Fights now available on Amazon


http://www.amazon.co.uk/fights-Steven-J-Fowler/dp/1907088318/

My collection of 15 cycles of 9 poems about contemporary boxing and boxers through the medium of avant garde and free verse poetry, released last year with Veer books is now available on amazon. In fact all Veer Books now available on Amazon click  here  for their new Amazon storefront 

You can still order direct from Veer, as before, by emailing veerbooks@gmail.com with an order or an enquiry, or you can write to them at: William Rowe/Stephen Mooney, Department of English and Humanities, School of Arts, Birkbeck College, University of London, 43 Gordon Square, London, WC1H OPD. Alternatively you can phone us on 020 85210907.
We accept payment by cheque (£Sterling or $US), Paypal, or £Sterling or $US cash - please contact us at veerbooks@gmail.com for further details (including postage charges).

James Harvey memorial reading


On the evening of July 19th 2012, a large group of friends, family and fellow poets met in the Keynes Library, in Birkbeck college, in London's Bloomsbury to celebrate the life and work of the British innovative poet, James Harvey. It was a moving, and fitting, tribute to a fine poet and an extraordinarily kind, humble and gentle human being.  Carol Watts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWzymLZEBLw
Jeff Hilson & Holly Pester http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhZcXbPPy1o

Wordpharmacy by Morten Sondergaard



http://www.wordpharmacy.com   http://www.mortensondergaard.net

One of the most considered, intricate and physically beautiful poetry works I've come across in recent years, Morten Sondergaard's 'wordpharmacy' is so sophisticated conceptually and wonderfully executed it really blows me away. Morten is a remarkably interesting poet, and with the wordpharmacy he really has cemented himself, in my view, as one of the best poetical practitioners in Europe. The work of Morten, like Eirikur Orn Norddahl, Cia Rinne, Ulf Karl Olov Nilsson, Paal Bjelke Andersen, Jenny Hval and I could go on, is so indicative of the width and depth of contemporary Scandinavian poetics right night.


I was lucky enough to be given one of the wordpharmacies by Morten, who I interviewed for the Maintenant series. To view it in person is really to come across something original and wonderful.


"By rewriting already existing instructions for the use of medicine, Wordpharmacy playfully intertwines the structure of language with the healing principles of various medicaments. Like pills, language is something to be consumed by the body, and in turn it does not only affect our conceptions of things, but it also comes to designate our very corporal movability in the world. Consequently, words are not only something we consume, they are refractory entities that in turn define and consume us. Wordpharmacy can be seen as a poetical gesture endeavouring to let words work their magic from within the body itself."

Angel Exhaust 22 is published, and Im in it, thanks to Linus Slug

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Exhaust Angel Exhaust is a magazine with an immense history, and was begun back in the late1970s by Adrian Clarke, amongst others, who is a poet I was exposed to early in my involvement in the London scene through the writers forum and who had an intense affect on my own writing at the time. This latest issue of Angel Exhaust features a subsection of poets who have been featured in Freaklung magazine, edited by Linus Slug, where I appear. 
I owe Mendoza (Linus Slug) more than just this publication. When I first took the decision to physically involve myself in readings and the poetry community, after years of writing privately, without seeking other poets or publications, Mendoza was one of the most generous people I met, inviting me to the Bill Griffiths memorial reading as my very first experience of what London poetry might offer. An incredible night to begin such a thing, the bar being set uneviably high. When I look back now, with Griffiths work having become so important to me, it is sad I never met him, arriving poetically, as he departed.
Mendoza not only published me and invited me to this reading but to the Morden tower Barry MacSweeney reading, which has become a significant milestone in the recent history of innovative British poetics. And her work is also magnificient, lacing together the vital strains of experimental poetry and Northumberland lore, as greats like Griffiths and Basil Bunting did. These viking heartlands grow ever more in my poetic consciousness as time passes, and I become further removed from my own three years in the North, when I studied in Durham. I regret not knowing then what I know now. Mendoza has been very significant in cultivating that feeling for me.
It's not the editors fault but the intro in Angel Exhaust to the Freaklung section somewhat purports an idea of London poetics which I think is mythical at worst and out dated at best. The idea there is a rolling movement of poetry through the squats and warehouses of East London, and a culture built purely on zines is a misnomer I think, and is another limitation of definition which is not necessary. I think I don't like it's connotation because it suggests the few enclaves of the avant garde which are an insiders club, and remain so, positing themselves as a hermetic society of experimentation so experimental they suppose they tower over others. It is my experience when you actually speak to younger poets in London, everyone is both inside and outside, everyone has a reason to feel left out and included at the same time. 
Though my featured poems feel very, very old to me, from Red Museum, my first book, and so I don't like them, the magazine itself is extraordinary, full of great work including a fascinating interview with Zoe Skoulding. http://angelexhaust.blogspot.co.uk/

