Mark Ward's Blog

Late, as usual, here’s my favourite poetry collections read during the following dates:

ROUNDUP 10: read between June and December 2023 –

Highly Recomended:
Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan
Shadow in the Closet by Yakov Azriel
Self-Portrait with the Happiness by David Tait
Gravity and Center: Selected Sonnets 1994 – 2022 by Henri Cole
Nothing to Declare by Henri Cole
Romance Options: Love Poems for Today, edited by Leeanne Quinn & Joseph Woods

Roundup Pick: 
Blizzard by Henri Cole

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ROUND UP 11: read between January and June 2024 –

 

Highly Recomended:
Three Dragon Day by David Tait
Boom! by Carolyn Jess-Cooke
Autumn Journal by Louis MacNiece
The Built Moment by Lavinia Greenlaw
Tilt by Jean Sprackland
Hard Water by Jean Sprackland
High Jump as Icarus Story by Gustav Parker Hibbett

Roundup Pick:
Devotion by Mícheál McCann

As is sadly always the case, it’s been a while since I’ve posted (but I’ve been BUSY – my first collection, Nightlight, is finally out in the world and there have been lots of lovely readings and events!), so forgive the lateness. Here are the roundups! Again, these are my favourites of what I read in the given timeframe.

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Poetry Roundup #8: July 2022 – Dec 2022

Highly Recommended:
The Singing Hollow by Diarmuid Fitzgerald (Alba)
The Bare Thing by Len Lukowski (Broken Sleep)
The Islands of Chile by David Nash (fourteenpoems)

Roundup Pick:
Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson (Cape) — (heart-wrenching perfection. I was disappointed in the sequel though)

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Poetry Roundup #9: January 2023 – June 2023

Highly Recommended:
A Thousand Sparks by Diarmuid Fitzgerald (Alba)
The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe (Norton)
A To B by Gerry McGrath (Carcanet)
Island and Atoll by Jane Robinson (Salmon)
Torso by Robert Hamberger (Redbeck)
A Pooka in Arkansas by Ed Madden (Word Works)

Roundup Pick: 
Say, Spirit: Selected Sonnets from Michelangelo Buonarotti, translated in Three Voices by Alex Cocker (Girasol) —(absolutely stunning and essential!)

It’s been a while since I updated, so here are two roundups together and the reading dates they cover:

Poetry Roundup #6: July – Dec 21 
Poetry Roundup #7: Jan – Jun 22

#8, which covers Jul – Dec 22, will be out in Jan 23 (I promise).

It’s been an age since I’ve read some of these, so I’m not going to go into the ins and out of them and just say they’re all excellent and worth your time, in particular the two roundup picks: Love’s Loose Ends by David Tait and Panic Response by John McCullough.

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Poetry Roundup #6: July – Dec 21

Recommended:
Dear Crane / Susan Wicks [Bloodaxe]

Highly Recommended:
Some Lives / Leeanne Quinn [Dedalus]
Keeping Bees / Dimitra Xidous [Dedalus]
Twenty-Six Letters of a New Alphabet / Anne Tannam [Salmon]
The Poison Glen / Annemarie Ni Churreain [Gallery]

ROUNDUP PICK: Love’s Loose Ends / David Tait [Smith|Doorstop]

Special Mention: Queering the Green [in which I am also featured!!] [The Lifeboat]
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Poetry Roundup #7: Jan – June 22

Recommended: C+nto and Othered Poems / Joelle Taylor [Westbourne Press]How He Loved Them / Kevin Prufer [Four Way Books]Pierce the Skin: Selected Poems 1982 – 2007 [FSG]Highly Recommended/ROUNDUP PICK:
Panic Response / John McCullough [Penned in the Margins]Special Mention: 100 Queer Poems / McMillan & Chan [Vintage]

So, in an effort to update this blog more (HA!), I thought I’d move my biannual Poetry Roundups from my now mostly defunct work blog to here. You can view Poetry Roundups 1, 2, 3 and 4 here.

For the uninitiated, I read a lot of poetry books and I point out those I liked and loved over the past six months.

Here we go!

Recommended:

Kayo Chingonyi – Kumukanda [Penguin]
Bhanu Kapil – How to Wash a Heart [Liverpool University Press]
Kit Fraytt – bodyservant [Shearsman]
Jeff Mann – Redneck Bouquet [Lethe Press]
Ella Frears – Shine, Darling [Offord Road Books]
Charlotte Geater – poems for my fbi agent [Bad Betty]
RJ Gibson – Scavenge [Seven Kitchens Press]
Eavan Boland – In Her Own Image [Arlen House]
Ben Kline – Dead Uncles [Driftwood Press]
Gustavo Hernandez – Flower Grand First [Moon Tide Press]

Kayo Chingonyi’s Kumukanda is an excellent first collection with great wit, verve and control. My favourite from the collection was Guide to Proper Mixtape Assembly which opens with the line “The silence between songs can’t be modulated by anything other than held breath”

Bhanu Kapil’s short, but intensely packed, collection How to Wash a Heart was magnificent. Telling the story of an immigrant living in an increasingly unwelcome house, Kapil is a master of craft.

