Archive for the 'News' Category

Alice Lenkiewicz : Men Hate Blondes
coming soon!

Alice Lenkiewicz’s first collection of poems and drawings, ‘Men Hate Blondes’   ISBN 978-0-9562433-4-8  £8.00
or contact the author for a signed copy poetshideout@yahoo.com

Alice Lenkiewicz’s inaugural collection of poems, Men Hate Blondes, is  a tight exploration of the political as seen through the personal. Her frequent line enjambments, startling images and sometimes deceptively nonsensical-seeming word combinations will make this book a challenge for some readers, but what makes these poems worth reading is the author’s refreshing trust in her audience, that they do not need to be led by the hand.’   Joanne Merriam

‘Alice Lenkiewicz, a modern alchemist, effects the transmutation of lived experience via the intimate crucible of her rare, poetic imagination – informed by an artist’s visual sensibility. ‘  A C Evans

‘Men Hate Blondes is a kind of poetic bildungsroman, it offers up its insights in a savvy use of montage, dreamscapes, cityscapes and fantasias all matched with Lenkiewicz’s dispassionate itinerant observation; this is a refreshing, developing new voice testing out its boundaries in a world still forming and reforming around us.’  Chris Hamilton Emery

http://thesamsmith.webs.com/originalpluscollections.htm#463291876

The Centenary Edition of Poetry Review | Liverpool Art and Culture Blog.

Now “One hundred years and counting…” – Poetry Review celebrates a century

Poetry Review celebrates its hundredth birthday with a special centenary edition. As editor Fiona Sampson says, it is “older than votes for women, or passenger flight”, in an era “before world wars, before antibiotics, before we split the atom or went to the moon.”

The Review is Britain’s oldest and most widely-read poetry publication. The Guardian calls it the national ‘magazine of record’. With new work from the country’s most important poets showcased alongside debutants, this issue continues and celebrates the Review’s central role in poetry over the past century, an era stretching from Rupert Brooke to Carol Ann Duffy.

‘Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue’ runs through this issue.

The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for Poetry Translation – shortlist announced!

A chance to travel beyond British poetry

A shortlist of eight titles has just been announced for the Popescu Prize for Poetry Translation 2009. Selecting the shortlist was not an easy task. Elaine Feinstein, who judged this year’s prize alongside Stephen Romer, explains:
“The quality of submissions was remarkably high: a guided tour of classic poetry from many languages, countries and periods alongside poets altogether unknown to us. We decided our main criterion had to be bringing a new experience to an English reader.”
Fellow judge Stephen Romer was particularly excited by the translations of two strong women poets from Latin America: Gabriela Mistral and Dulce María Loynaz, who he said were “… unjustly neglected, even unknown in English, and now brought to us in all their passionate and classical austerity”.
This year’s submissions have exceeded past years with a total of 85 books entered from 24 countries. The shortlisted books are:
• Mad Women by Gabriela Mistral, translated by Randall Couch.
Spanish / Chile. (University of Chicago Press).
• Unfinished Ode to Mud by Francis Ponge, translated by Beverley Bie Brahic.
French / France. (CB Editions).
• Against Heaven by Dulce María Loynaz, translated by James O’Connor.
Spanish / Cuba. (Carcanet).

• Poems by Oktay Rifat, translated by Ruth Christie and Richard McKane.
Turkish / Turkey. (Anvil).
• Courts of Air and Earth, various, translated by Trevor Joyce. Middle and Early-Modern Irish / Ireland. (Shearsman Books).
• Birdsong on the Seabed by Elena Shvarts, translated by Sasha Dugdale. Russian / Russia. (Bloodaxe).
• Rime by Dante Alighieri, translated by JG Nichols and Anthony Mortimer. Italian / Italy. (OneWorld Classics).
• Selected Poems by CP Cavafy, translated by Avi Sharon. Greek / Greece. (Penguin Classics).
Organised by the Poetry Society and sponsored by the Ratiu Family Foundation, the prize is given biennially to a collection of poetry translated into English from another European language.
The strong shortlist shows the rude health of the British translation scene and provides the opportunity for the curious reader to take a journey beyond their own poetic horizons. “The shortlist is a chance to journey both inwards and outwards, both in the present moment and in those great poets from the past who can still quicken something in us today,” says Stephen Romer.
You can read the shortlist at http://tiny.cc/kDraR
The winner will be announced on the 19 November 2009 at the Ratiu Foundation, Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street,
London W1H 6EQ.

