Imminent 7 folded

 IMMINENT Issue 7 is folded and creased and being posted to readers.

The very first issue of IMMINENT reflected on the material, including the paper that the zine itself is printed on, as you hold it in your hand. It set the tone for how I have thought about every issue, and with number 7 I'm carrying on exploring thoughts about paper and the link between the conceptual and the tangible.

Thanks to poems by Phil Hall, Deborah Tyler-Bennett, Peter Dent and Mark Goodwin, paper and folding are referenced in different ways. Some of the poems link paper to the natural world and phenomena. I've been playing with folding and origami myself for some time, which I have linked to the gifts of nature and (through the hand-made) the idea of people hand-working with material, bringing one closer to the connection with the material world, which I feel becomes more and more important to sustain. As a result, the first 30 orders of Issue 7 will receive a miniature, hand-folded gift from me.

I've also included a poem by JC Niala that made me think about paper maps, and the relationship between enclosures on the land and colonial map-making. JC has travelled to over 45 countries and lived in 3 continents, gathering stories and performing poetry. Her work Fences is beautifully crafted to consider the cultural differences in thinking about land.

 

Phil Hall has contributed an extract from his book The Ash Bell, described as a long poem sequence: anthems, letters, journals and aubades; ruminations, cloisters and promises; ogres and custodians.

Mark Goodwin's latest chapbooks are: to 'B' nor as 'tree', published by intergraphia; Of Gone Fox, published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press, and you can read his short essay on poetics and place just published on Briefly Write.

Deborah Tyler-Bennett promotes poetry nights most months at The Needle and Pin in Loughborough, presenting readings by a wide range of poets in a relaxed small venue, which has included me reading from IMMINENT and I hope to do so again.

Peter Dent sends me his work on paper. They arrive in the post, typed and hand-signed, often accompanied by a hand-written letter. Correspondence by Royal Mail is a lovely process when putting together an issue that thinks about paper and the tangible.

As I read the issue page by page, links occur between poems and artworks, and I become aware of the page turning in my hand, and the central fold. I hope you will enjoy the experience too.

You can order IMMINENT Issue 7 from my shop page, and the first 30 orders will receive a hand-folded gift from me. Thank you for your support.

Events imminent

I'm currently preparing the next Issue of IMMINENT to start posting out in May, which is exciting, and there's some great events by artist friends and poets coming up which could interest you. 

Image by Saintly Amok

IMMINENT contributor Saintly Amok is holding a Seed Sankalpa at Primary in Nottingham, on Sunday April 30th. Described as a seed planting workshop and Intention Ritual, the gathering takes inspiration from ceremonies carried out by rural farming communities to honour the land and bless seeds and tools for the coming season of cultivation. I've really enjoyed working with Saintly over the years, and her ritual / meditative workshops are beautifully calming and contemplative experiences. The workshop is free to attend but you need to book. Read more here.

The wonderful Carlisle Poetry Symposium is due to take place on 13th May. This annual event includes free workshops, speakers and poetry readings, open mic and a book table, with a range of poetry books and pamphlets available (including IMMINENT). The Symposium is a generous event, with all sales going directly to the poets to support their work. Read more here.

Do attend an event to support the artists and poets if you can, and if you would like to support IMMINENT you can buy or subscribe on the Shop page at this link.

Thank you.

Of Light: A Celebration of the Poetry of Robert Hogg

Robert Hogg (Source: Facebook Profile)

Another reading of poetry in memory of poet and scholar Robert Hogg will take place on 27th April at Carleton University, Ottawa, where Robert used to teach. Guest speakers will read poems from Robert’s 56+ year publishing career to celebrate his life and poetry.

Speakers include IMMINENT contributors Chris Turnbull and Phil Hall (Phil's poetry will appear in Issue 7 coming out next month), as well as Jennifer Baker, Natalie Hanna, Rob McLennan and Collet Tracey. Read more about this event and the speakers.

Robert Hogg and I collaborated to make issue 5 of IMMINENT, which was published in his final year, 2022. You can read more about Issue 5 What the Tide Does: Port Mann Bridge in my previous blog post.

One of Robert's colleagues at Carleton, Cameron Anstee, wrote a wonderful post about Robert and his poetry at this link. The final photo of Robert illustrates exactly how I think of him: funny, intelligent, kind and open.

Robert Hogg 1942-2022

It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Robert Hogg last November.

Robert contributed to Imminent a number of times and we collaborated from a distance to create Issue 5 What the Tide Does: Port Mann Bridge which came out last May.

The issue published Robert's poem that he wrote in 1964 at the beginning of his career, with my images and Afterword created in response to the poem. The issue now seems to contain the sense of the span of his whole career.

I never met Robert in real life, who I knew as Bob. Our correspondence floated between Canada and England, frequent emails which showed Bob to be humorous, generous and stoic. He was always encouraging and championing other poets, as well as genuinely interested in my work. He often asked me about my process and how I formulated ideas, which challenged me to describe in words my visual and often abstract way of thinking.

