Two Publishing Talks: Southampton and Swansea

I'm talking writing, poetry and publishing on class act panels in two far flung UK locations this autumn!

This month, come see me on Thursday 20 September in Southampton:

Then, next month, I'll be on the panel of the More Poetry is Needed session at Swansea Fringe Festival (2-4pm, Sunday 7 October:

Submitting your poems to a publisher can be intimidating, but The Swansea Fringe is here to help! Three of Wales’ leading poetry editors – Emily Blewitt (New Welsh Review), Nia Davies (Poetry Wales) and Susie Wild (Parthian Books) – join The Crunch’s Adam Sillman for a panel discussion focused on the world of publishing and poetry. 

What do these three editors look for when they open up submissions? Are there any pitfalls to avoid when sending your work for consideration? And has being an editor changed their approach to submitting their own poetry to magazines and publishers? All of these questions and more will be answered during a lively panel discussion and audience Q&A, revealing exactly what happens when editors decide that more poetry is needed.

Facebook Event Page

Fame is a Place on Scott Tyrell's Spoken Word Map of the UK & Ireland.

Find out more via Scott Tyrell's twitter

Brecon Beacons, Green Man Festival, Ep.1

Oh Literary Death Match at Green Man was such fun, thanks to the 1000+ audience for coming and watching at Babbling Tongues on Saturday afternoon, and to Adrian, Laura and Fiona for inviting me along, it was so, so very close...

Here's the LDM post about it all:

August 18, 2018 — In our first foray into an event at a National Park, Literary Death Match headed to the Green Man Festival in Brecon Beacons, Wales for an afternoon delight that saw Rebecca Tantony narrowly outduel Susie Wild in sudden death during a One Star Wonder finale, winning Tantony the LDM Green Man, Ep. 1 crown and literary immortality to go with it. 

Here's the lineup from the event: 

JUDGES: 
Literary Merit: Anita Sethi, award-winning writer, journalist and broadcaster
Performance: Johnny Lynch, a.k.a. Pictish Trail, a Scottish musician for the ages
Intangibles: Horatio Clare, critically-acclaimed author and journalist, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and author of Icebreaker: A Voyage Far North

READERS:
Round 1:
* Ross Sutherland, writer, performer and award-winning podcaster, who works across theatre, film and radio
* Susie Wild, author of Better Houses, journalist, critic, lecturer, festival organiser and editor based in Cardiff

Round 2:
* Rebecca Tantony, spoken word artist, journalist and author of Talk You Round Til Dusk
* Hari Ramakrishnan, Bristol-based actor, writer and director 

Hosted by LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga (check out his debut novel Collision Theory today!)

Planet Review: Better Houses

Oh I've just read a lovely joint review of Brood by my dear friend Rhian Edwards and Better Houses by me me me in the new issue of Planet. Thanks Elizabeth Edwards. Some snippets for you...

On Better Houses:

"The collection begins on a riotous note in 'Build the Table First', invoking fire, broken glass, flamingos and fake blood, in worlds made, destroyed and remade through outnumbered 'house moves'. But (as the fake blood may suggest) nothing comes to serious harm here, ultimately looking towards physical and emotional forms of steadiness: 'nothing is broken between us / for long'. It's a fitting introduction to the collection as a whole, which contemplates big life shifts throughout but is ultimately a gentle and conciliatory work. [...] 'Carcharodon Carcharias, Cariad', reels gorgeously from a restaurant to the seashore to the night sky [...] Finding (the way) home is of course a key theme for this collection full of thresholds. [...] The collection ends with an anxious doorstep pause – 'You wait for your self / to open up, to let you in with your secrets' ('Inside You') – that suggests an unfinished journey through the experiences and signs that tell us we're home." 

On Brood:

"From The Parliament of Fowls to Crow, birds are familiar ground for poetry but Edwards's dark and witty Brood finds new points of entry. Suggesting maternity, and a mood, from the title onwards, Brood bears witness to things unravelling – a relationship, a pregnancy, a myth, a familiar rhyme. [...] transporting us the undefined chaos of an unreal world crowded with characters (human and avian) and voices (spoken and sung), and their increasingly punishing demands."

I'm just a few sales away from a reprint, make it so ;) and also please buy and support Planet or log in to your account to read more x

In Praise of 'West'...

'He felt again the dizzying weight of all the mystery of the earth and everything in it and beyond it. He felt the resurgence of his curiosity and his yearning, and at the same time felt more and more afraid that he would never find what he'd come for, that the monsters, after all, might not be here.'

Insomnia and the railway-line night work beyond my garret window means I have just re-read and line-by-line dissected West by Carys Davies. Already a huge fan of her short stories, I can't recommend this enough – the best debut I've read so far this summer. A beguiling, page-turning American fable seeped in desire and devotion, devastating grief, and the search for wonder beyond life's comfort zone all written with a deft economy and a simmering, shimmering 'coal and salt' humour.

Literary Death Match at Green Man Festival 2018

I'm looking forward to taking part in Literary Death Match at Green Man Festival on Sat 18 August (4pm) this year, come along!

Literary Death Match, now in over 60 cities worldwide, was called "the most entertaining reading series ever" by the LA Times. The live show brings together four authors to read their most electric writing for seven minutes or less before a panel of three all-star judges. After each pair of readers, the judges take turns spouting hilarious, off-the-wall commentary — in the categories of literary merit, performance and intangibles — then select their favorite to advance to the finals. The two finalists then compete in a vaguely literary competition to determine who takes home the Literary Death Match crown.

LITERARYDEATHMATCH.COM

Review: Jonathan Edwards on Better Houses for Ink Sweat & Tears

This review of Better Houses has made my holiday, thanks Jonathan!

‘Susie Wild’s Better Houses announces a new […] and exciting poetic voice. […] The author’s balance between opening the door for the reader, and then hitting them with the poem’s highly original approach to language and a slightly slant way of looking at the world, make these poems highly entertaining and rewarding. 

[…]

‘like all the best collections, it leaves the reader wanting more. The marriage of clarity and accessibility with the highly distinctive voice which is evident in these poems, excitingly and genuinely all this author’s own, make this an accomplished and auspicious debut, and make this poet’s future work something to greatly look forward to.’

Read the review in full on Ink Swear & Tears