The Bone That Sang by Claire Booker
THE BONE THAT SANG is packed with 29 pages of new poetry by Claire Booker, and published by Indigo D A refugee sprints for his life. LISA KELLY. ALAN PRICE.
To read a selection of poems from the pamphlet, or buy a copy please visit: https://www.indigodreams.co.uk/claire-booker/4595059690
'The Bone That Sang' follows on from Claire's debut pamphlet 'Later There Will Be Postcards' (Green Bottle Press, 2016), and is available to buy from Indigo Dreams Publishing, priced £6.00. Poems in the new pamphlet explore what it means to be human in an imperfect
14/10/2023
Two of my poems inspired by women's experiences have been published this month. One traces my direct line of female ancestors via mitochondrial DNA, and the other is a surreal riff on hot flushes. Arachne Press's Menopause: The Anthology is already making waves with launches in London, Sheffield, Liverpool, at the Open University and online. Editors Catherine Pestano and Cherry Potts called for poems and stories beyond the cliched realms of the climacteric....
The Ekphrastic Review and Menopause: The Anthology Two of my poems inspired by women’s experiences have been published this month. One traces my direct line of female ancestors via mitochondrial DNA, and the other is a surreal riff on hot flu…
18/09/2023
Words For The Wild has posted new poems by Robyn Bolam, Claire Booker, Rachel Bower, Lesley Cooke, Joan McGavin, Sue Spiers and Kate Young. Edited by Amanda Oosthuizen and Louise Taylor, the website is "rooted in countryside", using lovingly chosen photos to build an image-nest for each poem or story. There's also a recently posted interview with Kathryn Bevis on her latest collection 'Flamingo', plus a wonderful back catalogue of beautifully illustrated poems and short stories by well-known poets as well as newcomers....
Words for the Wild – nature poems and stories Words For The Wild has posted new poems by Robyn Bolam, Claire Booker, Rachel Bower, Lesley Cooke, Joan McGavin, Sue Spiers and Kate Young. Edited by Amanda Oosthuizen and Louise Taylor, the websit…
18/08/2023
Thank you Tamsin Hopkins for selecting one of my poems for The Alchemy Spoon (issue 10), where the theme of 'Friends' inspired some cracking poetry. From stories of herring girls, travel companions and brothers-in-law, to doggy friendship, childhood friends and friendly divorce, all of life is here. Poets featured in this issue include: Sharon Ashton, Julian Bishop, Claire Booker, Matthew Caley, Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, Helene Demetriades, Philip Dunkerley, Jen Feroze, Wendy Klein, Cos Michael, Gillie Robic, Finola Scott, Julie Stevens, and Anne Symons....
The Alchemy Spoon on friendship Thank you Tamsin Hopkins for selecting one of my poems for The Alchemy Spoon (issue 10), where the theme of ‘Friends’ inspired some cracking poetry. From stories of herring girls, trave…
17/06/2023
What hope for poetry without the next generation? Magma (issue 85) is an open letter to Government on how secondary school pupils could be taught poetry in ways more conducive to enjoyment. The editors Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Laurie Smith and Gill Ward have all worked in secondary schools and believe the love of poetry is being squeezed out by learning facts about poems rather than understanding how they express important feelings in memorable ways....
Magma on Schools + Fenland Poetry Journal What hope for poetry without the next generation? Magma (issue 85) is an open letter to Government on how secondary school pupils could be taught poetry in ways more conducive to enjoyment. The edi…
16/05/2023
I'm thrilled have two poems in the final issue of Agenda edited by the legendary Patricia McCarthy. Stepping Stones (or Volume 55, Nos 3-4 to those of a bibliographic mind!) is a beauty in both form and content, and a fine finish after two decades of Patricia's curatorship. "Agenda is being taken over by the University of St Andrews, with the illustrious poet and Professor John Burnside as the new editor," writes Patricia McCarthy....
Agenda turns a new page I’m thrilled have two poems in the final issue of Agenda edited by the legendary Patricia McCarthy. Stepping Stones (or Volume 55, Nos 3-4 to those of a bibliographic mind!) is a beauty in bo…
The latest issues of Dreamcatcher and Artemis Poetry remind me how symbiotic art and poetry can be. As well as poems by Claire Booker, Mark Czanik, Alwyn Gornall, Geoffrey Loe, Marie Papier, Penny Sharman and Phil Vernon among others, Dreamcatcher #46 features a striking cover and five arresting images by David Finnigan. Colourful and precisionistic, Finnigan's work breaks up the surface of two superimposed compositions to reprocess the order and create something new with a different rhythm....
03/02/2023
A first time for me in The Alchemy Spoon, and a welcome return to Orbis - one a relative newcomer on the poetry scene, the other with more than 200 issues to its name. I love them both. If you'd like to get into the next issue of The Alchemy Spoon, the submissions window closes on Feb 28th, with a theme of Grafitti....
