REVIEW: HARRY GALLAGHER’S ‘THERE IS AN ENGLAND’
By Stella Backhouse | Publishing a collection that argues ‘leave’ was the wrong decision could look like a spectacular act of self-sabotage. In fact, Gallagher’s new collection, ‘there is an england’, squares this circle by presenting Brexit as an unwitting act of class betrayal. […]
INTERVIEW: FIRE&DUST MEETS MARTIN HAYES
Martin Hayes is the author of seven collections of poetry and has been employed in the London same-day courier industry for over 30 years. His poetry consistently reflects on workplace issues and culture. In December 2022, he was the guest headliner at our Fire & Dust spoken word night. HCE caught up with Martin after the event, to ask a few questions…
Press Release: Coventry Welcomes Dresden Poet
As part of the newly launched Coventry-Dresden Writers Exchange, a poet and artist will be visiting Cov from overseas in April 2023. But who is it…?
REVIEW: CATHI RAE’S ‘YOUR CLEANER HATES YOU’
By Stella Backhouse | “Your Cleaner Hates You is eclectic in range, with poems covering subjects as diverse as ageing and retrospection, family history, the writing process and the valued companionship of dogs and horses. Notably strong on list poetry, if a single idea could be said to unite it, I think it would be the idea of […]”
Press Release: Springboard Festival
Springboard Festival will be a week-long string of performing arts events over eight days, from Saturday 25th March to 1st April. Held in Coventry, at The Criterion Theatre (Earlsdon), Springboard offers artists and audiences offers the chance to try out something different in a dynamic and supportive setting…
REVIEW: VIV FOGEL’S ‘IMPERFECT BEGINNINGS’
Reviewed by Stella Backhouse | “Inherited trauma is a major theme of Fogel’s new collection Imperfect Beginnings, and with a story like hers, there’s a lot of trauma to inherit. If there’s a single defining image here, that image is the heartbreak of […] “
REVIEW: ROSIE GARLAND’S ‘WHAT GIRLS DO IN THE DARK’
By Stella Backhouse | “The poetry of Rosie Garland’s 2020 collection ‘What Girls do in the Dark’ finds fellowship in the weird, counter-intuitive behaviour of space phenomena, converting it into metaphor for her own sense of not conforming to society’s norms. […]”
INTERVIEW: FIRE & DUST MEETS VRON MCINTYRE
Vron McIntyre is a queer, non-binary (they/she), disabled poet originally from the north-east of England and now a long-time resident of Nottingham. Their debut pamphlet ‘Random Trail’ was published by Big White Shed in 2021. We caught up with Vron after headlining our Fire&Dust gig, to ask a few questions…
REVIEW: JOHN MCCULLOUGH’S ‘PANIC RESPONSE’
By Stella Backhouse | “John McCullough’s 2022 collection Panic Response is a delicate and moving evocation of grief, mental breakdown and eventual re-emergence. Although primarily a frank and deeply personal memoir, recent lockdown events and the ever-present […]”
REVIEW: ELIZABETH MCGEOWN’S ‘COCKROACH’
By Stella Backhouse | “…this is a book about turning negatives into positives. It’s about embracing outsiderhood. If McGeown ever wanted to re-name it, ‘Turn and Face the Strange’ might well make the shortlist.”