Amy Jo Philip
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I’ve often thought that I would have arrived a little more as a writer if my publications were to pop up in a second-hand bookshop or a charity shop. Not that it wouldn’t be a double-edged feeling, but I always assumed I’d take pleasure in it, knowing how many books I’ve found in such outlets.…
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Interesting short post about Christianity and poetry on Todd Swift’s blog Eyewear. Swift says: Christian poetry, in Britain, has become nearly as invisible as God – partially due, no doubt, to the fear on the part of would-be practitioners of such verse, that such discourse would lead away from the irony, or ambiguity, expected (or…
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DA Prince was born in Leicestershire of Welsh parents in 1947. Her book, Nearly the Happy Hour, published this month, is the first full-length collection from HappenStance. What time is it, Mr Wolf? Mr Wolf has eyes creased tight, his fistsballed into dumplings, concentratingon the rules. Today he’s learned thistles,a difficult door-handle, excuse me,crackle of…
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The Sunday Herald reports that the SNP Scottish Government is abandoning its manifesto pledge to provide Irish-style tax breaks for artists, musicians and writers and, instead, conducting a substantial review of arts funding in Scotland. It’s hardly a surprise that it should ditch the tax plans: the Scottish Parliament doesn’t have the powers to implement…
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Tom Duddy teaches philosophy at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is the author of of A History of Irish Thought (2002). His first collection of poems, a chapbook entitled The Small Hours, was published by HappenStance in 2006. Side Street I don’t often pass through this part of the city,though it’s on my…
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Well, it was a trimmed-back audience last night at the Shore Poets. I don’t know whether it was the Grangemouth strike that kept people away, but it can’t have been the weather unless everyone had fallen asleep in the sun. Whatever, we were maybe around 20 down on the usual number, but it was a…
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Rob A Mackenzie is well known in the literary blogosphere as the man behind the popular poetry blog Surroundings. His pamphlet, The Clown of Natural Sorrow, was published by HappenStance in 2005. Light Storms from a Dark Country You bend sleetward down grey alleyways,xxin search of finesse to straighten outthe tangle of the last spat.…
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How readings can creep up on you! It’s only a few days until this month’s Shore Poets, where I’ll be reading alongside Colin Will and Julie Sheridan, with music provided by blues/folk/fingerpicking guitarist Callum More. I’m stepping down from the group after June, so this will be my last appearance as a Shore poet. It…
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I’m delighted to begin this series of poems with the following nocturne from Michael Mackmin, who is best known as the editor of that beautifully produced magazine, The Rialto. HappenStance published his modestly titled pamphlet Twenty-Three Poems in 2006. Midnight Garden As the light moves from deepest blue to blackamong the last outlines of vines…
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Over the weeks runing up to the HappenStance reading at the Troubadour, I’ll be posting a poem by each of the poets appearing. The full line-up is listed alphabetically by surname below. Poems will appear in a different order and the list will link to the poems as they are posted. Martin CookTom DuddyEleanor LivingstoneGreg…
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Last night, though tired out after a busy day that included helping our neighbour to rebuild the fence along our boundary, I headed into Edinburgh for the third Poetry at the Great Grog event. Elizabeth Gold kicked off. The work she read jumped off from anecdotes, snatches of overheard conversation and tabloid headlines, but took…
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We seem to be having a blog-focused day here: in a typically thoughtful post on the hard work and vageries of literary blogging, Jim Murdoch has very kindly highlighted Tonguefire — specifically the Reasoning Rhyme series — among a small handful of lit blogs of note. He has succeeded in adding considerably and gloriously to…
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Katy Evans-Bush, aka Ms Baroque, has moved her fine blog, Baroque in Hackney, from Blogger to WordPress. I’ll update the link in the sidebar. She’s a stylish and intelligent blogger so it’s well worth following her flit.
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Elmar Kuiper, one of this year’s StAnza readers, videoed various other festival participants reading around St Andrews. There’s a selection on the StAnza Facebook pages and the whole lot is on Kuiper’s YouTube pages. I particularly like the intense focus of this one, Brian Turner reading the title poem from his collection Here, Bullet:
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Rob A Mackenzie got himself in slightly hot water with some comment writers on his blog last week for daring to suggest that he might not consider Magi Gibson’s work poetry. Unfortunately, instead of following the question of what makes a poem a poem, which could have thrown up some interesting ideas and insights, the…
Amy Jo Philip 