Alchemy Spoon and Orbis #202 A first time for me in The Alchemy Spoon, and a welcome return to Orbis – one a relative newcomer on the poetry scene, the other with more than 200 issues to its name. I love them both. If yo…
13/01/2023
The natural world has found champions in three recent publications. I'm proud to have poems in each of them. Now on its 7th issue, Dublin-based Channel offers short fiction, poems, translations and essays which encourage reflection on human interaction with plant and animal life, landscape and the self. To buy, submit or watch the launch video, visit: www.channelmag.org Broken Sleep Books…...
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2023/01/13/voices-for-the-silent-broken-sleep-books-channel-magazine-indigo-dreams/
Voices for the Silent – Broken Sleep Books, Channel Magazine, Indigo Dreams The natural world has found champions in three recent publications. I’m proud to have poems in each of them. Now on its 7th issue, Dublin-based Channel offers short fiction, poems, translatio…
27/12/2022
Physics and poetry are uncommon bedfellows, but Susannah Hart and Stav Poleg's call-out earlier this year has created a Magma pulsing with philosophical vigour (and a few laughs too!) Poets include Vasiliko Albado, Claire Booker, Mark Fiddes, Martin Figura, Philip Gross, Ramona Herdman, Jan Heritage, Tania Hershman, NJ Hynes, Isabella Mead, Hilary Menos, Meredi Ortega, Paul Stephenson, Claudine Toutoungi and Rebecca Watts....
Magma 84 and The Morning Star Physics and poetry are uncommon bedfellows, but Susannah Hart and Stav Poleg’s call-out earlier this year has created a Magma pulsing with philosophical vigour (and a few laughs too!) Poets i…
29/11/2022
Perhaps it was in the stars, perhaps it was the guest editor, but after a five year gap, I have a poem in Under The Radar again. It's a lovely magazine, beautifully spacious, with creamy white pages of up to 35 lines, offering cutting edge poetry and fiction three times a year. It's published by Nine Arches Press and edited by Jane Commane and Matt Merritt....
Under The Radar – guest edited by Tom Sastry Perhaps it was in the stars, perhaps it was the guest editor, but after a five year gap, I have a poem in Under The Radar again. It’s a lovely magazine, beautifully spacious, with creamy whit…
07/11/2022
When it comes to clear, compelling, enjoyable poetry, Prole is up there with the best. They've been kind enough to take another of my poems for issue 33, alongside succulent work by Bob Beagrie, Sharon Black, Matt Broomfield, Pat Edwards, Matthew Friday, John Grice, Kevin Hanson, Robin Houghton, Sue Kindon, Wendy Klein, Richie McCaffery, Emma Pursehouse, Nikki Robson, Joel Scarfe, Sue Spiers, and Gareth Writer-Davies....
Prole and Caduceus – offering accessible poetry When it comes to clear, compelling, enjoyable poetry, Prole is up there with the best. They’ve been kind enough to take another of my poems for issue 33, alongside succulent work by Bob Beagr…
28/09/2022
My next seaside adventure involves Worthing Pier, where the community arts group Creative Waves has set up a fabulous exhibition on all things coastal. My poem 'Morning After' joins a host of other maritime poems, flash, photos and drawings exhibited along the pier's walkway. Tens of thousands visit Worthing Pier each year, and the exhibition is scheduled to remain on the pier until the end of 2023, bringing local voices and visitors together in a delightful blend of image and word....
I do love to be beside the seaside! (Part 2) My next seaside adventure involves Worthing Pier, where the community arts group Creative Waves has set up a fabulous exhibition on all things coastal. My poem ‘Morning After’ joins a h…
10/03/2022
Poetry Birmingham pulls no punches It’s a first for me, having a poem published in Poetry Birmingham’s visually elegant and thought-provoking pages. With Naush Sabah and Suna Afshan as editors, it’s perhaps unsurpr…
29/12/2021
Lightening the Dark – Morning Star and Solstice Shorts My poem about a female volleyball player, inspired by the tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan, was published in The Morning Star newspaper on 23rd Dec, and can also be read online at: News Flash & #821…
04/12/2021
We're several days into Advent already, and I'm enjoying Spelt Magazine's YouTube calendar with its pithy four line poems popping out from each day's window. My tiny poem is due sometime before the 25th. Check them out here: "An issue of a magazine, more so than a collection or anthology, marks its content as belonging to a particular moment in time," write…...
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/12/04/channel-magazine-spelt-advent-poetry/
Channel Magazine + Spelt Advent poetry We’re several days into Advent already, and I’m enjoying Spelt Magazine’s YouTube calendar with its pithy four line poems popping out from each day’s window. My tiny poem is…
05/11/2021
14 poetry magazine is where lovers of the sonnet go for their fix. Free-verse, Shakespearean or concrete, specular or prose poem, if it's got 14 lines, you'll find it on the pages of Richard Skinner's lovingly compiled, celebration of the form. After a hiatus of several years, following the retirement of originating editor, Mike Loveday, 14 (Series 2) has risen phoenix-like as a new annual magazine, which now includes a special feature for under-represented voices from community groups and charities across the UK....
