Reviews

The previous two posts collide in Helena Nelson's generous review ofThe Ambulance Box and Rob A Mackenzie's The Opposite of Cabbage over on the HappenStance blog. It's my first blog review! (Although I've already gained a five-star Amazon customer review!) There are also reviews in the pipline or promised from Matt Merritt, Tony Williams and James W Wood for ONE Magazine.

Into Spender's Canyon

What can I say about Wednesday night's launch of The Ambulance Box and The Opposite of Cabbage at the Scottish Poetry Library that isn't already in the reports by Peggy at the SPL (who does the name dropping for us), Colin Will and Rob himself?

Rob is right to say it couldn't have gone any better. It was a fantastic, really celebratory atmosphere. The library was packed. Apparently, we had 67 bodies through the door. (No wonder there were folk standing on the stairs!) When the library's reader development officer Lilias Fraser said there'd been concerns about the mezzanine floor's ability to take the weight, I didn't think she was being serious but with numbers like that ...

Anyway, the launch was scheduled to begin at 7 pm. From about 6.55, I was stuck at the punters' side of the librarians' desk signing books for about half an hour. I had to make an effort to break off and slip into the lift (there was little hope of getting easily up the stairs) and up to the mezzanine, where Rob and I read.

Rob and I had agreed that whoever kicked off in Glasgow last week would go second this week, so I read first. Here's my set list:

1. "Pedestrian"
2. "Improvisation for the Angel who Announces the End of Time"
3. "The Meisure o a Nation"
4. "The Ambulance Box"
5. "The Invention of Zero"
6. "Lullaby"
7. "Dream Family Holiday"
8. "Notes to Self"

and a picture of me reading said set, taken by my friend and colleague, Diarmid Mogg:

Rob read another great set (you can see his set list at his post). His is a fresh, distinctive, intelligent and sophisticated voice. It's a huge pleasure to read alongside him. I certainly hope people in the poetry world and wider reading public sit up and take notice of it. They should.

Once we'd read, the two of us sat for ages at the table signing more books and chatting to people. Here's another photo -- a cracking shot; the same one as is on the SPL blog -- by Diarmid by way of illustration:

Afterwards, Rob and Katy Evans-Bush, who had come all the way up from London for the event, joined me and members of my family at Empires Turkish Cafe for a meal. The mezze, main courses, Turkish coffee and company were all excellent. Empires is definitely to be recommended. The coffee didn't even keep me awake when I finally stumbled home off the last train back to Linlithgow.

I really must repeat my thanks to the SPL staff for all their hard work and more. They set everything up: book table, wine table, crisps and seating. They poured the wine and dealt with the money. They looked after not only our bags but Katy's. They provided those little sticky strips that make for much less fumbling about the book when you're reading (God bless you, Lilias!). They coralled and herded the guests when needed and Lilias introduced the reading. They cleared up and cashed up. And they did the whole lot with smiles, warmth and enthusiasm.

And that post title? Well, my friends Kenny and Jane who came along gave me a card with this quotation from Spender on the front:

A modern poet launching forth his slim volume today is like a person dropping a feather over the edge of the Grand Canyon and then waiting for the echo.

Inside, it simply says:

XXXXXXXXXBANG! BANG!
XXXXXXXBANG! BANG! BANG!
xxxxxBANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

SPL Launch: A Preliminary Post

Last night's launch at the SPL was a huge success. We ran out of seating and wine glasses though not wine, I'm glad to say. Or books, I'm equally glad to say, despite the goodly number sold.

Really, though, I'm far too tired to give you a proper account tonight. I had an unavoidably a full -- in fact, long -- day at the office today on the back of my suitably latish night yestreen and my wrists wouldn't thank me for it even if my brain could put a proper post together. Normal service will resume after recovery, which will involve a glass of wine and at least one night's sleep. I'll leave you with links to Peggy's post and Colin's comments.

