a lazarus

and finally a lazarus is out on the kindle – just click on the image at the right. maybe a wee bit later than planned but the reasons for that will come out in due course.

aside from some minor formatting problems i’m very happy with it. it may be that a hard copy version will be forthcoming but that depends on time and money plus the swiss lounge thing was about trying new forms. plus i was taken with the idea that it would be possible to buy a poetry collection for a cup of coffee. as for the kindle thing, outside of holidays and bike touring i’m still not altogether taken with it, but it’s a whole lot easier to publish to it than it is to do conventionally.

and i think that was an issue with this. i’m delighted that qarrtsiluni picked it up and getting i am furies into starry rhymes came just at the right time (and not forgetting the title poem’s appearance in the poetry bus) but, if i’m honest, i can’t think of anyone in the uk who would have touched it. which (and i’d be happy to be proved wrong), for me seems a shame. slp, at the face of it, appears to want to address this so it’ll be interesting to see how that project works out. but again, a wee bit like music, there’s never been a better time to bypass the conventional and adopt a do-it-yourself attitude, forge new relationships and create interesting new stuff.

i should point out for those who have read stone and sea that it is nothing at all like that so don’t be expecting something similar. what is it? i kind of like the description i put up on amazon. the notion was to take poems and use only their words to creat something else, definitely not a cut up, but something else, that made its own grammar and rhythm. i hope it looks easy because it most assuredly was not! by the time i got to the end i was most definitely the end. having to put my head repeatedly in that space disrupted my thinking, so much so i’ve hardly written poetry since and have been soothing my aching brain cells with prose. that said, as an exercise into getting into the bones of the language of a poem, it’s totally worthwhile.

so that’s the how and why of it. i would get it and try it. read it out loud, trip over the language, watch it come alive. i hope you enjoy.

oh aye, i’m ipad/iphone-less so haven’t seen what it looks like on those platforms. if anyone has those can you let me know? ta

a lazarus on qarrtsiluni

i’m happy to say that and we at bed and purest is available for listening to at qarrtsiluni. as ever, dave, beth et al maintain their usual consistent high standards and all the chapbook contest people are well worth a listen. i should point out also that the worship issue is now underway and that too will be something i’d recommend.

the audio file features two readings of the poem, one a straight rendition and the other is me fiddling about with garageband (any hot tips or garage bands for idiots type guide recommendations will be gratefully received!). while this one is a bit haphazard – i forgot what i was doing between recording and that version and, of course, didn’t save it – this sort of audio doodling was great fun and something i hope to do more of in the future.

qarrtsiluni plan to do a booklet of the chapbook finalists so i’ll post up details when i get them. i’ve been pretty impressed with their previous output so again this will be something i’d recommend esp if you’ve a space in your purchasing pile.

as for a lazarus, after the qarrtsiluni thing comes out (and allowing for a couple of pressing deadlines for this month) the vague plan is to put the whole thing out as a pamphlet on the swiss lounge imprint. that has been in hiatus for the last wee while but i’ve kind of shifted around a few priorities and i’m hoping to get it going again for the end of the year. that website is going to remain down for the time being but i’ll update here or there when the time comes.