– Reviewed by Angela Topping – I first encountered Hershman’s work as a short story writer published by Salt. She has now extended into poetry: Nothing Here is Wild, Everything is Open was published through the Fool for Poetry chapbook competition, and was a runner-up in this year’s Saboteur Awards. It’s an elegant 20-poem pamphlet, which I have…
– Reviewed by Grant Tarbard – Kate Garrett, born in Ohio, has lived most of her adult life as a bona fide Sheffield person. Her mythological and folkloric Three Drops from a Cauldron makes the gold standard of poetry ezines, and this is her base point for her own poetry: she sees fairy tales in yoga mats, myths in loneliness, and…
– Reviewed by Bethany W. Pope – [Photograph of the work by Matt Widgery] Abi Palmer’s Alchemy was the winner of this year’s Saboteur Awards’ ‘Wildcard’ category – and with good reason. Though this project is better described as a poetry experience than any sort of collection (there are only four poems included and they…
-Reviewed by Sarah Gonnet– Karen Little writes characters with a surface oddness. Whether they are floridly psychotic or merely displaying a level of everyday delusions and compulsions of creativity; they are all unusual and unique. As the book goes on it becomes easier to absorb the deeper psychological movements that the characters have as well…
-Reviewed by Richard T. Watson– Two of the short stories in Jan Carson’s collection Children’s Children serve as handy examples of the two different styles at work in the book as a whole. On the one hand, there’s ‘How They Were Sitting When Their Wings Fell Off’, the story of two shared lives interrupted by…
After over a 4000 votes, these are our winner! Scroll down for a break-down of each category, including runner ups. Saboteur Awards Winners 2016 Best Collaborative Work: Fool’s World – A Tarot by Tom de Freston and Helen Ivory Best Anthology: Being Dad: Short Stories about Fatherhood (Tangent Books) Best Spoken Word Performer: Emily Harrison Best Poetry Pamphlet: Border…
– Reviewed by Grant Tarbard – I am writing this review in the corpse of the night, so let’s rip through it: Yvonne Reddick’s recent research focuses on British environmental poetry, working on a book-length study of Ted Hughes from an environmental perspective. Deerhart is filled to the gills with rock pools, life in miniature, rutting stags, and the…
Sophie Fenella was the winner of our inaugural Dynamite commission and will be performing her poetry installation ‘The Archive’ at the Saboteur Awards, along with Antosh Wojcik. We asked her a few questions about what to expect on the night. How did your idea for the ‘The Archive’ come about? Were there any particular influences?…
Here is our final spotlight, last but not least! If you haven’t voted yet, be sure to do so soon as voting closes on 24th May. There are still a handful of tickets left for the awards on 27th May. Find out more on our partner website. Alice – Ekphrasis at the British Library, ed.…
We’re getting to the end of these spotlights, if the information below doesn’t make you want to book tickets to see them live, I don’t know what will! Remember to book tickets to the awards! Cult Friction by Sophia Walker An excuse for even more pizza. At this rate, I am going to become pizza.…