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Great news! Pakistan-based arts magazine The Missing Slate has included yours truly as part of a massively exciting bunch of emerging British poets in an extended feature/showcase. Even more excitingly, you can read the whole thing as a digital edition here! The feature includes an introduction from Todd Swift and work from Jen Hadfield, Jon Stone, SJ Fowler, Liz Berry, Lorraine Mariner, Anna Selby and a bunch of others. The whole collection is really worth a concentrated read, and I defy you not to find something to grab your attention.

On the site, just click on the button marked ‘Expand’ on the Winter 2013 edition. The Emerging British Poets section starts at page 52 via a totally fancy magazine viewer, or jump straight to my poems if you’re not inclined to read anybody else’s. But that’s a terrible idea.

The Missing Slate is a quarterly magazine run by a really excellent group of young editors and creators, and really worth keeping tabs on. You can check out regular features and articles on their main site, or if you like using Facebook, they maintain a really active and appealing profile here.

As if that weren’t enough, Dan Gorman and yours truly will be back down south the following weekend for Ausform! Join us there for a personal slide-show for your eyes and ears only. You choose the journey and we will bring you on a sometimes surprising, sometime surreal, tour accompanied by the ambient sounds of the man they call Dan. Performances are one-to-one-to-Viewmaster, and last under 10 minutes. A rare chance to travel, listen and pause in one beautiful space. Ausform is an amazing festival of new artwork and dudes with vintage playthings. Come along! You’ll be glad you did.

Bristol:

Ausform

From the site: The Ausform Platforms happens in November and April in Bristol where we present 4-6 new pieces of work from artists we think are exciting. Ausform presents local, national, as well as, international work. We present work which has not been shown in Bristol before. We aim to work with a mixed bag of artists we believe in.

The festival runs over four days at the Cube and The Parlour Showrooms from 11-14 April, and includes performances and exhibits from six artists. You can buy tickets here for all six events for the awesome value of £13.50.

Where: The Parlour Showrooms, 31/31a College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TB.

When: SATURDAY: Cafe open 11-8pm – VIEWMASTER a slideshow for one (one-to-one performance) Ryan Van Winkle and Dan Seizure 1-3pm + 4-6pm
FUMES from Noemi Iglesias 3pm + 8pm (limited capacity)

SUNDAY: Cafe open 11-6pm – VIEWMASTER a slideshow for one (one-to-one performance) Ryan Van Winkle and Dan Seizure 1-3pm + 4-6pm

How Much: £13.50 for all festival events.

The date is almost upon us! Join us for a personal slide-show for your eyes and ears only. You choose the journey and we will bring you on a sometimes surprising, sometime surreal, tour accompanied by the ambient sounds of the man they call Dan. Performances are one-to-one-to-Viewmaster, and last under 10 minutes. A rare chance to travel, listen and pause in one beautiful space. We’re really excited to be joining the Supper Club, can’t wait to play them tunes and eat their supper.

Brighton:

Supper Club hosted by Stacy Makishi

From the site: Maker of mayhem, agent provocateur and performance artist par excellence, Stacy Makishi hosts an evening of the sublime and the ridiculous. Featuring performance, film, music and installations, Supper Club is a fantastic social night of intriguing occurrences and unexpected encounters taking place throughout the venue’s various subterranean spaces. On offer this evening, the provocative spoken word of Sabrina Mahfouz, spellbinding poetry from Ryan Van Winkle, the beguiling Yve Blake and many more. Grab a tasty, home-made bite to eat and see what the night will hold.

Where: The Basement, 24 Kensington Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 4AJ

When: 6 April, 8pm-2am

How Much: £8/£6 Conc/Under-25s

My one-man poetry experiment Red, Like Our Room Used to Feel got even more generous reviews during its short run at the Battersea Arts Centre. Here’s further proof that people are lovely and say words about things.

OneStopArts.com: **** ‘There is something about curating a room and condensing an experience into a tight fifteen minutes that is like writing a poem, choosing a form and filling it with images. […] Red, Like Our Room Used To Feel offers a unique way of experiencing poetry, together with a unique perspective on another person’s life. I will certainly be going back to find out what’s in the other envelopes.’ – Becky Brewis

LoveTheatre.net: ‘This is poetry made fluttering and ephemeral, rapidly dissipating into the warm air and attaching itself to objects and thoughts. Much of this is achieved by the gentle presence of Ryan himself, whose voice lulls and cradles, sending the mind on journeys. […] I was also struck by how the piece somehow manages to be both intensely personal and overwhelmingly generous. It is as though, by indulging in this space of imagination and memory, Ryan offers us the room – in more than one way – to traverse our own imaginings and reminiscences.’ – Catherine Love

The Stone and the Star: ‘It was all rather magical. I’m a bit at a loss as to how to describe it, especially without giving everything away, but even if I described it in minutest detail I couldn’t really convey the sense of comfort and nostalgia. It was certainly one of the most unique poetry experiences I have ever had, if not one of the most unique experiences full stop.’ – Clarissa Ackroyd

And keep your eyes open — the Red Room will be returning to London at the end of May as part of the London Literature Festival. Fingers crossed, I’ll see you there! For previous reviews click along here.

Stirling: The Golden Hour

The Golden Hour has packed houses throughout the world — from the Edinburgh International Book Festival all the way to Melbourne with stops in Berlin, Paris, Beirut and Montreal. This time, we have the distinct pleasure of bringing our closing party for Reel Iraq to Stirling’s Raploch Community Campus, featuring renowned Iraqi and Scottish poets, short films, and music from Billy Liar & Hailey Beavis.

We have Iraqi poetry from Ghareeb Iskander, Sabreen Kadhim, Zahir Mousa, Awezan Nouri and new translations from John Glenday, Jen Hadfield, William Letford and Krystelle Bamford. We did some great work with these guys during our stay in Iraq, and we’re really proud to host them in Scotland. It’s a free show, so if you’re in Stirling on Monday 25 March, come join us for some amazing and unique poetry performances.

What: Reel Iraq Closing Party

Where: Raploch Community Campus, Drip Rd, Stirling, FK8 1RD

When: Monday 25 March, 7pm

How Much: FREE!

Big news! This week on the Scottish Poetry Library podcast, former Poet Laureate of the United States Robert Pinsky discusses poems, poetry readers, jazz and his curious family history, he talks about his enthusiasm for his Favorite Poem Project – “For me a poem is a work of art that’s so intimate and so internal that its medium is any reader’s voice,” he talks about all sorts of stuff in a voice that could announce this summer’s blockbusters. In a wide ranging interview, he speaks about his formative years – “I grew up among very verbal, eloquent, skillful joke tellers and complainers and arguers and liars” – and the way he tries to capture music in language. He also reads a number of his poems and talks about his passion for poetry. “I never defended poetry. I don’t believe in commercials for poetry. It is so fundamental, so large, so central… It’s an insult to poetry to advocate for it or defend it.”

This is a pretty special conversation that I enjoyed the heck out of, and I hope you do too! Click the little triangle for some of the best words you’ll hear today.

A really special Culture Laser for your ears, as we focus on the intense and unique work from Iraqi artists and Reel Festivals, which will be touring Scotland this month. We feature actor and playwright Dina Mousawi, who performs an excerpt from her show about the lives of Iraqi women, Return, and talks about the work and its genesis. We also feature music from Hasan Bressm, Khyam Allami and Leila Albayaty, who will all be performing in March as part of Reel Festivals all over the UK. This is a great opportunity to hear a totally unique perspective about our recent history in the country, and these guys are mega talented. Hear it all through the little pointy triangle.

Exciting news! My good buddy Dan Gorman and myself have two exciting gigs coming up in April! Join us for a personal slide-show for your eyes and ears only. You choose the journey and we will bring you on a sometimes surprising, sometime surreal, tour accompanied by the ambient sounds of the man they call Dan. Performances are one-to-one-to-Viewmaster, and last under 10 minutes. A rare chance to travel, listen and pause in one beautiful space.

Brighton:

Supper Club hosted by Stacy Makishi

From the site: Maker of mayhem, agent provocateur and performance artist par excellence, Stacy Makishi hosts an evening of the sublime and the ridiculous. Featuring performance, film, music and installations, Supper Club is a fantastic social night of intriguing occurrences and unexpected encounters taking place throughout the venue’s various subterranean spaces. On offer this evening, the provocative spoken word of Sabrina Mahfouz, spellbinding poetry from Ryan Van Winkle, the beguiling Yve Blake and many more. Grab a tasty, home-made bite to eat and see what the night will hold.

Where: The Basement, 24 Kensington Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 4AJ

When: 6 April, 8pm-2am

How Much: £8/£6 Conc/Under-25s

Bristol:

Ausform

From the site: The Ausform Platforms happens in November and April in Bristol where we present 4-6 new pieces of work from artists we think are exciting. Ausform presents local, national, as well as, international work. We present work which has not been shown in Bristol before. We aim to work with a mixed bag of artists we believe in.

The festival runs over four days at the Cube and The Parlour Showrooms from 11-14 April, and includes performances and exhibits from six artists. You can buy tickets here for all six events for the awesome value of £13.50.

Where: The Parlour Showrooms, 31/31a College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TB.

When: SATURDAY: Cafe open 11-8pm – VIEWMASTER a slideshow for one (one-to-one performance) Ryan Van Winkle and Dan Seizure 1-3pm + 4-6pm
FUMES from Noemi Iglesias 3pm + 8pm (limited capacity)

SUNDAY: Cafe open 11-6pm – VIEWMASTER a slideshow for one (one-to-one performance) Ryan Van Winkle and Dan Seizure 1-3pm + 4-6pm

How Much: £13.50 for all festival events.

It’s going to be fantastic fun, Dan and myself are really excited to share our work with you, and we hope you enjoy. See you there!

We’ve got a very special counterculture laser for you today, as Kieran Hurley explores the rave culture of the 90s in his piece Beats, his coming-of-age story exploring Johnno’s first pharmaceutical experience rebellion, apathy, and the irresistable power of gathered youth, and discusses eloquently his fascination with politicisation of the subculture, and the contemporary government’s attempts to legislate it into submission.

We also got to catch up with the legendary Jim Haynes, who you may know as the Paris-based superhost or being deeply involved in some of Edinburgh’s best-loved institutions like the Traverse theatre, but on a super windy day at the last Edinburgh Book Festival we talked about  sexual liberation and freedom of the press in the 60s with his Amsterdam published magazine Suck. He had tea with Salvador Dali. I repeat: he had tea with Salvador Dali.

And but also we get the chance to hear two tracks from East Cost songwriter Paul Buck’s new EP The Ipswich Prisoner, which you can get on the eMusic, and the iTunes, the entire thing for just over two bucks. Because the internet is magical. And you can get it all right here by clicking the happy little triangle.

‘Commiserate’ is an experiment in poetic collaboration born out of SJ Fowler’s Enemies project. As part of his reading series at Rich Mix, he invited Kirsten Irving and I to collaborate.

March, 2013: Kirsten Irving

Kirsten says: I loved collaborating with Ryan. His initial suggestion of a title fired up plenty of ideas, and the process was pretty organic. It’s actually the most enjoyment I’ve had from writing in ages – it had the feel of a versus game, which really fitted the theme – and I’d love to do it again. The final piece was a mixture of pathos, strangeness and dark humour, reflecting both of our personalities while taking us both off at an angle. You need these kinds of collaboration to refresh your work and remind you that poetry can be massively enjoyable and surprising.

When we performed live Kirsten brought a mournful cello backing track and nemesis slide show:

 “Notes to a Nemesis”

Notes to a Nemesis

And yet, I want to see you again if only

to wrap in my arms if only
to hear one last breath, your eyes
green as shame before closing

*

How I worried when I met you that 
my third ear, my garish legs
would fast become a gripshift
for those neat-nailed hands of yours.

*

a smile is a shield
and like a shield can cover
or casket. Our minds contain
space and oceans dark 
but opposite

*

if you miss the tear
you miss the point

*

So come to me
when the clouds crawl in
like spectral sloths
when the pyrex cracks in the oven. Meat.
We are nothing but meat; hot on the table,
cold on the ground.

*

Where were you
when the police came?
When they took me away
in standard issue cuffs
and made me fill forms
as though I were not a day-god.

*

Back when I was engaged
with Frost, it was easy
to imagine an ice palace
a globe of glass and snow
delicate and easy to drop
what now, but rain, what now
but a globe of fire and ash?

*

Back. Back, I say,
and the worst thing is that you obey.

*

Maybe you have found yourself
and no longer fight as I do.
Maybe I should help the trapped blackbird
who, having hopped under my bike cover, 
is frantic and sevenbird, all a-seizure,
dashing his fine wings 
against pitiless plastic.

*

Onward to the parade
let the wild rumpus begin
the sad, constant 
march never ends, oh
the broken hearted living
the red balloon sagging
in a corner, what is heavier
the human heart or
the bald tires of a dozen
useless humvees?

*

You burned my house down

*

I’d do it again.
I’d hold my hand to the fire’s black heart
as though I were commanding it.
And when you came back, maybe
you’d think I was commanding it.

*

Twisted dishcloth of my belly!
Half-buried bulb of my jaw!
I would wrench off the furless front of me
and guddle out all the kinked guts 
like yards and yards of chewed calamari
if it would help. If it would change me.

*

Wasn’t I a painter
blue canal, red smear 
of breast, a wall 
of black you could fall into
a dot of light on the horizon
a train shuddering 
loose, a light you wouldn’t
hope to see.

*

And wasn’t I once a meteor’s harp,
tucked in its megafire arm nook,
bombing towards this planet
in my jazzy silver suit?

*

How I wish for my old stance:
the conch shell of my chest,
feet shoulder-width apart and chin
tilted up, catching adulation
and hatred, soaking it all up
under my slashed-in grin?

But it will not come again,
like the off-course shrike
blown to British marshes
en route to Russia, who will
leave us tensing behind binoculars,
as soon as he has gathered
his thoughts like bright little stones.

*

And the guy who was the most popular, 
sexiest man alive in 1889, in 1949? No one knows 
who the fuck that was. My wings bright and wide 
between the water tower and the moon
and how many looked up, who shuddered
the name Vulture? I was not put down
by the blue-eyed, by the pale yoga smile
if I must go, I go in the arms
of the one with the black cloak,
the one with sharpened fin,
the one I called brother, he
who we all must serve. he
I served well.

*

As I served you.
Sit with me, do, as the crow of night
tucks into the bones of the day
and I will show you just how well I work.
Even now, tingling with ambition.

—

Ryan says: I have long been amazed by Kirsten’s work. I first encountered her as an editor of the ambitious, pocket-sized, magazine Fuselit circa 2005. Since then, she (and editor Jon Stone) have built an invigorating publishing house specializing in curious team-ups, highly original anthologies & multi-media dazzle. (Seriously, check out Sidekick Books if only for a beautiful, affordable, micro-anthology). She is as inventive an editor as she is a poet. Her début collection ‘Never Never Come Back‘ was published by Salt in 2012 and, as we do here, melds the tragic and ludicrous. Often during this experiment, she kicked my ass and caught my breath.