The Last Three Poetry Books I Bought

Rob MacKenzie asks ‘What were the last three poetry books you bought?’ so here are my latest purchases:

1. Pillars of Salt by Judy Brown – I liked Judy’s poems so much I published three of them in Magma 34, including Passenger. So I was very pleased to see she’s just published this pamphlet – an absolute steal at £3 (including postage) from Templar Poetry.

2. Scattering Eva by James Sheard – I was cautiously enthusiastic when I reviewed Sheard’s pamphlet ‘Hotel Mastbosch’ in Magma 29; now I’m really enjoying his first full-length collection. Poems that demand (and repay) careful reading. He’s got a pretty good website too, with poems and a blog.

3. Stranded in Subatomica by Tim Turnbull – I didn’t strictly buy this, it was kindly given to me by Tim’s publisher Andy Ching, after I was overheard enthusing about Tim Turnbull in the pub. Magma published the headline poem Stranded in Subatomica in Magma 31, and my first encounter with Tim’s work was hearing his extraordinary reading of the poem at the launch. Very dark and very funny. Watch out for his new stage show, Caligula On Ice, via www.timturnbull.co.uk