and Rob himself? Rob is right to say it couldn’t have gone any…
-
Last night’s launch at the SPL was a huge success. We ran out of seating and wine glasses though not wine, I’m glad to say. Or books, I’m equally glad to say, despite the goodly number sold. Really, though, I’m far too tired to give you a proper account tonight. I had an unavoidably a…
-
Several weeks back, Rob A Mackenzie and I struggled through snow to the HQ of Anon magazine, now edited by Colin Fraser and Peggy Hughes, to record for the Anon podcast. You can now hear us discuss our magazine publishing history, the whys and joys of blogging, and the parlous poetry infrastructure of the best…
-
After the success of Thursday’s Mirrorball launch, I’m very much looking forward to the launch for Rob A Mackenzie‘s book and mine on Wednesday at the Scottish Poetry Library. It’ll be a bigger affair than Mirrorball, I suspect. There’ll be wine and crisps (oooh, the extravagence!), and both of us will read. I’ve not yet…
-
Thursday’s reading at St Mungo’s Mirrorball with Rob A Mackenzie and performance poet Robin Cairns was a good night. As usual, Mr Mackenzie has got in ahead of me and blogged about it already. As he says, it was a varied evening but the audience was happy to switch mood and style along with each…
-
As a further celebration of the Appointed Day for Rob A Mackenzie and me, here’s a poem from Rob’s collection, The Opposite of Cabbage, originally published in Seam: Nuclear Submarines One day they will surely betray me.For now, they seem content to drowse resolutely without wit or purposelike autistic sharks ballooning through seaweed, rock and…
-
The day has come! Today, 1 March 2009, is the official publication date for The Ambulance Box and Rob A Mackenzie‘s marvellous book, The Opposite of Cabbage. To celebrate, here’s the title poem from my collection: The Ambulance Box No one can swear how it fellinto our hands. No one can fathom its substance or…
-
“Wandelvakanties Dicht bij Huis“, one of the poems from The Ambulance Box, has just appeared today as part of the short season of other poets Jane Holland is running at the moment on her Raw Light blog. I’ve updated the sidebar with links to it and several other poems, including one in the wonderful this…
-
The Month of Book Launches is nearly upon me! First up is a triple launch: myself, fellow Scottish Salter Rob A Mackenzie and performance poet Robin Cairns. An eclectic mix, hosted by St Mungo’s Mirrorball in Glasgow. If you’re in the vicinity, come along. The reading is free, and there will be books to buy.…
-
Just spotted that Rob A Mackenzie’s The Opposite of Cabbage and my collection The Ambulance Box are both now on the front page of the Salt website. Rob is beneath Keats, and I’m under Vincent De Souza. Rob also has his first review, at the blog of Tony Williams, whose collection is due out from…
-
I’ve just discovered that Michael Russell, the Scottish minister with responsibility for culture, held a meeting with artists yesterday at the Traverse Theatre. This is important stuff for anyone involved or interested in Scotland’s cultural life. There’s a short video about the event here; it includes reactions to the meeting from Ron Butlin and Margaret…
Amy Jo Philip 