Brief update of things that catch my fancy

Hello hello!

T-minus 2 months to wedding (less than this actually!), and so I have pretty much gone nuts with all the stuff still to do. Looking forward to the big day, but also looking forward to the delicious quiet that shall replace all this manic craziness. Roll on, July! 

In the interim, there are a few awesome things which have caught my attention that might be of interest to you!:

Fuselit's new issue, Contraptions

"Like a clanking, whirring apparition, steaming out of the Fuselit tool shed, Contraption finally sallies forth! You can read it online, download it for your e-reader or buy a stunning little hand-made 'classic' version in a gold box. There's poetry, prose, artwork, a mascot, an essay, audio experiments, Oulipean mischief, machines as poems, a text adventure game and a story about a confused robot. Where to look first?"

If you're a regular reader, you'll know I'm a huge fan of Fuselit and love the work they put out. 

You can imagine how flattered and excited I was to discovered they had based their mascot for the issue (and a character in one of the short stories) on a 'poetry pet' Robot I'd made for Kirsty (who gave it to Jon)! 

Definitely check it out! (JoAnne McKay - your boys will love it!)

Neu Reekie

Neu! Reekie! is a monthly night (hosted inside the Scottish Book Trust, Edinburgh) in Edinburgh of short film, spoken word and music fusions. They did a full run of it in 2011 and are back in 2012 as a Creative Scotland endorsed soiree, noted to be a 'paragoning piece of Scotland's cultural puzzle'. 

To date they've have everyone from Ron Butlin to Jock Scott, Richard Jobson to Davy Henderson, Des Dillon to Miriam Gamble, Torsten Lauschmann to Malcolm Ross, Tam Dean Burn to BMX Bandits, Lach to Ryan Van Winkle, Teenage Fanclub to Ross Sutherland. Here's a little more on what they did last year: http://www.leithermagazine.com/2011/11/25/the-sound-of-youngish-scotland.html.

I'm so looking forward to attending the next Neu Reekie night on Friday 30th March. See you there? 

More info on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/neureekie

Stirling Uni Reading - more info forthcoming!

Venue: The Junk Rooms, Friars Street, Stirling

Date: Sunday April 15th, ~6pm.

Very tentative info still forthcoming about what will be an amazing poetry reading in Stirling! My pal Chris Emslie clued me, so pencil the date in your calendar, and keep your eyes on their facebook page for more info/publicty: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003480246491

Okay. Shall update links when more info is presented for the various events.
Hope to have more awesome news soon! Until then, from your fair-weather nearly-married friend!

Sidekick Flicks - Reading of Kappa

The amazing folk at Sidekick Books/Fuselit/Dr Fulminaire fame recently asked me to read my poem Kappa, originally published in their Obakarama anthology about Japanese mythological monsters. 

They put it together with a wee video shot by Jon Stone, and it's now up on their youtube page, here!:

http://www.youtube.com/user/SidekickFlicks 

Oh wait, check this out! Embedded!:

Definitely keep your eyes peeled for more videos and cool stuff coming out of the Sidekick Books HQ. I'm looking forward to Birdbook II, myself!

*

In other news, with less than 15 weeks until I get married, I am/have been super-mega busy with preparations, so apologies for radio silence these past few *months*. I promise to be back in top form after May. (Or likely June, when we return from our post-wedding Los Angeles trip.)

Wish us luck!

Best British Poetry 2011: Hitodama

AMAZING news and also an invitation to a launch.

I was so surprised and flattered and honored to find out earlier this year that a poem of mine would be included in The Best British Poetry 2011, the first anthology in a new series being produced by Salt Publishing and edited by Roddy Lumsden.

The poem, 'Hitodama', was first published in the Japan issue of Edinburgh Review, for which I am very grateful to the then-editor Brian McCabe and to Jennie Renton.  

More about the anthology, from the http://bestbritishpoetry.co.uk/ website:

"The Best British Poetry 2011 presents the finest and most engaging poems found in British-based literary magazines and webzines over the past year. The material gathered represents the rich variety of current UK poetry, including lyric, formal and experimental poetry. Each poem is accompanied by a note by the poet themselves, explaining the inspiration for the poem and why they decided to write the poem in that form. The format of the book will be familiar to those who have seen similar annual selections made in other countries such as Ireland, Australia and especially the US, where the equivalent annual book is a popular yet controversial landmark in each year's literary calendar. At a time when print journals still retain their significance and popularity and when new sites are flourishing on the web, this book offers a snapshot of current poetry practices in the country by offering a diverse selection of excellent poems."

