Amy Jo Philip
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In the second of our posts for the Six Poets at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Jasmine Donahaye has a brush with a dark angel: An angel is passing And the silence which falls suddenly on a group, at a party, a silence that elongates, extends, becomes something unbreakable, camaraderie disintegrating, returning each of you to your awkward
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I will be taking Robert Hass’s The Apple Trees at Olema. And though it is not poetry my recommendation is Strands by Jean Sprackland because it is fantastic prose, a meditation on nature and ecology and living well. A completely marvellous book from start to finish. Anthony Wilson is poet and writing tutor, and a
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During the holidays, I like to get stuck into a thick volume, a Collected or Selected, usually to fill a gap in my knowledge: a poet I’ve read poems by now and again but haven’t ever read in a sustained way. This year, I’m going for Marianne Moore’s Complete Poems. Moore, although generally admired, isn’t
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I’m spending the summer here at home in Edinburgh trying to finish a short story collection, and a holiday seems unlikely, at least for the next few months. I read a lot when I write, with a sort of desperation to remind myself what I should be striving towards. So, my desk is covered in
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Isn’t technology astounding? Wednesday night’s inaugural Transatlantic Poetry on Air reading was a wonderful combination of the hi-tech and the intimate. It felt as if I was reading to Michelle Bitting and Robert Peake alone, and yet I was reading to people from both sides of the Atlantic and possibly even from all over the
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Six Poets at the Fruitmarket Gallery is back! This year, we’re on at 7:30 pm for 8:00 pm on 15 August 2013, with Isobel Dixon, Hannah Lowe, Rob A. Mackenzie, Richard Price, Jasmine Donahaye and me. Tickets are £5 from the gallery or on the door. As in previous years, I’ll be posting a poem from
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Last year, it was Frances Cornford’s Collected Poems. Of course, she’s famous for “To a Fat Lady Seen from the Train”, which has been attacked in recent years by those who put the (wrong) emphasis on the lady’s fatness, instead of the fact that she’s wearing gloves. I love “Childhood”, which begins: I used to
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Don’t forget to join me, Michelle Bitting and host Robert Peake for the first ever Transatlantic Poetry on Air reading this evening at 8 pm UK time. The event page is here. There will also be prizes for those who tweet using the hashtag #TApoetry during the live broadcast.
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Carl Sandburg said that “poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes.” This is so true for me! I read little else while I am on holiday — usually stateside on my annual visit home to Wisconsin. My family have a little cabin in the woods near Lake Superior. We are frequently visited by bear and
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A week tonight, I will be reading for Glendale Crossing Places in Wooler. This reading has been set up through Northumbria Community connections, and will take place at St. Cuthbert’s, 12 High Street, Wooler, Northumberland, NE71 6BY. It kicks off at 7:30 PM and entry is by donation. For more information, please contact Bill Eugster
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I recently sweet-talked my way into a preview copy of Tim Krcmarik’s forthcoming collection The False Lark. What a lark it is. I loaded it onto my Kindle and it has been cheering up my commute by train into London no end. Surrealism is hard to pull off well, but I think what makes Tim’s
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Poetry is perfect to take on holiday, or travelling generally: something to be dipped into, pondered while staring at the sky, chewed over slowly, read aloud to the person flopped onto the grass next to you… or perhaps just to anchor you in calmness while the plane takes off. Simply because of its length –
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I hope you enjoyed last week’s holiday poetry reads posts. There are some great ones coming this week, so do keep an eye on the blog. One of them is from Robert Peake, who, of course, is hosting the transatlantic reading with me and Michelle Bitting on Wednesday on Google+. Here is an invitation video
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The first thing to say about Stephen Nelson’s new chapbook from the little red leaves textile series is simply how gorgeous an object it is. In this era of the mass produced, something so beautifully handmade — using old bedsheets and remnant fabric to construct the cover — is a rare joy indeed. This pamphlet
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I shall be in Welwyn Garden City in August, so perhaps I should take some Glyn Maxwell – and maybe I will. I’m also looking forward to reading a sequence of obscene sonnets by Alistair Elliot – not yet publicly available, but instead you could try his latest, Imaginary Lines (Shoestring) or, if you can
Amy Jo Philip 