Canticles, comics and linotype romanticists
I have three new things to tell you. I also have an essay brewing about The Muppet Movie’s visual reimagining of fascist propaganda, but it’s not ready yet, sorry.
One
Here is the start of ‘Canticle’ (ie a small hymn), a new poem I’m writing in conversation with James Schuyler’s long poem ‘Hymn to Life’ that was published in 1974. Here’s the epigraph which I’m taking as a starting point, and which I kinda want to get printed on a T-shirt:
“Is it for miracles we live?”
There will be more of this poem to come. There’s more in the pipes actively being edited now, but here’s where it starts, anyway. Huge thanks to Anthony Wilson who has been curating this Schuyler at 100 project. There’s lots of interesting poems and articles inspired by the New York School poet up on his site.
Two
Tom Humberstone has got copies back from the printers of our new 24 page poetry comic Introduction to Charts and it’s gorgeous. It’ll be out formally on the 18th March and you can preorder it directly from Tom here.
We’re also going to be doing a signing for it in Gosh Comics in Soho on Saturday 23rd March between 1-2pm, followed by a mooch towards a nearby pub or park I should think. Details below if you’d like to come along and say hi!
Three
I’ve been asked to judge the Poetry Book Fair’s poetry competition – so send me some poems! The lede I’m burying here is obviously that THE POETRY BOOK FAIR IS BACK, yay! On Saturday 20th April!
Lovely poetry friend Joey Connolly and I used to run the fair together (it was founded by poet and CB Editions publisher Charles Boyle), but we gave it to the Poetry Society for caretaking a few years ago, just in time for Covid to scupper everyone’s plans for live events. I’m so glad it’s back! There will be so many wonderful and diverse presses there to explore. All the useful info is above. Please think about sending me some poems to read for the competition too. It’s a useful way of supporting the fair.
Oh, and if you’re wondering why the spelling of “bury the lede” is “lede” rather than “lead”, it turns out it’s basically “an invention of linotype romanticists”. Linotype romaticists. I hate those guys.
Thanks for reading. More soon.