WWW.MODERNPOETRY.ORG.UK: 
New Readers Start Here!
Websites Useful for Understanding Avant-Garde British Poetry
Useful Lists for British Avant-Garde Poetry
Anthologies, Literary Histories & Critical Texts
Poetry And Me: A Writing Biography
Quick Links to British Avant-Garde Poetry Sites
Readings in London
Links to British Avant-Garde Poetry Sitesresources: foci of information
British & Irish online magazines and e-publishers
online magazines and e-publishers with British & Irish writing
writers' homepages and blogs
audio and video sites
print publishers and magazines
readings &c
bookshops and booksellers
This list is taken from the very full international listing on the Great Works Links page, with the entries re-edited. This listing last completely updated July 6, 2009. See Useful Lists for British Avant-Garde Poetry for quick selections of The Best, and Quick Links to British Avant-Garde Poetry Sites for a links which list names (slightly more analytically than here).
on Dee Rimbaud's website has many, many lists of addresses and links in connection with poetry. Very good coverage of the whole British poetry scene(s), if weak on the avant-garde
is an online and print collection of recordings, printed texts and manuscripts, focused on innovative contemporary poetry being written or performed in Britain. It is hosted by Queen Mary College, London. At present, the Archive consists of readings by nearly 100 mainly UK-based poets. It is a very necessary place to visit, a truly massive resource. Well done, Andrea! I cannot praise this site highly enough.
The website for Beat Scene magazine has a lot of information on books, news, and pix of the beat writers, from whose mighty loins we are all sprung.
"Discussion and news list for practitioners and readers of current poetry and poetics, with emphasis on recent postmodern and innovative poetries in Britain and Ireland." Centred more on discussion of writing than posted writing. Link is for archive. Open access: you can apply to join (from the page linked to — but check archive first to make sure it is your sort of place!)
This site, a joint venture of the Contemporary Poetics Research Centre in the School of English and Humanities at Birkbeck College, the Poetic Practice Group at Royal Holloway College, and the Department of English, University of Southampton, is a reference guide to the work of contemporary British poets "from the parallel tradition". Parallel? Hmmm. Launched in May 2002, it plans to provide information on poets and their publications, and with audio files coming to accompany examples of their work. 35 parallel traditional poets so far. There is now a number of readings added as .msv files.
This is a thorough and wide-ranging listing, that gives access to a wealth of worthwhile sites. It helped inspire the greatworks.org.uk website.
at Birkbeck College "is a forum for the study and performance of contemporary poetries, and research into their historical, political and theoretical contexts". They host poetry readings, performances, workshops, exchanges, seminars, lectures, and conferences (details on site), run two web journals and have developed a publishing venture, Veer Books, and are committed to fostering the whole range of poetic practice, including sound, visual, and digital poetry, with particular emphasis upon work that is innovative in its materials and forms. Will Rowe and Carol Watts are the good people responsible for all this.
This is a site with a lot of potential — a range of poetry (by many names unknown to me, though often interesting, and including Paul Holman and Sascha Akhtar), plus some very good links of interest to anyone writing poetry.
"a small think and do tank based in London exploring the potential of new media for creative readers and writers & investigating the evolution of cultural discourse as it moves from printed page to networked screen." Download read:write, an if:book report on digital possibilities for literature, commissioned by Arts Council England, or Songs of Imagination & Digitisation, "an illuminated book for the digital age". Check activities on the bookfutures blog. A useful site for changing times and changing media.
"Information all in one place for writers and those involved in creating or supporting new writing and literature in the UK. We have regularly updated information on courses, mentoring, critical appraisal services, conferences and events, jobs, commissions, residencies, competitions, organisations, networks, training providers, books, magazines, and funding for professional development." At base, useful. Don't go get a Poetic Career, please, or become a Creative Professional — but you may find some support.
is an internet listing opportunity open to little presses of the U.K., mainly print material. Inaugurated by Bill Griffiths, Bob Trubshaw, and Peter Finch, in March 2000. Now with involvement of Peter Manson. A wide range of little presses (including Dreadful Work Press, Psychic Tymes and Kropotkin's Lighthouse), but with a very good listing of recently published poetry, with snippets and how to get hold of it.
is a vast and exhaustive listing of Internet sites relevant to poetry and literature (with a UK bias). It is very thorough, uptodate & wide-ranging, with a huge range of resources. A noble and useful work!
An ambitious new site: "the free online poetry project that gives you the chance to explore new and different areas of what we now call 'poetry'. Although the Systems is based in London we have contributors from all over Britain, who share our passion for innovation and experimentation in poetry. Help us introduce poetry back into London life by submitting poems to us in all media forms." Includes page and digital texts, podcasts, essays and a forum. Richard Barrett, James Wilkes and Hannah Silva, Holly pester, Steve Willey all circulating around the place! Getting to be a vital centre.
Peter Howard's site of poems and poetry resources has a real wealth of material, in particular a careful selection of what are claimed as the best poetry websites, and includes The Cambridge Poetry Page, a listing of readings in Cambridge.
A forum for anonymous reviews, edited by Keston Sutherland and jUStin!katKO. Disappointingly dead for a potentially good idea.
An excellent scene! A superb website! Readings take place irregularly in the basement of The Foundry, an art and peformance venue where Shoreditch meets Hoxton in splendid industrial chic (with organic Pittfield beer). At last: a valid innovative poetry event attracting an audience with a median age under 30. Openned magazine is available as a download, including work from Richard Barrett, Joe Dargue, Christopher Mulrooney & Ryan Ormonde, This website is exemplary and packed with rich and useful material, well-presented. It has a superb set of listings for London events, and it is linked with The Other Room readings in Manchester. The site carries "Openned Reader (headlines from 50+ poetry sites)", and deeply useful and well-organised links. Well done, Steve Willey & Alex Davies! This is how things should be. I should retire.
Tom Chivers' brandname, now attached to an organisation that publishes, arranges events and projects, even manages artists (including Chris McCabe). This could be the start of something big; but I'm not sure the percentages will work out.
"a taster of contemporary poetry in Britain and Ireland", is solidly based in the commercial mainstream, but with odd flashes of interest. There are quite active discussion boards with some familiar avant-garde names present on them.
"Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and poetics, promoting specific projects for internet and print publication, and providing a forum for you to debate your own critical and creative work." Much original writing posted as well as discussion of writing. Link is for archive. Open access: you can apply to join (from the page linked to — but check archive first to make sure it is your sort of place!)
This is an Amsterdam-based attempt at setting up a worldwide poetry site, using national subsites, which at present range from Australia to Zimbabwe, and in between. The United Kingdom material includes now Alan Halsey, Denise Riley, Elisabeth Bletsoe, Frances Presley, Lee Harwood, Penelope Shuttle, Peter Riley, Richard Price and Vahni Capildeo, with introductions, bibliographies, links etc, and some general links to British poetry-related websites. The range of poets featured is now getting perhaps genuinely representative.
is the national public library devoted to poetry on the South Bank. There are a lot of information and many links on its website.
gives access, with search facility, to some back issues from a range of UK magazines, eg Angel Exhaust; 10th Muse; Ambit; Fire; Oasis; Painted, spoken; Poetry Nation; Shearsman; The Interpreter's House; The London Magazine. From the Poetry Library's archives.
This is an interesting site, which gives a space and webpresence to a large number of contemporary British poets. These include Chris Gutkind, Chris Hardy, André Mangeot, David Miller, Sharon Morris, Christopher North and Stephen Watts.
Peter Manson has handily compiled this as a specialised Google search engine focusing on 70 poetry websites, mainly focusing on innovative poetry, and with a British bias.
"We're a database for all live poetry, spoken word events, and poetry in performance coming up in the next 14 days." Much of this is essentially entertainment-based or therapy for amateurs, but a lot of interest. Likewise the forums are lively and useful.
"Earlier this year my father died, at the age of 85. He left behind a little book that he had written, about poets and poetry readings in the North East of England. It was never published, but it may be of interest to people who enjoy modern poetry, or who are interested in the history of culture in the North East." Photos taken at readings form the 1960s to the 80s at places like the Morden Tower, Colpitts, Ceolfrith and Castle Chare events, of both performers and audiences. Plus a handy list of googled links to people and places! A little time capsule! Thank you, Jeremy James.
This is the very useful section of the huge Salt website, though its coverage is a little patchy and unfiltered. But a listing of Agents, Archives, Authors, Blogs, Bookstores, Centres, Competitions, Conferences, Courses, Directories, Festivals, Funding, Libraries, Magazines, Organisations, Prizes, Publishers, Radio Shows, Television Programmes, Venues, Workshops, worldwide but anglophone, has huge potential. Especially if the site can access its database more effectively: guys, the "next" buttons aren't working!
has an engaging site, with yearly lists of the best Scottish poems, an interactive map with contemporary poems on places, and a bookshop.
"is an international collaborative network engaging with writing across the expanded field of literature, art and performance — including artists working with text, visual and language poetry, digital writing, performance, theatre, film, music and dance." It is one of several conjunctions of Arts Council and academic funding and values, with lots of "curating", projects, dialogue and associates; but there are several excellent writers (with academic positions) involved. Potential. I've joined, so I shall discover.
is a great institution listing magazines, print & online, across world (though mainly US based).
provided by the British Library in association with the UK Web Archiving Consortium, is the archive of sites being preserved (including a fair sprinkling of those concerned with innovative poetry).
is Jow Lindsay's handy blog of poetry events.
are a fascinating and informative (but now not very current) listing of poetry on CD and Cassette by David Kennedy, part of Cortland Review: An Online Literary Magazine in RealAudio.
lists a number of writers and artists, with full details, examples of work etc. Figures of interest include David Miller, Ruth Fainlight, Judith Kazantzis and George Szirtes.
"is devoted entirely to poetry and poetics. It publishes non-mainstream poetry, and features essays and interviews related to it. By non-mainstream, I mean poetry that is aware of the plasticity of language and which places connotation and ambiguity over denotation and precision of meaning. This sort of poetry invites interpretation and allows for plurality of meaning as opposed to hermeneutic closure." I can't agree with all of editor Jeffrey Side's credo — I'd aim for some impossible combination of precision and ambiguity — but it's a brave nailing of colours to the mast for an heroic e-zine which contains a very wide range of poets (eg Rupert Loydell, Geoff Stevens, Peter Riley, Allen Fisher, Chris McCabe, John Seed, Peter Finch, Mairéad Byrne), an equally wide range of articles and interviews, and a huge list of links. It includes a fascinating series of interviews with songwriters on songwriting and poetry. It is a wonderful site, full of promise — only flaws that it's white on black, and material is very unordered. Otherwise, near perfection in its inclusiveness. Jeffrey Side also has a blog, with interesting comments on the poetry cultural scene in Britain. Jeffrey's very consistent and rigorously argued reader-response critical position I find always very interesting.
is most engaging, with a wide selection of material, starting off with Christopher Middleton and Harry Matthews, and including a very perceptive set of forty these by Laurie Duggan.
elegantly designed magazine edited by David Bircumshaw, current issue featuring poetry by Tim Allen, Peter Riley, Pierre Joris, special feature on German language poetry (with essay by Andrew Duncan), translation from the Dutch by Andrew Duncan & Karlien van den Breulen, and some of a very complex text from David Bircumshaw. Also on the site are two collections of poems by David Bircumshaw: Parousia and Painting Without Numbers. The whole ensemble comprises Spectare's Web — a remarkable monument!
