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| James Byrne introducing |
An excellent launch of The
Sheppard Companion, thanks to the editors James Byrne and Christopher
Madden, Bluecoat, Bryan Biggs, Edge Hill, Paul Ward, and the participants.
‘Mayan Thoughts at Brighton’ (for Lee Harwood, a number of old friends of Lee in the audience), from 'The English Strain'.
‘Accordion Book 2’ (in the book (but also here) https://www.adjacentpineapple.com/robert-sheppard-1
‘Sound on the Lip of Silence': from the photographs of Trev Eales: Three female artists: St Vincent, Debbie Harry, and Patti Smith.
; you can even read it by zooming in on the photo!)
I helped by reading a few poems to show what I’m up to now.
I read
‘Poem’ (which will appear in my next book, Micro Event Space)
‘Mayan Thoughts at Brighton’ (for Lee Harwood, a number of old friends of Lee in the audience), from 'The English Strain'.
‘Accordion Book 2’ (in the book (but also here) https://www.adjacentpineapple.com/robert-sheppard-1
‘Sound on the Lip of Silence': from the photographs of Trev Eales: Three female artists: St Vincent, Debbie Harry, and Patti Smith.
Empty Diary 2018 (which now appears on Blazevox; see here).
Then onto parts of ‘The English Strain’: 4 from the book and
2 unpublished to finish. Here I am finding them in the book!
Links to a number of the published poems from Non Disclosure Agreement (the last part
of the proposed book of The English
Strain from which I read that night) may be accessed here:
I write about my sonnets generally here,
and here
and see here
and here for more on my Petrarch
obsession, which ‘The English Strain’ project into motion. (See Tom Jenks below, trying to unfold the literal mysteries of the Crater Press publication of Petrarch 3.)
There followed a long discussion of my work with Scott Thurston,
Tom Jenks, and Ailsa Cox, moderated by Chris Madden.
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| The discussion: Chris, Ailsa, Scott and Tom |
After a well-deserved break, the audience heard brief
readings from Scott Thurston, Joanne Ashcroft, Patricia Farrell (more Ivalyo poems (see here), Tom Jenks and Chris McCabe (he
read the Belevedere poem:
; you can even read it by zooming in on the photo!)
Published by Shearsman, the ‘Companion’ is edited by Christopher
Madden and James Byrne, who hosted this launch.
Supported by Edge
Hill University.
Thank you, thank you everybody!
*
The book itself (James Byrne and Christopher Madden (eds.)
– The Robert Sheppard Companion) is
published May 2019. Paperback, 9 x 6 ins, 296pp, £16.95 / $27.50
ISBN 9781848616257
A substantial review of Robert Sheppard’s career to date,
this volume includes critical writings and appreciations by Joanne Ashcroft,
Charles Bernstein, James Byrne, Ailsa Cox, Nikolai Duffy, Patricia Farrell,
Allen Fisher, Robert Hampson, Alison Mark, Christopher Madden, Adam Hampton,
Tom Jenks, Mark Scroggins, Zoë Skoulding, Scott Thurston; plus a roundtable
featuring Gilbert Adair, Adrian Clarke, Alan Halsey, Chris McCabe, Geraldine
Monk and Sandeep Parmar. Plus new work by Sheppard.
You may order it here now:
Or navigate through the Shearsman website: https://www.shearsman.com
There’s more information (and links) on the symposium and
exhibition in 2017 that fed into the book on my blog here:
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| Tom Jenks struggling with a copy of my Petrarch 3 (Crater Press) |
