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 opens like this: ‘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.
Three poems on Litter
Here are three more poems from my forthcoming pamphlet on the excellent Litter. Thanks to Alan Baker.
New Poems on M58
Good to have three new poems up on M58 today: ‘Collapse’, ‘Science of Painting’, and ‘Black Sabbath Bridge’. They’re from my forthcoming pamphlet with Knives Forks & Spoons Press. Thanks to Andrew Taylor.
Postcards from Malthusia DAY
I have a new poem up on Postcards from Malthusia DAY. Thanks to Bill Herbert and Andy Jackson.
Maharishi School Poetry Success
I’ve added a new page to this website: ‘Maharishi School Poetry Success.’ It gives details of the success of students at Maharishi School in poetry competitions when I taught English there.