CreatureMaG: something created is a quirkily produced ezine, heavily visual and music/art-oriented, with indeed, amusing and creative material flowing off the screen. A past issue includes a little poetry anthology edited by Tom Chivers, with poems by Gavin Selerie and Richard Makin.
"a contemporary poetry foldable/printable ezine" by Rhys Trimble. Current issue includes Chris Torrance and David Annwn. There is a video guide to folding it the right way! Ingenious and praiseworthy. There's also a blog, with some good typewriter poems.
contains a wide range of reviews of films, texts, TV drama, plus audio/multimedia work by Paul A Green, Lawrence Russell and others. A whole complex cultural nexus is laid out. The account of the Poetry Buzz for Allen Fisher is wonderful, as is Brother Paul's review essay on Iain Sinclair's anthology London: City of Disappearances.
set up by Sophie Robinson as an integral part of National Poettry Month, April 2009 (didn't you feel it?), provides a superb collection of poems and textual submissions from the current most upcoming generation of (mainly) London poets.
is a complex series of hypertext poems by Anne Berkeley, Peter Howard and André Mangeot, written in response to an exhibition on city life at Kettle's Yard Gallery in Cambridge (and to Cambridge itself). It is a powerful and engaging construction. More of these writers' work can be found on the website of the group they belong to, The Joy of Six.
If in some way this be not poetry, I know not what is. "Dreaming Methods is a fusion of writing and atmospheric new media that explores digital storytelling, imaginary memories and dream-inspired states." Like sad nightmares, or hypnagogic poems, or intelligent but insane computer games. "Dreaming Methods, known also as Digital Fiction, evolved from obscure, floppy disk-based collections of short stories that were available for free in the Amiga Public Domain during mid 1990s. It is now an experimental venture into combining fictional narratives with atmospheric multimedia designed to be read and experienced on-screen. Dreaming Methods is inspired largely by abstract concepts that would perhaps be difficult to capture using writing alone. The multi-layered complexity of dreams/nightmares and real/imagined memories that feature in many of the narratives are represented by a heavy mix of media that is designed to be compulsive and immersive. Projects are inspired by music, film and web design as much as literature, and attempt to take strands of each and weave them into something entirely new. Dreaming Methods is however experimental. Our plan is to continue to attempt to produce challenging hybrid fiction projects that push the boundaries of digital writing."
is a poetry e-zine publishing a range of good poets. The most recent issue consists of a series of pdfs of beautiful little chapbooks, by such as Rae Armentrout, Catherine Daly, Sheila E Murphy, David Berridge, Adam Fieled, Giles Goodland, Matina L Stamatakis. A Dusie Isles Reader is an excellent online anthology of current British & some Irish writing, including David Annwn. Tim Atkins, Tina Bass, Caroline Bergvall, David Berridge, Anne Blonstein, Andrea Brady, Mairéad Byrne, David Caddy, Vahni Capildeo, Emily Critchley, James Cummins, James Davies, Andrew Duncan. Carrie Etter, Allen Fisher, Melissa Flores, Amelia Gilmore, Giles Goodland, Mark Goodwin, Alan Halsey, Robert Hampson, Edmund Hardy, Peter Hughes, Sarah Jacob, Susan Johanknecht, Luke Kennard, Christine Kennedy, David Kennedy, Ira Lightman, Rupert Loydell, Geraldine Monk, Marianne Morris, Redell Olsen, Peter Philpott, Ernesto Priego, Tom Raworth, Peter Riley, Sophie Robinson, Gavin Selerie, Jeffrey Side, Zoë Skoulding, Martin Stannard, Rob Stanton, Laura Steele, Sandra Tappenden, Scott Thurston, Anna Ticehurst, Simon Turner, Steven Waling, Carol Watts. Basically — the best online anthology of contempory British poetry.
is a very fine US based ezine, with a very inclusive policy, whose final issue has now been published. Issue 6 includes 13 British Poets ("In memory of Richard Caddel: 1949-2003"): Caroline Bergvall, Richard Caddel, Martin Corless-Smith, Allen Fisher, Bill Griffiths, Alan Halsey, Elizabeth James, Christopher Logue, Geraldine Monk, Frances Presley, Christopher Reid, Peter Riley, & Harriet Tarlo.
edited by George Ttoouli and Simon Turner is an interesting and worthwhile blogzine, with good poems and other relevant postings.
"seeks to publish works of excellence and assumes that excellence is always the offspring of experimentation." Look at the back issue containing a big West House Anthology, with authors from Thomas Lovell Beddoes to Peter Riley, via Ric Caddel, Kelvin Corcoran, Johan de Wit and West House Books publisher Alan Halsey himself. American site.
"exploring non-traditional directions in poetry and scholarship by women", is full of excellent material, including in the current issue whole masses of poems, papers & unclassifiable material on performance, ecology and poetics, poets on mentorship, with writing from among others Frances Presley and Carol Watts. In the stupendous archives, poems and papers from the Cambridge Experimental Women's Poetry Festival (October 2006), Pantoume by Kai Fierle-Hedrick and Marianne Morris (image & text), a feature on Archive of the Now, including a valuable interview with Andrea Brady (and video of Andrea reading Wildfire), "quickflip: a HOW2 e-chap" (lots of good writing!) compiled and edited by Frances Kruk, who has also curated "Welcoming Space: Susana Gardner and Dusie Books", and coordinated by Redell Olsen, London Calling: New and Emerging Work from Britain, with Rosheen Brennan, Emily Critchley, Kai Fierle-Hedrick, Kristen Kreider, Frances Kruk, Marianne Morris, Sophie Robinson & Lydia White). The archives are equally rich. This site hosts a tremendously exciting range of writing and talking/thinking about writing. It is exemplary.
contains poems, and very interestingly, records of workshop discussions on these. by members of the Poetry Workshop: Cahal Dallat, Jane Draycott, Hugh Epstein, Christopher Hedley-Dent, Elizabeth James, Duncan McGibbon, Leona Esther Medlin, Kim Morrissey, Richard Price, and Sudeep Sen. A very well designed site, which gives a great deal of context for these poets' work.
"Intercapillary Space is a continually unrolling magazine. You will find book reviews, poems, essays and capsules. The magazine is curated and largely edited by Edmund Hardy", with as contributors virtually everyone with something interesting to say about contemporary British poetry, on a varied range of topics. From strength to strength! – now with some excellent ebooks also, including Dilemmatic boundaries: constructing a poetics of thinking, an essay by Emily Critchley, Joshua Stanley, Litany, Berlioz, a poem by Peter Hughes. and John Harington's 1591 translation of Orlando Furioso. There are important gatherings of responses by a variety or people, mainly poets, to the work of Doug Oliver, Peter Riley, Alice Notley, and currently Seán Rafferty also. Vital!
is a rather over-designed e-zine (sorry! but the texts are all so constrained in little boxes; keep it simple and readable, please!), with a very wide range of writers, with a very wide range of writers, including Anne Stevenson, Lee Harwood, John Hegley, Bill Griffiths, Ira Lightman and others in back issues. A recent issue was dedicated to Bill Griffiths
is a superb and huge online magazine from Australia. The current issue is thin on British material (unless you want to count Denise Levertov from Ilford), though there is an excellent piece by Robert Hampson on Gavin Selerie, a glorious essay by John Muckle which links Hazlitt to the "personism" of the New York poets, and Jeffrey Side's quite astounding essay linking formal devices with reader-response theory, Empirical and Non-Empirical Identifiers. Amongst the huge archive, recommended are Laurie Duggan, On Gael Turnbull’s Collected Poems: with a digression on his aleatory, kinetic and other off-the-page practices, plus Post-Marginal Positions: Women and the UK Experimental/Avant-Garde Poetry Community: A Cross-Atlantic Forum, moderated by Catherine Wagner, and including contributions from Andrea Brady, Geraldine Monk and Jow Lindsay. And there is the poetry, of course (try Laurie Duggan, Two poems from ‘The skies over Thanet’). If you are interested in looking at some of the antecedents of the British writing on Great Works, I would also refer you to Issue 20, on Cambridge, with vast amounts of material on Veronica Forrest-Thompson and Hugh Sykes Davies, Andrew Duncan on A Various Art and "the Cambridge Leisure Centre" (and on Trevor Joyce), Rod Mengham on Bourgeois News: Humphrey Jennings and Charles Madge, material from Quid and Parataxis magazines, a large amount of material on and from Perfect Bound magazine (including a long interview with Peter Robinson), and poems from Bob Cobbing and Robert Sheppard, Robert Hampson, Tony Lopez, David Marriott, Drew Milne, and Peter Robinson; there is an informative if slightly pointed review by Robert Sheppard of Poetry Wars: British Poetry of the 1970s and the Battle of Earls Court by Peter Barry, detailing the nakba of avant-garde British poetry; or more positively John Welch's memoir Getting it Printed: London in the 1970s. On the other hand, you can discover the joys of flarf in the Jacket Flarf feature.
run by David Miller, publishes small publications from a very wide range of writers, with material from most on the site. Writers include Jeff Hilson, Paul Buck, David Menzies, David Miller, Robert Lax, Alyson Torns, Giles Goodland, Keith Jebb and Johan de Wit.
Co-edited by Andrew Nightingale has the previous issues on the Web, but current issue available in print, with Giles Goodland, David Berridge, Mark Goodwin, Peter Hughes and Peter Philpott in this.
is the e-zine of Leafe Press, who publish booklets by Kelvin Corcoran, Alan Baker, Tilla Brading, Lee Harwood, Peter Dent, Martin Stannard, with poems online. Litter has masses of good stuff, work from, among others, John Welch (his essay SOMETHING ABOUT IT is true), Janet Sutherland, Carrie Etter, Laurie Duggan, Mark Goodwin, Tilla Brading, Lee Harwood's essay My Heart Belongs to Dada, Christine Kennedy and David Kennedy's Intelligence Report — Evidence of the Enemy, Gavin Selerie, Poems from Le Fanu's Ghost, Fances Presley, Poems from the sequence Myne, big Peter Dent and Martin Stannard features, Kelvin Corcoran, Rupert Loydell and Alan Halsey. There are also good interesting blogs from the two Leafe Press editors, Alan Baker and John Bloomberg-Rissman.
