Susie Wild's Blog: Wildlife, page 7

TOUR POSTER: Christina Thatcher / Breaking a Mare

 

GIG ALERT: Christina Thatcher and Tracey Rhys in Newport, 16 April

 

DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH: Christina Thatcher and Tracey Rhys

Happy April folks! We are launching two wonderful poetry books into the world this month: Breaking a Mare by Christina Thatcher and Bathing on the Roof by Tracey Rhys. Both are officially out from this Thursday and we've some great events coming up for them, starting with the double launch at Waterstones Cardiff on Thursday 10th April. Don't forget to book your tickets! See you there.

TRAVEL PHOTO: Asian Water Monitor

 Look at this inquisitive creature! Keeping us company at lunch on Koh Phi Phi today... 

BOOK REVIEW: Bathing on the Roof / London Grip

‘This collection makes for a powerful and compelling read. There are complex layers of debate and conjecture, all skilfully explored and voiced with confidence.’ Big thanks to Pat Edwards for this wonderful first review of ‘Bathing on the Roof’, the captivating debut poetry collection from Tracey Rhys out in April!

https://londongrip.co.uk/2025/03/london-grip-poetry-review-tracey-rhys

HOLIDAY!

I'm still away looking at this sort of thing... 

PHOTO BLOG: Bookhemian, Phuket Old Town

 Happy World Poetry Day! 

Tracey Rhys in the Spring issue of THE HIGH WINDOW

The Spring issue of THE HIGH WINDOW is now available and it is great to see new poetry from Tracey Rhys here:

https://thehighwindowpress.com/ There is new poetry from : Anindya Banerjee • Robyn Bolam • Pat Boran • Malcolm Carson • Maggie Castle • Martyn Crucefix • Peter Daniels • Mair De-Gare Pitt • Frank Dullaghan • Alexis Rhone Fancher • Marilyn Francis • Greg Freeman • Jeff Gallagher • Mark Granier • Gill Learner • Emma Lee • Alison Mace • Patricia McCarthy • Beth McDonough • Fokkina McDonnell • Maggie Mackay • Ted Mico • Sean OBrien • Tanya Parker • Sheenagh Pugh • Tracey Rhys • Padraig Rooney • Ernesto Santiago • Andrew Seear and Victor Adereth • Richard Skinner • Angela Topping • Mark Totterdell • Miriam Valencia • Scotia Gilroy Scotia Vincent • Rodney Wood • Mark Woodward • Jefferson Holdridge • Bulgarian Poedtry curated bt Tom Edward Phillips • an essay by Derek Coyle • Reviews of Mimi Khalvati • Patrick Deeley n • Fatemeh Shams: • Quentin Cowdry • John McKeown • Isabel Bermudez • Linda McKenna • Rachel Spence by Sam Milne • Patrick Lodge• Anne Symons-East • Kathleen Mcphilemy • Hilary Hares • Rowena Sommerville • Pat Edwards and the new Resident Artist is Ruth Egan

BOOK REVIEW: 'one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Welsh writing in English'

There is a wonderful extended review essay 'Ecological Literacy' by Steven Lovatt in the latest issue of New Welsh Review exploring recent books that seek to restore natural and cultural ecologies and recognise how the cultural nature of our landscapes is preserved in language. It offers an in-depth look at This Common Uncommon by Rae Howells, and here are three of our favourite snippets:

"Rae Howells’ new poetry collection, This Common Uncommon, is a fierce and loving affirmation of the local, exemplifying the sort of care-full attention to the interdependence of people, other animals and plants that will be required if anything worthwhile is to be saved from the present ruin.""Howells confirms the evidence of her first collection, The Language of Bees, that she is a highly adept poet, possessing one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Welsh writing in English.""If West Cross Common is developed for housing, nobody can now claim ignorance of what was lost. So whether you buy or borrow This Common Uncommon be sure to share [it] widely. For there are countless such sites across Wales, all under threat and all uniquely valuable, the little-known places no less than those sometimes noticed in the media. Such fragments of the ancient landscape rarely make it into poems, and indeed I don’t know that anywhere as small and 'humble' as West Cross Common has ever before been celebrated in a collection of such ability." Read more by picking up a copy of New Welsh Review. This Common Uncommon by Rae Howells is available now from Parthian Books and all good bookshops.

BOOK REVIEW: 'It deserves to be read far more widely.'

In her engaging review essay 'Fantastical Doubles and Split Selves' in the latest issue of New Welsh Review, author of The Word, JL George, looks at responses to trauma in three recent novels including Fox Bites by Lloyd Markham. Here are three of our favourite snippets:

‘Lloyd Markham’s first full-length novel Fox Bites, set in early-2000s Zimbabwe, takes a similar tack, colliding social upheaval – as viewed through the sometimes-uncomprehending eyes of a young, neurodivergent boy – with smaller, more personal disruptions. The young protagonist, Taban, suffers bullying and isolation among his peers after his family splits apart: his aunt, uncle, and beloved cousin Caleb moving away to a farm which will later be seized during land reforms.’‘Taban must resist the temptation to become part of a cycle of abuse, thereby becoming a conduit for the destruction of his world. Although the stakes of the book eventually become world-threatening in the expected way of science fiction and fantasy, the story never tips over into rote spectacle: it remains grounded in personal relationships, keeping the story emotionally compelling.’‘The dark double here provides a cautionary tale – and also a way of depicting political events through the eyes of a child who is unable to affect or fully comprehend them, but must still live in the world they create. Though qualified and realistic, the novel’s ending allows a note of hope which stands out all the more brightly for the darkness against which it is shown. Like the other two books discussed here, Markham’s novel makes inventive use of a well-worn literary motif, using it to consider the workings of power from a perspective not often seen in fiction from Wales. It deserves to be read far more widely.’Fox Bites is available from Parthian Books and all good bookshops. The latest issue of NEW WELSH REVIEW is available now.