Oh, and a set list:

1. "Pedestrian"
2. "Improvisation for the Angel who Announces the End of Time"
3. "The Meisure o a Nation"
4. "The Ambulance Box"
5. "The Invention of Zero"
6. "Lullaby"
7. "Dream Family Holiday"
8. "Notes to Self"

Oh, and a picture of me reading said set, taken by my friend and colleague, Diarmid Mogg:

Anon, but not anonymous

Several weeks back, Rob A Mackenzie and I struggled through snow to the HQ of Anon magazine, now edited by Colin Fraser and Peggy Hughes, to record for the Anon podcast. You can now hear us discuss our magazine publishing history, the whys and joys of blogging, and the parlous poetry infrastructure of the best small country in the world, interspersed with each of us reading two poems from our books. The first podcast, with the magazine's founding editor Mike Stocks, is also available. Happy listening.

SPLaunching and SPLogging

After the success of Thursday's Mirrorball launch, I'm very much looking forward to the launch for Rob A Mackenzie's book and mine on Wednesday at the Scottish Poetry Library. It'll be a bigger affair than Mirrorball, I suspect. There'll be wine and crisps (oooh, the extravagence!), and both of us will read. I've not yet decided how much overlap there'll be between the poems I read on Thursday and those I'll read on Wednesday, but it won't be an identical set. The books will be on sale as well, of course.

Speaking of the SPL, you might want to check out its new blog, Our sweet old etcetera…. This adds a lighter, more informal side to the Library's burgeoning web presence (which includes not only the main site but the Reading Room) and is a welcome addition to the Scottish poetry blogosphere.

Mirrorball

Thursday's reading at St Mungo's Mirrorball with Rob A Mackenzie and performance poet Robin Cairns was a good night. As usual, Mr Mackenzie has got in ahead of me and blogged about it already. As he says, it was a varied evening but the audience was happy to switch mood and style along with each reader. It was a decent-sized crowd too.

Rob was up first (you can find his set list at his post), reading from The Opposite of Cabbage for the first time. For literary poets like Rob and me, I think there's a greater degree of confidence that comes with holding your book in your hand in front of an audience. Rob and I have seen each other's books in varying states of manuscript, but the authority of the printed and bound article allows us to sit back and enjoy the poems. It gives them a stamp of finality that's obviously lacking in a draft. That effect holds for the live reading, I think. Seeing how well the audience reacted to Rob's work simply served to reinforce its wit, sophistication, intelligence and passion; its mix of irony, cynicism and compassion; it's freshness and quality.

Robin Cairns, as is often the case with performance poets, performed all his work from memory. It's an impressive skill, especially given that we're not talking about short lyrics here. He's a highly confident performer and certainly gets the audience laughing. For me, though, his best piece was a serious one: an accomplished ballad exploring how music breaks down barriers between individuals. Robin was launching his first pamphlet.

I came last, setting a different tone for the end of the evening with The Ambulance Box. Here's what I read:

1. "The Ambulance Box"
   
2. "Cardiac"
3. "To Bake the Bread"
   
4. "The Meisure o a Nation"
5. "The Invention of Zero"
6. "45 Minutes"
   
7. "Waukrife"
8. "Lullaby"
9. "Notes to Self"

Quite a varied bunch, but moving into gradually more direct poems about my son's death in its second half. It was the first time I've opened a set with the title poem, which seemed to work fine in pole position. I very much enjoyed having such an attentive and appreciative audience. Several people were clearly listening carefully. The applause and post-reading comments were warm, and I sold a decent number of books too.

After the gig, Rob and I wound up in the CCA Bar for a pint with one of my oldest mates and his friend the visual/minimalist poet Stephen Nelson, whom I'd met previously at the Mitchell Library. A fine end to a really good night.