's current issue is Poetry etc: Poems and Poets — an anthology edited by Andrew Burke and Candice Ward of writing from mmbers of this well-established poetry listserv, with an interesting historical introduction by Alison. The range of contributors is very wide: John Kinsella (the list's founder), David Bircumshaw, Randolph Healy, lots and lots, and the whole shebang is downloadable as a pdf. An interesting back issue contains a Feature on Irish Poetry, with, among others, Mairéad Byrne, Brian Coffey, Trevor Joyce, Medbh McGuckian, Maggie O'Sullivan, Maurice Scully, and Catherine Walsh. Masthead's editor, Alison Croggon, has also a varied & interesting personal website with links to her own very varied writing. Australian site.
"Meshworks is a site dedicated to documenting and preserving video and sound recordings of writing in performance." It contains performances from a large number of British writers, including Tim Atkins, Lee harwood. Sean Bonney, Tom Raworth, and Randolph Healy, as Quicktime movies amd mp3s. Meshworks is on the Oxford Magazine site. That's Oxford, Ohio, home, even more confusingly to Miami University ;mdash; base of Keith Tuma, and thus of the study and encouragement of contemporary British and Irish writing. Gawd bless you, guv!
This issue of an absolutely vital magazine: "Our contributors explore the links between a global glut of financial liquidity and the capitalist self-cannibalisation that sustains it. Tracing the impact of financialised and looted social existence from the micropolitics of student debt and lifelong labour, via the reign of fictitious capital, to the geopolitics of US militarism and reactionary anti-imperialism, this issue asks us to reimagine crisis as a political question with an open outcome: Are we about to pick up the tab for the financial elite's decades long free lunch? And if total monetary collapse is a way off, is this because the social crisis and repression we already face are deepening? Whose crisis is it anyway, and if it comes, who is going to come out on top?" contains poems by Andrea Brady, Keston Sutherland, John Wilkinson, William Fuller, Howard Slater, in addition to the best analysis of that state we're in, and some hints at getting out of it. Read the poems in their context – they work superbly!
contains a range of fascinating journalism, from the political to the fortean, as well as an interesting range of poetry, eg John Welch, Peter Riley, Maurice Scully, Kevin Higgins, Alexis Lykiard. You can download from the site 100 poets against the war, Poems for Lord Hutton, and other free and controversial collections of topical poems.
"a spring-fresh interview zine dedicated to showcasing poets who deserve to be better heard and read" run by Kevin Doran and Matina L. Stamatakis, starting with Sean Fitzpatrick.
edited by Tim Atkins, is a very fine-tuned e-zine, whose most recent issue includes, among others, Adrian Clarke, John Gibbens, Holly Pester and Philip Terry — also a ferocious set of links, and good reviews.
"A blogzine of investigative, exploratory, avant-garde, innovative poetry and poetics edited by Robert Sheppard" is a superb blog. The previous series of posts, focused on answering the question "What have been the most significant developments in the alternative British and Irish Poetries (however you define those) over the last 7 years?" has ended with a range of interesting responses to the debate as a whole. Its archives contain essay-length reviews, prose and poems, with work from or concerning Robert Sheppard, Iain Sinclair, John Muckle, Lee Harwood, Sheila E Murphy, Clark Allison and Bill Griffiths.
"Some innovative poetry and prose of Ireland and Britain", edited by Marcus Slease and Jim Goar, out of Norwich. This is an excellent little ezine, with a wide coverage of good poetry. Go boys!
is also a blogzine — e-zine using blogging technology — organised by Adam Fieled and Mike Land. A lot of very interesting material and much good archive material, eg interviews with and poems by Chris McCabe and Andrew Duncan. American site.
" And yet of course you are partisan. As a reader, as an editor (who is a certain kind of reader, maybe not Ideal-ised, but certainly an attentive one), you do want certain things from the poems (and the critical reception of those poems) you come across. I am, for example, somewhat uncomfortable with cults and the status of effective unreadability they confer on their objects. I mistrust homogeneity. I've an appetite for the collisions, rather than collusions, of international writing: internationalism is one of Poetry Review's longest traditions. In a Britain where even the arts establishment can look shifty when it comes to poetry, where access to contemporary poets in libraries and on syllabuses is increasingly rationed, Poetry Review — whose readers and subscribers include not only individuals with absolute poetic commitment but those for whom it's their only contact with what's going on — has a robustly colourful role to play in presenting the best of poetry today, in cajoling poets into particular forms of writing, and in nursing contemporary poetry-critical discourse. There may be easier jobs. Few offer such peculiarly sweet rewards." Robustly colourful: my arse. The back issues of the run edited by David Herd & Robert Potts are still accessible for a wide range of interesting poems and reviews, eg poems by Keston Sutherland, and Andrea Brady on Denise Levertov. Other good stuff includes Andrew Duncan on the Keith Tuma 20th Century British and Irish Poetry anthology, and reviews of texts such as John James, Collected Poems, J H Prynne, Unanswering Rational Shore and Wendy Mulford, And Suddenly, Supposing, and poems by writers including Tony Lopez, Lee Harwood and Michael Haslam.
Editor: Will Rowe. The site has been revived and remade, with current isue centered on Introduction: Poetry & Public Language, edited by Tony Lopez, as record of an academic seminar held at the Centre for Contemporary Poetics, Birkbeck. More varied material in the archives, eg poems by Frances Presley and a review by Allen Fisher of Redell Olsen's Secure Portable Space, and an essay by Alan Halsey, "An Open Letter to Will Rowe" on the current situation of poetry in England.
is a UK-based webzine, whose most recent issue includes work by Rupert M Loydell and Mark Goodwin, plus in The Repository, a series of illustrated poems that are well worth investigating, with work from Mr Loydell (including collaborations with Sheila Murphy), Andrew Nightingale, Yann Lovelock (there's a name I hadn't heard for many a long year) and others.
Editors: Piers Hugill, Aodhán McCardle, & Stephen Mooney. This contains secondary material. Now relaunched, fresh essays have been posted, including pieces on Sean Bonney's poetry. Previous issues include responses to the Forum on Women Writers, by eg Frances Presley, John Hall and the editors, plus other stuff such as Jon Clay on Geraldine Monk, Lawrence Upton on Alaric Sumner's Waves on Porthmeor Beach & Niall McDevitt on Maggie O'Sullivan. It is supported by Contemporary Poetics Research Centre, School of English & Humanities, Birkbeck College.
is Alan Morrison's ezine: "In terms of poetry, we have a preference for work that deviates from the mainstream. We particularly like political, social and polemical poetry. We wish to promote non-conformist work, in other words, that which does not submit to the ease of contemporary trend." Among the poets are Richard Barrett, Martin Jack, David Kessel, Alan himself, Alistair Noon. Plus prose and much else.
"AFTER-WORDS : Response : imitation : riff : homage : voices in dialogue : lines spidering between authors : letterspace : connectors : weavings : sound-offs : TEXTUAL PING-PONG": all of these on a very active collective blog, including names I recognise, like Alistair Noon, Rufo Quintavalle, Dusie, Pansy Maurer-Alvarez (suggesting anglophone expats in Europe?), and many more I don't.
struck me as the most interesting site I've encountered dealing with hypertext writing, containing some fascinating work and a wealth of links out to this quite specific world of writing. The most recent issue is dedicated to the memory of Alaric Sumner. But unfortunately nothing seems to have happened to the site since I first encountered it.
catalogue (with specimens of writing) for a serious and major press whose titles include work by David Chaloner, Simon Smith, JH Prynne, Andrew Duncan, Rod Mengham, Anna Mendelssohn, Sophie Levy & Leo Mellor, John James, John Temple & John Kinsella (one of the two editors/publishers) — virtually everyone! — plus also a useful set of international poetry and poetics links. There is a very useful News section, with bulletin boards.
Ian Seed's e-zine is a very classy and consistent production, with work from a wide range of poets and some informative and engaged reviews. Most recent issue includes Alasdair Paterson, Katherine Holmes, Aidan Semmens and Glenn R. Frantz. Professionally regular in meeting its deadline (unlike me!), there is a huge and valuable archive of current British poetry.
including Shearsman Magazine site contains much good writing, eg Peter Hughes & Simon Marsh, Aidan Semmens, Nathan Thompson, Chris McCabe in the most recent issue online, with also many reviews by Tony Frazer (and his highly reliable and wide-ranging Recommendations for reading), and some previous issues available as .pdf files. Also on the site are a series of e-chapbooks, including Anne-Marie Albiach, Flammigère and The line . . . the loss. Ken Edwards, Chaconne, Stephen Vincent, Triggers, An Introduction to the Work of Michael Ayres, John Muckle, Firewriting, a reprint of Richard Burns, Avebury, Rupert M. Loydell, MULTIPLE EXPOSURE (Ballads of the Alone 2) and John Hall, Through the Gap, plus details of Shearsman books (including some texts), eg Peter Riley, The Dance at Mociu and Trevor Joyce with the first dream of fire they hunt the cold: A Body of Work 1966-2000. A useful and glorious site. And my publisher!
is an attractively wide-ranging little e-zine: eg, the current issue includes poems by Francesca Lisette, Tom Lowenstein, Alistair Noon, Richard Parker, Peter Robinson, Robert Sheppard and John Wilkinson, and an interview with Alice Notley. An earlier interview with Andrew Duncan ("I find some Cambridge poetry utterly obscure. There is this social background of a very strict power hierarchy based on intelligence rankings set by competitive tests. The poem works as one of these tests. It does not matter if no-one understands your poem because that means you've won!") is too good not to quote from. A lot of good material here now.
is Trevor Joyce's space for invention: "if the eye be sound the fish is sweet". Not at all glassy, but full of life and invention in the site, with poetry from Mairéad Byrne, Brian Coffey, Patrick Galvin, Trevor Joyce and Michael Smith, and the extraordinary collaborative poetic venture Offsets.
This is a new little ezine from Leeds, now with a lively poetry scene. Its taste is original. Most recent issue with Wayne Auty, Gareth Durasow, Sean O'Brien, Dan Fante, Chris Stephenson and Stephen Emmerson (mad! mad! but delightful) and art from Naomi Wrigglesworth.
