Andrew Oldham

Of Mutability, By Jo Shapcott & Rough Music, By Fiona Sampson

A great review of Shapcott’s and Sampson’s collections on The Independent website.

Tags: Fiona Sampson, Jo Shapcott

Morgan’s funeral marked in music and verse

Morgan’s funeral marked in music and verse

Edwin Morgan’s funeral reported in the Scottish Herald. A great poet.

Tags: Edwin Morgan, Funeral

Best of Manchester Poets on Peony Moon

http://peonymoon.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/best-of-manchester-poets-volume-1.jpg. Andrew features on this blog.

Review of Best of Manchester Poets Vol 1 (Puppywolf 2010)

Review of Best of Manchester Poets Vol 1 (Puppywolf 2010). Andrew is mentioned in the review.

David Agnew Interview

There is a great interview with the Irish poet, David Agnew, here. Well worth a read. David is a great poet and some his ideas and views hit home and make you smile.

Tags: David Agnew

Poem of the Week on Incwriters

Andrew’s poem, The Trench, is Poem of the Week on Incwriters: http://www.incwriters.co.uk/?p=1581

Tags: Andrew Oldham, Incwriters, Poem of the Week, The Trench

Best of Manchester Poets, Vol 1

BoMP is featured in a post on Peony Moon. Andrew’s poem, Why Guns Will Never Be Legal in England, features beside poetry by Rosie Lugosi, Julia Deakin, Ian Howells and Cheryl Pearson. You can view the post here.

This is Volume 1 of Puppywolf’s anthologies. For future calls for submissions or to purchase BoMP, Vol 1, visit www.puppywolf.co.uk

Tags: Best of Manchester Poets, Billy Collins, Ian Howells and Cheryl Pearson, Julia Deakin, Poetry, Rosie Lugosi, Why Guns Will Never Be Legal in England

Andrei Voznesensky dies

I doubt you tuned in to your television or radio tonight (unless your a BBC R4 listener) and discovered that the poet, Andrei Voznesensky, has died at the age of 77. Most of you would probably won’t have heard of him. It is rare in this age of consumerism, style and image that we would ever consider a poet as a radical or even a star. Andrei Voznesensky, with a group of writers and fellow poets, including Yevgeny Yevtushenko, revived Russian writing from the hands of a post-Stalin government. He stood up against the legacy of the greatest mass murderer in history, he did this with poetry, Khruschev hated him (Nikita Khrushchev once threatened to exile him). He kept true to who he was, what he wrote. In 1976, he had a minor planet named after him and in 1978, Voznesensky was awarded the USSR State Prize. His books of poetry included The Triangular Pear and Antiworlds. He was a great poet and he should be read more in the West, here is a translation of The Antiworlds:

There is Bukashkin, our neighbour,
in underpants of blotting paper,
and, like balloons, the Antiworlds
hang up above him in the vaults.

Up there, like a magic daemon,
he smartly rules the Universe,
Antibukashkin lies there giving
Lollobrigida a caress.

The Anti-great-academician
has got a blotting paper vision.

Long live creative Antiworlds,
great fantasy amidst daft words!
There are wise men and stupid peasants,
there are no trees without deserts.

There’re Antimen and Antilorries,
Antimachines in woods and forests.
There’s salt of earth, and there’s a fake.
A falcon dies without a snake.

I like my dear critics best.
The greatest of them beats the rest
for on his shoulders there’s no head,
he’s got an Antihead instead.

At night I sleep with windows open
and hear the rings of falling stars,
From up above skyscrapers drop and,
like stalactites, look down on us.

High up above me upside down,
stuck like a fork into the ground,
my nice light-hearted butterfly,
my Antiworld, is getting by.

I wonder if it’s wrong or right
that Antiworlds should date at night.
Why should they sit there side by side
watching TV all through the night?
They do not understand a word.
It’s their last date in this world.
They sit and chat for hours, and
they will regret it in the end!
The two have burning ears and eyes,
resembling purple butterflies…

…A lecturer once said to me:
“An Antiworld? It’s lunacy!”

I’m half asleep, and I would sooner
believe than doubt the man’s word…
My green-eyed kitty, like a tuner,
receives the signals of the world.

Tags: Andrei Voznesensky, Dies, first frost, Stalin, Yevgeny Yevtushenko

Best of Manchester Poets Book Launch feat. Andrew Oldham

Wed 16th June, 7:30pm

Join several of Manchester’s finest poets for the launch of Best of Manchester Poets, Volume 1, a major new book profiling the incredible contemporary poetry scene in Manchester, published by Puppywolf.

Hosted by the award-winning performance poet Dominic Berry, the event will see exclusive performances from Manchester poetry scene luminaries such as Steve O’Connor, Gerry Potter, Jackie Hagan, Gordon Zola, Andy N, Marvin Cheeseman, Rod Tame, and many more!

Andrew Oldham appears in the collection.

Tags: Andrew Oldham, Best of Manchester Poets, Green Room, Puppywolf

Best of Manchester Poets, Volume 1

Great news! Two of Andrew’s poems will appear in the forthcoming Best of Manchester Poets, Volume 1 published by Puppywolf. Puupywolf is a new publisher based in Manchester. Puppywolf was founded in 2010 to publish the very best of poetry originating in Manchester, United Kingdom. Few British cities have such a vibrant scene, full of such positive energy. Puppywolf is run by Keir Thomas, a local poet, award-winning author and literary editor. Click here to learn more about Puppywolf. Puppywolf’s inaugural publication is Best of Manchester Poets, with the first issue due to go on sale 1st June 2010. Best of Manchester Poets will be published twice a year and contributions are invited from anybody who defines themselves as a Manchester poet. It is overseen by a panel of poet editors.

 The collection will be out in Summer 2010. More news will appear here when the collection is released.

Tags: Best of Manchester Poets, Puppywolf, Volume 1