Received The Mattatuck College Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry (1979) newest book, caribu and sister stones, published by Lapwing Press Belfast Northern Ireland
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
new unbound content publications
Friday, November 25, 2011
ruth stone
ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. -- Sad times for poetry lovers and Vermonters alike. Famous writer and former Vermont Poet Laureate Ruth Stone has passed away. She was 96.
Stone wrote poems for decades but it wasn't until she reached her 80s and 90s that she saw success. Now her books are sold in places nationwide, including bookstores in her own state, such as Phoenix Books in Essex Junction.
Monday, November 14, 2011
vox poetica/Contributor Series 10!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
An Achill cottage industry
An Achill cottage industry
BOOKS: Achill Island seems an unlikely base for a Belgian and South Korean book artist duo, yet that’s where Franticham decided to set up. ANDY DEVANE finds out what drew them there
WHEN BELGIAN book artist Francis Van Maele first laid eyes on an abandoned cottage on Achill Island in the mid-1990s, he was entranced. Situated in Dugort village, in the shadow of Slievemore mountain, the cottage was just metres from the Atlantic. In 2005, after becoming the cottage’s owner, he set up home there and established Red Fox Press, a printing studio in which he creates his own limited-edition books.
That same year, while exhibiting at a book fair in Seoul, Van Maele asked if he could sit next to South Korean artist Antic-Ham at a sushi bar. It was to be the beginning of an artistic journey that would shape both their lives and careers. Over the summer the pair created what was to be the first of many books together, Night in Seoul. When it came time to say goodbye, they decided to make collage “diaries of separation” – started by one in Achill and finished by the other in Asia.
That winter they spent a month in London, where they combined romance with an intense artistic collaboration. It was then that they decided to merge their artistic identities and work as one unit, and so Francis and Antic-Ham became Franticham.
Mirroring the visual poetry of her books, Antic-Ham speaks in deep, poetic terms. When first separated from Van Maele, she had a sudden urge to go to the coast, and although the East China Sea is quite a distance from Blacksod Bay, she imagined that if she were a fish she could swim, somehow, all the way to Achill Island. Since then the fish motif has become prevalent in their collaborative work.
Antic-Ham was born in Seoul in 1974, and she divides her time between South Korea and Achill, spending about seven months a year in the latter. She is highly focused on her work, and insists that although love is the most important thing in her life, work is of equal importance.
Van Maele was born near Bruges in 1947, and ran a successful publishing house in Luxembourg before moving to Ireland. Although silk-screen printing is a labour- intensive process, he makes it sound almost effortless. “You can print on anything: paper, cardboard, boxes. You can print text, simple images and very elaborate art work. You just need a good table, hinges, a few screens and colours. All the printing is done here in Dugort.”
Given their remote location, the couple’s level of self-sufficiency in the production of such specialised work is remarkable. As Van Maele explains, “smaller books are laser-printed or inkjet-printed in our conservatory, and all bookbinding is done here as well. We use about 20 different kinds of papers, depending on projects, and we order them in the UK and Luxembourg or send them from South Korea.”
“Most of our books are limited editions and most of our collectors are in the US, then the UK, Europe and Australia. We make less than 1 per cent of our sales in Ireland.”
Van Maele is bemused to see his early work sell at auctions on the continent for 10 times its original sale price.
The couple travels to about 10 book fairs a year in cities such as London, Paris, New York and Frankfurt. They describe the fairs as essential for meeting collectors and librarians, who represent the bulk of their business, and although they enjoy visiting big cities, they are always happy to return to their adopted Achill.
The island’s rugged beauty and Atlantic air appear to fuel their creative energy. “I can’t imagine living in any other place,” says Van Maele, adding that one advantage of living on Achill is having plenty of time to work undisturbed. Despite this, the couple open their studio every summer, although Van Maele notes wryly that “as the signs do not say ‘coffee shop’ or ‘craft shop’, people coming in are already filtered”.
Canadian filmmaker Heather Fletcher met the pair in London in 2005. “Being a hopeless romantic, I was enraptured with their story,” she says. The next year she flew to Ireland to make a short film of the Franticham story. Over four days, which she describes as a “magical experience”, Fletcher produced Lost Seouls – Diary of Two Fish , a touching 14-minute film of Franticham’s life and work.