"Featuring poets, flash fiction writers, authors, musicians, and artists – we aim to bring you the finest in Brutalist writing from across the globe." None of the names are familiar to me, but this blogzine is pretty funky. The Brutalists seem mired in unoriginal knee-jerk jerk-off post-punk self-publicity; but straightfromthefridge is worth your detailed perusal, and gives indications of yet another nexus of would-be alternative poets (who are so hard and real!).
new magazine from two ex-Roehampton students with a wide range of writers. Current issue includes sean burn, Anna McKerrow, Stephanie Codsi, Trini Decombe, Nikki Dudley, Kyle Hemmings, P.A. Levy — most of whom I hadn't heard of, but are pretty good.
is linked with Stride Books publishing, and makes a tremendously effective and varied site, including work by Richard Burns, Tom Chivers and Rupert Loydell, and a very involving review of Martin Corless-Smith's Swallows. Full of good things.
is "an online magazine of texts and visuals, occasionally overlapping and melting into each other", edited by Rupert Mallin from Norwich, with a very elegant site. The first issue has material from Claire Hamburger, Gerald Nason, Ian Seed, Linda Chapman & Rupert Mallin, Lisa D'Onofrio, Martin Stannard, Michael Fenton, Peter Hughes and Tim Lenton.
edited by Kevin Doran, is a beautifully produced and very engaging blogzine devoted to short form poems (of very various types).
is an interview based blogzine, starting with Geraldine Monk.
"is a collaboration between Melanie Bush, Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design, The University of Northampton and Emma Powell, Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design, De Montfort University in association with Louise Bird, Lecturer in Graphic Design, The University of Northampton. As well as teaching bookmaking and making our own experimental books we collaboratively curate a yearly international and experimental artists' book exhibition. This is open to all. Our exhibitions are 'not for profit' — we do them because we love books." Delightful! The site is full of jpegs of the books, plus details of the exhibitions.
run by Alan Halsey and Geraldine Monk. It includes details of publications (from such as Thomas Lovell Beddoes, Sean Bonney, Kelvin Corcoran, Johan de Wit, Mercurialis the Younger, Peter Riley, Gavin Selerie, Glenn Storhaug, and their own work). Plus excerpts from Geraldine and Alan's work (including sound files and images). Plus an extensive second hand catalogue specialising in modernist poetry from small presses. This is a good place to visit.
run by Randolph Healy includes work on its website (some on RealAudio) by (among others) Randolph, Allen Fisher, Mairéad Byrne, Trevor Joyce & David Miller. There is a great range of activity going on — buzzy & professional, & superb & fascinating writing. Material also from projects based on the PoetryEtc listserv.
publish in paper, but also online, with some excellent e-books, including South Wales Echo by Gerard Casey, Christine Kennedy & David Kennedy, Ovid's Keyholes, Peter Riley, Greek Passages (1st Part) and Kelvin Corcoran, I Know the Songs of all the Birds. The site is expanding, with a blog, and video also. American site.
has a lot of interesting writing, presented very directly. You may be interested in work by Alan Halsey, Pete Smith, Ralph Hawkins, Ken Edwards, Andrew Nightingale, Drew Milne, Allen Fisher, Peter Manson, Alan Halsey, Trevor Joyce, Tony Lopez, Peter Middleton, Geraldine Monk & Laurence Upton. American site.
is a very rich source of material, including superb animations and other visual material, chapbooks and other epublications (including The White Wish by Andrea Brady). American site.
"is committed to publishing quality chapbooks by liberated poets from Anywhere. We do not discriminate against non-human or post-human artists." Human artists include Giles Goodland. All as non-copyright pdfs. American site.
"The intent of the Journal is to provide a venue for creative literary content that explores the potential of network-based creativity." There is a wide range of different ways of using the Web for multimedia and hypertext works, some banal, much haunting. The archive includes work from Lawrence Upton and Peter Howard. Not at present active site. American site.
"A magazine of poetry and everything else" is a delightful site, including much fun, and poetry from, eg, Giles Goodland, Andrew Nightingale, Simon Pettet. American site.
So many, so beautifully produced, so full of so many different names, these American websites. Ah, the land of plenty! XConnect is a good site, with some interesting material — Giles Goodland in the current issue.
"is a curatorial platform that provides the tools of a socialised internet for the development and presentation of contemporary art and literature." It's a large complex site presenting a range of material. seemingly more image-based than language-based, as flexible constellations and as work in progress. There's a tendency towards academic/artspeak jargon, but concept, execution and the work within it could point to a new way of presenting creative work on the Web. Of more immediate interest is Andrea Brady's long poem Tracking Wildfire.
Excellent writing of the highest quality, full of bite. Current issue includes David Annwn and David Rushmer. The magazine is also printable as pdfs. Very good archives, well worth rummaging in.
"A periodically updated collective blog", which satirises the world of avant-garde poetry through imitations of the famous (in some quarters!) "Faits Divers" (miscellaneous happenings) columns of old-fashioned French newspapers. It is amusing, though the British material is quite weak and unconvincing.
does what it claims, in an elegant site, whose current issue contains two poems by Peter Riley missing from Lleyn Writings. Root around the archives, and find eg a very fine review of Trevor Joyce, What’s in Store: Poems 2000-2007 (New Writers' Press & The Gig, 2007). American site.
has a little downloadable pdf sampler of work by Ric Caddel, as teaser for the forthcoming edition of his poems by Pressed Wafer of Boston, Mass.
publishes responses from poets to a standard range of questions. There is vast number of responses, including one or two British poets, eg David Bircumshaw. American site.
contains work by mIEKAL aND, and collaborations with Elizabeth James — hypertext, pataphysics, patalinguistics: haunting, challenging and beautiful. American site.
is a writer-run centre in Vancouver, with a very exciting policy and series of activities. On their site at present are pdfs of their very thick magazine W, with work from Kevin Nolan. Other series of publications will be added. There are extensive audio files also of talks and readings, eg Tom Raworth, Denise Riley and more. Excellent stuff!
" is a web-based poetry quarterly which seeks to publish quality poetry and related articles." There is good, lively material, including Giles Goodland's essay, "Notes towards a History of The Cento". Australian site.
an online journal of poetry and poetics has a wide range of poets represented, including sean burn and Andrew Nightingale, with e-books also. American site.
"A narrativity is all encompassing, but open" — a fascinating e-zine concerned with theory-based narrative — sounds bad, tastes very good. Contributors include Trevor Joyce, and Lawrence Upton. American site.
publishes poetry and prose. There is a lot of material by Christopher Barnes in various issues of this American ezine.
A Greek online magazine. I cannot usefully comment on the Greek material, but I know what will (or bloody well ought to!) interest Great Works readers is: "The origins and trajectories of English avant garde poetry in the last 40 years", a dialogue between Peter Riley and Spilios Argyropoulos (and several poems by Mr Riley).
Anny Ballardini's e-zine has a huge range of poets represented, with little bios, pix & links as well as poems: Douglas Clark, Lawrence Upton, Peter Philpott and Ruth Fainlight are some of the writers. Her blog NarcissusWorks provides an interesting commentary on the site. Italian site.
A vast wealth of non-writing-based texts: visual, concrete, sound etc. And the downloadable e-books (including Peter Manson, Adjunct: An Undigest). And the Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter plays. This is the actual mainstream of culture: universes of language, vision and sound lie within. American site.
contains details of D M Black's poetry, reviews of his work, links to other poetry sites, and details of his publications.
(formerly Mannequin Guillotine: kevin doran doesn't exist anymore) is Kevin's quite engaging blog!
Sean Bonney's blog presents him as "Poet, collagist, polemicist, libertarian marxist, antagonist". Go there now for the Cramps videos: "Does Your Pussy Do the Dog?" Go there even more now for his poems.
is Richard Barrett's blog, which gives a good picture of the now very lively Manchester poetry scene, the Mr Barrett's encounters with sundry other aspects of contemporary culture, and his own writing. Quit This Pampered Town is his previous blog (embarrassingly successful!).
"is the second poetry/photo project by Joy as Tiresome Vandalism (James Davies (poetry) & Simon Taylor (photography). Rather than JTV responding to the other’s work (as they did in the two aRb projects) they are responding to clues each sets. Starting in April 2009 and finishing March '010 they will produce 6 pairs of work. In the first month of each pair a clue will be set for the other to respond to. JTV will not see the other person’s work until the project is over. Then the collection will be turned into a pdf. This site is being maintained by an independent body." And here it is!
has a blog recently started, with an interesting and largely positive review of Great Works (bless him!)/
Not your average grime! Enjoy and take note!
Elegant, composed and radiant, like the man's poetry (well done Peter Manson – an exceptionally attractive design). No poems as yet, but biography, bibliographies, notes on poems, essays. More about and from one of Britain's finest poets.
is Michael Blackburn's own site, has all sorts of stuff on it or linked: video, photos, texts, mixed media projects, and all else, including the Sunk Island Review, a blogzine for "New Writing In Various Forms", and for Sunk island Publishing. Try also The Days, How They Pass, daily poems over a year, posted up as podcasts of 20 (with images). Great creative energy here.
"expression not convention" — poems, music and art on Dylan Harris's homepage
is Roger Day's website, with poems, images, movies, and a link to his blog and other projects.
Jonathan Jones's blog, written I guess from teaching at a Belgian university, has very perceptive comments on a contemporary poetry (largely American rather than British), plus the odd poem and the odd (also perceptive) comment on TV etc. A good blog!
has a wickedly designed site, with full information and some pages/images of, plus links to, her subtle and (in this country) pioneering multi-media work.
Benjamin Stainton's site contains his writings etc; and it will make you laugh, a simple rarity he achieves with grace.
is Steven Waling's blog. I enjoy its at times distanced view of alternative poetry culture.
Steve Willey's blog on his research project (part of the multimillion pound AHRC-financed Beyond Textprogramme) may well prove to be a useful resource.
of the University of Durham gives a little information, some pix, and a little bit of text.
has a very fine and elegant personal site, with a mass of material on it.
David Caddy's blog contains long prose pieces, with poems, about his personal, literary and regional roots: "So Here We Are: Poetic Letters from England", and some very well-informed critical writing also. These are also available as audio downloads on the site.
is Jim Goar's blog.
is Jeff Hilson's blog, with writings.
is Mike Weller's MySpace site, with images and a video. Visit it and encourage him!
contains some interesting, richly textured poems.
is Harry Godwin's blog, with poems and things.
"My name is Bob Cobbing, I died aged 82 and was the major exponent of concrete, visual and sound poetry in Britain." Visit Bob in cyberspace! A good little biography, an mp3, and two links. But he's there!
is Ian Davidson's blog, where you are also invited to collaborate. There are also two short videos on YouTube by Ian Davidson: Harsh 15 and Harsh 30.
