Four great poems from Paul Summers - poet, Liar Republic co-editor, film-maker and all-round Renaissance man
Paul Summers was born in Blyth Northumberland in 1967 and now lives in North Shields where he works as writer/artist/tutor. His work has appeared in magazines for over a decade and he has performed his work in Britain, Europe and Australia. He is founding co-editor of Billy Liar/Liar Republic and a co-director of Liar Inc Ltd. He occasionally works as a community development consultant and is currently involved in trans-national anti-discrimination research for the EU. He was awarded Northern Arts Writer�s Awards in 1995 and 1998 and an Oppenheim/John Downes Award in 1998. The British Council supported his Australian Tour in 1998.
RELATED LINKS
LIAR REPUBLIC Click image to read about Liar Republic on the Independent Northern Publishers site; to contact the magazine direct, e.mail here
JUICE
Juice is an exciting new development programme for young writers in the North. Aimed at young people through two strands, Juice@Schools or Juice 16-30, NWN aims to develop a stream of fresh young regional talent and to awaken interest in writing for the young people of the region.
PAUL'S TOP POETS
ALAN HULL (LINDISFARNE)
Click title to visit the official Lindisfarne website; for a beautifully designed tribute site to Alan Hull from Geordie Roots, click here; for a selection of articles about Alan Hull, click here; for Rod Clements illustrated discography of Linidsfarne, click here or to listen to sound clips from Hull's solo album, 'When War is Over' on Amazon, click hereLEONARD COHEN
Click title for the official Leonard Cohen website; for the Leonard Cohen Files site, a comprehensive information source Cohen's career and life, click here; for profile and links on the Bird on a Wire site, click here; for the Leonard Cohen Concordance, a word index to Cohen's poems, songs and novels, click here or to view his work on Amazon, click hereTOM WAITS
Click title for the offical Tom Waits website; for the Rendezvous of Strangers site, featuring Waits lyrics, articles, message board, click here; for an interview with Waits on the Onion AV Club site, click here; for Salon.com profile of Waits, click here or for the book, 'Beautiful Maladies,' featuring many of Waits best lyrics, click hereELVIS COSTELLO
Click title for the official Elvis Costello website; for Real Life Becomes a Rumour, a complete visual guide to Costello, click here; for the Trainspotter's guide to Costello, click here; for lyrics and chords to all Costello's songs, click here or to view his back catalogue on Amazon, click hereTONY HARRISON
Click title for biography and bibliography of Harrison on the British Council website; to read John Stammers interview with Morrison in Magma magazine, click here; for Guardian Unlimited profile and links, click here; for Simon Armitage's article on Harrison in the New Statesman, click here or to view available books on Amazon, click hereSEAN O'BRIEN
Click title for interview with O'Brien on Desperado Literature; to read section of O'Brien's lyrical play, 'Laughter When We're Dead,' click here; for profile of O'Brien on the Sheffield Hallam University, where he is English Professor, click here; to read his poem, 'Welcome, Major Poet' on Poet Text site, click here or to view reviews of O'Brien's work on Amazon, and leave your own comments, click hereSIMON ARMITAGE
Click title for Armitage's official website; for profile and bibliography of Armitage on the British Council website, click here; for Guardian Unlimited profile and links, click here; for an interview with Armitage on Sonnets.org, click here or to view reviews of Armitage's work on Amazon, and leave your own comments, click hereBRENDAN CLEARY
Click title for short biography of Cleary on the Bloodaxe website; to read Cleary's poem, 'The Resident,' click here; for Cleary's top 10 tips on starting to write on the BBC1 website, click here or to view reviews of Cleary's work, and leave your own on Amazon, click hereDAVID CRYSTAL
Click title for a review of Crystal's poetry collection, 'Just Like Frank'; to read Crystal's poem, 'Page Turner' on the Bywaters website, click here; for details of Brighton poetry event featuring Crystal at the end of December 2003, click here or to view reviews of Crystal's collection, 'First Catch Your Hare,' on Amazon, click hereTIM CUMMING
Click title to read Cumming's poem, 'September Sonnets' in the Cortland Review; to read Cumming's poem, 'Dancing with the Captain and Tennille' on the Magma website, click here; to read article and excerpt from Cumming's book, 'Contact Print' on Wrecking Ball website, click here; to read Cumming's poem, 'Strange Days,' on the Poetry Superhighway site, click here; or to read more about 'Contact Print' on Amazon, click hereMARTIN MOONEY
Click title for a short profile of Martin Mooney on Irish Writers Online; to read about Mooney's involvement with The Taxi Project, click here; for a short bibliography of Mooney on the Writers Centre website, click here; to read Mooney's poem, 'Bonfire Makers' on the Arts Council Poem of the Month site, click here; or to order, 'Grub' by Mooney on Amazon, click hereKEVIN CADWALLENDER
Click title to visit the website of Cadwallender's literary magazine, Sand; to read Cadwallender's poem, 'The Monster Mash,' click here; to read 2 poems by Cadwallender in Frank's Casket, click here; to read about Cadwallender's involvement with the Poets in the Co-op Project, click here; or to order Cadwallender's collection, 'Public' on Amazon, click hereKEN SMITH
Click title to read Ken Smiths' obituary in Guardian Unlimited; to read about Smith's poem, 'Fast Forward' and listen to him read it on BBCi Poetry Proems, click here; to read review of Smith's collection, 'Shed' on Poetry Matters, click here; for Brad Evens interview with Smith on Poetry Kit, click here; or to order 'Shed' on Amazon, click hereFRANK O'HARA - Looking for you
Click title for the Frank O'Hara home page on the Electronic Poetry Centre site; for Frank O'Hara biography on Poetry Exhibits site, click here; for the excellent Frank O'Hara online site, click here; for the excellent Frank O'Hara online site, click here; to read O'Hara's poem, 'A Step Away From Them,' click here or to read reviews of 'Lunch Poems' and leave your own on Amazon, click hereNORMAN MacCAIG
Click title for article, 'No extra words": the Scottish Lyric Poet Norman MacCaig'; to read MacCaig's poem, 'Visiting Hour,' click here; for a short selection of poems by MacCaig, click here; for the Scottish Poetry Library biography of MacCaig, click here; or to order 'The Collected Poems of Norman MacCaig, on Amazon, click hereSEAMUS HEANEY
Click title to read and listen to Heaney read a selection of his poems; for biography and bibliography of Heaney on the Nobel Museum site, click here; for biography and bibliography of Heaney on the Nobel Museum site, click here; for profile of Heaney and a selection of links on the Poetry Exhibits site, click here; for a selection of articles about Heaney and his work, click here; or to leave a review of 'Beyond Our Kennel' on Amazon, click herePAUL DURCAN
Click title for profile of Durcan on the New York State Writers Institute site; to read Durcan's celebration of Van Morrison, click here; for biography of Durcan on the Irish Writers Online site, click here; for review of Durcan's poem, 'Christmas Day' on the Complete Review site, click here; for a selection of online poems by Durcan, click here; or to leave a review of 'Beyond Our Kennel' on Amazon, click here
'THE COMRADES' by Paul Summers
every season brings change:
more empty seats for overcoats
& greasy caps, to prop up sticks.
their collars grow more loose,
their feet rattle in pristine shoes.
the incredible shrinking men
meet sundays for dominoes:
their fingers grip the ebony,
like brambles on unkempt graves;
they eye the kitty like preying cats,
faces receding to sharpened bone,
the skin of one-time double-chins
hangs paper-thin in breathless flags
& when they laugh, their straining necks
like pelicans remembering storms.
'KEV' by Paul Summers
the beautiful woman
on the Ashington bus
peels a tangerine
with great dexterity.
perfumes mingle,
& Kev tells the latest
of his new found friends
how he�d once been so hungry
he had eaten a candle,
how according to his nurse
he was �more unpredictable
than a rabbit with a switch-blade�.
later, at the traffic lights
Kev farts, loud & proud;
a stylised homage
to Findus crispy pancakes,
& the kids at the back
shake with laughter.
the pensioner adjacent
is less convinced,
is scared & disgusted
in the same lined face:
& the beautiful woman
on the Ashington bus
who had peeled a tangerine
with great dexterity
smiled like Florence Nightingale
at some poor bastard
who had lost both his legs
to the roundness of a canon-ball.
'OCTOBER SONG' by Paul Summers
a full grey mile beneath
the antics of a show-off gull
wet slate slumps in whale-backs
exhausted by the weight of sky
the colour of my mother�s eyes
the rumbling belly of a land-bound storm
an echo in a canopy of emptying trees
of childish numbers counted in between
old archie wets a conker with his spit
& polishes it to a racehorse sheen
'GLASS' by Paul Summers
All morning sand-pipers
Spin and reel in milky fog
Rising in a synchronised skip
On the slow lap of the tide.
An old man collects sea-glass;
His shuffle meticulous,
His eyes fixed like eagle�s.
He drops each frosted jewel
Carefully into a nap-sack.
There are whispers of senility
Back at the allotments
& Archie�s glass hoarded
By the bean-canes like Marner�s gold.
Occasionally, he is static, in reverence �
His bare feet, leather-skinned & salt-white
Sinking like picture-hall Wurlitzers
Into the sand: the ice mosaics
On the rippled floor, the double rainbow
Slouched above the harbour, the dead seal
On the drift-line � swelled to a split,
Like a fatty sausage too quickly fried
The Last Bus (Iron Press 1998) - 'It is packed with irony, wit- and also some tremendously direct lyricism drawing on a sharp intelligence and keen observations of every day street circus behaviour�This is poetry of the real kind with a real voice, and you'd be a fool to miss it.' - Barry MacSweeney
Love and Sprockets (Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sunderland 1999)
Windows (Fiona Rutherford/NGCA, Sunderland, 1998)
The Architecture of Crowds (NGCA, Sunderland, 1997)
On the Buses (Catalyst Arts/Dean Clough Gallery, Halifax, 1997)
Handmedowns (Blue Cowboys, Newcastle 1995)
RECENT EDUCATION WORK
Writer in Residence (Ashington Education Action Zone, Northumberland)
Tutor/Facilitator (Juice, New Writing North - Whitehaven/M�boro/Sunderland/Newcastle)
Writer/Facilitator (Customs House Youth Theatre, South Shields)
Writer/Facilitator (Theatre Cap-a-Pie, Co.Durham)
I asked Paul about his influences as a writer:
"My influences are vast - from Alan Hull (Lindisfarne,) Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits
and Elvis Costello (poetic lyrics were much more easily available in Blyth
than poetry!) Tony Harrison in the early days (Bookends etc) before he went
all 'National Theatre', ditto for Sean O'Brien & Simon Armitage.
Steadfast influences are/were mainly my peers Brendan Cleary, David Crystal,
Tim Cumming, Martin Mooney, Kevin Cadwallender, Ken Smith, etc etc - I've
always really liked Frank O'Hara's Lunchtime Poems, Norman McCaig, Famous
Seamus and Paul Durcan too - the list could be endless. Fiction is equally
spralling, everything from Welsh, Warner to John Irving, Kurt Vonnegut to
Ann Micheals' Fugitive Pieces. Sorry I'm being a bit vague."
Details and links of all Paul's favourite poets are in the left hand column
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