Ways of Describing Cuts with Sarah Kelly published by Knives Forks & Spoons




I'm delighted to announce the publication of a new book from Knives Forks and Spoons press, my collaboration with Sarah Kelly, called Ways of Describing Cuts...


Sarah and I collaborated over maybe a nine month period, last year mainly. Her work has an intensity and a clarity I admire greatly, and I knew writing with her would improve my practise because she in genuine in her engagement with experimentation and language. She currently lives in Buenos Aires so we're not really able to launch the book properly, but it is wonderful to have it in print, it is such a beautiful object and something I'm proud of. 


Always pleasing to be a continued part of the Knives Forks and Spoons endeavour too, I truly believe, in time, what Alec Newman has achieved over the last few years, will be seen a vital moment for British innovative poetics. The cover for the book is also a wonder, by the remarkable British artist Joel Ely http://www.joelely.com/

The book costs £5 and is 22 pages long. You can read a sample here http://knivesforksandspoonspress.co.uk/Resources/WAYS%20OF%20DESCRBING%20CUTS.pdf and very generously this is what Sam Riviere and Robert Sheppard had to say about it.


'These poems seem instantly to surpass the benign conversational format of much poetic collaboration, instead arising from a violent and impulsive sort of play. They wound us as all good poems should, but, staring each other down from the ends of the page as if from opposite sides of a room, the real drama becomes in how the pieces vie and rally with each other, somewhat like combatants in a friendly knife-fight, matching taunts, comparing their quick cuts for deftness. But there's flirtation and approval beneath the show as well -- the poems appeal to each other as much as they aim to appall, teasing, correcting and provoking, meeting each others' lunges with unexpected gentleness. Like the best friendships or dialogues, we find the players alternately at odds and back to back, until any simple sense of opposition is overcome, seeded with generosity and enjoyment, demonstrating how in such fruitful encounters as these we can in the best possible sense 'fail to maintain our solidity'.   Sam Riviere


'Dogging among dock leaves, these dogs are people. Experience collaboration as (deliberate) mishearing, conversation as alliterative iteration, juxtapositions as jousts.  ‘Not a poetry,’ the text lies. The lyric ‘I’ bifurcates. These two writers keep it tight, irresistible. Fresh cuts from two new tongues.' Robert Sheppard



Pictures from Camarade: edition III by Alexander Kell

Alexander Kell continues to produce invaluable photographic documentation of my events and really the quality of his work seems to get better and better, if that is possible. That he gives his time to the Maintenant events out of friendship is really remarkable. These pictures mean a lot to the poets and will come to mean even more in years to come, I hope. http://alexanderkell.tumblr.com/





Camarade at the Nova festival

Everyone involved in this undertaking couldn't have been more generous to be around all day of a long day, even when the torrential rain and subsequent 'festival' mud swamp somme conditions were only one of the many challenges we faced to make this reading happen at the Nova festival, in Bignor Park, in rural Sussex, on a Sunday afternoon. I probably would have burst a vessel were it not for the generosity of spirit and good will, and serenity, of all the other 18 poets who made the journey with me. If it wasn't late bus drivers taking random road breaks, the horrific British summer weather, painfully unfunny festival comedian introductions, traffic jams for miles and so forth, the day would have been perfect. However, thinking of it past tense, as I said it my post reading remarks, there is an undoubted glory to the proceedings now precisely because of the levels of absurdity the day managed to register.Of the many pleasures the day brought, seeing the amazing work producing by Georges Szirtes and Carol Watts made it entirely worthwhile. Carol has been a mentor to me, and George was so unusually gracious about doing this reading, and I believed, though they had never met before, that both their practises as poets, while being divergent stylistically, maintained a fundamental core of dignity and humanity and energy, and so it seemed to prove. Their work was really striking and I believe will continue on into the future.
It was also a real privilege to host two of the most exciting young, modernist / avant garde poets I've come across recently, Juha Virtanen and Robert Kiely, who both stepped up for the reading without much warning and produced a real display of their talent as writers.
Philip Terry & Tom Jenks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTZUk7K5uuM
Andy Spragg & David Berridge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RFOHz_iDms
Simon Barraclough & Isobel Dixon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkFYytlH_Ls
Emma Bennett & Holly Pester http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COo5N8-MbGk



