John Gallas Poetry

'the greatest New Zealand poet no one has ever heard of' (Spinoff)

poem for November 2019*

* (a very special poet's month : see 'What's Afoot', below)

Love Tanka

I saw Dan Cupid

buzzing round the black birches

near Tapawera.

I asked him what he doth there :

‘Do ye know Nan Spragg ?’ he piped.

                                                      *

What's Afoot ? Top Ten

1. CELEBRATION NO.1 - MY AND BRO'S TRANSLATION OF PETRUS BOREL'S 'RHAPSODIES' HAS BEEN ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION BY CARCANET, AS A 'CARCANET CLASSIC', DUE OUT JANUARY 2021

2. CELEBRATION NO.2 - MY COLLECTION OF 60 LOVE POEMS, 'THE EXTASIE' HAS BEEN ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION BY CARCANET, DUE OUT MAY 2021

3. CELEBRATION NO.3 - MOMA AT MACHYNLLETH HAVE ORGANISED A SHOW/READING (SCREENED) OF MY '18 PAPER RESURRECTIONS' FOR DECEMBER 11, 2019. ONGOING NEGOTIATIONS WITH HINCKLEY LIBRARY AND NUNEATON MUSEUM FOR THE SAME.

4. CELEBRATION NO.4 - THE OXFORD BROOKES UNI JOHN CLARE PROJECT HAS SECURED FUNDING FOR ITS NEXT STAGE, MORE EVENTS, WRITING, WORSHOPS IN STORE.

ORDINARY NEWS NOW ...

5. The 18 'I see dead people' poems wrtiten during my annual stay at Stiwdio Maelor in Mid-Wales (Corris) : undergoing final computerized illustration refinements to be ready for No.3 aBove. All poems and illustrations inspired by church tablets, graveyard memorials - ie. Paper Resurrections.

6. A small find ! William Hoile/Hoyle, Fisherman Poet of Gorleston, Yarmouth : poems discovered and transcribed in Lowestoft Record Office ('The Fishermen's Alphabet', 'Weather Rhymes') - all details sent to John Goodridge for his mighty 'Labouring Poets' volume.

7. 'Here They Come ! 200 Loaded Tankas Delivering Goodness Fresh to Your Doorstep' (collection of 200 tankas) completed. Bunches appearing in STAND and LANDFALL (NZ).

8. 'The Blood Book', a history of my family from 10,000BC, published by Gerolstein Press (NZ) now available : email me at john.gallas@btinternet.com if you'd like a copy/

9.. To complete the Year of 3 Books, 'Mad John's Walk' still available from Five Leaves (www.fiveleaves.co.uk) and '17 Pacific Poems' from Indigo Dreams (www.indigodreams.co.uk)

10. 'The Sloth', from 'The Alphabet of Ugly Animals', to be included in Vaughan Rapatahana's textbook for schoolkids in En Zed. (Complete with Exercises After !)

Complete Book List - we have reached 20 !

Practical Anarchy (Carcanet)
Flying Carpets Over Filbert Street (Carcanet)
Grrrrr (Carcanet)
Resistance is Futile (Carcanet)
The Ballad of Robin Hood and the Deer (Agraphia Press), pictures by Clifford Harper
The Ballad of Santo Caserio (Agraphia Press), pictures by Clifford Harper
The Song Atlas (Carcanet)
Star City (Carcanet)
The Book with Twelve Tales (Carcanet)
Fucking Poets (3 vols) (Cold Hub Press NZ)
40 Lies (Carcanet) pictures by Sarah Kirby
Fresh Air & The Story of Molecule (Carcanet)
52 Euros (Carcanet)

Pacifictions (Cold Hub Press NZ)

The Alphabet of Ugly Animals (Magpie Press)

Mad John's Walk (Five Leaves : Occasional Pamphlets) January 2017

The Little Sublime Comedy (Carcanet) now out

17 Very Pacific Poems (Indigo Dreams) now out

The Extasie (Carcanet) - due out May 2021

Petrus Borel 'Rhapsodies', translated from the French by John & Kurt Gallas (Carcanet Classics) - due out January 2021

Contacts

John Gallas Poetry www.johngallaspoetry.co.uk

Carcanet www.carcanet.co.uk

Carcanet blog www.carcanetblog.blogspot.co.uk

John Gallas Facebook

Cold Hub Press (NZ) www.coldhubpress.co.nz

Five Leaves publishing/bookshop (Mad John's Walk) www.fiveleaves.co.uk

Agraphia / Clifford Harper www.agraphia.co.uk

YouTube (Paterau Sonnent / The Blobfish Sings Under the Sea)

STAND Magazine www.standmagazine.org

Indigo Dreams publishing www.indigodreams.co.uk

Spinoff (NZ) www.thespinoff.co.nz

The John Clare Project www.brookes.ac.uk/the-meeting

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