Some readers may already have heard that independent poetry press Salt Publishing has been going through some pretty nasty financial difficulties of late. They have started a campaign to save their business, spearheaded by this irreverent YouTube viral. It’s difficult to exaggerate the impact that Salt has made on UK (and to a lesser extent US and Australian)Continue reading “Salt Shaken”
Tag Archives: poetry
Poem as splint
or crutch; the one to straighten, the other to keep the weight on. So he sings, who would splutter out some crud on weather, but instead another plinth resounds. My mind is unmadeupable. Pistol-whip the butler. Pluck his eyes with a decorative spoon. Prepare the necessary length and tuck behind the ear like so; theContinue reading “Poem as splint”
Launch of How To Build A City
My first collection, How To Build A City (Salt Publishing), is being launched on Saturday 13th June at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell. Joining me to launch their own new books are Luke Kennard and Abi Curtis. Ross Sutherland will also be appearing, in the combination-lock role of poet/compere. It’s shaping up to be a goodContinue reading “Launch of How To Build A City”
Poem as punctured lung,
as bladder, wracked and spongy. Follow the language deep inside; pipe bone flutes into a dog’s rump, inhale and play. What’s on my mind? Cross-section of a larynx in full flow; sphinx at the open window as baffled kitten kitted out in rain-soaked mufti, tuft of ginger felt above the sphincter. Nothing says haircut likeContinue reading “Poem as punctured lung,”
More Terrors reactions
Jane Holland has reviewed The Terrors over at Raw Light. This is contemporary elegy, then, for the long-dead, the unknown, many of them victims of a clumsy, unjust and barbaric legal system. […] The Terrors is a bold, dark, and deeply unsettling collection which introduces a strong new poetic voice. [more] Reviews also at Gists & PithsContinue reading “More Terrors reactions”
Poets take up a new muse – modern technology
‘The poet’s muse is traditionally a goddess with long flowing hair, emblem in hand – but for a new generation of poets the muse is a digital native with WiFi access and an iPod. Tom Chivers is a 26-year-old poet living in East London who in recent years has found he wants to let technologicalContinue reading “Poets take up a new muse – modern technology”
The Terrors – OUT NOW
My pamphlet The Terrors was launched last night at The Market Trader, Middlesex Street and is now available to purchase from my terrific publishers Nine Arches Press for £5. (Go, do it now!) The Terrors is a sequence of imagined emails to inmates at Newgate Prison in the eighteenth century. It’s been described by Iain SinclairContinue reading “The Terrors – OUT NOW”
Mad, Bad and Downright Unlucky
Matt Merritt has reviewed The Terrors on Polyolbion. He liked it. This is my first ever review.
Mandeville / Monochrome / Voodoo
Oi, oi – the Spring 2009 issue of Poetry London is out. Amongst other things, it contains my review of Mandeville by Matthew Francis, Bloodshot Monochrome by Patience Agbabi and Hoodoo Voodoo by D.S. Marriott. Here’s an excerpt: The railway is figured as a brooding Hades, commuter trains hammering through ‘the seven circles’. Death isContinue reading “Mandeville / Monochrome / Voodoo”
Gravestones & duffil coats
The Terrors, my sequence of Newgate e-missives, has been completed and sent to the publisher, Nine Arches. It’ll be launched on March 29th. Artist Emma Robertson (who is, amongst other things, behind Littlest Birds) has created some beautiful line-drawings to illustrate the pamphlet. See above. Also, writer/filmmaker Iain Sinclair has read the sequence and endorses itContinue reading “Gravestones & duffil coats”
Tom Chivers 