sheep-shapes

David Miller’s Spiritual Letters, a series he has been working on since the mid nineties appeared in its latest incarnation last night at The Lamb. Series 1-5 have been handsomely produced in the States by Chax Press. The reading featured Miller together with Vahni Capildeo and Brian Marley; all of them terrific readers giving the lie to Marley’s apology that one of any group of three readers has to be below par. Marley had disappeared from the reading scene for some time (I’ve got an early book: Springtime in the Rockies) but in the last couple of years he has made a welcome reappearance. Capildeo will herself have a new book out in a couple of months.

bergamot

two bulb night

There was one slight problem at last night's Crossing the Line reading. The upstairs room at the Apple Tree has three four-bulb chandeliers, but only two of the bulbs were working and the pub had no spares. We positioned these two in the one chandelier above the readers and for small or faint print the light of a mobile phone served the purpose. The readers were Amy De'Ath and Robert Vas Dias, an age gap of some fifty-five years between them. Both readers were good to hear and the room was gratifyingly full.

genius

"She bent down, turned around and gave me a wink
said I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink
it smelled like turpentine and looked like indian ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes . . . I took a drink"

RIP Jerry Lieber

Challock, August

Miller's imprint

David Miller is now into his fortieth year in London. There’s no celebration as such but August could well be his month. In a couple of weeks he will be launching the Chax Press collection of Spiritual Exercises, pieces he’s been working on for some years. Tuesday this week saw a Blue Bus reading featuring poets who have published with his small press Kater Murr. This press has published some seventy items, mostly chapbooks and folded sheets, and mostly the work of new poets Miller (both a publisher and a historian of small presses) considers interesting or older ones he feels are underexposed. These little books produced without the aid of grants are as often given away as they are sold. So thanks to David for his generous contribution to the London scene.

a final Orkney foursome

four more from Orkney

four from Orkney