"the website of Michael Haslam Poet of Foster Clough" has on it a large amount of material of an Haslamic, and therefore quite fascinating and delightful, nature, including poems from this strong and original writer.
Rob Stanton's dailyish poetic poem sequence blog — this is our life. Successor to Issue. Now complete.
has a neat little homepage with poems etc.
— her blog with her poems and links. Simple!
Carrie Etter's blog has some interesting comments about her relationship to the poetry culture she encounters in her present environment.
Jow Lindsay's blog contains a wide range of material, as they say. Good taste in music highly evident.
is Tina Bass's MySpace presence.
Peter Finch was leading figure of the fabled but real (like King Arthur) British Poetry Revival of the 60s and early 70s. He remains active yet in Cardiff, as a poet and cultural force. His website is excellent: poems and other writngs by Peter F, including much material on Cardiff and Wales. Some excellent writing on British and Welsh poetry, and good advice to aspring writers.
" is an artist, poet & publisher. Born in Scotland in 1966, he now lives in the North-East of England, in Byker." This site documents and presents some of his work (and that of others), as poems, installations, concepts and other varied and haunting projects.
's Website has on it a wide range of material: images, lists of publications, links, and a list of Spanner publications.
is resource base for Peter Manson users and the wider poetry community (featuring Maggie Graham, Rbin Purves, Scott Thurston & Lawrence Upton, also a page with Bob Cobbing photos and links) — a model example of a poet's website (and also home to Object Permanence press).
covers all Gareth Durasow's acitvities and enterprises.
is a damn good personal literary blog, with a wondrous Beckettian interest (and much else) — highly enjoyable — few poems, but highly poetic. Produced by one Pothwith — David Wheatley. More power to him!
is sean burn's website, with examples of his work across art, film, play, prose and poetry — all powerful and effective.
This site, a page on Matthew Francis's homepage has on it some poems by WS Graham, one of the poets of the Forties generation now very important to the current avant-garde, after decades of relative neglect.
is Laurie Duggan's excellent blog, from exile in furthest Kent.
A huge and staggering site: R G Gregory's life and work as a huge project of action and words.
has a very elegant site, with a few texts on it, some sound files and some links.
's MySpace presence, with some excellent music on it.
Mike Weller's self-publishing activities. And linguistically innovative €#*@$?! be his blog.
contains information on Richard Price, full lists of publications and other activities (including Vennel Press and Painted, Spoken magazine), and some poems and soundfiles. Richard also has his own MySpace presence.
John Sparrow's multimedia work upon texts, imaginative and often gloriously diverting, plus a good blog.
homepage is stylish and clear, with her writing and links. Elizabeth also has an occasional blog, Oceanographer of O.
homepage contains poems by him. That alone is a reason for visiting it.
Styles J. Kauphmann is an improvising musician in contact with the innovative poetry scene. His blog contains writings on improvisation and some specimens of his work.
Tom Kelly's blog has his (and others') poems, plus articles, reviews and notices about poetry and drama in the North-East
's homepage includes a large selection of essays and reviews, and a few poems.
has a companionable blog, much concerned with the interests of an English writer, translator and teacher in Italy, which I find quite fascinating, plus also what ought to interest you more, some excellent poems from this escaped member of the Cambridge School.
's wonderful website, apart from material concerning the Scottish poet, includes also an excellent page with the text of The Six O'Clock News, the poet reading it (RealPlayer or .wav formats), and relevant texts by Leonard.
Michael Blackburn on MySpace.
The website of the Scottish poet Gerry Loose, with poems online or linked.
Tony Lopez's site covers all the bases: work published and online, criticism, interviews etc listed or linked to, plus a blog.
This blog holds details of all Lee's published poetry: Minimalist poet, minimalist lifestyle has some unpublished poems and more normal bloggy stuff.
has a good site detailing her many activities, with details of her publications. She also has very useful and perceptive review blog, Delirium's Library.
is the MySpace page of Rhys Trimble, with superb sound files of him performing (with music), plus texts on the blog. Excellent stuff! Part of a performance poetry scene at Bangor, POETica.
"by Esther Leslie and Ben Watson [aka Out To Lunch] plunges the experiencer into theory and art conspired into existence by the praxis of Walter Benjamin, T.W. Adorno, Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Höch, Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Frank Zappa, J.H. Prynne, and every avant-garde movement from Baudelaire (but even before too — viz. Th. Nash, Sterne, Goethe. . .) through Dada, Vorticism etc onto Punk and the DIY Esemplasm)." Their cultural activities are richer than that! — also, Disney, Mad Pride, situationism, improvised music, manifestoes. Oh, and poems.
is Marcus Slease's well-informed and well-grounded blog. It's good, well worth picking up on for its rich material.
has information (detailed lists of publications), links to some essays and reviews by Drew Milne, and a couple of poems, plus details of Parataxis publications (wonderfully heavyweight modernist poetry and poetics magazine), plus work by John Wilkinson and in homage to Mina Loy.
"Mirabeau are Ian Kearey, Richard Price and Caroline Trettine, featuring Nancy Campbell." Formerly The Apollinaires. Very beautiful presentations of music and language.
David Berridge's art blog, "with writing on a range of art and a particular interest in connections of art and language as well as in new and exploratory forms of art writing and criticism." Fascinating material, eg piece on Susan Hiller, work by Sarah Jacobs, or FREE PRESS WORKSHOP: THE VISUAL ESSAY OF CLAIRVOYANT CRITICISM or READING AS CRITICISM or TIPPEX AS RADICAL GESTURE, on "essays where the visual form of the page was crucial both to the method of composing, the essays subject(s), and the distribution of ideas and experiences."
is the web site dedicated to Scotland's greatest poet. There is a lot of useful information, a place where student essays can be published, and a fair number of poems.
has information and poems
has full information, with some excerpts, from all his books and other writings.
Maggie O'Sullivan's site contains bibliography and thorough links to all on-line material, with a little text and voice to view and download
Marcus Slease's blog is enthusiastic, informed and perceptive, with Marcus's widely travelled perspective a useful one. Recommended.
Andrew Jordan's website contains at present information on his publishing activities, viz 10th Muse magazine, bending oeuvre books and The Listening Voice newsletter (most recent as a pdf).
provides links to his poetry, translations and reviews on the internet.
has on it biographical and bibliographic information, lots of images by Nuttall, and clips of him reading his poetry, and of him playing jazz. There is a link to complete scans of his famous My Own Mag, hosted by the Burroughs website, Reality Studio.
is Martin Stannard's current blog, just as Martin Stannard's Home from Home is his homepage, and Martin Stannard's Exultations & Difficulties, his wondrous blogzine remains, quiescent but worthwhile still.
"Author of www.orium.org, Kai Fierle Hedrick is a Canadian/American mixed-media writer whose research interests circle around collaborative, community-engaged practices." Her diverse and fascinating site shows the range of her activities, with creative work in various media combinations and much else, including a blog.
is Chris Gutkind's MySpace presence.
A text, with photos, by Ian Davidson.
"This site features samples of original work by Holly Pester. Some texts are fragments of academic work while some are process pieces resting at this site for exploratory means. Holly Pester has been working with live poetry and critical writing for three years." And to very good effect indeed.
's blog is intensely readable, and includes links to some excellent long poems and sequences by him, and a large series of reviews, A Brief History of Western Culture.
is Andrew Duncan's site — his criticism, his poetry, and more. Go directly to it now! If you want a large-scale view of recent & current (post-War) English poetry, and thus of Duncan's strategic position, try "Despairing dialogue: Spectral Investments: Mainstream and original poetry: proposed terms for a future dialogue". There are also back issues of Angel Exhaust, 13-16.
Interesting things happening here. Our 4 best friends: Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Marguerite Duras, Gertrude Stein.
Michael Zand's poem and personal blog.
"a selection of fiction , poetry and drama by Paul A. Green", contains poem texts, hypertext works, soundworks, scripts, all that Brother Paul can offer us.
's homepage has on it pictures and news, bibliography, and scans of Infolio magazine, and, sadly, an ever-increasing number of in memoriam pages (eg Edward Dorn, Fielding Dawson, John Wieners, Philip Whalen, Kenneth Koch, Bob Cobbing, Piero Heliczer, Stan Brakhage, Ric Caddel).
Nice blog of poems and photos, by someone I think floating around Manchester area. Do they give their name? Did I keep a record of who's doing it? Good stuff, though
Richard Parker's Information Hub, with poems.
Feminism and poetry from Posie Rider of Islington.
's new website has full details of publications, with some poems, biographical information, work in progress, and links to the Jacket pages on Perfect Bound magazine.
The last of the great American ex-pats? Poems, paintings and photos.
Rebecca Rosier's blog has her poems and news.
is Lydia Towsey's WordPress blog, with her writing and other interesting stuff.
contains poems, photographs, short stories and a lot of journalistic work.
John Cayley's site contains his complex work in interactive multimedia poetry (using QuickTime) — "codework": writing in networked and programmable media. There is a genuinely new linguistic and conceptual space being explored.
has a blog with mainly critical material and reviews.
's elegant site details her work, with some text present. Hannah has also a splendid MySpace presence.
is Tomas Weber's blog.
is Nat Reeha's blog — yes, poems & stuff: good poems and stuff.
Sophie Robinson's blog. See Sophie perform on a video clip!
I am delighted that David Bircumshaw is back in action on the Web, with fresh material on his site.
is an astonishing game or mechanism from Peter McCarey. It is delighful (or did I say that just above? Trust my adjectives!).
is his personal site, complementary to his publishing as Sixties Press
Tom Chivers' blog
has several pages on Anne Bryan's Strange Attractor website, with biography, poems and some books and cards available, plus information on the Beneath the Underground Poetry Festival, reuniting the Carshalton Mob. See Beneath the Underground entry under Readings for further details. In the meantime, here is a man who has kept the faith and kept the poetry going.
presents John Gibbens' remarkable body of work: poems (including many visual poems and a poetic almanac), music (as The Children, with Armorel Weston, and as The Mind Shop, with Armorel Weston and David Miller) and writing on music (especially Dylan). This man is talented and inventive!
"This is a solo performance project that interweaves music and poetry in a kind of poetry slalom. Music frames poems; poems shape music." More material by and info on Paul Taylor on his MySpace presence.
is Chris McCabe's blog.
is the collaboration of poet and artist Kristen Kreider and architect and artist James O'Leary. They "operate at the edges of disciplinary boundaries through an integrated visual-spatial-poetic practice. Engaging with sites of architectural and socio-cultural significance, we expose and re-contextualise the site in question through performance, installation and time-based media." Ie fascinating multi-media environments, in which language plays a major role. Breathtaking and haunting images on the website.
Lawrence has now restored his online presence, with a site full of his material, links to it, and information.