Nathan Jones is Poet in Residence at the Bluecoat | Liverpool Art and Culture Blog.

Quote from Liverpool Art Blog

This is excellent news! Nathan Jones is a wonderful poet, writer and performer. As good as any and better than most of the long line of great Liverpool poets (ok, he’s from Wales but he’s been here long enough). I hope this doesn’t sound too gushing but I really am a fan, I’ve just been reading his blog about the residency, he’ll be responding to the various exhibitions amongst other things whilst he’s there.

“Nathan Jones will spend a year working within the Bluecoat, developing the model of a flexible and pivotal poet in residence, exploring the connections between interpretations of modern art, contemporary poetry, and arts audiences.”

http://nathanatthebluecoat.wordpress.com/

And the winner of the Liverpool Poetry Slam 2009 was…

Anthony Hett from Chester!

Anthony will now be entitled to register for the North West Poetry Slam Final Heat held in Manchester on 2nd July 2009. This will decide which poets will represent the North West in the BBC Radio 4 National Poetry Slam Champion final.

In second place, David Batemen!

With honorable mentions for Liam Brayd, Ella Jenson and Holly Wrightson.
All the poets who took part did so with grace, courage and good humour – so thank you to you all!
Watch this space for future Dead Good Poets Society Poetry Slam events.
Quick reminder of other poetical/literature events this week:

* Thursday 21st May – The Lyricist Lounge *
Hip-hop and street art – featuring Brooklyn artist Caktuz ..?13 and Ras B.
UK & International poets come together to perform magical stories of life, with their skills of words and music and the steady hands of a painter.
This event is presented in partnership with NOIZE and is part of World Spinn, a week-long event presenting a history of hip hop, Deejaying ,MC skills, breaking & performance skills and hip hop poetry. See www.writingonthewall.org.uk for details.
7.30pm
The Contemporary Urban Centre (CUC)
41 – 51 Greenland Street, Liverpool, L1 0BS
Entry £3.00 on the door

* Thursday, 21st May @7.30pm * – Anne Enright – Man Booker Prize Winner 2007
‘A style that dazzles, stories that enchant.’
Anne Enright is one of Ireland’s most remarkable fiction writers, injecting new blood into its lyrical tradition, uniting the strength of the old with the grittiness of the new. Her characters, always passionate, sometimes wayward, are seen with an unblinking eye and glints of surreal wit. Her debut novel, The Wig My Father Wore, was shortlisted for the Irish Times/Aer Lingus Irish Literature Prize; her second, What Are You Like?, won the Encore Award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award; and her fourth, The Gathering, won the 2007 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
Constantly in demand on the writers’ circuit, Anne Enright is making a rare 2009 appearance to read from her latest work and answer your questions about her fiction and fiction-writing techniques.
Performance Space, The Bluecoat, School Lane, L1 3BX
Tickets: £6.00/£3.00 available from The Bluecoat Box Office
Tel: 0151 702 5324 or visit www.thebluecoat.org.uk

* Saturday 23rd May @ 7pm* – Urban Youth Show Case –featuring Bashy
Bashy joins Liverpool Young Writers, Urbeatz and Noize for one special night of grime, big beats and rhyme. Bashy is one of the hottest artists to emerge in a brand new wave of fresh and exciting British inner city musical talent. Black Boys propelled Bashy into the nation’s consciousness. Against the back-drop of rising media reports of youth crime, Bashy pays tribute to the young achievers and role models within communities, capturing the imagination of inner city youth and a country in turmoil.
Special guests on the night include New York artist Caktuz ..?13 and Liverpool’s own KOF, Nikki Blaze and DJ Ola Bean.
With amazing performances by Liverpool Young Writers. All ages welcome
The Contemporary Urban Centre (CUC)
41 – 51 Greenland Street, Liverpool, L1 0BS
Entry £5 on the door

* Sunday 24th May @ 7.30pm * – In the Red Launch Party & Poetry Open Mic
In the Red celebrates its 7th year of publication with a launch party at Hannah’s Bar. The LJMU creative writing magazine has a theme of ‘Wild’ and is pleased to coincide with WoW festival’s theme of ‘The Outsider’ to produce exciting and innovative pieces of poetry and prose that look outside the box. Expect an exciting night of readings and prizes.
Hannah’s Bar, 2 Leece St, Liverpool, L1 2TR
Free entry