James Harvey memorial reading - July 19th at the Keynes Library, Bloomsbury

Veer Books / Xing the Line / Writers Forum Workshop (New Series) and The Blue Bus have come together to celebrate the life and poetry of James Harvey, who died last month.  This memorial reading will take place at Birkbeck College on Thursday 19th July, from 18.00-21.00. The address is Keynes Library, Birkbeck Centre for Poetics, School of Arts, 43 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD. (When you  come in to the foyer, ask the person on the front desk who will give directions – it’s a room on the first floor overlooking the square.) Readers/performers will include Carol Watts, Will Rowe, James Wilkes, matt martin, Jeff Hilson, Holly Pester, Michael Zand, Stephen Emmerson, Juliet Troy, John Gibbens, Keith Jebb, David Miller, Antony John, Edward Carey, Peter Philpott, S J Fowler, Elizabeth Guthrie, and The Children (Armorel Weston and John Gibbens). Please note that this is a free event.  James Harvey 
James Harvey (1966–2012) studied biology at UCL before becoming a full-time poet in the thriving experimental and innovative poetry community in London. His interest in science, especially biology, extended into his poetry. He was fascinated by the potential of ‘science in poetry to dismantle existing structures, and then put them back together again, build them up “mechanically” while at the same time each level of complexity is acted upon equally through “the forces of nature,” questioning the integrity of the structure.’

Camarade: edition III

Another evening of poetry that really was a pleasure to be a part of, and so easy to witness because of its quality. I keep saying the people I invite to read at the maintenant events may not be bound by a specific stylistic approach to poetry but they are, in my opinion, bound by a clear sighted vision of what they personally want to achieve and an ability to develop that extremely idiosyncratic notion into something that can be shared. The lack of pretentiousness in the work on display again comes down to that fact I think, that the poets involved have vision. Despite this being something like my eleventh event in two weeks, an evening like this only makes me want to do more.

all the vids can be viewed here www.youtube.com/fowlerpoetry, there are six more

Poetry Parnassus Pictures #1 - Alexander Kell - the Rain of Poems



The advantage of having a close friend who is also an amazing photographer is quite evident. More so when you are reading and organising events which, at the time of their happening, seem like simple, small occasions, but when time passes, you realise a record of them would be invaluable. When the record is a single frozen image, with all the indelible, and subtle, qualities that make up good photography, then it is all the more special. Alexander Kell's presence at the Poetry Parnassus was quite obviously important (in this picture to the left, i seem to be eating a swiss roll in one bite, which I dont remember doing)


These images really capture what was so personally important to me about the festival, it served as an occasion to bring my friends closer together through something I was fortunate enough to be doing, and the Rain of Poems was the night when it seemed most intense and even emotional.  You can see more of Alexander's work here http://alexanderkell.tumblr.com/, and there are loads more images from the festival that will be up all over the place, including in an exhibition for the Poetry Library about the Poetry Parnassus.

Maintenant celebration II & the end of the Parnassus

The last day of Poetry Parnassus was really a way of saying farewell and recovering from the intensity of the Saturday. It wasn't exactly maudlin but without a doubt there was a note of relaxation and resignation to the proceedings. I had one more event to maintain, the final Maintenant celebration reading featuring six very different poets - Gerdur Kristny, Nigar Hasan Zadeh, Ilya Kaminsky, Agnes Lehoczky, Donatas Petrosius and Immanuel Mifsud. I thought the reading had its highlights and was nicely varied in tone and style. Many said afterwards they thought the reading really stood out. I had the chance to say a few words below, before Gerdur began in on Bloodhoof... This was it for my involvement in the festival.

As ever the great Ilya Kaminsky showed why he is held in such remarkable esteem around the world.

Immanuel Mifsud has always been known to many as a poet and dramatist of the highest order, one who balances intimacy with relentlessness in the way few can. This reading evidenced beyond a doubt that his place is amongst the finest contemporary European writers and in person, was a genuinely moving and intensive experience.

