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”
Tag Archives: poetry
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 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”
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”
Mythogeography
Bombardment of information about a new book by Phil Smith from Triarchy Press – Mythogeography: A Guide to Walking Sideways. There’s a video for starters. And a separate website for anyone interesting in the concept of Mythogeography. To be honest, this is totally my kind of thing. Part lecture, part creative wandering, part esoteric conspiracy theory. A blendContinue reading “Mythogeography”
Pine release
walked into the mountains (actually rain: rain on path rain on dogs rain falling in the bay through sun direction of ie. towards the fuming mountains (also, on crown of Hitler Youth til slick) where the mist (a kind of purple) clung or shrouded whatever and (it fell on our faces and hands) Continue reading “Pine release”
Voices Off
Alison Brackenbury reviews The Terrors in the latest issue of PN Review (#191, Jan-Feb 2010). Is this poetry or prose? It flashes across boundaries. Its allusiveness would make it elusive to many readers. But not all poetry has to be straightforward. The Terrors is clever, elegant and troubling, not least in a late, mysterious addressContinue reading “Voices Off”
Lake Shore Drive
Just dropping by to recommend Lake Shore Drive by John Wilkinson. It’s 100% excellent, believe.
Awake to the strangeness
Young poet Kayo Chingonyi has reviewed The Terrors over at Todd Swift’s poetry blogzine Eyewear. Kayo has lots of nice, and incisive, things to say about the pamphlet, such as: [The] satirical look at the consolation offered by notoriety after death not only brings into focus our morbid fascination with those who teeter at theContinue reading “Awake to the strangeness”
Yeah, f**k you Cowell
Just spotted that my poetry collection has appeared in Salt Publishing’s Top 20. Or rather, that it’s just sneaked in. At No. 20 (or, if you discount the fiction books and anthologies: No. 12!). So go on, treat yourself, or a significant other, at Christmas by purchasing a copy of How To Build A City, which contains poemsContinue reading “Yeah, f**k you Cowell”
Tom Chivers 