's blog is excellent: the combination of his own very fine writing and some very informed and perceptive commentary on the nature of poetry and the poetic line makes it very appealing. I like his run through of Charles Bernstein "Girly Man", discussing in shocked horror "the elements of normative poetics".
's blog is full of John Welch. Excellent!
is a rich source of both sound-files and poem videos. But: only the Poetry Jukebox and the iPoems Flash Poems are free – the bulk of the material needs to be paid for. There is a lot of emphasis on the more entertainment-end of performance poetry; but work also by Peter Finch, Iain Sinclair, Tom Leonard, Adrian Mitchell, Kamau Braithwaite, Christopher Logue (and a fine essay by Peter Finch on Sound Poetry).
was a show on New York based WPS1 Art Radio, which broadcast archive and live readings. Lee Harwood is one of the names you will encounter. And much, much more, on the updated Art International Radio site, which has replaced WPS1.
Not audio, but live readings, by other people, elsewhere. Unique! "Cinnaminta is a free online service which enables you to request your poems, original writing, celebrations, acts of remembrance, prayers, messages or anything else to be read out aloud in places around the world which are special for you but which you cannot easily visit. Cinnaminta allows you to choose a reader or offer to be a reader for someone else and enables a multi-media recording of the reading to be shared, free, with friends and family or, if appropriate, the whole world. Cinnaminta is a new form of social networking which takes the internet beyond an environment in which you simply post your work in public and wait for comments to one in which you can also actively request readings or performances, help others by reading or performing their requests and enter into two-way communication with people around the world through shared reading of prayers, acts of remembrance, poems, celebrations, etc." Performances can be live acts, or can be recorded, and emailed or posted on the archive. The possibilities are huge!
"FREE IMPROVISATION / MUSIQUE CONCRETE / DISASTROUS EPHEMERA" — improvised music samples from their CDs + some more verbal matter — Stuart Calton aka THF Drenching & Marie-Angelique Bueler aka Sonic Pleasure.
There are extensive audio files of talks and readings, eg Tom Raworth, Denise Riley, and so many more, on the audio pages of the The Kootenay School of Writing site. Canadian site.
"Meshworks is a site dedicated to documenting and preserving video and sound recordings of writing in performance." It contains performances from a large number of British writers, including Tom Raworth and Randolph Healy as Quicktime movies amd mp3s. Continually adding to its material. American site.
"Mind Online presents a collection of thought-provoking samples from the University [of Chicago]'s intellectual life, both past and present."
Courtesy of University of Southampton, the British Academy (there's institutional acceptance!) and eprints (open source, open access data & document repositories), comes a nice collection of recordings that in fact don't go back beyond 1960 (Hugh McDiarmid), and includes Allen Fisher, Roy Fisher, Maggie O'Sullivan, Denise Riley — lots! all well indexed & searchable.
"Poetry reading series and website in Manchester, UK", has much video and photos on the site.
produce on CD sound poetry and experimental music, in an electro-acoustic-collage-improvised-voice mix. Bob Cobbing & Lawrence Upton feature in the mix, and there are some mp3s to listen to on the site.
is a huge, no, very huge archive, a project of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing, University of Pennsylvania. Eg Tom Raworth and so many more. A great resource. American site.
Alex Pryce's far-sighted and heroic project is an excellent site: podcasts of a very wide range of British poets. It has a lot of potential, and is only to be encouraged. Poets range from The Poetry Chicks (Jenni, Pamela and Abby) and Colin Dardis and all at ‘Make Yourself Heard‘ open mike night, to Claire Crowther, Hannah Silva, Chris Gutkind and Richard Price, via Eva Salzman and Alison Brackenbury. Those poets who aren't represented on it – contact Alex Pryce now!
is a site for recordings of poets reading their own work, either from existing recordings, or with specifically commissioned readings. The range is wide, from Lord Tennyson and Rudyard Kipling to Roy Fisher, Tom Raworth, RF Langley and Denise Riley. Well done, Andrew Motion!
podcasting audio theatre, poetry, music and sound by Paul A Green and guests.
is London's first radio art station, brought to you by London Musicians' Collective. Interesting programming for Great Works habitues are:
Wednesday, 14.00-15.00 |
Late Lunch with Out To Lunch | |
Friday, 17.30-19.00 |
The Sound Projector Radio Show; Music and chat. Hosted by Ed Pinsent, sometimes with guest presenters. Linked with The Sound Projector Music Magazine. Material can include virtually any form of contemporary music or sound-art, for example improvised music, drones, modern composition, minimalism, sound poetry, electronica, laptop music, noise, or songs. |
is a series of 15 audio CDs commissioned by the Contemporary Poetics Research Centre at Birkbeck College, London, with readings to date including Lee Harwood and Tom Raworth. There are a few samples on the website, which is part of the Optic Nerve site, who are an independent production company who have produced a range of other poetry-related media projects. The CDs can be purchased from Carcanet Press.
David Caddy's blog available as podcast from miPOradio,
broadcasts live each Wednesday (6-7 PM PST) from KWCW, 90.5 FM, Walla Walla, Washington (though off-air at present), and has some choice material available on its website, including Keston Sutherland reading "Forty Third Nature Via Diebold". The show is an activity linked with Tangent Press.
Note that not all sites in this category contain texts online. The situation should be clear from the explanatory paragraphs.
"is concerned with the publication, dissemination and production of the types of experimental writing and cross-artform text work often captured under the term Performance Writing." Produced by Larry Lynch from Dartington. Books currently are Tony Lopez's Darwin and John Hall's 13 Ways of Talking About Performance Writing (40 pages for £8 — you can tell it's an art environment). Plus MP3s of recent readings at Dartington by Drew Milne, Marianne Morris and Caroline Bergvall.
"Agenda is one of the best known and most highly respected poetry journals in the world, having been founded in 1959 by Ezra Pound and William Cookson." It is a surviving monument to High Modernism. I pay it respects for that, and in British terms that makes it oppositional, in a now alas quirky and cranky way. There are poems, essays and artwork on its website.
contains the catalogue of Allardyce, Barnett — with information that Anthony Barnett's poetry to 1999 and Veronica Forrest-Thomson's collected poetry without her translations, are accessible online to institutional subscribers to the Chadwyck-Healey databases LiteratureonLine LION & Twentieth-Century English Poetry. If you have access — check these out: major, serious poetry.
The great poetry magazine of the 90s has a partial existence on the Internet. Andrew Duncan's Pink.org hosts some back issues, 13-16, plus some odd bits, and the Poetry Magazines archive site issues 15 & 16, plus a splendid piece by Andrew Duncan on the magazine. And it has a revived print existence — seek it out! — issue 19 contains, among others, Kevin Nolan, Elizabeth James, Marianne Morris, Paul Holman, John Muckle, Philip Jenkins, Peter Philpott.
have a long history of fine poetry publication, with Glenn Baxter & Clark Coolidge, W N Herbert, Chris Emery, John Kinsella and Georg Trakl on their current list, and also specimens of the great Ivor Cutler.
namely, Neil Pattison and Sam Ladkin, of Cambridge, are on the cambridgepoetry.org website, and have pages from work published, including Emily Critchley and Dave Rushmer.
"is intended to be a small press for the emerging innovative poets of England, creating chap books and pamphlets for non-profit distribution. It is run by the poet Harry Godwin." Publications so far (in very small editions) from Harry Godwin and Richard Barrett, with Rebecca G Rosier, Linus Slug, Nat Raha and Michael Zand forthcoming — emergent and innovative talent indeed!
"specialises in extremist and avant-garde prose writing from the 1890s to the present day. [They] are the largest publisher in English of books on Surrealism and have an extensive list relating to Dada, Expressionism, the Oulipo, the College of 'Pataphysics, among others." A catalogue only online: but superb material. The site also acts as that of The London Institute of 'Pataphysics, if you like old jokes.
Bad Press publish serially and in booklets (lots of Marianne Morris). Bad Press Serials Version 1: "He's Asked For Size Ten Arial On This One & It Goes Over The Edge A Bit But If It's Size Ten Arial He Wants It's Size Ten Arial He's Getting #1", including poems by Peter Manson, John Wilkinson, prose from Drew Milne, pornography, a recipe and an environmental survey, available as pdf, also recordings of Fanny Howe and Ian Patterson reading (at Cambridge of course), and several Sophie Robinsons.
is the site of the excellent Barque Press. Publications are listed, and also the excellent Quid magazine, with some material online, including work by Andrea Brady, DS Marriott, John Tranter, Andrew Duncan, Peter Manson, John Wilkinson, Out To Lunch and JH Prynne, and poems from Cambridge Poetry Summit: The Catalogue. You can also get from them the DVD River Pearls, with material from the first Pearl River Poetry Conference, Guangzhou, June 2005. It has the full contributions of Che Qianzi and J.H. Prynne, plus further excerpts and readings.
is a small poetry press out of Liverpool and Bristol, with work on the site from some of the writers, including Peter Robinson, Ralph Pite and Julie-ann Rowell.
One of Britain's specialist poetry and literature publishers, always with a strong interest in high modernism. Current fresh titles include Edwin Morgan's Gilgamesh, Christine Brooke-Rose, Life, End of and ed Mark Ford & Trevor Winkfield, New York Poets II: from Edwin Denby to Bernadette Mayer. No material online, but you can access the current PR Review online.
University of Chicago-based magazine, with an emphasis on avant-garde poetry. Very relevant to Great Works is the recent issue on British Poetry: co-edited and introduced by Sam Ladkin & Robin Purves – presents 80 pages of poems by Andrea Brady, Chris Goode, Peter Manson & Keston Sutherland, plus critical contributions by John Wilkinson (on Andrea Brady), Jeremy Noel-Tod (on Peter Manson), Sam Ladkin (in conversation with Chris Goode), Simon Jarvis (on Keston Sutherland), & Matt Ffytche (on Keston Sutherland) (some reviews available online), and fifteen reviews of new books of British poetry. There is some interesting material to read on the site from previous issues; and some added material coming from the British Poetry issue in more recent issues (including Peter Riley's listing of important [First Generation] Cambridge School poems), as well an interesting debate centred on Gender and Poetry, with several pieces online, and if you really want to get into differences operating between 1st & 2nd Gen Cambridge poets, a somewhat angry exchange of letters to the Review beteeen Peter Riley & John Wilkinson (for Experienced Poetry Users only). Also available online is the introduction, Stephen Rodefer’s Position, by Justin Kotin and Micheal Kindellan, from an issue devoted to the work of Stephen Rodefer, a man not unknown on this island.