I'm so excited and grateful to have my poem chosen for this anthology. I grew up reading the Best American Poetry books so it's pretty overwhelming for me to think I could be included in the British equivalent. I'm also excited that the poem selected has such a Japanese bias, as I am most interested in writing about Japan/my Japanese heritage, and often worry that this sort of writing might not find a home in the UK. As a young writer, and a Japanese-American living in Scotland, I am so proud to have been chosen for such an important and 'British' anthology. I want to shout it from the rooftops! 

Therefore! You are cordially invited to the London launch of The Best British Poetry 2011 on the 23rd September 2011 from 7 p.m. at The Betsey Trotwood, 56 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3BL.  

Please RSVP to: Christopher Hamilton-Emery, or Roddy Lumsden. 

Everyone is welcome so do please spread the word for this significant event.

I hope you'll go to the launch! At least pick up a copy at your local bookstore, or ask them to stock the book if they don't already! That'd mean the world to me.

The Best British Poetry 2011

Edited by Roddy Lumsden

ISBN 9781907773044

Paperback | 176pp | Demy Octavo

Publication date 1 September 2011

£9.99 $16.95

Birdbook Launch in London

Hello friends! Just a quick shout to let you know about the Birdbook launch in London this week (sorry for the late notice!):

Birdbook I: Launch event

Thursday, June 23, 2011

7:30pm - 10:30pm

Phoenix Artists Club on Charing Cross Road, near Tottenham Court Road station, London

Dr Fulminare's most ambitious Sidekick Books project yet! The first in a four-part series of books celebrating every British species of bird (or thereabouts - you never know when science will beat us) through art and poetry. www.drfulminare.com/birdbook.html

Readers (so far!):

Rachael Allen, Rowyda Amin, Simon Barraclough, Dai George, Emily Hasler, Holly Hopkins, Amy Key, Roddy Lumsden, Edward Mackay, Matt Merritt, Kate Potts, Richard Price, James Wilkes, Chrissy Williams and more!

More info at the Facebook event page here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=127159004031783

Two poems in Birdbook I

Very exciting news! Got my contributor copy of Birdbook I: Towns, Parks and Gardens in the post and it is AMAZING.

I'm very impressed! It's got a lovely embossed cover and colored endpages and is brimming with pairs of poems and art pieces on specific birds (of town, parks and gardens).

Dr Fulminaire says about it: "My most ambitious project yet, now come to full and bountious fruition! Over 50 British species of bird commemorated in word and image by such an array of talent as has rarely been gathered in one tightly confined space."

I have two poems in the book, for the Hedge Sparrow/Dunnock and the Buzzard. But my pieces sit alongside poems and illustrations by many other brilliant folk including:

Rachael Allen, Rowyda Amin, Hannah Bagshaw, Becky Barnicoat, Simon Barraclough, Julia Bird, Niall Campbell, Michael Chance, Tom Chivers, Hanna Terese Christiansson, Monika Cilmi, John Clegg, Dave Coates, Phil Cooper, Lois Cordelia, Lorna Crabbe, Caroline Crew, Nia Davies, Lizzy Denning, Isobel Dixon, Philip Elbourne, Dai George, Matthew Gregory, Cliff Hammett, Emily Hasler, Holly Hopkins, Nicholas Hughes, i-lib, Kirsten Irving, Andrew Jamison, Amy Key, Judith Lal, Alexandra Lazar, Natalie Lazarus, Katherine Leedale, Roddy Lumsden, Edward Mackay, Marion McCready, Siofra McSherry, Matt Merritt, Kate Parkinson, Saroj Patel, Kate Potts, Richard Price, Fiona Purves, Declan Ryan, Bethany Settle, Jon Stone, Jennie Webber, James Wilkes and Chrissy Williams.

You can see more samples of work and buy your copy for a mere £10 + p&p from the Sidekick Books website. Please do support this brilliant small publisher on their first 'macro-anthology' or full-length/size publication. It really is lovely and I can't wait to see the other 3 books in the series in due time!