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Fuse: New and Selected Works
We must have a chance to bear witness to our reality and to allow others the chance to paint it, act it, feel it, sing it, be it""-Nicky Wire, from the Introduction. Patrick Jones is a promising, young Welsh poet and playwright. This collection includes two of his plays and a generous selection of new and selected poetry. The two plays are Everything Must Go and Unprotected Sex.
- GenresPoetry
258 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Jones
7 books17 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Born in Tredegar in 1965, Patrick Jones was educated at Oakdale Comprehensive, Crosskeys College (a campus of Coleg Gwent), and then at the University of Wales, Swansea from 1983-1987. He was awarded BA (Hons) in Sociology and American Literature. Jones has been employed in youth work, nursing aid, as a Literacy Officer and a Lecturer. He has lived much of his life in Blackwood, but has also lived in Herne Bay, Swansea, in Germany and spent four years in Chicago, Illinois.
Jones set up the Blackwood Young Writers Group based at the Blackwood Miners Institute in 1993. He currently teaches Adult Literacy at Blackwood Community College and the Ebbw Vale Institute. Jones is also active in setting up various reading and writing workshops throughout Wales from schools to youth centres. He has also served as the Creative Literacy Worker for the Cynon Project and in 1988 was writer in residence at Swansea College.
Jones has made various television and radio appearances. He participated in a week-long intensive writing masterclass with Arnold Wesker at Hay on Wye Literature Festival in 1997. Jones participated in the 1998 Dysfluency Tour and the 1998 and 1999 Manic Street Preacher conventions. He also appeared in BBC Two's Manics documentary 'From There To Here', part of the 'Close Up' series. In April 1999, he staged a Kosovo benefit at Blackwood Miner's Institute involving Max Boyce, James Dean Bradfield and other artists. Later that year he read from and discussed sections of his play 'Everything Must Go' at Marxism '99. 1999 also saw him performing his poem 'The Guerrilla Tapestry' at the opening of the Welsh Assembly 'Voices Of A Nation' concert. In 2004, he returned to the Hay On Wye Festival for a discussion with James Dean Bradfield on music, politics and writing.
Jones has worked with St. David's Foundation Hospice Care, The Samaritans, Hope and Aid Direct and Learning through Growth in the Cynon Valley. Recently, he completed the Beneath The Radar poetry reading tour in Wales and Ireland. Has been involved in many protests including Save St David's Woods, and Justice for Fathers. In 2007 he performed a reading at a fundraising concert for Stop The War, during which he also collaborated with Newport band New State Radio.
Jones' latest play, Revelation will be presented by faction collective - this harrowing and provocative piece explores the issue of male victims of domestic violence. Jones spent months researching the play and is based on over 40 interviews with men who have experienced domestic violence- it tells their stories it confronts this hidden issue.
It is supported by the Dyn Project Cardiff, Mankind UK, Chapter Arts Centre and the Welsh Arts Council. It is to be directed by Chris Durnall with Nathan Sussex and Stacey Daly and it will feature a soundtrack by Jones' friend and collaborator, James Dean Bradfield. It will open at Chapter Arts Centre in July 2008 before transferring to a three week run at the Courtyard Theatre in London as well as other, non-theatre venues.
In November 2008, Waterstone's cancelled an appearance from Jones at one of their stores, where he was expected to sign autographs and promote his new work, because of a planned protest by a religious pressure group over alleged blasphemy.[1] In an effort to ensure that he was not gagged, Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Peter Black then asked Jones to read from his book, Darkness Is Where The Stars Are, at the Welsh Assembly, and the reading went ahead on December 11th despite protests. [2] A CD Tongues for a Stammering Time, with spoken word in collaboration with many musicians including Nicky Wire, James Dean Bradfield, Billy Bragg, Amy Wadge, Martyn Joseph and others, was released on Anhrefn Records in May 2009.
Born in Tredegar in 1965, Patrick Jones was educated at Oakdale Comprehensive, Crosskeys College (a campus of Coleg Gwent), and then at the University of Wales, Swansea from 1983-1987. He was awarded BA (Hons) in Sociology and American Literature. Jones has been employed in youth work, nursing aid, as a Literacy Officer and a Lecturer. He has lived much of his life in Blackwood, but has also lived in Herne Bay, Swansea, in Germany and spent four years in Chicago, Illinois.
Jones set up the Blackwood Young Writers Group based at the Blackwood Miners Institute in 1993. He currently teaches Adult Literacy at Blackwood Community College and the Ebbw Vale Institute. Jones is also active in setting up various reading and writing workshops throughout Wales from schools to youth centres. He has also served as the Creative Literacy Worker for the Cynon Project and in 1988 was writer in residence at Swansea College.
Jones has made various television and radio appearances. He participated in a week-long intensive writing masterclass with Arnold Wesker at Hay on Wye Literature Festival in 1997. Jones participated in the 1998 Dysfluency Tour and the 1998 and 1999 Manic Street Preacher conventions. He also appeared in BBC Two's Manics documentary 'From There To Here', part of the 'Close Up' series. In April 1999, he staged a Kosovo benefit at Blackwood Miner's Institute involving Max Boyce, James Dean Bradfield and other artists. Later that year he read from and discussed sections of his play 'Everything Must Go' at Marxism '99. 1999 also saw him performing his poem 'The Guerrilla Tapestry' at the opening of the Welsh Assembly 'Voices Of A Nation' concert. In 2004, he returned to the Hay On Wye Festival for a discussion with James Dean Bradfield on music, politics and writing.
Jones has worked with St. David's Foundation Hospice Care, The Samaritans, Hope and Aid Direct and Learning through Growth in the Cynon Valley. Recently, he completed the Beneath The Radar poetry reading tour in Wales and Ireland. Has been involved in many protests including Save St David's Woods, and Justice for Fathers. In 2007 he performed a reading at a fundraising concert for Stop The War, during which he also collaborated with Newport band New State Radio.
Jones' latest play, Revelation will be presented by faction collective - this harrowing and provocative piece explores the issue of male victims of domestic violence. Jones spent months researching the play and is based on over 40 interviews with men who have experienced domestic violence- it tells their stories it confronts this hidden issue.
It is supported by the Dyn Project Cardiff, Mankind UK, Chapter Arts Centre and the Welsh Arts Council. It is to be directed by Chris Durnall with Nathan Sussex and Stacey Daly and it will feature a soundtrack by Jones' friend and collaborator, James Dean Bradfield. It will open at Chapter Arts Centre in July 2008 before transferring to a three week run at the Courtyard Theatre in London as well as other, non-theatre venues.
In November 2008, Waterstone's cancelled an appearance from Jones at one of their stores, where he was expected to sign autographs and promote his new work, because of a planned protest by a religious pressure group over alleged blasphemy.[1] In an effort to ensure that he was not gagged, Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Peter Black then asked Jones to read from his book, Darkness Is Where The Stars Are, at the Welsh Assembly, and the reading went ahead on December 11th despite protests. [2] A CD Tongues for a Stammering Time, with spoken word in collaboration with many musicians including Nicky Wire, James Dean Bradfield, Billy Bragg, Amy Wadge, Martyn Joseph and others, was released on Anhrefn Records in May 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 18, 2013
Breathtaking!
March 13, 2018
Patrick is an amazing poet his poems cover so many subjects and he doesn’t hold back. The plays are also great and you can relate to the characters
March 4, 2024
Patrick Jones doesn’t just deserve to be more well known. He deserves to be regarded as the greatest poet of his generation.
If that hasn’t caught your attention, let me try another tactic: Patrick Jones is the brother of Nicky Wire from Manic Street Preachers.
Yup, there’s nothing like a bullshit namedrop marketing ploy to make people sit up and take notice.
(Having said that, the Manics will mean nothing to most Americans, who make up the majority on Goodreads. Things could have been very different if Richey Edwards hadn’t disappeared – just a year after Kurt Cobain’s death – the day that the band was due to tour the States, but I digress.)
I vividly remember reading the title poem from Jones’ first poetry collection The Guerilla Tapestry in the latter half of the 1990s. It ab.so.lute.ly blew.me.away. It was almost like I was reading the Howl for my generation. And I still believe it still stands up as one of the greatest poems ever written.