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/11/05/14-magazine-the-red-issue/
14 Magazine – the Red issue 14 poetry magazine is where lovers of the sonnet go for their fix. Free-verse, Shakespearean or concrete, specular or prose poem, if it’s got 14 lines, you’ll find it on the pages of Ri…
16/10/2021
Art and Nature – inspiring poetry Thank you Katrina Naomi for choosing my poem Framed Woman as joint-runner up in this year’s Poetry Society Stanza Competition. The poem was inspired by an Edward Hopper painting used as a pro…
18/09/2021
Very happy to be in this lovely magazine.
Finished Creatures rises to the surface Issue 5 of Jan Heritage’s lovingly produced Finished Creatures, includes the work of 60 poets, each offering a different interpretation on the theme of ‘surface’. I was delighted …
24/08/2021
Three cheers for Dreamcatcher - that ray of sunshine blazing out of Yorkshire twice a year with poems, short stories, reviews and fine art. The literary mag started life as founding editor Paul Sutherland's degree project, and was later taken on by Stairwell Books, gained Arts Council funding and Lottery money, and is still true to its original vision of a multi-ethnic, eclectic space for writing....
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/08/24/dream-catcher-celebrates-its-25th-year/
Dream Catcher celebrates its 25th Year Three cheers for Dreamcatcher – that ray of sunshine blazing out of Yorkshire twice a year with poems, short stories, reviews and fine art. The literary mag started life as founding editor Pa…
11/08/2021
How interesting it'll be when we can look back at the Covid-19 pandemic and evaluate how (if at all) it's made permanent changes to our lives. At the moment, first responses are all we have. Poetry anthologies have bloomed, and I'm happy to have a poem in The Poetry Kit's online anthology Poetry In The Plague Year, which includes work from nearly 600 poets in 21 countries....
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/08/11/pandemic-poetry/
Pandemic Poetry How interesting it’ll be when we can look back at the Covid-19 pandemic and evaluate how (if at all) it’s made permanent changes to our lives. At the moment, first responses are all we …
23/07/2021
One of my favourite of all films, Cinema Paradiso, inspired my eponymous poem recently published in The Spectator. Film can be a prism for ideas and emotions in much the same way as poetry: an admix of the visual and the visceral. How to capture, in a few lines, the essence of a film which has affected you deeply?...
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/07/23/the-poetry-of-cinema/
The Poetry of Cinema One of my favourite of all films, Cinema Paradiso, inspired my eponymous poem recently published in The Spectator. Film can be a prism for ideas and emotions in much the same way as poetry: an admi…
25/06/2021
Nothing says treat like a bumper pack of juicy goodies in The High Window. There are new poems from 36 writers (including 4 of my own); two featured poets (the American Steve Lambert, and Australian Kim Waters); a Russian poetry supplement edited and translated by Belinda Cooke; an essay about what it means to write by Feilim James; a raft of book reviews, plus poetry and artwork from…...
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/summer-bonanza-at-the-high-window/
Summer bonanza at The High Window Nothing says treat like a bumper pack of juicy goodies in The High Window. There are new poems from 36 writers (including 4 of my own); two featured poets (the American Steve Lambert, and Australia…
31/05/2021
Life under Covid-19 has forced me to become more digitally aware. As a result, I've found myself reading more poetry webzines. It's been fun. So many out there, something for every poetic taste. The Lake is edited by John Murphy, a successful poet in his own right, who's taught creative writing at Brunel, Essex and The Open universities. The webzine carries about a dozen poets each month, and in May published one of my poems, alongside a diverse set of poets, including Johanna Boal, Jenny Hockey, Beth McDonough, Kunle Okesipe and Tineke van der Eeken....
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/05/31/the-lake-webzine-and-ink-sweat-tears/
The Lake webzine and Ink, Sweat & Tears Life under Covid-19 has forced me to become more digitally aware. As a result, I’ve found myself reading more poetry webzines. It’s been fun. So many out there, something for every poet…
04/05/2021
If you write about nature, here are two great places to submit. I'm happy to have poems in Words for the Wild (surely one of the most visually delightful webzines going), and also in Fenland Poetry Journal, an elegant printed magazine edited by Elizabeth Sennitt Clough. "The poems contained in this issue are textured with the 'tremor of leaf play' and 'plosive bubble-threads - they are alive....
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/05/04/latest-from-fenland-poetry-journal-words-for-the-wild/
Latest from Fenland Poetry Journal & Words For The Wild If you write about nature, here are two great places to submit. I’m happy to have poems in Words for the Wild (surely one of the most visually delightful webzines going), and also in Fenland …
19/04/2021
It's a thrill when your work makes it onto the pages of a brand new magazine. How will it look? Who'll be in it? Will it last? So hurrah for Spelt, edited by Wendy Pratt. I can answer the first two questions - it looks great, it has some excellent work inside. Whether it will last is in the lap of the gods - ie the reader!...
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/04/19/spelt-magazine-new-kid-on-the-block/
Spelt Magazine – new kid on the block It’s a thrill when your work makes it onto the pages of a brand new magazine. How will it look? Who’ll be in it? Will it last? So hurrah for Spelt, edited by Wendy Pratt. I can answer t…
02/04/2021
In its latest editorial, