The Saboteur Literary Awards are fast approaching! This is a great opportunity for smaller presses, more diverse writings and experimental literary projects to get some much-needed attention. The shortlist is decided by public vote, so your nomination really matters. www.saboteurawards.org
We would love you to nominate Abi Palmer’s micro-immersive poetry project ‘Alchemy’ for the category of ‘Best Wildcard.’ It’s an experiment exploring the relationship between language and physical interaction, as well as the conflict between literary and scientific reasoning. Every single 1:1 interaction can be played out differently, which leads to some pretty ‘wild’ outcomes.
If you’ve interacted with the project, either at a live performance or in box set form, we’d love your nomination! You can read more about the project here on MattersduMonde, and buy it here.
Colliding Lines are all about increasing the range of diversity and possibilities in the arts, and we have a lot of friends who would also be very deserving of some more attention. For this reason, we thought we’d also give you a list of some other suggestions of vote-worthy projects, in and outside of Cambridge, in as many categories as we can think of. You do need to vote in at least 3 categories – if you aren’t familiar with any of the projects below, we’ll hope you’ll take a moment to explore!
Nominate a Best Wildcard
As well as Abi Palmer’s ‘Alchemy,’ we have loved Lunar Poetry Podcasts, who have been extraordinary this year in their range and breadth of interviews, including at least one in Spanish. Check them out here.
Nominate a Best Spoken Word Regular Night
Why not nominate one of Cambridge’s amazing gatherings? Allographic and Hammer & Tongue Cambridge, both hosted by Fay Roberts have been tremendous nurturers and developers of all types of spoken word talent in Cambridge.
Nominate the Most Innovative Publisher
Innovation comes in many forms: this year our publishing crushes at Fuselit & Sidekick Books definitely take the biscuit in experimenting with form and pushing boundaries and poetry cross-pollination (see mentions of ‘Surveyors’ Riddles’ and ‘Over the Line’ later on for examples of this). Not to mention Poetry Costume parades– long may this trend continue.
Visitors to Tall Tales Lab(yrinth) may also wish to lend a nomination to Tangerine Press, who are unique in their combination of such incredibly beautiful books capturing work by such an incredibly weird range of literary outsiders, old and new.
Nominate a Best Collaborative Work
Roulade: The Alchemy Issue was the final edition of the walk-through magazine by Wayne Holloway-Smith and Llew Watkins. It’s been such a huge influence on bringing together a huge number of artforms, and was also the starting point for Abi Palmer’s ‘Alchemy.’ It was a huge influence on our experimental storytelling night Tall Tales Lab(yrinth) too – we are all hugely indebted!
We also love ‘Surveyors’ Riddles’ by Alistair Noon and Giles Goodland. This is a really good book of traded poems / genetic poem-sequencing. It’s a hard book to explain but the collaborative relationship in it is really interesting to observe – definitely worth reading and learning from. You can buy it here.
Nominate a Best Anthology
Over The Line: An Introduction to Poetry Comics, edited by Chrissy Williams and Tom Humberstone has been a genuine revelation. It is also the UK’s first anthology of poetry comics. Thanks to Sidekick Books for that – link. We think Nikki Marrone and Matt Widgery might like this one…
In terms of online anthologies, New Boots and Pantisocracies began as an attempt to catalogue the the first 100 days of the new Tory government in poetic form. Check it out here. Could also be a collaborative work or a wildcard – you decide!
Nominate a Best Spoken Word Performer
Check out our Poetry Salon Playlist for evidence of the remarkable Tim Knight, Uppahar Subbha and Nikki Marrone. You may also be familiar with the work of Science-poet Robin Lamboll and our very own Hammer and Tongue finalist Riaz Moola. Cambridge are also host to the legendary Hollie McNish, and of course, the ethereal Fay Roberts.
Nominate a Best Reviewer Of Literature
Special mention to Lunar Poetry host David Turner, who not only makes an effort to travel outside of London to see what the poetry world is like there, but is also remarkably candid: “I fucking hate poetry” is a pretty solid mantra for the detached observer.
Nominate a Best Magazine
Funhouse has shown some of the most interesting short stories we’ve read in ages. Check out their new blog here.
Poems in Which just keeps getting better and better, plus it genuinely has changed the way a lot of writers think about the relationship between title and poem (spot all the Poems in Which titles in the last few years of new poetry collections).
We also love Prac Crit.
Nominate a Best Spoken Word Show
Luke Wright’s ‘What I Learned From Johnny Bevan’ really does deserve all the awards this year. If you haven’t seen it, you can also buy the text from another of the most innovative publishers on the block Penned in the Margins.
Can you think of any other suggestions? Tweet us your thoughts. And of course: don’t forget to vote…