Phil Hall, who is also an Imminent contributor, has alerted me to an evening of readings on 12th February in memory of Bob Hogg taking place in Vancouver. If you are near that part of the world, please do consider going along.

Thank you, Bob, for all that you did.

 

An evening of poetry & prose at the Needle & Pin

I'm delighted to have been invited to read from Imminent at the next Needle and Pin poetry night on Tuesday 7th February at 7pm at Needle and Pin (micro-pub), The Rushes, Loughborough.  Hosted by Deborah Tyler-Bennett.

The evening also features poets from the East Midlands anthology Where We Live (by Angela Reddaway, Helen Sadler, Liz Nash and Jill Simpson).

There will be an Open Mic and book table.
So do come along and feel free to pass the date on to your poetry friends.

The poetry night is a regular event at Needle & Pin, organised by Deborah Tylet-Bennett, who is planning more exciting poetry this year including from Andy Croft, North East poet and editor in chief of Smokestack Press.

Time and Tide, Poetry and Place

 I'll be reading at two events in the next few weeks in Leicestershire with some brilliant artists and poets.

Time and Tide will take place on Friday 27th January at Leicester Print Workshop in Leicester's Cultural Quarter.

With Imminent contributor, artist Saintly Amok, we will present a live reading, followed by unfolding conversation exploring the themes of the latest 'Red Hot' issue of the zine, with a focus on the concept of tidal phenomena in the context of climate change. 

Saintly Amok's Red Tide print exhibited is in the current LPW members show, and copies of the zine will be available to purchase on the night. You can read more about Red Tide by clicking here.

I have known Saintly (aka Mita Solanky) for years and our work share many interests. We have often walked together in the Charnwood Forest and found new connections in our creative thinking each time. Saintly's work seeks to create a reconnection with 'nature' and the current human condition. In common with my work, her work spans multiple disciplines, drawing from her own personal embodied practices of yoga and meditation and influences from nature-based social and spiritual practice. Mita has an academic background in Particle Physics, and her art practice is a further exploration of understanding the human condition. I have always found her work to be beautifully sensitive to the nature of material, and she is deeply thoughtful and articulate about her concerns.

On Tuesday 7th February from 7pm I'll be at The Needle and Pin in Loughborough, along with poets Deborah Tyler-Bennett and Jill Simpson. There will be poetry readings by me from Imminent, by Deborah, who organises the poetry nights, and from Jill who will be reading from her anthology. The common thread that links Imminent and Jill's work seems to be about place; Jill's anthology is set in Leicestershire with many images of place and ecology, which chimes with themes within Imminent.  It will be interesting to see how our readings weave together. 

I was delighted when Deborah, who has regularly contributed to Imminent, asked me to take part. Deborah and I have crossed paths many times over many years in various creative projects and it will be great to catch up with her again. Deborah is a brilliant poet and fiction writer, deeply empathetic, with a subtle sense of humour that I love and a very distinctive style. Jill I don't know yet, but as Deborah's choice I'm sure she will be just as interesting and can't wait to meet her!

Both events are free and no need to book. I hope I might see you there.

 

Imminent 6 red hot

It's Autumn and Imminent 6 has arrived.

As the seasons turn red, we remember the heat of the summer months, wild fires and record temperatures, and welcome the coolness amongst the autumnal colours. Imminent 6 has a feeling of time passing, colours fading, changing light, and the knowledge embedded within the grains of a piece of wood or in the connections of an ecosystem.

Imminent 6 is printed in red, with images by me and Saintly Amok, and poetry by contributors from both sides of the North Atlantic once again.

 

Chris Turnbull's notes from recently respond to the lifelong knowledge of a Greek beekeeper. The poems take their own shape, working visually across and between pages as much as through the words. Chris has a fascinating ongoing project, rout/e: poetry found in place, which you can visit at this link.

Rupert M Loydell's An Interpretation Beyond Understanding inspired my own writing. I placed his poem in the centre pages where, in my imagination, it acts as an anchor around which the other pages circle. I thought about the understanding in our own bodies, and wrote a piece with Saintly Amok in response to the way she understood the knowledge contained in her woodblock. 

You can read more of Rupert M Loydell's work in 2 free ebooks: Answers That Theory Does Not Allow and From Dipstick Apocalypse. Rupert also edits Stride magazine. 

Saintly Amok is holding a sharing knowledge event as part of her residency at New Art Exchange, Nottingham, on 1st December: An Infinite Gift, Seed Sharing Event.

Andrew Taylor and Mark Goodwin close the issue with writing that draws us into the next season but brings with us the memories of what has just gone. Andrew has a new book out with Leafe Press, Northangerland. Mark's latest chapbook, to 'B' nor as 'tree', is just out with intergraphia books.

I hope you enjoy the warmth of this issue.

You can buy red Imminent 6, and past issues, online from the Shop page of this blog. Thank you.