Having previously written on The Terrors, Kayo Chingonyi has now turned his critical eye towards my collection How To Build A City. In his review for Eyewear, Kayo has lots of very interesting and acute things to say about my poems, particularly the 7/7 sequence ‘Rush Hour’ and the title poem. He concludes (I repeat this for myContinue reading “Chingonyi on Chivers”
Tag Archives: london
A New Kind of Street Ballad
So, I didn’t quite make the Michael Marks Award. That honour rightly goes to Selima Hill for her outstanding Flarestack pamphlet. Any (mild) disappointment was erased by the privilege of hearing an exhilirating, learned and empassioned speech by Ali Smith. She was one of three judges, alongside Jo Shapcott and Richard Price. A speech so good it was republished inContinue reading “A New Kind of Street Ballad”
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”
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”
Don’t let George introduce you
Tom Chivers drinks Thames water for breakfast. Tom Chivers has Liverpool Street Station flat packed in his bedroom. Tom Chivers left eye points at the city’s skyline; his right eye glares through cement into London’s sewers. Tom Chivers spews. Tom Chivers does not write for the Daily Telegraph. Tom Chivers leads undead criminals out ofContinue reading “Don’t let George introduce you”
Kingsway Tram Tunnel
Last week I went to see Chord, an installation by Conrad Shawcross in Kingsway Tram Tunnel. It was an intriguing experience, a chance to explore a small fragment of London’s forgotten subterranea. Here are some snaps I took on my phone; just the tunnel (the miraculous artwork itself can be seen at Londonist and elsewhere). Arts organisationContinue reading “Kingsway Tram Tunnel”
The cities we walk through
My copy of the Autumn issue of Poetry London popped through the post today (Post, you say? Oh yeah – ) and lo and behold it contains a review – the first in print – of my book How To Build A City. I’m pretty ecstatic. That horribly talented Luke Kennard was tasked with perusingContinue reading “The cities we walk through”
This is yogic on this is yogic
First released through Gists & Piths
Align
Short promo film for Align by Robert Kingham and Rich Cochrane, which they describe as ‘a hallucinatory journey along a straight line through the psychogeography and myth of London’.
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”
Tom Chivers 