Don’t forget to vote: Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry

Awarded annually to a living UK poet, working in any form, who is judged to have made the most exciting contribution to the art form between 1 January and 31 December. Prize: £5,000. Poets are put forward for the award by Poetry Society and Poetry Book Society members. Recommendations must be submitted by [...]

My highlights of 2010

Well, today’s my last day in the office this year. Production is up to date, and, dare I say it, ahead of schedule in a number of cases.

2010 has been a year of transition for Salt. Our tenth anniversary celebrations have played host to a number of important changes behind [...]

Elder Moon by John Siddique

Elder Moon by John Siddique from John Siddique on Vimeo.

Taken from the book Recital – An Almanac

Written, Produced & Spoken by John Siddique Music by Katie Chatburn Animation and Concept by Daniel Spellman Art Direction, Supervision, & Co-production by Walter Santucci

Elder Moon is one of a series of 13 animated [...]

Merry Christmas from everyone at Salt

We’re not sending out ink and paper this Christmas and will be making a donation to Wikileaks instead.

Chris Holifield reflects on the new developments at the Poetry Book Society

When T S Eliot gathered together friends, publishers and booksellers to follow through on Stephen Spender’s suggestion of setting up the Poetry Book Society in 1953, he wouldn’t have been able to envisage how things stand with poetry today. The group wanted to get more poetry books into the hands of book buyers [...]

Horizon Review contributors’ books of the year, Part 2

Continuing the round up of the favourite reads of Horizon Review Issue 5 contributors – it’s a wonderful mix! Poetry, story, memoir, history, urban studies and architecture, photography, biography… and a few older things thrown in as well – the delights of the year.

Rob Mackenzie

Terrance Hayes: Lighthead (Penguin USA) Steve [...]

A little Christmas cheer came our way, care of Vanessa Gebbie

A little Christmas cheer came our way care of Vanessa Gebbie. Enjoy!

www.vanessagebbie.com http://morenewsfromvg.blogspot.com/

Horizon Review: contributors’ books of the year, Part 1

Like Christmas itself, Horizon Review Issue 5 is nearly with us. To celebrate this imminence and whet everyone’s appetites, we’ve asked our contributors to tell us about their three favourite books of 2010. Their choices are wonderful, enticing and even surprising: it’s almost enough to make you buy books! Here are the first set, presented alphabetically; we’ll follow with the rest on Friday. Happy reading!

Robert Archambeau

Reading A Martian Muse (Pittsburgh) by the late Reginald Shepherd makes me miss him anew – it collects his last reflections on poetry. Trigons, this year’s book by John Matthias is my favorite title from Shearsman.  Peter O’Leary’s Luminous Epinoia (Cultural Society) is so beautiful it requires no wrapping paper if given for Christmas.

A.J. Ashworth

My books of the year are short story collections. Simon Van Booy’s debut The Secret Lives of People in Love (reissued in 2010) is moving, poetic and filled with fresh and original imagery. Amy Bloom’s Where the God of Love Hangs Out is earthy and brave. I loved the writing in Laura van den Berg’s debut What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us, and how the book drips with poignancy and loss.

Julia Bird

Chris McCabe’s Shad Thames, Broken Wharf (Penned in the Margins): the book of the London Word Festival show. The limited edition boxed book comes with an envelope of mudlarked Thames detritus, given a run under the tap first I hope. Jo Shapcott’s Of Mutability (Faber) – loved it before we made www.youareherepoetryshow.wordpress.com out of it, loved it more afterwards. Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses (Vintage) – a few years old now but I bought it in Paddington WH Smiths this year. Bleak and beautiful.

Alison Brackenbury

I recommend, first, Continue reading Horizon Review: contributors’ books of the year, Part 1

Rob A. Mackenzie in conversation with Ryan Van Winkle

We chat with Rob A Mackenzie, author of The Opposite Of Cabbage, associate editor at Magma magazine and organiser of the monthly Poetry At… series. Rob discusses what he’s working on at the moment, his views on criticism and the poetry industry and we get to hear a few of his recent poems. [...]

Nicholas Wroe selects Anna Woodford’s “Birdhouse” in his 2010 round up of poetry

The year in poetry – reviews

Nicholas Wroe hails a good year for verse

The poetry year began promisingly, with January’s unexpected – but richly deserved – Costa prize victory for Christopher Reid’s A Scattering, the first offering from Areté books. Reid’s deftly moving elegy for his wife Lucinda Gane, who died [...]