Bill of Rights

The next Poetry Cafe is on Wednesday 6th March, 12pm for a 12:20 start.

The book we're discussing is Fred D'Aguiar's Bill of Rights, which I think is a bit tricky to get hold of, but seem to be available on Amazon, and Abebooks.  Libraries might have a copy, too.

I've a link here for an extract – I hope you can get hold of a copy.  If not, come along anyway.  This book is a long narrative poem, and there may be something you want to say about the form more generally.

Or you can always just come along to workshop your poem from about 1pm.  Bring copies.

See you then.

The Cloud Corporation

Hopefully you're on the mailing list, and so you already know we're meeting next Wednesday, 6th February, 12pm for a 20 past start.  We're reading Timothy Donnelly's The Cloud Corporation.

Here's an extract, and a review by Ben Wilkinson.  And here's the link to Conor O'Callaghan's review in Antiphon.

See you next week.

The Broken Word

The first Poetry Cafe of 2013 will be on Wednesday 9th January, when we'll be reading Adam Foulds's, The Broken Word,  a poetic sequence set in 1950s Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising.

Here's a review from 2008, when the book won the Costa Poetry Award, and an extract.

12pm for a 12:15 start – we'll discuss Foulds until 1pm.  After that we'll get on with the workshop as usual, and aim to finish by 4pm.

Have a Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
Angelina

A Sleepwalk on the Severn

December 5th will be the last Poetry Cafe this year.  We'll be discussing Alice Oswald's A Sleepwalk on the Severn, from 12:20-1pm, and then we'll workshop each other's poems until 3pm.  Perhaps if you're free, we could go for a drink after the workshop to celebrate Christmas.

There's a review of Oswald's work here, and an extract here.

The cafe is now being run by the cooperative behind The Rude Shipyard.  There'll be a grand opening of Towards the Lighthouse, Beyond the Shipyard, and The Lighthouse Gallery in the New Year, but in the meantime, the cafe is open and serving: http://bankstreetarts.com/news/poetry-cafe-3/

See you there

Poetry Prizes

Here's a link to the finalists at the Manchester Poetry Prize.  The winner will be announced on October 19th, but Antiphon and I were wondering what you thought of the finalists' work, and whether you had any thoughts on who should win, in your opinion.

Perhaps you have thoughts more broadly on poetry competitions in general?  The prize at Manchester asks for a selection of poems for the judges to consider, rather than everything hanging on a single poem, and the judging panel consists of three poets, this year: Ian Duhig, Frances Leviston and Adam O'Riordan.

The finalists' work is available via the link above.  Let us know what you think.

Swamp Area

In November (12pm Wednesday 7th) we'll be discussing Alistair Noon's Swamp Area, a pamphlet published by Longbarrow Press.  You can order copies from the website for £4 inc P&P

There are recordings of Alistair Noon reading his work available on line, as well as a review of his work by Susie Wild.

This is the first time we've looked at a pamphlet in the group, so it would be good to hear what we think about the format, as well as the poetry.  It's been said in recent years that the pamphlet is making a comeback, possibly because there is less investment required from publishers, and so less risk?  Perhaps people are more easily persuaded to part with £4 rather than £10.

On the other hand, bookshops have found it difficult to merchandise pamphlets effectively, alongside full collections, maybe because often pamphlets don't have a spine, and so need to be facing out to get noticed, which takes up a lot more shelf space.

What's interesting about pamphlets, I think, is the flexibility of the form, that they can be designed to complement the content, perhaps more easily than full-length books.  They are already removed from the mainstream expectations of the book; they are competing for attention on different terms.

The act of designing and making the pamphlet is then an extension of the creative act, and the outcome will perhaps have more in common with the artist book genre, than mainstream publishing.  However, this level of attention can become labour intensive, and so perhaps few publishers are willing to experiment, and realise the full potential of the form.  The need to generate revenue can't be ignored, if a press is to survive, and go on to publish more work.  

The pamphlet can focus its attention, be an exploration of a specific theme.  At the last meeting, we discussed The Water Table, in relation to a concept album.  We talked about the skill of spending a full collection circling a subject, the difficulties of keeping an idea new across a substantial body of work.  Perhaps the pamphlet can lend itself to the concept album analogy, if not an LP, then perhaps an EP?

We'll discuss Noon until 1pm, and then move on to the workshop.  Bring copies of your poem as usual, 8 still seems a reasonable number, I think.  Ten if you're feeling lush.

Angelina

The Water Table

The next Bank Street Arts Poetry Cafe will be on Wednesday October 3rd, 12pm for a 12.20pm start.  We'll begin by talking about Philip Gross's The Water Table.  

There's a review of the collection in the Guardian, here.  And here is a link to his poems on the Poetry Foundation website.  

Gross has said: "In a sense water in itself is nothing, but it is this perfectly clear, perfectly reflective substance in which you can see the world reflected in all its angles.

From 1pm we'll workshop, so bring copies of a poem you want share with the group.  About 8 copies will do.

See you then.

Also Steve Sawyer's review of Continental Shelf is on the reviews page here, so go over and have a look.

Thanks,
Angelina