Kit Fryatt’s bodyservant is a lexical conundrum full of seriousness but also puns, word games, allusions and, importantly, laughs. A major work.

Perhaps Jeff Mann’s saddest collection, and almost certainly his best, Redneck Bouquet tells of an aging gay redneck lusting after the men around him to supplement what’s missing in his relationship. Sad, sharply observed and beautifully written.

Ella Frears’ Shine, Darling was wonderful but, for me, it’s the central section Passivity, Electricity, Acclivity – previously published as a pamphlet – that is the absolute hands-down standout.

A book kind of about Twin Peaks? I’m there. And Charlotte Geater’s poems for my fbi agent doesn’t disappoint. Clear, weird and febrile; one to read and re-read.

RJ Gibson’s Scavenge is one of those books that holds you as if it were a pair of hands up against the wall until you’ve finished. Essential.

I’ve been reading Eavan Boland’s collected, In Her Own Image (alongside the previously mentioned Night Feed) is one of my favourites so far.

Full disclosure. I was asked to read and blurb Ben Kline’s Dead Uncles – and both were a joy. Here’s what I said: “When parents dub their friends as Uncles to their child, it sends a message that family can be earned, attributed. But it works both ways. Kline’s Dead Uncles highlights these men, some of whom are related, some not, some of which are cautionary tales used to scare the little ones – these men, dead and dying, the ghosts in the barn, the embodiment of lines being crossed – and some perhaps are just outcast and queer like the narrator’s burgeoning, and terrifying, sexuality in world where swelter // that feels like heaven and hell. We learn the lessons society, religion, and family expect us to from those who came before us, whether we want to or not. Kline’s Dead Uncles is immaculate, vital and febrile, it’s a keening for an adolescence whose shocks are still being reckoned with, and the best thing he’s ever written.”

Finally, in the recommendeds, and as you can guess, I’ve had a hard time keeping some out of the top 4 – Ben and Gus could have easily been in there too! – Gustavo Hernandez’s most, most excellent Flower, Grand, First: a real powerhouse of a first collection showing the depth of his interests and craft in one book.

Highly Recommended:

 

Victoria Kennefick – Eat or We Both Starve [Carcanet]
Nell Regan & James Hadley – A Gap in the Clouds [Dedalus]
Travis Chi Wing Lau – Paring [Finishing Line Press]
Peter Scalpello – Acting Out/Chem and Other Poems [Broken Sleep] – ROUNDUP PICK! 

It was hard to pick just four for this round-up’s Highly Recommended, and even harder to pick a Round-Up Pick. Like, I dithered over it for days.

Victoria Kennefick’s Eat or We Both Starve has been long-awaited. Her 2015 large-format pamphlet White Whale was incredible and this book is just as good, if not better. Intense, funny and full of craft, this is one I will reread for years to come.

Nell Regan & James Hadley’s A Gap in the Clouds is a new translation of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, a standard Japanese text that is so common its not only taught in schools but is a card game too. It’s 100 tanka by 100 poets and Nell and James’ translations are fresh and vibrant. Shoutout to the beautiful book design, incorporating the original Japanese in script form.

Travis Chi Wing Lau’s first chapbook, after his excellent micro-chap The Bonesetter, is out now. Regular readers of this will know that I really respond to excellent craft and throughout Paring, aptly, are poems with such amazing precision and imagery. Essential readings.

So, to the round-up pick. Peter Scalpello’s Acting Out/Chem and Other Poems is a double pamphlet (and his first) and it stuck with me long, long after its reading. Influenced no doubt by his day job in sexual health, it deals with chemsex and queer fragility and these dark, finely wrought, beautiful poems talk about something I’ve never seen talk about – at least not so well as Peter is doing here. Also, the layout of a double-format flipbook, works incredibly well exploring the two sides of the same coin. Absolutely essential. And as is tradition, we end with a poem from the book, this one is from chem & other poems:

pass it on

i don’t know who it was.

from the lapse in time, an interval which
defined, thus a lapse in also judgement,
i could speculate – a set of
clenching shoulders, freckled from burn –

his inner thighs, angled in longing –
the sting of your beard, abrasive unto
my grimacing cheek – a feeling
of presence, motion that declares he is there,
so then i am here , too.

no, i don’t know who it was,

& yet i concede the relevance
of certainty, for are we not cumulative; a seed
surely provoked by proximity, so willingly
invaded, to receive quota of a shared grief?

reciprocal bite made
unique, our cellular rivalry
has domesticated. I ponder you now,
faceless clone- baring mutual insignia,
how to each other we

remain unknown.

