Houses of the poets
Christopher James tells all about his new 'side-hustle' — paper cut-ups of poets houses
Archive
Three pamphlets: Matthew Hollis, Holly Singlehurst and Gboyega Odubanjo
Steven Lovatt reviews Leaves by Matthew Hollis, Mat Riches reviews The Sea Turned Thick as Honey by Holly Singlehurst, and Hilary Menos reviews Aunty Uncle Poems by Gboyega Odubanjo
My Country
by Alan Buckley — A man is judged by his work — Kurdish proverb // His fingers work the lotion into my skin. / His palms come to rest, pressing my cheeks, / before he draws them back. I close my eyes // but can't not see
Castaway Companions
Castaway poet Julia Bird chooses three poems by Michael Donaghy, Eileen Pun and John Keats to take to a desert island
To make the unbearable more manageable
Carl Tomlinson reviews Where the Birds Sing Our Names, An Anthology for Tŷ Hafan (Seren, 2021) edited by Tony Curtis
The Astronaut Who Came To Tea
by Sarah Wimbush — Theirs was a strange spacesuit. / Some wore garb the colour / of saffron, pimpernels, dirt-tracks, / girded themselves with sovereign / coinage and jaunty brims
Make nice things
In Conversation: The Friday Poem talks to Emma Dai'an Wright of The Emma Press about what it's like to be a gatekeeper, increased diversity in the publishing industry, and the joy of making nice things
Rippled ink
Charlotte Gann reviews Be Feared by Jane Burn (Nine Arches, 2021)
Out of the blue
by Richie McCaffery — She left me at the height of nesting season, / birds building as I was dismantling my home. // She left me as saplings we’d planted were fruiting, / their berries tart as the metal of front door keys
I’d found a home
Steven Lovatt on reading poetry in translation, discovering Czesław Miłosz’s anthology Post-War Polish Poets, and the style and sensibility of Zbigniew Herbert
That red light in the darkness
Book Review: Alan Buckley reviews The Kids by Hannah Lowe (Bloodaxe, 2021)
the kitchen
by Amanda Joshua — The first thing I learn about you in the kitchen is that it’s impossible for us to cook together without contemplating double homicide / On the second day of lockdown you go out for “essentials”