All the Fun of the Poetry Book Fair

The Free Verse Fair in full swing

Sue and I had a really good time at the Free Verse poetry book fair on Saturday 7 September at Conway Hall in London, now an annual event and brilliantly organised by Charles Boyle of CB Editions, Chrissy Williams and others, including lots of wonderful volunteers.

London publishing may be in a state of creative confusion these days but poetry publishers are proving that they are undaunted and the sheer range and variety of poetry on offer was astonishing.  Sue and I met many people and heard many poets read including our own Susan Grindley (see picture).  Thank you to everyone who came to our stall and chatted, bought books, or just nattered about poetry.

Susan Grindley reads from New Reader in the open
in Red Lion Square

Rack Press at Presteigne Festival

Left to right:
Roger Garfitt, Ros Hudis, John Barnie, Nicholas Murray

The Rack Poets had a very successful reading at the Presteigne Festival on 22 August and thanks to all who came to hear us read.  We are sorry that illness prevented a couple of our advertised poets from reading but we were grateful to local poet Roger Garfitt for stepping in at the last minute to read splendidly as a guest poet.

We will be at the Free Verse poetry book fair in London on Saturday 7 September so come along and meet us.

Rack Press Poets at Presteigne Festival

Phone box in village of Kinnerton, Powys,
home of Rack Press

Here in the Welsh Marches August is the month of the Presteigne Festival, a major and exciting part of the British music scene.

Rack Poets are delighted to have been invited to read on Thursday 22 August in the Assembly Rooms in Presteigne at 11.30 a.m.

The line up includes Ian Parks, Steve Griffiths, Rosalind Hudis, John Barnie and Nicholas Murray.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Ledbury Readings

Susan Grindley reading

The weather at Ledbury Poetry Festival this weekend was outstanding but it was as nothing compared to the Rack Press poets who read so well at the Shell House Gallery.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Ros Hudis about to read

The Ledbury Venue

Rack publisher Nick Murray
and poet Ian Parks
contemplating refreshment

Rack Poets at Ledbury Poetry Festival

Ros Hudis

Ian Parks

Susan Grindley

Rack Press is delighted to be at the Ledbury Poetry Festival on Saturday 13 July.  Three of this year's poets will be reading in the Shell House Gallery and they have good 20 minute slots and are all superb readers so get along there if you are in Ledbury and meet the poets and Rack Press.  We have been promised a heat wave for July and we in turn can promise you some great readings.  It will be a special pleasure to be in Herefordshire, the adjacent county to Powys in Wales where Rack Press is based and it's our first visit ever.

Susan Grindley will be reading from her Rack Press pamphlet New Reader and other work from 12.15-12.35pm; Rosalind Hudis will be reading from 2pm to 2.20 pm from her pamphlet Terra Ignota with new work and Ian Parks will be reading from The Cavafy Variations which is a Poetry Book Society Summer Choice and other new work between 3.40 and 4pm.  All at the Shell House Gallery and all free of charge.

If you are staying on until Sunday, Rack Press founder Nicholas Murray will be reading from his collection Acapulco: New and Selected Poems (Melos) and from his new pamphlet of animal poems from Melos between 12.15 and 12.35.

ALL THE PAMPHLETS CAN BE ORDERED ONLINE HERE AND THE POETS WILL BE HAPPY TO SIGN COPIES ON THE DAY.

Rack Poets Reviewed in Latest Warwick Review

In these exiguous times for poetry reviewing when many major collections go unreviewed it is always nice to get good review coverage and two of the new 2013 Rack Press pamphlets, by Ian Pople and Susan Grindley [you can order both of these here] are warmly reviewed in the latest Warwick Review No 2, June 2013.  In addition to these two we published this year Rosalind Hudis's Terra Ignota and Ian Parks's The Cavafy Variations and also, this month, David Harsent's Songs from the Same Earth all of which are available for purchase here and have received a very good reception.

Ian Parks's Cavafy – a Poetry Book Society Choice

The Summer Bulletin of the Poetry Book Society has arrived and in it Ian Parks' Rack Press title, The Cavafy Variations, which is a PBS Summer Pamphlet Choice, is reviewed.  The anonymous reviewer says that Ian has "a fine ear for underplayed vowel music, and knows how to keep a line rhythmically taut" and makes some very interesting and perceptive comparisons with the work of other translators.  An excellent review of an excellent pamphlet which can be ordered here now.

You can join the Poetry Book Society by visiting their website www.poetrybooks.co.uk