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Hello and welcome …

… to the first issue of An Illustrated Guide to the Ruins. I’m excited to be getting started! If you haven’t already read it, you’ll find more about what I’m hoping for The Ruins over on my blog – not least, why this particular name. There’s a range of things planned for the coming months. But to begin …

Behind the net

When the haar burns off, I’m making the most of east coast Scotland’s summer, trying to be outside as much as possible, (dodging) reflections on my laptop. I find writing outside is much easier using pen and paper. And I’ve just started a new notebook. Being something of a stationery addict, it’s always a thrill to open a new one and see a clean first page. I have a fetish for large Moleskine journals with dark blue soft covers with blank pages. They’re light enough to carry easily, large enough to scrawl over as I write in different directions. I use them for morning pages (not quite a daily practice for me), for first drafts, and for planning and mapping …

From the reading pile

I’ve been enjoying the fun of the book swap recently, exchanging books with fellow poets. It’s one of things I miss from in-person events, a comradely swapping of books rather buying them, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t do the same at virtual events, or on social media.

One such swap, and a real find, has been Serge Ψ Neptune’s pamphlet, These queer merboys (Broken Sleep Books). Between the pages of an aquamarine blue cover, an extended metaphor exploring coming out and coming of age, in sensuous and fluid poems. A child comes out as a merman resonated for me. And (with apologies for the terrible photo - this lapsed librarian has issues around breaking the spine of books) look at the ink drawing Serge added to the title page!

I’ve been enjoying sneak previews of some first collections (in proof) from some of the best indy presses around. If you’ve come across the work of Helen Boden, Mary Neal or Georgi Gill you’ll know why I’m excited. More about these closer to their publication dates ...

Events, etc

I’m looking forward to joining an impressive roster of poets (including Charlie Gracie, Damien Donnelly, Hamish MacDonald, Aoife Lyall, Jim Mackintosh & Matthew MC Smith ) supporting Lynn Valentine at the launch of her prize-winning pamphlet in Scots (with English translations), A glimmer o Stars. I loved her a poem about her father driving a snawploo (snowplough), and I found myself welling up when I read The leid o hame / language of home (after Roger Robinson), her moving testimony to why she writes in Scots. The launch promises to be a great evening, and is on Eventbrite on Thursday 24 June, 1900-2100 BST.

Shameless plughole

If you missed my reading with the excellent Rachel Bower during the Stay at home literary festival in April, it’s now available on YouTube.

And this month brought a review of Sweet Anaesthetist by Dilys Rose in ArtemisPoetry 26 (May 2021). “…a fierce cry from the heart, alleviated by witty ruefulness…”

That’s all from me until July. Thanks for reading! Enjoy some (hopefully) summer-appropriate weather in the coming weeks, and let me know if there’s any books you think I should know about, or stationery you can’t live without…

Jay