"The Collective was formed in 1990 to promote and publish contemporary poetry. Funds are raised through a series of poetry events held in and around South Wales." The real Black Mountain poets! Publishers of Graham Hartill.
from Cork do a magazine and so far one book. There is material online, including work by Christopher Mulroooney, Giles Goodland and James Cummins, who runs the press.
is based in Norwich, is linked with the UEA Creative writing MA (oh gosh! The veritable Oxford of them all!!), but, despite emetic language such as "the sharpest emerging poets around" (like very painful turds?), does have a wide range of interests. Daniel Kane's work is certainly worthwhile.
Rod Mengham's long-established Cambridge press exhibits only its wonderful list of titles on the site, part of the cambridgepoetry.org website.
Nicholas Johnson's press lists its publications — an extraordinarily high quality of material, including work from Nicholas Johnson, Ed Dorn, John Hall, Carl Rakosi, Maggie O'Sullivan, Bob Cobbing, Harriet Tarlo.
appears a pretty good magazine from its contents pages on the website: David Chaloner, Sean Burn, Rob Holloway, Andrew Duncan, Paul Green and Johan de Witt all in most recent issue. The site also gives some text and mp3s from editor Tim Fletcher's poetry and sound/music CD, Sheetlight.
Glenn Storhaug's very fine press publishes work by Alan Halsey, including the astonishing Marginalien and Lives of the Poets, Yannis Ritsos, Paul Matthews, Glenn himself, and Gavin Selerie's Le Fanu's Ghost; Some Business Of Affinity translations & versions by Paul Merchant I would also recommend. No poems on the site, but an interesting essay "On printing poetry aloud", about the importance of careful and individual typesetting and presentation of poems.
of Brighton publish Marianne Morris and Jonty Tiplady.
is the website of a Canadian magazine and press extremely interested in British poetry, with details of its publications and other material, eg a Prynne bibliography, and reviews and similar stuff from the magazine, plus excerpts from the other publications. All valuable. There is a lot of Allen Fisher material from the publisher of Entanglement, including specimen poems, relevant poems not included in the book and a listing of critical comments on his work, and to publicise a new volume of work by Trevor Joyce, specimen poems from this too.
Always something new out of Cambridge! Pamphlets by Luke Roberts, Josh Stanley and Timothy Thornton, plus the excellent AXOLOTL magazine.
"is a publisher of experimental poetry: books, a magazine, downloads, and other forms, based in Manchester, UK. Established in 2008 it is the re-incarnation of Matchbox." There are a few texts (eg from Tony Trehy and Tom Jenks), and some downloads and video (eg from Ceri Buck and Tom Jenks) on the site. Well done, James Davies, and all at Manchester.
publish artists' books exploring largely the materiality of books and texts, and playing advanced silly buggers with theory. So much money in anything labelled "art" is one thought; that the work here genuinely alters how one responds to a printed text is another.
Bridget Penney and Paul Holman published during the 90s, but have stock available — trading now as a (mainly) second-hand book business. Publications include Anthony Barnett Carp and Rubato, Catherine Walsh, Idir Eatortha and Making Tents, Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Selected Poems, Paul Holman, The Memory of the Drift and the wondrous Loose Watch: A Lost And Found Times anthology (ed John M Bennett). Paul also has a blog, with recent work and other material posted on it; and a MySpace presence.
I'm sorry to say I don't know whether to say "Oh fuck! — at twilight only flies the owl of Minerva", or, "Oh goody, we've got academic status now. We shall live for ever!" Really good people concerned, main editors Professor Robert Sheppard and Dr Scott Thurston, both of this website. "The first issues of the journal are set to contain articles by Mandy Bloomfield, Ian Davidson, G. S. Farmer, Matt Ffytche, Christine and David Kennedy, and Alex Latter. On the poetry of Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Maggie O'Sullivan, and Jeremy Prynne among others. They will also contain reviews of the latest academic works published in the area of British and Irish Innovative Poetry."
"is a new poetry imprint for linguistically innovative / experimental work. We intend to publish pamphlets, chaps and perfect bound books. We like: Works forcing a re-evaluation of everything we thought we knew. A commitment to testing the elasticity of meaning. Humour. Excitement. Conscious retreats into abstraction. Sincerity. An awareness of what has gone before. An engagement with the now. Works without precedent. Inclusivity. Confusion." I do know what to say here, though — near total approval of Richard barrett's plans and policies. First books by himself, Tom Jenks and Posie Rider.
publishes pocket-sized poem sequences, from Richard Price, Vahni Capildeo, R. F. Langley, Daniel Kane, Leo Mellor and others. There are brief excerpts on the website.
publish booklets by Kelvin Corcoran, Alan Baker, Tilla Brading, Lee Harwood, Peter Dent, Martin Stannard, with poems online. Also on the site is the excellent e-zine Litter (I really like both John Hall's An Essay on Ignorance and poems by Mark Goodwin, and there is too the editor (Alan Baker's) blog, Litterbug: Poetry, Publishing and other worldly affairs.
A selection of poetry & articles from the print magazine. Most interesting issue compares two 'Aspects of the Contemporary': David Constantine, What good does it do? (My goodness me, I do wonder. Have a cup of tea.) & Matthew Caley, Neo-hogbutchererbigdriftities: tracing a line out of the mainstream (as much fun as it sounds).
catalogue for John Welch's excellent press and magazine, whose titles include work by Tom Lowenstein, Nigel Wheale and John Welch. A more recent publication listed elsewhere.
James Davies' venture, Manchester-based, is gorgeous: poems in matchboxes, elegantly designed & presented. Current poets include Scott Thurston, Allen Fisher, Tim Atkins, Lisa Jarnot, Craig Dworkin, Bill Griffiths; and with neat original artwork. Little gems! The texts are all on the website; but that's beside the point. Fully interactive 3D presentation we are not yet up to out here in cyberspace.
Anthony Rudolf's press primarily publishes translations, listed on its site, which include from Rilke, Paz, Jacottet and Nerval.
"The first issue of the NCR will coincide with the beginning of Michaelmas Term 2009. We are pleased to announce that new writing will be included from: Emily Critchley, Sara Crangle. Elaine Feinstein, Debora Greger, John James, Charles Lambert, John Hall, Jeremy Hardingham, Justin Katko, Jow Lindsay, Helen Macdonald, Christina McLeish, John Matthias, Leo Mellor, Anna Mendelssohn, Rod Mengham, Drew Milne, Marianne Morris, Neil Pattison, J. H. Prynne, Peter Riley, Luke Roberts, Simon Schama, Avery Slater, Rosie Snajdr, Josh Stanley, Rebecca Stott, Keston Sutherland, Sophie Read, John Wilkinson." I am speechless, for a variety of reasons.
Peter Hughes's new press has already got a beautiful list of booklets to its credit. There are brief extracts on the site, and a section on Peter's own poetry.
is an excellent magazine produced in Manchester, with samples of issues available online, with work from Arlene Ang, Richard Barrett and Lucy Harvest Clarke (+ news of forthcoming readings in Manchester).
Have booklets from Peter Brennan, Adam Simmonds, Christine North, Nicholas Potamitis and Mario Petrucci, with a small sample of each.
Charging for poetry online! At £29.50, possibly interesting, for back issues of PN Review, the only "mainstream" British poetry magazine consistently engaging with writing that intersects with this site, plus an increasing archive of back issues (that could cover 30 years). But I think I'll hold onto the principle of cybercommunism a little longer. Current issue is accessible if you take the "free view".
is the website of Jeremy Hilton's excellent Fire magazine, with some poems on the site.
has a page on the Seren Books site, with full details of this now very exciting and open magazine, giving a vivid sense of contemporary English language Welsh poetry.
Major UK publisher of innovative poetry (& prose) (proprietor Ken Edwards) — no texts online, but full details of all publications, some links, information on our Ken, and his blog.
"Our interest in experimental criticism, text-based art and the performance space of the book infects our process." Interesting and not at all straight-forward texts in other words — I like that sort. Published to date: Holly Pester & Daniel Rourke.
James Wilkes publishes his own work as this imprint: in beautiful and visually imaginative ways.
"Wales's leading literary publisher" started out with poetry, and has expanded into a wide range of publishing. Now there's Welsh culture for you. The poetry list is very long, and very broad.
publish Australian, Greek and British poets, including Richard Burns, Peter Robinson and even Peter Porter — no texts online, but details of all publications.
Barry Tebb has two sites — this one, which includes poems by other writers, including Michael Haslam, and also Barry Tebb — Poet and Author. Go to them for his strong opinions, his absolute devotion to poetry as a positive, therapeutic and educative experience, and his poems, which work well.
"A small press dedicated to publishing innovative poetry." Aaron Tieger's Anxiety Chant is the first publication.
Paul Green's Press publishes a strong list, including Bill Griffiths, details of which are given on this site.
"Founded in November 1984 the magazine plays on. It is a 144 page book of poetry, prose poems, fiction, essays, translations, interviews and reviews published three times a year. Regular columns include Noise From The Cabin by Sarah Hopkins, From The Other Side Of The Fence by Tom Chivers and Afterword by David Caddy. Regular essayists and reviewers include Dzifa Benson, Ian Brinton, Peter Carpenter, Brendan Cooper, Jennifer K Dick, Sean Elliott, Edward Field, Sheila Hamilton, Linda Healey, Jeremy Hilton, Brian Hinton, Norman Jope, Alexis Lykiard, Gary Metras, Andrew Shelley, Dennis Tomlinson, John Welch. Newcomers are always welcome." Damned good print poetry magazine!
is the site of an interesting print magazine, with some poems online.
run by Leona Medlin and Richard Price, publishes modern Scottish poetry, poetry associated with 'The Poetry Workshop' (London), and modernist poetry in translation. Their list includes Richard price's own work, Elizabeth James, David Kinloch, WN Herbert, and translations of Vallejo and French modernists. Publishing has ceased, but the backlist is still interesting
"The poetry we publsh is extraordinarily varied, from quirky and powerful Brighton voices to Cambridge modernists, from established to scarcely emergent." Their fine list includes Andrew Duncan, Simon Smith, Norman Jope, Alan Morrison, Martin Jack, Kenneth Macleod. Excellent production values as well! Some poems and some essays/reviews available online.
"To celebrate the 250th anniversary of William Blake's birth, on 28th November 2007, artists Felicity Roma Bowers and Helen Elwes and poet Micalef invited over 60 artists and poets inspired by the spirit and work of William Blake to submit a page to be published in a limited edition artists' book." Available from this webpage, on Felicity Roma Bowers' site, with contributions from a wide range of individuals, including Brian Catling, John Gibbens, Michael Horovitz, John Michell, Adrian Mitchell, Tom Phillips RA, James Wilkes and Robin Williamson, with a beautiful slide-show of pages available.
