Another Last Word

Here’s my new collection, Another Last Word, a chapbook published by The Red Ceilings Press. A limited edition of 40 numbered copies. Thanks to Mark Cobley.

‘I never thought you were going to start making poetry out of your own hopelessness’ – Gillian Yates

‘I laughed out loud as well as now and then wincing. Individually they’re like when some cartoons become art, like ‘Lost Consonants’ in the Guardian, but they’re even more than that altogether, the way the poems work with each other. I could see you reading them in Dictionary Corner on Eight Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown, though you’d have to win X Factor first, to be invited on’ – Peter Sansom

6 poems on M58

I have six new poems on M58, some of which will appear in my forthcoming collection Another Last Word. Thanks to Andrew Taylor.

New poems on Litter

Great to have five new poems on Litter. They’re from my new collection, which is due out in a few days. Thanks to Alan Baker

New Review of Birmingham Canal Navigation

I’ve just come across another review of Birmingham Canal Navigation on Sphinx. It’s written by Matthew Paul, and you can find it here. Entitled ‘The Iruption of Memory, it begins: ‘As Roy Fisher had Birmingham River, so Cliff Yates has Birmingham Canal Navigation, a Sinclairesque, psychogeographical peregrination around the city of his birth and upbringing, and nearby Coventry…’

Sphinx review of Birmingham Canal Navigation

I just came across this review on Sphinx, of my new collection Birmingham Canal Navigation. Thanks to Ramona Herdman, and to Happenstance Press. The review begins: ‘These poems feel real to me. I believe in their Birmingham. I believe in Luke and the frisbee. I don’t care whether everything really happened exactly as set down…’ 

North 65 Featured Title

Pleased to say that my new collection Birmingham Canal Navigation is the Featured Title in the latest issue of the North. Thanks to Peter and Ann Sansom.

Temple Street

Great to have a poem, ‘Temple Street’, from my new collection, on One Hand Clapping today. Thanks to Alan Humm.

Review of Birmingham Canal Navigation on Litter

There’s a reveiw of my new collection, Birmingham Canal Navigation, up on Litter magazine today. Thanks to Alan Baker.

Birmingham Canal Navigation

Here’s my new collection of poems, Birmingham Canal Navigation, a pamphlet published by Knives Forks & Spoons Press. Thanks to Alec Newman. In some ways it’s my most cohesive collection, with the Birmingham connection running through. And thanks to Scott Thurston for the blurb: ‘If Roy Fisher famously said “Birmingham’s what I think with”, Cliff Yates would probably say “Birmingham’s who I eat with”. These lucid and nimble poems effortlessly thread in and out of the quotidian, always alert to the transformative power of the everyday seen clearly. History is here too, but faced lightly, alongside tributes to key influences like Fisher, O’Hara, Raworth, Sheppard. Yates’s art is a fully embodied one (look out for the hilarious Tai Chi Sprout Stalk Form!) which moves – exuding a wry, wise vitality entirely its own’ – Scott Thurston

Table 9: New Poem in One Hand Clapping

Great to have a new poem, ‘Table 9’, on One Hand Clapping in good company. Thanks to Alan Humm. ‘Table 9’ will appear in my new pamphlet from Knives Forks and Spoons Press, which is due out this autumn. The Kanteen isn’t a spelling mistake, it’s a cafe in the Birmingham’s Custard Factory.