Gutter: How Salt can be a Man

In the post today, my contributor copy of Gutter 03! Very exciting times indeed!

I've been really admiring Gutter since their first issue came out (about a year ago now). The quality of the print is as important to the magazine as its impressive contents. I love their color themes which change for each issue (red, teal/green, and now orange), and the reviews section in the middle is done all on orange paper (so cool!) with full black pages and hand-drawn art interspersed throughout the issue.Well done Freight!

The table of contents is not to be balked at either. I'd mentioned names like Rob A Mackenzie, Tracey Emerson, Sally Evans, Brian Johnstone, JoAnne McKay, and Ewan Morrison in this issue.  But past issues have included the likes of Ryan Van Winkle, Rodge Glass, Ron Butlin, Anneliese Mackintosh, Colin Will, Jo Swingler, Kapka Kassabova, and more!

My poem How Salt can be a Man is a bit of a change up from my usual narrative poems, a bit more mysterious maybe. It is a poem for a good friend of mine who loves to swim.

I hope you'll definitely pick yourself up a copy if you're able. Gutter annual subscriptions go for £10 (UK) or £12.50 (Int'l) for a year (2 issues).  Individual copies are £5.99.  

It's an excellent magazine. I'm looking forward to reading through my new copy today.  I'll post a note with my recommendations once I'm done.  

Have a lovely day! 

World Cup 2010 Poems: UPDATE!

Hi there! Just wanted to post about the amazing World Cup 2010 Poem project I was involved in, now that I have the printed copy in my hot little hands!

The book is available to buy from the Forest Publications store, but here are some photos to show you what you'll be investing in:

I love the cover - Ericka Duffy designed it. It's a thin tracing paper cover with an interesting translucent image of a footballer kicking a ball. It'll hopefully encourage people to pick the book up out of curiosity even now that the Cup has passed.

Do go get yourself a copy if you like what you've read over at the site. The folk at Forest Publications have put a lot of work into the printing, and Dave and Al have done a stellar job putting the project together. Long live football poetry!

Gutter: How Salt can be a Man & Gutter at Unbound, EIBF

Very excited to announce that my poem How Salt can be a Man will be in the next issue of Gutter Magazine!  "Gutter is a new, high quality, printed journal for fiction and poetry from writers born or living in Scotland. The editors believe there is a need for an energetic, ambitious magazine dedicated exclusively to the best in new Scottish creative writing."

I'm so chuffed to be included in an issue with so many great names: Rob A Mackenzie, Tracey Emerson, Sally Evans, Brian Johnstone, JoAnne McKay, Ewan Morrison, and loads more amazing folk are included. I'm really humbled to be sharing the same pages!

The new issue is due out August 10th, and I'll post photos as soon as I get my contributor copy, but I wanted to let you all know that Gutter will be having a free event at Unbound, in the Edinburgh International Book Festival, in case you want to buy a copy or sample the magazine up close, for free!

Event info:

McSex

Sunday 15 August

9-11pm

at the EIBF Speigeltent, Charlotte Square

This event is FREE and unticketed (just turn up) and features Michel Faber (The Crimson Petal and the White, Under the Skin, The Fire Gospel), Zoë Strachan (Negative Space, Spin Cycle), Ewan Morrison (Swung, Distance, Ménage) and Cheryl Follon (All Your Talk, Dirty Looks). They’ll be joined by newbies Helen Sedgwick and Allan Radcliffe and all will be reading from their own work and from some gems from Scottish literary history. Music is supplied by the sublimely gravel-voiced Grant Campbell.  It should be a great night, with some real eye-openers... and there’s a bar!

It really should be a stellar event, and I'll be there! So say hi if you're in town. Hope to see you there!