The Ambulance Box

The day has come! Today, 1 March 2009, is the official publication date for The Ambulance Box and Rob A Mackenzie's marvellous book, The Opposite of Cabbage. To celebrate, here's the title poem from my collection:

The Ambulance Box

No one can swear how it fell
into our hands. No one

can fathom its substance or build.
It mystifies all

who think of themselves as whole
but those of us huddled

round our various wounds
are at home with the box

and all it contains.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxHear us,
shoulder to shoulder in the dusk,

celebrate life — sprained and splinted
broken
xxxxxxxxxxxbandaged
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxset to heal

Triple Decker

The Month of Book Launches is nearly upon me! First up is a triple launch: myself, fellow Scottish Salter Rob A Mackenzie and performance poet Robin Cairns. An eclectic mix, hosted by St Mungo's Mirrorball in Glasgow. If you're in the vicinity, come along. The reading is free, and there will be books to buy. Here are the details from the Mirrorball site:

St Mungo’s Mirrorball - Thursday 5^th March 7.00

Poetry Club, Glasgow School of Art – 167 Renfrew Street Free

The next St Mungo’s Mirrorball event will be a triple book launch involving 3 very different voices on the poetry scene today

Rob A. Mackenzie lives in Edinburgh with his wife and daughter. His pamphlet collection, The Clown of Natural Sorrow, was published by HappenStance Press in December 2005. His poems and reviews appear regularly in literary magazines. He blogs at Surroundings (http://robmack.blogspot.com) and organises the Poetry at the Great Grog reading series (http://poetryatthegreatgrog.blogspot.com) in Edinburgh. His first full collection, The Opposite of Cabbage, is published by Salt on 1^st March 2009.

Andrew Philip was born in Aberdeen in 1975 and grew up near Falkirk. He lived in Berlin for a short spell in the 1990s before studying linguistics at Edinburgh University. He has published two poetry pamphlets with HappenStance Press—Tonguefire (2005) and Andrew Philip: A Sampler (2008)—and was chosen as a Scottish Poetry Library “New Voice” in 2006. The Ambulance Box, published this year by Salt, is his first book of poems.

Robin Cairns is a performance poet. www.robincairns.com Having written plays, music and journalism he turned to verse by chance on millenium night in Manchester Airport. He performs across Scotland on a regular basis, at poetry nights, slams, comedy clubs, ceilidhs (lots of ceilidhs) after-dinner engagements, in schools, in libraries, rock festivals, and arts festivals, what have you got? He has had work published in various collections, including "Skein Of Geese" (the book resulting from the gathering at the Stanza poetry festival of 100 poets) and "Glasgow Tales" published by Endpapers. ”Last Man with Sky” is his first collection.

Front Page News

Just spotted that Rob A Mackenzie's The Opposite of Cabbage and my collection The Ambulance Box are both now on the front page of the Salt website. Rob is beneath Keats, and I'm under Vincent De Souza.

Rob also has his first review, at the blog of Tony Williams, whose collection is due out from Salt in the summer.

Big, Bold and in the Sidebar

It's fairly pointless to say this, as it's blindingly obvious, but I've added the cover image for The Ambulance Box to the sidebar.

Apparently, the collection is also one of several Salt books to feature in a back-page ad in the latest issue of the LRB!* I haven't seen it yet as Linlithgow shops don't stock it, but I'll be eagerly seeking out a copy when I'm next in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Speaking of Salt books, check out the "short season of other poets" Jane Holland is running on Raw Light. There are two already: Katy Evans-Bush and the estimable Mr Mackenzie. Jane is being secretive about who'll be appearing in the coming days. Keep your eyes peeled!

*Is it strictly "in" if it's on the back page? I can't make up my mind.

It's here! (or The Latest Instalment of "Did I mention it has my name on it?")

I was jealous that Rob Mackenzie had got his books yesterday, so I just had to get up early this morning and zip down to the postal depot to pick up my author copies of The Ambulance Box, which the postman had failed to leave in our designated "safe place" yesterday. I wasn't quite banging on the door begging to be let in, but I was there only a few minutes after they turned the key. Don't know whether the postal worker who handed the package over to me had any inkling of what it was, but she can't have failed to see my grin as broad as the Firth of Forth as I skipped out the building.

The photo shows our kitchen table, scissors and the books; it doesn't show the euphoria, as the subject was several centimetres in the air at the time. Seriously, though, it is a truly wonderful feeling. And a lovely book, if I do say so myself. Those dark green endpapers are just gorgeous! The cover looks every bit as good in real life as it does on a computer screen, if not better. Just to hold it in my hands sends me, honest it does.

