.
Jen from Salt chatting to poet Vincent Da Souza with Jay Merrill in the background, and Callum listening in.
.
.
Wow, what a party. And what a lucky person I am to be part of this publishing house.
I went up to London with Tania Hershman and her partner James. (They were staying for a few days with us in Sussex. Chris joined us later.
Salt Publishing had organised the party in the Gallery space at Foyles, on Charing Cross Road in London. There were short readings from twenty or so writers published this year, both poets and fiction writers.
It was a delight to meet up with Carys Davies again, who I last saw at Bantry at the Fish prizegiving. What a talented writer she is... her collection 'Some New Ambush' is just fantastic... I really chime with her writing.
Carys Davies reading from Some New Ambush
.
.
.
.
.
And David Grubb. (I begin to see how small this world of writing is...) I sat next to him a fortnight ago at the Bridport event, where he too won a prize for a short story. Today however, he was reading from his most recent poetry collection "It Comes With A Bit Of Song".
David Grubb reading from It Comes With A Bit Of Song
.
.
I met Chrissie Gittins, Matthew Licht (wow, what a powerhouse!), saw Jay Merrill but didn't have a chance to say hello...and last but not least... Elizabeth Baines.
Elizabeth Baines chatting to Tania Hershman
.
I have long been an avid reader of her Fictionbitch blog... wonderful to finally meet up.
As I am trying to write poetry, I bought David Grubb's book and Peter Jaeger's. All really thought provoking work... very different styles, and I was drawn to them both.
I look forward to studying them, seeing where they take me.
I also bought Matthew Licht's book. I loved the rawness of his writing, and its honesty.
After the do, some of us repaired to a nearby pub. I had a long and lovely natter with Elizabeth Baines.... I liked her directness and spark enormously. Chris nattered to Carys... the pub was so crowded, we were all shouting over other people's noise. Not easy!
A wonderful event, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be repeated. It was really memorable, quality stuff. I left that party (and the pub!) feeling very proud indeed to be part of the Salt team.
.
.
.JPG)
7 comments:
I sweat envy.
Were you at the French House pub afterwards? 'A sad crush', as they might have said in Regency times, to indicate that a party was a complete success.
I was amazed at how much prose Salt are putting out now, being of the poetry persuasion myself. I didn't take photos of the event but should really blog about it. Jen took a quick shot of me and Matthew Licht doing bad things with our tongues. If it's good, perhaps I could sneak a copy of it onto my own blog ... or maybe not!
Viva Salt!
Hi Jane
Yes, we were... squashed in the corner by the far door.... which opened at one point and an actor gentleman came in...
(How do I know he was an actor? because he was wearing actor-type clothes and a black fedora, which he did not take off even in that hot pub, and I wondered if maybe the top of his head had come off and he needed it for protection...)
it was a great evening.
Matthew is fun, transparent. He had me down as a womanwithnothingtosayinparticular, I could see it in his face... so I left him to it, but still bought his book as is writing is simply extraordinary.
.. look forward to Jen's pics!
Hi Vanessa,
It was really great to meet you - I knew it would be! And I look forward to the event when you will be reading!
Sounds like it was wonderful. Network network network is so important in this craft. :-)
HI Elizabeth
I will need a drink or two. Dutch courage. The writers were all so flaming GREAT!!!
Vx
HI Shameless..
you are so right! besides which it makes the whole writing world much more fun. No point in grouching in a garret!
V
Post a Comment