Interview: Come Rhyme With Me
– interviewed by James Webster – With the Saboteur Awards results to be announced at the Awards Party in just two
Read more– interviewed by James Webster – With the Saboteur Awards results to be announced at the Awards Party in just two
Read more-Reviewed by Rosie Breese- ctrl+alt+del is a magazine that stands out. It’s delightfully compact, neat, and visually interesting, both in
Read more-Reviewed by Rebecca Burns- Fog and Other Stories, a collection of stories by Laury A. Egan, is set mostly in
Read more-Reviewed by David Clarke– Scarborough-based Valley Press is a relative newcomer, first established in 2008, but is quickly building
Read more-Reviewed by Richard T. Watson– In the absence of words and common language, much of human communication happens through non-verbal
Read more-Reviewed by Billy Mills– It has long been my opinion that editor introductions to anthologies should consist of a
Read more-Reviewed by Adrian Slatcher– The stories in Rebecca Burns’ debut collection Catching the Barramundi are primarily focused on the moments of
Read more– interviewed by James Webster – JibbaJabba has been nominated for the Best Regular Spoken Word Night category in this
Read more-Reviewed by David Clarke– The Atlantic liner Titanic, which sank on its maiden voyage in April 1912 with the
Read more1. You’ve just launched 79 rat press as part of the literary exhibition Nothing to Say, can you tell me a little bit more about what inspired both these things?
79 rat press has grown organically out of eight cuts gallery, which I have run since 2010, and under which umbrella I’ve published some wonderful books that have had remarkable critical success for such a tiny outfit, such as Penny Goring’s The Zoom Zoom and Cody James’ The Dead Beat. It also hosts The New Libertines and all sorts of other events.
I think I have become aware though that I can make most of a difference through very sharply focussed, very small events and editions. I also wanted to get back to my original intention with eight cuts gallery of something literary based on a model from the art world. As you probably know, I am obsessed with both Modernism and 20th century art, culminating in the Young British Art movement. Tracey Emin is the biggest influence on my own writing, and what I have felt for a long time is that to get people truly talking about what literature can do, we need more events like art’s Freeze and Sensation, and more figures like Jay Jopling and Nick Serota to push challenging literature into the public consciousness. I think the last time that really happened was in the 60s and 70s when Carmen Callil launched Virago and Lawrence Ferlinghetti brought the Beats to the world through City Lights. I’ve always thought of myself as some kind of very weak shadow of Ferlinghetti, the guy behind the scenes who writes himself but whose pleasure is bringing other people to the world.
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