Rob and I met up at lunchtime to swap books. His is every bit as fine, as you can see. It was a fitting way to celebrate, especially given that, as you'll read if you trawl through the virtual cupboard under the stair, we met up in the same cafe to swap the manuscripts of what became these collections about a year and a half ago. I don't think we could have anticipated that we'd end up with the same publisher, same publication date and a joint launch, but I'm absolutely delighted it has turned out that way.

Both books are available now from Salt's online shop. They can also be pre-ordered on Amazon.co.uk and will soon be available in all good bookshops.

Gone to Press!

A quick update on the progress of The Ambulance Box: the book went to press on Friday! I can tell you, that was an exciting moment. It was made even better by the fact that I shared it with Rob A Mackenzie, whose collection The Opposite of Cabbage was sent to press at the same time. And, as you can see from the link, Rob's book now has a webpage too.

Upcoming Readings

Just a quick note on readings I'll be doing in the coming weeks and months.

This Friday, I'll be among those making their six-minute appearances at West Lothian Write! at the Regal Theatre in Bathgate, sometime between 7:00 and 9:30pm. It should be a good night, if the standard of the work and performances by the other West Lothian writers who came to the Linlithgow Book Festival open mike is anything to go by.

Rob A Mackenzie and I are reading at St Mungo's Mirrorball on Thursday 5 March. There'll be one other poet on the bill besides us. It might be Brian Whittingham, but that's yet to be confirmed last I heard. I'll give more information when it becomes available.

Rob and I will also be launching our respective collections on Wednesday 11 March at 7pm in the the Scottish Poetry Library. I'm also having a Linlithgow launch at the Black Bitch Tavern at 8pm on Saturday 28 March.

I'll be on the Golden Hour stage again on Wednesday 22 April. I'll let you know more about that when I have the details. Should be a really good night, though, if the October one is anything to go by.

"Did I mention it has my name on it" revisited

The jacket for The Ambulance Box has been revised, so I've replaced the photo in the post below with the new version. Also, the PDF sample is now available.

Did I mention it has my name on it?

Things are moving on apace with The Ambulance Box, folks. No sooner had I dispatched my second proofs, than third proofs and a first cover design appeared in my inbox. (Okay, I confess to a slight exaggeration there. There was a time lag of a few days.)

The cover looks as fabulous as all those other Salt jackets I've drooled over in the past few years but it has my name on it!

This afternoon, the web page for the book went live. It has my face on it, courtsey of the marvellous marc marnie. You can also read descriptions of the collection there, along with a brief biographical note and enblurbments. There's a PDF sample and you can read a poem from the book and see the table of contents. I'm delighted with how it's all coming together. Publication date is 1 March 2009, as you know, so don't be deceived by the big BUY NOW! button. We go to press in the new year. Look out for further updates and details of readings here.

Did I mention I was excited?

Dated and Prized

The Ambulance Box grows ever closer to becoming a reality. Chris at Salt and I have just settled on 1 March 2009 as the publication date. If that seems far away to you, as it does to some friends I talk to, it seems tantalisingly close to me!

Speaking of Salt, Will Stone's collection Glaciation won the Glen Dimplex New Writers poetry award 2008 the other week, while Rachel Blau Duplessis has been longlisted for the first Warwick Prize for Writing. The Warwick list is nothing if not varied. Congratulations to Chris, Jen, Will and Rachel!

Oh, and speaking of prizes, the shortlists for the Costa are out. No Salt titles on there, but it's a strong poetry list:

• For All We Know by Ciaran Carson (more)
• The Broken Word by Adam Foulds (more)
• Sunday at the Skin Launderette by Kathryn Simmonds (more)
• Salvation Jane by Greta Stoddart (more)

Ciaran Carson's is the only one I've read. Adam Foulds' book I've heard a lot about. Kathryn Simmonds won the Forward first collection prize this year, of course. And I know nothing about Great Stoddart's book (I couldn't even find it on the Anvil site when I looked the other day). I have to agree, of course, with Todd Swift about the glaring omissions ...

