New poetry pamphlet

I’ve been so remiss about putting new material on this blog, and for that many apologies. Today I want to bring to your attention my new pamphlet collection of poems, brought out just a few days ago by Fras Publications in Dunning, Scotland. The pamphlet itself is spare but elegant – the poet Walter Perrie who runs Fras operates as something of a literary cottage industry. He selects, edits, designs, prints and distributes his publications which include the periodical Fras. I’ve long been a follower of Fras and have admired Walter’s pamphlets, particularly Alasdair Gray’s late poetry collection Guts Minced with Oatmeal (2018).

I’m proud to say that Walter has published a selection of my own poems – under the title Coping Stones. These are all poems written since my 2020 pamphlet from Mariscat Press called First Hare but these new poems happen to have been written under the grim long shadow of Coronavirus. This is not to say that these poems bore on about hackneyed and trite topical issues relating to the virus itself, but rather that the pandemic darkens the background of these poems.

Walter’s press is unrepentantly print-based, so it has no website to speak of. Copies of Walter’s previous publications, and my pamphlet, can all be ordered directly from Walter Perrie at the postal address: 10 Croft Place / Dunning / Scotland / PH2 0SB (all cheques are payable to ‘Walter Perrie’). You can also request a full price list of all Fras titles. It goes without saying that I have a stock of copies myself and these can be ordered by messaging me at this website (£5 with postage included). I’m happy also to send out free review copies to anyone interested in having a look or taking my pamphlet on.

Cheers. Here are a couple of poems from the pamphlet: