‘En Garde’ Puzzle Muteson
Puzzle Muteson is the alter ego of an enigmatic songwriter from the Isle of Wight, rendering his music in a tremulous tenor over a finely spun web of fingerpicked guitar.
May 9th
12:12 PM
12:12 PM
Life Drawing by Mengyu Liu
Some visual and poetic treats for those that couldn’t make it to Norwich for our live night and Turn the Page.
Mengyu Liu is a Chinese born artist. She is currently studying for her MA in Book Arts at Camberwell College of Art
11:48 AM
Places and Brothers Water by Byron Beynon
PLACES
He defines places by their foundations,
their firmness, the strength of roots,
how morning sometimes comes
with a red wound in the tempered east,
the illusion of a new sunshine
arriving within the stillness of a winter’s room;
a day toasted by the wine of angels,
secret tears that meet
by the sea’s drained heart,
when all tides
escape from this life,
the flotsam sacrificed beneath sharpened steel.
BROTHERS WATER
An escalator of light
falling from the sky,
a compass that focusses
on a lake covered
with thin ice;
the potency of youth
the advertisement of risk
as two brothers skate
in a physical landscape.
The cracks that coldly grin
on a fear to survive,
the paralysis of blood,
the serious drop in temperature
ill-timed on a winter’s day.
Byron Beynon lives in Swansea, Wales. His work has appeared in many publications including Agenda, London Magazine Chicago Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, The Warwick Review and The Wolf. Collections include Cuffs (Rack Press) and Human Shores (Lapwing Publications, Belfast). He has been co-editor of the poetry magazine Roundyhouse. A Pushcart Prize nominee
11:12 AM
A Bookish Weekend in Norwich (told in Photographs) Part Three…
The book fair was held in the atrium of The Forum, with the sun streaming in and book arts everywhere. Learning to talk about my work, to chat with people over the stall felt completely natural. Selling Elbow Room, knowing that I was responsible for people having the chance to read these stories, these poems, was incredible in a way I can’t really explain. Taking my comic books out into the world, selling some of them, getting people’s reactions was brilliant and taught me a great deal more than I had expected it to. Above all though, feeling like a part of the book arts world, starting to find a place within the part of the world was unparalleled and is something I will remember and treasure forever.
I cannot thank everyone, from those who contributed to Elbow Room, to the audience at the Bicycle Shop to all the organisers and visitors to the fair enough for help to make those three days so truly special. Here’s hoping I can go again next year…
10:57 AM
A Bookish Weekend in Norwich (told in Photographs)
Couldn’t fit them all into one post so it is in three…
This part- our wonderful muscians.
10:48 AM
A Bookish Weekend in Norwich (told in Photographs)
Months ago I submitted and was selected for the Turn the Page Book Fair in Norwich. In celebration Kim and I came up with the idea of collaborating and so on Thursday night Elbow Room hosted our second live night, this time in Norwich at The Bicycle Shop. We also produced a UEA Special Edition featuring a selection of short stories, poetry and a script from writers across the University of East Angela’s Creative Writing department. Designing this 8 piece special edition of Elbow Room was a challenge and a joy.
The live night was an even bigger success than our first. We filled the venue to capacity and everyone listened, laughed and chatted at all the right places. You could have heard a pin drop as people shared their work and I felt like a kid in a candy store getting to introduce and then listen to so many incredibly talented artists. It was the perfect way to kick off a book centred weekend and I can’t wait to take Elbow Room Live back to Norwich.
April 19th
7:01 PM
7:01 PM
Elbow Room Live…
Does Norwich…
Yes Indeed. We are heading up to Norwich on the 2nd of May for our second live night…
We will be hosting stories and poetry from some of The University of East Anglia’s extraordinary authors. Readers including Kim Sherwood, Dennison Smith, Anna Metcalfe, Armando Celayo, Alita Balbi, Ella Chappell and Chris Ogden among many others…
Plus live music from both the fabulous Lucy Cait and Michael Garrett.
The doors open at 7 and we will be keeping you entertained from 7.30 til Midnight.
Thats not all though…
On the 3rd and 4th of May AYUpublishing (thats us) will have a table at the Turn the Page book fair.
We will have Volume Three of Elbow Room, a Elbow Room special edition with UEA authors. Plus other AYUpublishing pieces (which are mostly comic books, but not as you know them).
All the detail of the fair can be found here: http://turnthepage.org.uk/
Spread the word and hope to see you there…
April 18th
6:08 PM
6:08 PM
Better late than never…
Some photographs from our very first book fair- DIY Cultures.
It was a complete joy to take part in such a wonderful fair and get to meet so many people.
Plus, we got to send Elbow Room Vol.Two ff to good new homes
March 24th
2:53 PM
2:53 PM
Elbow Room Live…
Where do I even begin? What an incredible night.
I want to extend a massive “Thank You” to all our performers…
Our poets: Claire Booker, Jonathan Butcher, Ella Chappell, Harry Mann, Zelda Chappel and Kim Sherwood
And our musicians: Mina’s Ghost, Lucy Cait and Late Arrivals Club
The night would have been impossible and pointless without you. I am honoured beyond measure that you all came to share your art with us.
I also want to thank a few other people for their support in making Elbow Room Live happen: Firstly to inSpiral, for hosting the night and all your generosity and help, to Billy Brooks for DJing, to Lauren Fried for letting me hand you my camera and to Zelda for everything you do for Elbow Room in general.
And finally, before this becomes too much like a bad Oscar speech- to our audience. I have never been to a night with a better crowd. Thank you so much for coming, for listening, for cheering. You were all amazing and I think the artists would agree when I say you made the night.
Elbow Room Live was the first step in the next stage of this adventure and it has blown me away. I can’t wait to start planning the next one.
Thank You
Thank You
Thank You
March 21st
9:45 PM
9:45 PM
Stop/Start by David Coldwell
That year we gave up on summer. The
wettest drought in history some said but
no one here was listening. The grass will need a cut,
you said, as the first leaves began
to fall and the birds began to gather
on the wires to prepare for their journeys.
The taxi arrived early and you worried
that it would cost a small fortune if
we didn’t make a move. I carried you
out past the overgrown grass covered
in leaves that were turning to muck in
the rain. Blackberries still clung to the
naked brambles where a piece of sheep’s
wool had caught on the thorns. The
birds had gone and in the quiet of the day
our breathing became deafening.
The stop/start of footsteps, of the engine,
of the windscreen wipers that cleared the glass.
You never looked back. And I don’t know what
you were thinking as I asked to stop
outside the school gates so that I could breathe.
The water in the leaves soaked
through my soles and I wondered how
we had ever got to this point.
Nothing is ever made good. You said
bright clothes, big smiles and the best party in
town. You wanted that song by Harold Melvin
and the Blue Notes for a laugh.
You only ever cried at the good things.
Sorry, I spoke but was unable to finish.
David Coldwell, b1970, is an artist, writer and public servant based in the South Pennines. David has enjoyed a varied career that has included roles as diverse as video producer, script writer, lecturer, project manager and landscape painter.
David’s poetry has been published in a number of journals and anthologies including The Rialto, Ink, Sweat and Tears and Ariadne’s Thread.
David is a regular contributor to Write Out Loud poetry performance nights. He lives in Marsden with his wife and three children.
http://davidcoldwell.wordpress.com/