Catch-up Time

Busy busy busy at the moment here. It's good busy, though. I've proofed my proofs, sent 'em back and had author photos taken for the book (of which more in due course); I'm gearing up for Linlithgow Book Festival and this month's various readings; and I'm working on a Scots language writing project in the secondary school in a neighbouring town. Somewhere in among all this, I prentend to find time to breathe.

Anent LBF, we're delighted that we have our first sell-out event: there are no more tickets left for Christopher Brookmyre's reading on the Friday! There are still tickets left for everything else, but don't delay. And don't forget the open mike reading at 8:30pm on the Saturday night, which I'm hosting.

Speaking of readings, the first of my October run was the St Mungo's Mirrorball HappenStance showcase on Thursday just gone. Turnout was decent despite the less than friendly weather. It was especially encouraging to see some folk who were at the event Helena Nelson and I did at the Mitchell Library for the Scottish Poetry Library a while back and to learn that that had been a significant point for at least one of them.

As for the readings themselves, it was an evening of great contrasts in style of writing and performance, but with a lot of good work. That's the glory of these gatherings. There were eight of us reading--myself, Michael Munro, Patricia Ace, and James W Wood; Paula Jennings, Eleanor Livingstone, Margaret Christie and Rob A Mackenzie. I'm only going to pick out the highlights of the evening for me.

I was very, very impressed with James's new long poem, "The Song of Scotland". It's been published in the latest Poetry Review and, to judge by the excerpts he read, such high-profile publication is well deserved; it's a strong, imaginative, distinctive piece of writing. A rant, yes, but there's a great pedigree of those in poetry. James's HappenStance pamphlet is well worth getting hold of, and I must buy his latest, which is published by Linlithgow-based Jane McKie's Knucker Press.

It was also particularly good to hear Paula Jennings again. Her pamphlet, From the Body of the Green Girl, was so hot off the press it had been pressed into her hand that evening and isn't on the website yet. I like her inquisitive sense of craft, form and line; her quiet confidence and her imagination. Paula was a Shore poet for a while, and it's a shame she was unable to continue as part of the group.

Helena Nelson read only two poems: one at the beginning and one at the end. The latter was a lament for Duncan Glen in ballad form and in Scots. Very brave of Nell, as she's from Cheshire, but she pulled it off beautifully (and I don't say that lightly). She's writing some extremely good formal work these days. The evening was, also, in a way, a celebration of Nell's energy, her skill as an editor and what she has achieved with the press. That's as it should be. She never ceases to amaze me.

There was, of course, an added sense of celebration, given that Rob and I were both reading not only from our HappenStance chapbooks but from the manuscripts of our forthcoming Salt collections. In publishing our pamphlets, Nell undoubtedly gave both our writing careers significant boosts towards that goal, so our celebrations and successes are also very much hers.

A Step Closer to Reality

Another significant moment here: first proofs arrived in my inbox from Chris at Salt! I spotted them on my webmail while I was still at work and it's a wonder none of my colleagues asked why the mile-wide grin and slight strut down the scuffed wooden walkway at the centre of the office. But then, we official reporters can all get pretty caught up in the hectic rhythm of a plenary day, so it's not that much of a wonder, I suppose.

That's The Ambulance Box an important step closer to becoming a reality. I know how my weekend will be taken up. Never has proof reading seemed such an enticing proposition.

Contracted

A big moment here yesterday: my contract from Salt for The Ambulance Box came through. It feels such a significant point to have reached; the book is that next step closer to becoming a reality! I was almost as excited as when Chris Hamilton-Emery accepted it! (You can tell by the number of exclamation marks in this post.) Now there's work to do on biographical notes (I'm used to them), describing the book (something I'm much less practised at)--blurby stuff, in other words--and thinking further about how to market it.

I Had to Pinch Myself

It's been a momentous week in this neck of the woods. As you'll know if you've been following this blog for a while, I've been working on a full collection of poetry, swapping manuscripts with Rob A Mackenzie and submitting to publishers. On Tuesday, the collection--The Ambulance Box--was accepted by Salt, who propose to publish in the spring. I'm delighted. Salt not only have a really strong list, but a positive, 21st century approach to the web, which publishers ignore or downplay at their peril. I'm thoroughly looking forward to working with them.