So, here we are again, with me not having blogged in six months, so I best do something about that, eh?

Well, it’s been a delightfully busy six months. Since we last spoke I’ve had 13 poems published – including a poem placed in Banshee (!!) and one haiku, with another six or so scheduled to come out over the next while. Special mentions to two forthcoming anthology appearances, in which I have two poems each: the first, Burly Tales: Fairy Tales for the Hirsuit and Hefty Gay Man, includes my very first commissioned work and will be out in February from Lethe Press; secondly, coming in summer 2021 is Hit Points : An Anthology of Video Game Poetry from Broken Sleep Books. You can view the full list of publications here.

Rather exciting in the past few months was that I was officially (I say officially because we knew a few days before Lockdown 1 and then everything ground to a halt) announced as a Poetry Ireland 2020 Introductions poet, which is a massive honour and I was thrilled to bits over it. As well as doing workshops with Vona Groarke, Annemarie Ni Churreain and Jessica Traynor, we did a reading as part of ILF Dublin and had poems published in an anthology of our own. Oh, and they named the anthology after one of my poems! How exciting (You can buy it for 99p here).

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Oh, I did my first ever writing retreat at County Down’s wonderful The River Mill, ran by poet extraordinaire (and chef and host extraordinaire) Paul Maddern. I highly recommend a few days there – and it’s very reasonably priced to! I’ll be going back as soon as I can!

Also, I have been doing readings left, right and centre.
– In June, I read as part of the Trim Poetry Festival, in Cultivating Voices’ Poetry Pride Parade, and I was interviewed on Liffey Sound FM’s Umbrella, where I also read two poems.
– In July, I took part in Cultivating Voices’ New Books Showcase where I performed Blue Boy from Carcass, and I read my poem ‘Withdrawn’ for RTÉ Lyric FM.
– After a brief illness in August, I was back in September with two readings: firstly, I read a new poem, ‘Creation Myth’ on Lyric FM and I took part in the Bray Literary Festival’s round robin event, Four Poets Walk Into a Bar.
– Last month was somehow even busier, taking part in Cultivating Voices’ National Coming Out Day Reading and reading for the Wild and Precious Life Reading Series, as well as reading poems for Poetry Ireland, taking part in the Poetry Ireland Introductions readings in ILF Dublin and finally, reading my spooky poem ‘Sleep Over’ on the Words Lightly Spoken podcast just in time for Halloween.
– As for now, I was thrilled to be on Arena yesterday (17th November) reading my poem ‘A History of Empathy’ and talking with Sean Rocks about my upcoming event for Dublin Book Festival, forthcoming on 3rd Dec (The Queer Body with Seán Hewitt, Liz Quirke and Mark Ward, hosted by Sasha de Buyl) – the event is online and tickets are free. I’ll also be their #AskAnAuthor feature soon, so get your questions for me ready!

Finally, I’ve also recorded poems for The RTÉ Poetry Programme, which will be coming up in a forthcoming episode (in which I’m also interviewed) and I will be taking part in their Christmas episode also! LOTS going on! I shall try and post again before six months has passed (and I will fail, we all know I will)

 

CARCASS is out TODAY!

You can buy your copy, direct from the publisher Seven Kitchens Press.

Here is the info page, and the direct purchase page.

I will also have copies available to purchase (which might make sense if you’re Europe-based, as 7KP is in the US)

FIRSTLY, I will be going live on Facebook at 6pm (GMT) today (18th May 2020) to read a poem or two from the book. You can check it out here.

So, I’ve been doing lots of bits and pieces to promote the book’s release. In our last post, we had a reading of The Great Reduction. Since then, I’ve uploaded an archive recording of me performing the one-act play-in-verse Blue Boy which features in the book. You can watch it here (all the trigger warnings for graphic violence and sexual assault):

Oh, I’ve also added the book to GoodReads here, so if you use that, please add it to your shelves and feel free to leave a review if so inspired!

All last week, I’ve been sharing advance reviews of the book. I made some nice graphics of them (you can see the reviews as just text on the Press page here) which you can see here:

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And, of course, instead of updating this sooner, it has been longer this time.

FIRSTLY, regarding news, I have a new book coming out on the 18th May. A chapbook called CARCASS. Gaze upon its beautiful cover by Inkspiral Design:

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I mean, how beautiful is that?