Alejandra Pizarnik

this book is truly remarkable http://www.waterloopresshove.co.uk/
#/alejandra-pizarnik/4548331837 from waterloo press in Hove, Cecilia Rossi has achieved something profound


"I speak of cunt and I speak of death
all is cunt, i have licked cunts in various countries and I felt only pride in my virtuosity - the Mahatma Gandhi of licking, the Einstein of the blow job, the Reich of sucking, the Reich to make one's way among hair as if of an unwashed rabbi - oh the delight in filth" 
                           Alejandra Pizarnik

London Sinfonietta video of the Revenge of Miguel Cotto


Blue Touch Paper work-in-progress preview: The Revenge of Miguel Cotto

VIDEO(14:03),16 May 2012

London Sinfonietta's Blue Touch Paper programme nurtures and promotes the next generation of composers and inter-disciplinary collaborators. The Blue Touch Paper preview event on 16 May 2012 at Village Underground showcased the culmination of a year-long collaboration between 3 groups of composers and multi-disciplinary artists.
This film features a work in progress preview of The Revenge of Miguel Cotto by Steven J Fowler & Philip Venables exploring the violence, sanctioned by society, that is boxing, through music and poetry.
The Revenge of Miguel Cotto
Graham Lee trombone Tony Boorer trombone Simon Baker trombone Laurent Quenelle violin Joan Atherton violin *
Miranda Fulleylove violin Oliver Lowe percussion Serge Vuille percussion Ian Watson accordion
Richard Baker conductor Leigh Melrose vocalist Alexander Robin Baker vocalist Sound Intermedia sound projection ** London Sinfonietta Principal player
Video produced by De Novo Arts.
Blue Touch Paper is delivered in partnership with the Jerwood Charitable Foundation with support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Maintenant: the avant garde at Poetry Parnassus

Without a doubt, the highlight of my week. The reading last night really brought together everything I feel I have been repeating over and again recently - that unpretentiousness and humility and community is the reason to be engaged in more than just a writing practise. The news of the death of James Harvey, a fine poet, a member of the avant garde poetry scene in London and a true and decent gentleman, brought into focus what matters - that if poetry does anything more than just bring people together in an atmosphere of exchange and expression and humour and intensity, then that is wonderful, but an excess. James had friends in poetry, and so last night was a gathering of friends, a circle that extended somewhat for one night to include poets from Mexico, Guam, the Cook Islands...but it was, palpably, a community. The room was completely full, they were turning people away because of health and safety limits and every poet on the bill was fantastic. It could not have been a warmer atmosphere and really left me with a good feeling about my involvement in the festival, which, if we're honest, is often contingent. The realisation was, that when things constrict, when it becomes about people as poets who you can reach and touch, communicate directly with, then the resonance is all the more, especially when their work is marked by innovation which in and of itself demands an attention to engagement and meaning as its defining mode. And it was an achievement to find a corner of this enormous festival and make it about a community that is often unfairly overlooked. Thanks to all who came.





the rest of the videos can be found at www.youtube.com/fowlerpoetry

Patchwork Renga workshop at Poetry Parnassus



We had ten poets in all for this workshop, which took place at the Poetry library in the afternoon of Saturday 30th of June, and which featured a chain poem methodology constructed of lines of other poets poems, stolen from the Poetry library collection. 


We decided on four themes, Moon, Corpse, Fire and Theft, and then we each went off to plunder the books. When we returned, we took two turns, running clockwise around the table, inscribing the lines to create new poems. 


In attendance were Els Moors, Tiphaine Mancaux, Robert Kiely, Jon Stone, Kirsty Irving, Alex Kell, David Kelly, Ghazal Mosadeq and Jon Shaw. It was a success, I think. 



Literature Across Frontiers at Poetry Parnassus & the International Poetry Fair

I was delighted to be asked to host the Literature Across Frontiers event to be in the clore ballroom for the International Poetry Fair part of Poetry Parnassus. They have really done exceptional work for the past ten years, adapting with a unique flexibility and plurality of interests across the European literary scene. They have done so much for festival, readings, publishers, translations, workshops, research - the list is endless. And this event was a really refreshing experience that cut through any feelings of poetry burn out! Els Moors and Katerina Iliopoulou were poets whose work I knew but whose readings I had never witnessed, both could not have been more clear and honest to their own integrity as poets, which is what cuts through so much.


I also managed to get footage from the Wolf celebration reading, hosted and featuring James Byrne, one of our finest contemporary British poets, though only brief snippets as the battery was packing in.

& the Salt celebration reading too, hosted by Roddy Lumsden.