The Book of Ystwyth: Six poets on the art of Clive Hicks-Jenkins, will launch at the Aberystwyth University campus bookshop in the Arts Centre on the evening of May 6th. The event kicks off at 6.30 pm. I shall post more details shortly, but those of you in the Aberystwyth area who are interested, please mark the date down in your diaries and do come to support us. At least three of the six poets will be present to read from the anthology, and I shall be there too. Wine will be served.
UPDATE: I can now announce that in addition to our own Damian Walford Davies from Aberystwyth and Callum James from Portsmouth, all three contributing poets from the USA, Dave Bonta, Andrea Selch and Marly Yeomans, will be here for the book launch. This means we’ll have the full complement of contributing poets to The Book of Ystwyth gathered for the reading, something that at the beginning of this project I never dreamed would be possible. (The sixth poet, Catriona Urquhart, died in 2005, and so I shall be reading one of her poems from the anthology.)
For the sharp-eyed among you, please be assured that we’ve noted the misspelling of Pennsylvania on the front cover flap, and it’s been corrected before going into print. I’m sure Dave Bonta will be relieved that he doesn’t hail from Pennyslvania, not least because it looks like an impossible-to-pronounce hybrid of Welsh and Russian!
Clive Hicks-Jenkins' Artlog: 
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“Pennyslvania” might be more appropriate than the current name, in that the state government is run by dicks who are working to destroy the sylvan part of the state as fast as they can.
Peter lays claim to that typo, spotted, thank goodness, in time to correct it. That would have been embarrassing on the cover, though not as embarrassing as the typo we nearly missed inside the monograph that had the chapter title on ‘Still-life’ titled Stiff-life’!
This volume is truly gorgeous, Clive, Peter, and Andrew! Can’t wait to hold it in hand… and it will be a rare pleasure to hear all the poets reading together. It won’t be long now!
xo
AM
So happy to hear about this gathering of poets, and especially that Dave will be able to be there! What a grand event it’s going to be! I hope somebody – Marly? Dave? — will bring a book home for me…
I think you can be sure that some of those books will be making their way to the US Beth, and that one of them will have your name on it!
Beyond exciting! What an amazing, validating, collaboratively gorgeous event that will be for all of you. The richness of words and colours will be staggering. I shall be there in spirit, and dying to be there in actuality.
Congratulations, Clive! How exciting that so many of the poets will fly over for the kick-off and will be there for your exhibition opening as well. What a week that will be. Best Wishes for all success!
Thank you Marja-Leena. It is indeed an exciting development, and really quite unexpected. I’m allowing myself to feel the first small tingles of anticipation and excitement, though there’s a fearsome amount that still remains to be done before May.
Bravo!
Oh yes. Bravo (and Brava) to all those involved in the project who have got us to this point. Those American poets are collectively covering many miles to be here, and I’m hugely admiring of their enthusiasm.
The scrumptciosity around here is getting quite high, Clive.
P. S. What time is the opening on the next day? I know you said. But can’t find. Alas.
Scrumptciosity is a great word, though I have no idea whether you made it up or not.
Opening at 2 pm.
Yes, did. Just needed it at that instant… So I guess there won’t be a lot of snoozing between one thing and another!
Oh you’ll be too excited for snoozing! Live now, snooze later.
That does seem to be my motto generally. Shall try to get in a nap before I leave!
Make that four! (Email on the way.)
Wow!!! That is SO exciting!!!
Four! Oh, that will be fun… I love surprises.
This is an-out-of-the-blue development. We had no idea until yesterday that Dave would be making the trip.
Yes, it must have been–think I mentioned wishing he’d come in the past week or so. Grand. Now you need a tent in the garden!