The last of 148 pages of sustained brilliance. #ecopoetry as epic. The kind of bloody, visceral, relentlessly rigorous book I wish I'd written. The kind of book that takes craft *and* graft. Steve Ely, I'm jealous. You can buy it from Longbarrow Press if you are tempted.

The silver eel’s a submarine missile,
a glittring metallic migrating machine.
Skin-tight neoprene diving suit,
greased with euryhaline mucus.
Fuel-fat packed in zigzag myomeres,
long-fin, long-haul pectorals ...

'Eely'
Steve Ely

Out now
longbarrowpress.com/current-public…

The season's tragic arc is foreshadowed in the opening scenes, in which an unusually sanguine Jack confidently declares that 'Small presses are the lifeblood of poetry', then cuts to a vision of him skint and surrounded by boxes of unsold books
twitter.com/LongbarrowPres…

A lifelong fascination with the eel is the inspiration behind a new epic-length poem by Dr Steve Ely, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Director of Ted Hughes Network. Full story: hud.ac/ruo

Longbarrow Press A&H Uni Huddersfield

#HudUni #Eels #Poetry #Poem #EpicPoem

This book is spectacular. Relentlessly good.

All the poets will be wearing plaid trousers and little caps with bobbles on.

EXCL: UK government has received advice from own lawyers that Israel has breached international law in Gaza but failed to make it public - by ⁦⁦Toby Helm⁩ theguardian.com/world/2024/mar…

Barrel truly scraped.

'Eely', Steve Ely's collision of eels, life, conflict, fenland and more or less everything really, is out on 8th April.

'Oumuamua, tumbling in the galactic flow
like the lopped head of anguilla, breaking
the bounds of the fixing star, the grasp
of the lunging planets, her loosed crag
crashing through gravity’s fences and coursing
to wing-finned Pegasus...

'Eely'
8 April 2024
#WorldPoetryDay

My short story, Landscape Carving, playing at Soft Ground (Arts Catalyst) for ashley's Skylarking. Narrated by myself, Bel Odawa and ashley. Up until May 18.

As an Israeli in this dark disgusting inhuman time, there are many things I see and hear and can tell you about and are worthy of research and serious consideration, but there is one part of it that is so uncanny, so disheartening, so extraordinary, that I can hardly describe it,…

It is simply unacceptable to use starvation as a weapon of war.

The people of Gaza are dying a slow death, while the world watches on.

The international community must demand that aid is allowed to get to all of the people of Gaza suffering, including those in the North.

“The depth of the horror surpasses our ability to describe it.” theguardian.com/world/2024/mar…

A short thread. 🧵

So, as an ageing gay queen entering his 50s, I think we are handling t he worst siege against the LGBT+ community for 35 years pretty well. 1/8

Prof Mordechai is an almost lone voice and will probably lose his job. May this inspire everyone silent for fear of repercussions. When I break down the silences around me, what most people fear is…an awkward moment at a dinner party. A strain in a useful relationship. Speak.

EXCUSE ME YOU WOT MATE

It me x

EXCL: The Conservative party’s biggest donor said looking at Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women” and the MP “should be shot” - by ⁦Rowena Mason⁩ ⁦matthew weaver⁩ ⁦Henry Dyer⁩ theguardian.com/politics/2024/…