"A quarterly publication for fresh new poetry with a bite" is a little more domesticated than it claims, and is the website for a print magazine, with some material online. It hosts some interesting writing — current issue includes Richard Parker on Zukofsky's Bottom: On Shakespeare .
Sean Bonney and Frances Kruk's blog for their yt communications publishing empire.
For regular updates and details of individual readings in London, check Readings in London. I am not, I am afraid, going to put information needing updating on this page.
The only place I have found information on this event is on the Chris Torrance pages on Strange Attractor, where there is also a report by Chris on the last event. The event is a reunion for The Carshalton Mob, a very under-reported constituent of the fabled British Poetry Revival of the 1960s. You can link Lee Harwood with them; yopu can find connections with Andrew Crozier, who published Chris Torrance, and dedicated The Veil Poem to Jeff Morsman (whose In Patria Desertae was a starting point for the sequence). Buddhist-leaning, Beat-influenced genuinely alternative in writing and life might be a very condensed summing up. I am delighted they are still alive, still writing, still indeed performing. Bill Wyatt, Phil Morsman, Richard Downing, Phil Maillard also need mentioning. These people influenced me, wrote and published good poetry, and have been ignored or slighted by most of the accounts of that time.
"The Carshalton Mob’s 3rd Reunion event, BENEATH THE UNDERGROUND (at Hen and Chicks Pub, Flannel street, Abergavenny, 7–11 pm on Saturday August 1st) will, I am sure, include an element of remembrance for Don [Bodie] — but it will also be an exultant restatement of the spirit that drives this poetry & jazz festival. Those already listed as performers include Bill Wyatt, Roger Yates, & Jeremy Hilton, as well as myself, & numerous other poets and musicians. I hope to see you there! Chris Torrance May 2009"
is the Arts Festival for Luton, with (titter ye not!) many good poetry events (thank you Keith Jebb and University of Bedfordshire!). 2009 included Gavin Selerie, Lee Harwood, Sean Bonney, Frances Kruk, Jow Lindsay, Sophie Robinson, John Hegley, Michael Horovitz, Caroline Bergvall and Redell Olsen, plus I am sure work from the Creative Writing students.
arranged by David Miller, Alyson Torns and Keith Jebb, normally upstairs at The Lamb, 94 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1, at 7.30, £5 or £3. I find this series extremely enlightening, as may be clear from the work on the site. Good readings, with a wide range foi poets. Usually the third Wednesday in the month. For further details of readings contact David Miller on katermurrATbtinternet.com or check on Readings in London.
"London's hottest new music and poetry club brings you the cutting edge of experimental music and poetry", on a boat (Bar&Co), moored at Temple Pier on the Embankment. The music looks good; but the poetry???
Lists of and links to some other Cambridge activities, including a lot of publishing, the other Cambridge poetry conference, the Cambridge Poetry Summit, and reading series.
are a series of readings held in The Hope, Queens' Road, Brighton, and representing a very lively scene now a-going in Brighton — proximate cause, the wondrous Keston Sutherland. Another vortex of energies!
arranged by Jeff Hilson and Sean Bonney. At 7.30, £5 or £3 – The Leather Exchange, 15 Leathermarket St, London Bridge SE`1 3HN. For further details of readings contact J.HilsonATroehampton.ac.uk or check on Readings in London. I find this series also extremely enlightening, as may be clear from the work on the site. Very much poets reading to their peers, with a very strong collective sense. Almost always the first Thursday in the month.
held at Oriel Contemporary Art Gallery, Salem Chapel, Bell Bank, Hay on Wye, at the end of May. This has a more promising line-up than the big branded festival, and good reports are made of its atmosphere. For more information contact: Lyndon Davies: goodbard@yahoo.co.uk or John Goodby: goby-goodby@ntlworld.com. 2009 line-up included Peter Finch, Wendy Mulford, John James, Graham Hartill and Chris Torrance. (Though this does look like a welsh connection is necessary.)
Improvisation as life practice and blood sport. These largely music-based events often have poetry as part of the mix, of varying natures: you might encounter, if you're lucky Johan de Wit or Mike Weller. Held in a variety of venues around London.
Very interesting: younger, less male-dominated and more multiethnic, and with a quite possibly very open policy: Sophie Robinson, Hannah Silva, Caroline Bergvall & Alex Walker have read at events. Follow what they are doing! Videos and audio on the site. Organised by Anthony Joseph & Sascha Akhtar.
Gareth Durasow, Stephen Emmerson and Dave Toffeeman bring you a series of readings (with emphasis on open mic and performance) in Leeds.
is a reading/performance series worth looking out for, with both Hannah Silva and Sophie Robinson performing for them.
An excellent scene! A superb website! Readings take place irregularly in the basement of The Foundry, an art and peformance venue where Shoreditch meets Hoxton in splendid industrial chic (with organic Pittfield beer). At last: a valid innovative poetry event attracting an audience with a median age under 30. Openned magazine is available as a download, including work from Richard Barrett, Joe Dargue, Christopher Mulrooney & Ryan Ormonde, This website is exemplary and packed with rich and useful material, well-presented. It has a superb set of listings for London events, and it is linked with The Other Room readings in Manchester. The site carries "Openned Reader (headlines from 50+ poetry sites)", and deeply useful and well-organised links. Well done, Steve Willey & Alex Davies! This is how things should be. I should retire.
"Poetry reading series and website in Manchester, UK", is linked with Openned, but centered on a very lively Northern scene. Much video and photos on the site.
is a London art gallery, which quite often hosts poetry readings. Check it out!
The Berlin Festival of Poetry in English's MySpace page. "Performance, mainstream and modernist poetry meet to entertain, move and challenge", with a good and mixed lineup, including Carrie Etter and Maurice Scully in last event (a November date). Alistair Noon seems the main man here. Well done!
An event of the Porlock Arts Festival, with a range of poets from or with connections to the South West, possibly even the famed Minehead Four of Tilla Brading (organiser of this event), Frances Presley, Giles Goodland and me. Guest poet may be Peter Dent, or may be Sheila Murphy.
Mainstream literary festival (Alain de bleedin' Bouton, Jo Shapcott etc) held at Royal Holloway, director Professor Robert Hampson, and therefore with interesting innovative poetry sessions (2009: Ulli Freer, Ken Edwards, Robert Sheppard, Jeff Hilson, Kristen Kreider and John Sparrow) and work from Royal Holloway MA in Poetic Practice student students. Usually March.
"Evenings of performance poetry murmurings and musical offerings. Analogue communication and artistic appreciation. Dancing and dress-up heartily encouraged." Looks fun — Sophie Robinson at last gig. Also MySpace presence.
arranged by Shearsman Books, at Swedenborg Hall, Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH at 7.30 (no admission fee, but donations welcome). Always good poets, of course, Shearsman publish no others! A slightly older, more respectable audience than some readings, with a quiet atmosphere (from its rather curious setting!)
This fair is organised by RGAP (Research Group for Artists Publications), who publish artists' books and organise collaborative projects, publications, exhibitions and events. Usually Friday and Saturday in October or November, at the Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1. It brings together a range of publishers, concerned mainly either with artists' books and/or small press poetry publications, including eg Bad Press, Bookartbookshop, Coracle (Ireland), Moschatel Press (UK), Poetic Practice (Royal Holloway University), Reality Street Editions, Veer Books, West House Books, Wild Hawthorn Press, yt Communication. There are usually readings. The webpage has on it at the moment some brief QuickTime movies of poets reading, including Alan Halsey, Geraldine Monk, Simon Cutts and Spike Hawkins. An excellent event.
The most important annual festival event is SoundEye, held in Cork in early July, with a range of innovative Irish, British and Amnerican poets performing. Particpants 2009 include Sean Bonney, Mairéad Byrne, Keith Tuma, James Cummins, Frances Kruk, Keston Sutherland, Swantje Lichtenstein, Kevin Perryman, Stephen Rodefer, Michael Smith, Jerome Rothenberg, Geoffrey Squires, Christine Wertheim, Jim Goar, Marcus Slease, David Toms, Jaap Blonk, Peter Manson, Maggie O'Sullivan, Tom Raworth, Thomas McCarthy, Mark Mallon, Luke Roberts, Billy Mills, Martin Corless-Smith, & Catherine Walsh. The poetry readings are free. Thank you Trevor Joyce!
The Text Festival, held in Bury, Lancashire, occupies the boundaries between art and poetry, examining the response of text artists and poets to the substantial ambiguity of language. 2009's event was a 12-week programme of events, featuring exhibitions, public art commissions, publications and performances by internationally recognised practitioners and some of the newest talents in the field. This is the major British festival based on the idea that art can be read as poetry and poetry can be viewed as art." Main events April 30–May 3. Attractions: Tony Lopez, Carol Watts, Phil Davenport, Language beyond Poetry Symposium (jointly organised with Birkbeck College University London) , Steve Miller, Tony Trehy (organiser) + visiting Americans Ron Silliman & Geof Huth. An important & exciting event.
Jow Lindsay, bless him, compiles this running blog of poetry events in London and elsewhere. Invaluable!
An annual artists' book event. Exhibition will take place 15th August–19th September 2009 at artworks-MK, UK and then hopefully tour to other venues. Books to be sent in by June 1st 2009. The theme for the 2009 creative book-arts open exhibition is CLOSURE. Submit!
is a very long-running series of workshops, linked with the Writers Forum Press, founded by the late Bob Cobbing, and now carried on by Lawrence Upton and Adrian Clarke. These are open workshops within an experimental tradition. Details of all events, and how they proceed, are all given on the MySpace page.
"is Kit Fryatt and Dylan Harris." Is a series of poetry readings in Dublin, with Maurice Scully and Dylan Harris amongst others. Has recordings on its website. Is a press. Good work! News on the eek collective blog.
So few! Please send in more, either online, or dealing in lovable dear old paper, that have a worthwhile stock (any stock?) of the sort of writing on this site. Useful is the page on the Salt site which lists their stockists.
tries for an online alternative bookshop. Poetry publishers are bluechrome, West House and Poetical Histories, plus a nostalgic line in political groupuscules eg International Communist Current — in worse state than the Gulf Stream.
17 Pitfield St, London N1 6HB (020 7608 1333), stock artists' books and small press publications.
at 51 The Cut, London SE1 8LF, has a good stock of literature and theatre books, and also hosts readings. I believe it has changed its name – but still has a current internet presence on the Calder website.
Some stock at Snooper's Paradise, Kensington Gardens, North Lane, Brighton, but mainly trading on the internet — wide second-hand stock, including some recent poetry.
West House Books, 40 Crescent Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield S7 1HN, have an extensive second hand catalogue specialising in modernist poetry from small presses, including obviously its own publications.