Bill Herbert is mostly published by Bloodaxe Books. He was Dundee’s first Makar, or city laureate, and is an emeritus professor of Newcastle University.
Newcastle upon Tyne
Joined November 2010
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Uncle Zbiggie on aftermaths and the small but exponentially-expanding matter of unforeseen consequences.
#ZbigniewHerbert
Lovely bit of research into two parallel lives brought together by a school register.
It demonstrates how much we desire coincidence to be meaningful, in that these two women share an unusual name but have no deeper connection.
And yet, and yet, our longing for story persists.
Our latest blog post started as an investigation into a curious coincidence - two girls in a school admission register listed one after the other with exactly the same name. Our volunteer Johanna looks into the lives of two girls called Alexina Simpson.
dundeecityarchives.wordpress…
Here’s your #TwoWordGestalt for today: Walnut Stylites (now with image).
Why’s it not ‘Saint Walnut Stylites’? Well, a) that’s three words; and b) it’s a walnut.
One more time: Walnut Stylites.
Episode 2 (of 2) of this charmering series by #IvorCutler happens to contain several of the poems we selected from ‘A Wet Handle’ for his Selected Poems - forthcoming from #HoorgiHouse!
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00cl6…
Instant Stoned Youth Nostalgia! Life was, is, and remains, a #PerpetualBiscuitReference…
Translated by #HughMacDiarmid (though perhaps that exaggerates his involvement, who knows?) and Elspeth Harley Schubert in 1963, possibly ‘Between the end of the “Chatterley” ban/And The Beatles’ first LP.’
#Aniara
One science fiction film has gone to philosophical depths in asking what the human race would do if it knew it was going to die out.
Aniara is the story of a space vessel with 100s on board, bound for colonies on Mars, that through a collision with debris is redirected onto an unstoppable journey into deep space.
It becomes a "generation ship" but it is headed to oblivion. It asks what we survive for.
Deeply haunting, the Swedish Danish film was based on a 1956 epic poem by Harry Martinson.
The film had a modest budget of €1.9 million and was almost entirely state funded, by Sweden, Denmark and local funds.
It's brave for countries to use state funds on sci-fi.
The following minute, a large, momentarily-unattended dog dashed in and rolled about on its back in sheer delight before rushing behind the bar, presumably to pull pints for the early evening crowd.
Which only enhanced the deep joy of the Dreamtime snug.
#StarAndGarter #Dundee
‘Lookin through a glass pomegranate…’
#TheBeatles #ΤαΣκαθάρια
(I was looking for a Lennon-esque pun in Greek, but then realised that Ska was already built in.)
From the train between Berwick and Dunbar you can see a person made of wire attempt to row a boat across a small field.
(One for @Westpark_Arts.)
#PublicArt
More Ivory Cutlery for #NationalPoetryDay!
Apparently the #SelectedPoems is out today - ie you can wander into a shop* and order a copy (the actual copies will follow shortly).
Here’s the back cover. (Text of the blurb in thread.)
*Preferably a bookshop.
#IvorCutler
‘The poems concentrate his gift for gentle absurdism into glimpses of a contrary cosmos. His sharp eye for our hypocrisies, his unique ear for the comic phrase, and his delight in the sheer strangeness of things, mark him as both fundamentally oppositional & entirely original.’
‘This selection from thirty years of his verse confirms Cutler’s inimitable and indispensable genius.’
#IvorCutler #SelectedPoems #HoorgiΗοuse #NationalPoetryDay
Bill Herbert retweeted
👀The inimitable Glaswegian humourist, surrealist, poet & singer, Ivor Cutler... A selection by @billherbert, exciting! 🐦⬛💙📘⚡️⚡️⚡️
What’s this?
It seems to be some sort of volume.
Yes. That was a rhetorical question.
Is it obtainable?
Yes, and soon!
How soon?
Possibly tomorrow. You can check with the publisher.
_You_ can check with the publisher.
Yes. Let’s do that.
Fine. You first.
No, after you.
#Cutler
Bill Herbert retweeted
Enamoured of @DiodeBlue's two-tone pamphlet livery! Happy to be between Eimear Bush's Edinburgh & Flora Leask Arizpe's Vagabonda in this year's Blues in 'D' Pamphlet series, 4-6. Coverart for Palomines by Evgeniia Lipatova... All available here, @ £7 each: bluediode.co.uk/shop
What’s this?
It seems to be some sort of volume.
Yes. That was a rhetorical question.
Is it obtainable?
Yes, and soon!
How soon?
Possibly tomorrow. You can check with the publisher.
_You_ can check with the publisher.
Yes. Let’s do that.
Fine. You first.
No, after you.
#Cutler
Here’s the link to #HoorgiHouse:
hoorgihouse.link/
Info remains basic at the moment, but keep checking back - or just wait till I badger you to check back, whichever works best for you!
#IvorCutler #SelectedPoems