The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death Back from Latitude Festival. My highlights were: Lykke Li, again Ben Moor performing Coelacanth in the woods Bishi accompanying the screening of the 1923 silent film Salome (starring Nazimova – see video, above) Jeffrey Lewis in the poetry tent The poetry tent in general is coralledContinue reading “The Mystery of Love”
It Felt Like A Kiss
I was lucky enough to see Punchdrunk’s collaboration with filmmaker Adam Curtis, It Felt Like A Kiss, for Manchester International Festival. A magical mystery tour / ghost train through a deserted five storey office block, deep into the bleeding heart of pop culture, terror and the American dream. It was astonishing. Some have described Punchdrunk’sContinue reading “It Felt Like A Kiss”
Making Strides
Phil Brown has reviewed How To Build A City and The Terrors alongside Luke Kennard’s The Migraine Hotel at Stride. Chivers’ erratic flitting between forms reflects all the disjointedness of London’s myriad selves – think Tobias Hill’s Nocturne in Chrome and Sunset Yellow reinterpreted by the Sex Pistols. Kennard and Chivers are two of theContinue reading “Making Strides”
Ordering How To Build A City
Just a quick note to say – if you haven’t already got a copy of my debut book, How To Build A City, please do consider ordering one! Not only will it make me very happy indeed, it will also contribute to Salt Publishing’s campaign to get themselves out of the red. It’s a beautifully producedContinue reading “Ordering How To Build A City”
Like Starlings
I’m lucky enough to have been invited to take part in Like Starlings – a poetry project organised by that very nice man Caleb Klaces. The project teams up pairs of poets in a kind of collaborative game of Chinese whispers – a creative two-step with no fixed outcomes. Tonight Like Starlings became Live Starlings at The Betsey Trotwood,Continue reading “Like Starlings”
The Triple Launch
My first collection How To Build A City was launched alongside new books from Abi Curtis and Luke Kennard two Saturdays ago, and here is the video evidence. It was a great night, hosted by that charming genius Ross Sutherland – the venue (The Slaughtered Lamb) was absolutely rammed, and consequently pretty hot andContinue reading “The Triple Launch”
Hack Writing
Tony Williams has reviewed The Terrors on his poetry blog. He describes it as an ‘exuberant, coherent and original pamphlet’. I’m really pleased that readers have responded so positively and creatively to this little sequence – opening up new avenues of thought, responding liberally to the material I set down. I believe Jane at Nine Arches has doneContinue reading “Hack Writing”
How To Build A City – Now Available to Buy
If any of my readers (ha! what a notion) are interested, my debut collection of poetry How To Build A City is now available to buy online from Salt Publishing. You can, presumably, also order it from Amazon, your local bookshop and so on, but in my experience ordering direct from the publisher is best forContinue reading “How To Build A City – Now Available to Buy”
“The Jewel IS India”
I’m working my way through a recently acquired box-set of The Jewel in the Crown. For those unfamiliar with the famous 1984 Granada TV series, I say – go and buy this now. It is quite simply the greatest TV drama ever made – a ‘last days of the empire’ epic set in 1940s British India, andContinue reading ““The Jewel IS India””
Hamlet at The Donmar
Last night Sarah and I went to see Grandage’s Hamlet at The Donmar – well, The Wyndham Theatre anyway. I generally hate the West End, but there you go. It was, of course, Jude Law as the Dane. I have a specific – if slightly tenuous – reason to see this: my mother was JudeContinue reading “Hamlet at The Donmar”
Tom Chivers 