Review of Rosie Garland’s ‘As in Judy’

What makes a good review? Is it readability? Accuracy? An instinct for the telling quote? Having grappled with writing my first poetry review, all I know is that, like any other art-form, it will take years of practice to hone the skill.

But not withstanding, it was a gripping experience to read the newest poetry collection from the multi-talented and heart-warmingly modest Rose Garland.  I can only urge you to get down to your local book store and order a copy of As in Judy. It’s full of verbal spark and hard-won humanity. Or you can go direct to Manchester-based publisher Flapjack Press (www.flapjackpress.co.uk) and buy it on-line.

If you’d like a taste of ‘As in Judy, here’s the link to my write-up on Write Out Loud (another gem of the poetry world):  www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=63176

Popshot gets ‘Curious’ with Fiction, Poetry and Illustration

A man in a blue gabardine and trilby is walking through a yellow wall. Curious?

Then buy a copy of Popshot (issue 14) and follow the trail of weird and wonderful things within its latest pages. From tales of deep sea mysteries and time-loops to poems on blue hen’s eggs, leeks that rustle and planetary stalkers, Popshot will have your eyes popping.

Poets featured in the ‘Curious Issue’ include Claire Booker, Rosie Garland, Nancy Carol Moody and Catherine Venn. And there are great stories from Danielle Carey, Jane Wright and Dan Coxon among others, including a brilliant imagining by Rob Stuart on what might happen if humans create a super-powerful artificial intelligence. Be surprised. Be very surprised.

And of course, the glorious illustrations (17 in all) make Popshot such a joy to hold in the hand or view on screen.  Colour-rich or monchrome, figurative or pop-art, there’s something for every taste – each one a potential collectors’ item.

Popshot editor, Jacob Denno, selects short fiction and poetry from thousands of submissions, then hands them over to cutting edge artists to absorb. Once they’re all fired up, it’s down to the drawing board!

It’s a dream come true to know that my poem ‘Clair de Lune’ has inspired an evocative illustration by Mathieu Persan which appears along side it in the magazine. There’s something mesmeric about that moonlit scene that keeps drawing me in.

For more information on Mathieu Persan’s work, please check his website at: www.barbudesign.com

Other illustrators in Popshot’s Curious issue  include Joey Guidone, Alys Hobbs, Kate O’Hara and Carolina Burdon. The cover illustration (top) is by Jörn Kaspuhl at kaspuhl.com.

Popshot continues to grow a community of readers, with copies of the magazine now available in 22 countries. If you want to see why, have a flick through a few spreads here in the Curious Issue.

You can buy a single issue for £6 + p&p or subscribe for £10 a year and get issue 14 as your initial copy, followed by the next two issues over the coming year, plus free access to the digital edition which contains every issue Popshot have ever published.

Poems break down barriers on the Northern Line

Tube travel. You know the score. No chat. No eye-contact. There I am, nose deep in my hot-off-the-press Loose Muse anthology, when a handsome young Spaniard leans over, points to a word in Steph Pike’s poem ‘Sea Shanty’ and asks “What does ‘shore’ mean?”  Cue an interesting discussion on semantics before the interchange at Oxford Circus parts us forever.

The moral of the story?  A Loose Muse anthology can seriously pep up your love life!  The latest (and fourth) issue is packed with poems by the likes of Cath Drake, Zena Edwards, Rosie Garland, Sue Johns and Agnes Meadows, plus short-stories by Niki Aguirre, Isabel White and Leila Segal among others, as well as a 5 minute surreal comedy by Claire Booker which explores the tribulations of youth unemployment and irritating parents.

“This anthology is a fabulous cornucopia of original work by women writers,” says editor Agnes Meadows, who launched London’s only continuous Women’s Writers Night nine years ago. Loose Muse offers a smorgesbrod of UK and international guests plus generous open-mic slots every third Wednesday of the month at the Poetry Cafe, Covent Garden.

For more information on Loose Muse events, including how to get hold of the latest anthology check out: http://www.loose-muse.com

The cover image is by Lorraine Clark.