Long before I (as a poet) was writing about things like anti-consumerism, the bullshit system, social justice, political lies, poverty and alienation, I was reading Jones’ words on such subjects. In fact, I remember that – having previously written poetry mostly about my mental health and then getting to a stage where my mental health was better and feeling like I wanted to write about social and political issues but didn’t know how – I wrote a (crap) poem, in my mid-twenties, titled I Wish I Could Write Like Patrick Jones. (I couldn’t.)
But it wasn’t until I wrote the poem Propaganda Monkeys – which was partially inspired by Jones’ work – that my change in poetic topics (and style) succeeded and took me to a new level of confident and creative output.
But it’s not just Jones’ subject matters that appeal to me (and he writes on a wide variety of topics, so I don’t mean to pigeonhole him). His distinct style and unique voice also inspire me to lofty glory heights.
Yes, this review is more about me than it is about Patrick Jones’ work. But there’s little point in me telling you more, as the best way to find out if you agree with me regarding Jones’ brilliance is to simply read (or hear) his poetry for yourself.
This book is a good place to start. It includes the poem The Guerilla Tapestry and other poems from that first collection, as well as selections from his phenomenal Mute Communication book of poetry (what a title!), his collection The Protest of Discipline, and new poems (at the time of publication). It also includes his exceptional play Everything Must Go (which made me cry) and the follow-up Unprotected Sex.
Jones is a ranter, a rebel and a real nice guy. He’s an empathic truth seeker. A man who wants a better world. A man who understands the everyday pain and suffering. And his words flow like the blood from a deep self-harm cut.
Everything Must Go. Except Patrick Jones.
The Guerilla Tapestry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eak_D...
If that hasn’t caught your attention, let me try another tactic: Patrick Jones is the brother of Nicky Wire from Manic Street Preachers.
Yup, there’s nothing like a bullshit namedrop marketing ploy to make people sit up and take notice.
(Having said that, the Manics will mean nothing to most Americans, who make up the majority on Goodreads. Things could have been very different if Richey Edwards hadn’t disappeared – just a year after Kurt Cobain’s death – the day that the band was due to tour the States, but I digress.)
I vividly remember reading the title poem from Jones’ first poetry collection The Guerilla Tapestry in the latter half of the 1990s. It ab.so.lute.ly blew.me.away. It was almost like I was reading the Howl for my generation. And I still believe it still stands up as one of the greatest poems ever written.
Long before I (as a poet) was writing about things like anti-consumerism, the bullshit system, social justice, political lies, poverty and alienation, I was reading Jones’ words on such subjects. In fact, I remember that – having previously written poetry mostly about my mental health and then getting to a stage where my mental health was better and feeling like I wanted to write about social and political issues but didn’t know how – I wrote a (crap) poem, in my mid-twenties, titled I Wish I Could Write Like Patrick Jones. (I couldn’t.)
But it wasn’t until I wrote the poem Propaganda Monkeys – which was partially inspired by Jones’ work – that my change in poetic topics (and style) succeeded and took me to a new level of confident and creative output.
But it’s not just Jones’ subject matters that appeal to me (and he writes on a wide variety of topics, so I don’t mean to pigeonhole him). His distinct style and unique voice also inspire me to lofty glory heights.
Yes, this review is more about me than it is about Patrick Jones’ work. But there’s little point in me telling you more, as the best way to find out if you agree with me regarding Jones’ brilliance is to simply read (or hear) his poetry for yourself.
This book is a good place to start. It includes the poem The Guerilla Tapestry and other poems from that first collection, as well as selections from his phenomenal Mute Communication book of poetry (what a title!), his collection The Protest of Discipline, and new poems (at the time of publication). It also includes his exceptional play Everything Must Go (which made me cry) and the follow-up Unprotected Sex.
Jones is a ranter, a rebel and a real nice guy. He’s an empathic truth seeker. A man who wants a better world. A man who understands the everyday pain and suffering. And his words flow like the blood from a deep self-harm cut.
Everything Must Go. Except Patrick Jones.
The Guerilla Tapestry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eak_D...
April 30, 2025
Amazing, poems and the two plays.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews