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The Law of the Maze

‘The description of the law of the maze (which, it was asserted, he had known but also had not known) was simple enough now. It could be a description only if his own emotions concerning the maze; its forced ambiguities had bored him. Its specious and arbitrary manner and its generally meretricious effect had given … Continue reading The Law of the Maze

Poetry Clubs

'They walked together for maybe a quarter kilometre. The bright LED signs beckoned. Brothels and shooting galleries, coffee bars and poetry clubs, casinos and show fights. The air smelled like piss and old food... They walked past a noodle bar. A coffin hotel. A public terminal, its display running a free newsfeed: COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS PLAGUE … Continue reading Poetry Clubs

In Full View Of Its Master

'The paper's suggested lottery numbers were three, seven, and twelve. Tanks and air power had been deployed against six thousand rebellious Bolivian peasants. An Eskimo had been shot and killed while trying to divert a Boeing 747 to North Korea. A Breton trawler had gone missing with its eleven-man crew. A woman had celebrated her … Continue reading In Full View Of Its Master

A Commonplace by Jonathan Davidson

My review of Jonathan Davidson's A Commonplace appears on Wild Court 'A sense of place abounds in Jonathan Davidson’s A Commonplace (Smith-Doorstep, 2020), and while that might seem natural from the title, the ‘place’ here derives from a translation of the Latin term ‘locus communis’ or ‘a general or common topic’. Commonplace books were collections of sayings, … Continue reading A Commonplace by Jonathan Davidson

Restless Voices by Alan Price

My review of Restless Voices by Alan Price appeared in issue 66 of The Journal. Reading Alan Price's recent book, which includes a sequence of poems using the cut-up method, I was struck by how this form of work offers an almost an inverted experience, in that it is more interesting and rewarding to write than it … Continue reading Restless Voices by Alan Price