Like exotic birds swept off course, this colourful couple cut a dash as they stroll along Dugort’s Golden Strand. Van Maele says: “I think we are very fortunate to combine life and work. We’re on the exact same wavelength, and we enjoy it fully.”
See redfoxpress.com. Heather Fletcher’s film Lost Seouls – Diary of Two Fish is on YouTube
Poems by Morgan Lyons appear in print!
Volume 70 | |||
Poems by Morgan Lyons appear in print! You can order copy of magazine or download pdf for free. Morgans work begins on page 147. She is most cool. |
Thursday, November 3, 2011
nice to be accepted
railroad poetry project/ why we like them -
http://railroadpoetryproject.wordpress.com/Dear P D Lyons,Many thanks for reaching out. As you know I am a big fan of your poetry.
We would be happy to include ‘Box Set’ ‘The Factories Of Men And Beer’ and ‘Grandview Avenue’ in issue 2.
Please could you let me know which links you would like us to plug and also send over a short bio. We are all about helping poets get the recognition they deserve.
One more thing, could you just verify something for me. In ‘Box Set’ a line reads ‘Inter racional national vagrant’ could you just confirm that this is exactly how you intend it to read.
Once again, many thanks for getting involved.
J.L Willetts – editor
railroadpoetryproject@gmail.com
pdlyons poetry project you tube
PD Lyons Poetry Project
God Lights a CigaretteOn the wood, shadows. Down the
windows, hazy through the drapes
spills the rain. The night,
curving rolling with motion still
whispers with winters needley lips:
everything is passing through me.
There is you with your joy – me,
I’m trying to find depressions,
though I’m not sure what I feel.
You are magic mingling essences –
I am day dreaming on physical matters…
my lamp flickers with distress,
it moves the room with my voice:
help me
I’m drowning,
suffocating,
breathless…
*
To be born of your music,
in your magic my life blooms,
my thoughts, words – dissolve into
rich emotions tuned to immortality.
Lost in the lighting of a match,
in between the space and flame –
I become the sparkle in your eyes,
then I return…
Slowly I am returned,
I am the gold ring in your ear -
the unnoticed sensation.
You are cosmic and I am waiting
for the next match.
pd lyons available on amazon.com now!
Rumours of Another Summer
- Publication Date:
- Jul 27 2011
- ISBN/EAN13:
- 1463769288 / 9781463769284
- Page Count:
- 126
- Binding Type:
- US Trade Paper
- Trim Size:
- 6″ x 9″
- Language:
- English
- Color:
- Black and White
- Related Categories:
- Literary Collections / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
List Price: $10.00
31 october
31. OCTOBER.
tonight the new year begins. tonight the old fades and yet not quite disappears. we mark this night with memory and renewal. all beings make the journey dark to light, light to dark. all beings live and pass away. all beings know sorrow, know joy. all with varying degree of fear. tonight we will be fearless remembering our dead, those who are now gone from us, as well as hopes and dreams, gone lost out grown out dated. we will without fear look at what truly was and then what truly is. only through that courage may we come to peace with our ghosts and haunting. only through our courage to be honest will we find a way of peace for ourselves. and so we make the offerings, our smoke our fruits apple pomegranate, seeds and skins pips and blood. so we say go forth spirits you are honoured your are loved you are forgiven and there are no chains, no deeds left to be worried or done or undone, be free spirit – visit when you wish not because youre chained. light the candles but fear not the dark. all ghosts are hungry but your heart is big enough to feed and sooth them. your heart is strong enough to be soft un concerned with righteousness, justice, right or wrong.and this is the night this is the night we say to them come feed drink rest we will not betray you.
and this is the night we mark the veil between the worlds we live in, this road between worlds we journey.
and when the moments right we’ll know and rising up from peaceful space bid adieu and journey out for tonight is the night we mark the living and all that may or may not be. this is the night we have the courage to look at what is and say we do not know we do not need we do not want and oh how yes that anything can happen perhaps dressed up in outlandish costumes we spin and dance and kick as high as we can our feet as if the stars and moon truly were the sidewalks of our trick or treating life.
rail road poetry project
For details go to main site:
http://railroadpoetryproject.wordpress.com/