Ruby Street

At last, the final book of interviews: E-X-C-H-A-N-G-E-V-A-L-U-E-S: The Final XIV Interviews + One contains interviews with Ernesto Priego, Catherine Daly, Karri Kokko, Jill Jones, Javant Biarujia, Barry Schwabsky, Peter Ganick, Joseph Lease, Stephen Vincent, Alan Davies, Noah Eli Gordon, the late Mary Rising Higgins, Jessica Grim, & Tom Mandel, plus more than 100 pages of poetry from the interviewed, much of it new (certainly in my case). The interviewers were Tom Beckett, Bruce Holsapple & John Tritica, Thomas Fink, & Sheila E. Murphy. The + One in the title refers to an interview done especially for this final volume by Nicholas Manning with Tom Beckett, the creator & curator of this important resource for contemporary poetics. My thanks again go to Tom for asking and engaging and to Mark for all the book stuff. I haven't yet received my copy, geographical distances being what they are, but I know it will be good.

I've moved. Hope to settle for at least a little while. Walking to work, which has to be a good thing (ah, but what about Adelaide summers?). Hoping the poem writing fairy alights upon me again. There's some noisy landscaping taking place outside my office, five floors down. I suspect they are building the Adelaide Uni beach, but I could be wrong. Weather is all over the shop. And there are more sirens along North Terrace. That would make sense if they were ambulance sirens, as the hospital is next door, but they are fireys. Been like this for a few days. And spring has sprung, of course. White apple blossoms and the budding of roses.

A new online magazine, Horizon , has just released its first issue. Under the editorship of Jane Holland, it’s a Salt Publishing project and contains a range of poets including Josephine Balmer, Rob Mackenzie, George Szirtes, Alison Brackenbury, Liam Guilar, Katy Evans-Bush, Zoë Brigley and James Midgley. Most of the writers are based in the UK, but not all, hence, a few new poems by my own good self . There’s also fiction, an interview with China Miéville and some reviews and translations. Good mix o' stuff.