Tom Chivers

Aborigines

In the back, by the freezer section, I find the Aborigines, huddled together for comfort. Picking one, I draw close to inspect the bruises on its dark, leathery skin. At the checkout I am alone and temporarily forget my PIN.

Interview for British Library Podcast

I was interviewed about The Terrors by Richard Price for the British Library podcast series. Listen here. This is in aid of the Michael Marks Award (see below).

Michael Marks Award

I had some good news of late. My sequence of ‘imagined emails’ The Terrors has been shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlets. Here’s the full shortlist: The Terrors Tom Chivers (Nine Arches Press) The Titanic Café closes its doors and hits the rocks, David Hart (Nine Arches Press) Advice on Wearing Animal Prints, Selima HillContinue reading “Michael Marks Award”

Athens: Day Nine

On Sunday I performed a new piece written especially for Dasein Festival. Athens Burns (which I may post up here in full at some point) was performed with a soundtrack – I had been recording snippets of audio during the week, at the protests, on the train, in the street, etc. Oh, and this wasContinue reading “Athens: Day Nine”

Athens: Days Six, Seven, Eight

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s troubles, the organiser of Dasein Festival hastily assembled a press release to announce an event with Netalie Braun exploring the themes of Violence and Silence. The event comprised the screenings of two films, followed by a Q&A. I would like to draw your attention especially to Netalie’s hour-long film Metamorphosis (2006), which employs Ovid’s mythsContinue reading “Athens: Days Six, Seven, Eight”

Athens: Day Five

I’m writing this from my hotel room in Exarchia district of Athens, where very recently a number of anarchist strongholds have been raided by police, as well as cafes and bars. I witnessed one raid myself – in the next street. An enormous number of police on motorbikes stormed a house. There were several loud explosionsContinue reading “Athens: Day Five”

Athens: Days Two, Three, Four

Yeah, so, surprise surprise I haven’t blogged every day from Athens. Hey ho… I have better things to do, such as visiting the Acropolis snapping more Athenian graffiti (oooh they do love their graffiti….) and hanging out with the artists participating in the festival. A few notes. I climbed the Acropolis with Netalie Braun, aContinue reading “Athens: Days Two, Three, Four”

Athens: Day One

There’s a first time for everything. Today was the first time I’d experienced the effects, albeit mildly, of tear gas. A sudden burning in the eyes, throat and lungs. At least I think it was tear gas – it could just as easily have been the acrid smoke rising from the smouldering remains of upturned municipal dustbins.Continue reading “Athens: Day One”

Poem by Iain Sinclair

Considering his prolific output in the realms of fiction, non-fiction, urban satire and – as he puts it – ‘documentary fiction’, it’s sometimes easy to forget how significant and exciting a writer of poetry Iain Sinclair is. I’ve had the Penguin Modern Poets book (Vol.10, 1996) in which he appears, alongside Douglas Oliver and Denise Riley, on loan from the PoetryContinue reading “Poem by Iain Sinclair”

Desert Island Discs: No.3 ‘Empty Glasses’

I first came across ‘Empty Glasses’ by The Amps on the soundtrack to one of the many skateboarding videos I used to watch as a teenager. The Amps were a short-lived American band formed in 1995 by Kim Deal of The Pixes / The Breeders fame. Whilst at first listening this is a fairly unremarkable mid-90s indie-rock number, it’sContinue reading “Desert Island Discs: No.3 ‘Empty Glasses’”