Amy Jo Philip
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This being national poetry day, it seems a good time to wave Salt‘s new poetry book club, The Poetry Bank, under your nose. If you like the look of the Salt lists, you’ll like this: From just £40 you can subscribe to Salt’s Poetry Bank for one year and receive the following benefits: Four luxury,…
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Mick Imlah, Kathryn Simmonds and Don Paterson. No real surprise on the main Forward prize and possibly not an enormous surprise on the best poem prize, but Kathyrn Simmonds’s win in the best first collection category seems to have been unexpected. To be honest, I can’t really comment, not having read any of the winners…
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I love the work of Michael Symmons Roberts. He’s one of the finest writers in Britain at the moment and quite possibly the best religious poet we have. This year, he has published two books: his second novel, Breath, and his fifth collection of poems, The Half-Healed. Both fine books, of which I intend to…
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Details for the St Andrew’s reading are just in: Venue: The North Hall, All Saints Rectory, North Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AQDate: Monday 20th OctoberTime: 7:30 pm – 8:45 pm, Refreshments served at 7:30pm.Entrance: Inklight members £2, non members £3. I’ll be reading from the manuscript for The Ambulance Box. Not the first time…
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Busy busy busy at the moment here. It’s good busy, though. I’ve proofed my proofs, sent ’em back and had author photos taken for the book (of which more in due course); I’m gearing up for Linlithgow Book Festival and this month’s various readings; and I’m working on a Scots language writing project in the…
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Fantastic news: my friend, fellow HappenStancer and fine poetry blogger Rob A Mackenzie has had his manuscript accepted by Salt to be published some time next year. The book (provisionally entitled The Opposite of Cabbage after a line in one of the poems–can’t accuse him of having a dull title!), is really strong and will…
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I was saddened to hear yesterday that the poet, publisher, critic, designer and typographer Duncan Glen had died. He was not someone I knew well, although I did meet him once or twice. My contact with him came through the Scottish Poetry Library, with which he was closely involved. Indeed, he designed many SPL publications,…
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October is shaping up to be a busy month. Not only is there the HappenStance reading at St Mungos Mirrorball in Glasgow on Thursday the 2nd, but I’ll be reading for InkLight, a student creative writing society at St Andrews University on Monday the 20th. The venue for the latter isn’t confirmed yet, so more…
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Another significant moment here: first proofs arrived in my inbox from Chris at Salt! I spotted them on my webmail while I was still at work and it’s a wonder none of my colleagues asked why the mile-wide grin and slight strut down the scuffed wooden walkway at the centre of the office. But then,…
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The first issue of the new Salt webzine Horizon Review, edited by Jane Holland, is now online. It includes one poem of mine, “On Your Arrival“, as well as two poems by Rob Mackenzie, and work by Katy Evans-Bush, George Szirtes and Alison Brackenbury to name only a few. There are also fiction, reviews and…
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Just last week, I came across Claire Askew‘s new blog, One Night Stanzas, designed to guide young or inexperienced writers through some of the thornier thickets of life as a poet. It’s a useful site with lots of good advice (and stylish photographs!) worth a look even for those of us with a modicum of…
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In common with many in the poetry blogosphere, I was shocked and sadened to read that the American poet, critic and blogger Reginald Shepherd died this week, aged only 45. The news came to me through Ron Silliman‘s blog, which is fitting, as it was a link from a post of his that first took…
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The Scottish Parliament’s canteen, following triumphs such as “Cumbernauld sausage” (I kid you not, though I was off at the time so I didn’t see it myself), “Scotch broth soup” (stock, barley and tautology) and “cous-cous tabouleh” (I was under the impression it could either be cous-cous or tabouleh, people) is today offering “haggis broth”.…
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This is the second of my projected series of poems in English but whose titles are Scots weather terms. I’ll leave it up for a week at the most. [Poem deleted 18/09/08] The astute among you will have noticed that the titles of this and the previous draft poem (“Onding”) are both words that appear…
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this is the arm that held youthis is the hand that cradled your cold feet these are the ears that heard youwhimper and cough throughout your brush with light this is the chest that warmed youthese are the eyes that caught your glimpse of life this is the man you fathered—his voided love, his writhen…
Amy Jo Philip 