A dark little book, I’m going to be posting reviews, readings and more over the next few weeks. Today, I put up a reading (my first from an actual hard copy!) of the sci-fi poem, The Great Reduction, featured within.

You can watch that here:

The book can be ordered from Seven Kitchens Press and is a limited edition, so don’t wait! There will also be a virtual launch on the 18th, details tbc.

SECONDLY, this year I had some lovely things happen. First and foremost among them was that I was selected for this year’s Poetry Ireland Introductions Series!

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I was also delighted to receive an Arts Bursary from South Dublin Arts Office as well as being shortlisted for the 2020 Cúirt New Writing Prize, with my poem ‘Home Invasion’

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THIRDLY, I’m delighted to say that since my last update, I’ve had lots of work published.

Poems in Softblow (4 Poems!), Skylight47, Bleached Buterfly, Animal (the title poem from Carcass), Visual Verse (two times), HIV Here + Now, The Honest Ulsterman, and Boyne Berries. I have also been writing quite a bit of poetry in response to (mostly queer) news and, latterly, the Corona virus, with some queer news poems here, here, here, here and here.

FOURTHLY, I have, over the past year or so, been writing haiku and they’re starting to make their way out in the world, with haiku, senryu and sequences published in Eastern Structures, The Bamboo Hut, Better Than Starbucks, What Rough Beast, and some Covid-themed haiku at Pendemic here and here.

Finally, I’ll try and update the blog in a more regular fashion! (ha!)

 

Okay, okay, it’s been less than three months (my usual speed) but I’ve had a lot of news.

FIRSTLY, and biggest of all big news possible, my full-length collection Nightlight has been accepted for publication with Salmon Poetry (!!!!!!!!!)

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It’s coming mid-2022 and I can’t wait for you to read it! I still can’t quite believe it – it’s a dream come true!

SECONDLY,  I’m just back from Iniskeen where I was Highly Commended in this year’s Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award and read at their event. Here’s some pictures from the day:

THIRDLY, my poem ‘Vegas Epithalamion’ was awarded 2nd place in the Bray Literary Festival Competition by judge Nessa O’Mahoney, which is my first time ever being long and shortlisted in a poetry competition, never mind placing! I was on a plane home so sadly couldn’t attend the event.

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FINALLY, I had a blast hosting and reading at Takin the Mic in the Irish Writers Centre this weekend, with me aul mucker BeRn. A good night was had by all!

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P.S. I’ve a new poem out on Tuesday over at Animal Literary Magazine. It’s the title poem from my new chapbook, Carcass. Check it out (when it’s up!)

So, it’s been less than three months (my usual speed at updating this blog) but I have NEWS.

A new chapbook, Carcass, has been accepted for publication by Seven Kitchens Press, as part of their Editor’s Series. Expect it Spring 2020.

No cover yet, but I thought I’d share the news! Carcass is weird and dark and I can’t wait for you all to read it. (Oh, and this isn’t the sequel to Circumference, which is still in progress, but nowhere near complete).

YAY!

or, again, adventures in how this blog never gets updated in a timely fashion.

So – what’s happened since January? Well, lots!

Firstly, I was one of the winners/published poems in the February 2019 Hennessy New Irish Writing, featured and published in The Irish Times here. The sheer number of people that read the Times is staggering and so many people who never spoke to me about poetry said “Oh, I read your poem in the Times!”. It was lovely.

In other news, I had a good few poems published, which is wonderful!

– Circadian in Visual Verse in January

– Ellipsis in Panning for Poems in February (part of PoetryNI)

– College Roommate in The Ekphrastic Review in February

– Bus in Boyne Berries #25 in March (print only, also attended and read at the launch!)

– Discord in HIV Here + Now in April

– 2 Poems in the Wussy #6 (print only) in April

– Apologia in Cordite #91 in May

I’ve also been lucky enough to be featured in some anthologies also, most notable was Raymond Luczak’s Lovejets: Queer Male Poets on 200 Years of Walt Whitman, in which I had two poems, one an homage to Thom Gunn and one to John Wieners.

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In other news I’ve completed my yearlong (Sep 18 – May 19) mentorship with Nell Regan under Words Ireland’s National Mentorship Scheme which was wonderful, revelatory and thoroughly essential – it changed and deepened my writing in lots of wonderful ways I didn’t expect, and Nell was a wonderful mentor.

Also, after a year of work, and having worked on it at length in the mentorship, I have finished my first full-length collection, Nightlight which I currently have out for consideration with some dream publishers – keep your fingers crossed for me.

Also, the past month or so, I’ve been reading and writing and experimenting with haiku/senryu/tanka etc, which has been very interesting.

Finally, submissions for Issue 6 of Impossible Archetype are open now until 1st August: all LGBTQ+ poets feel free to submit (details here).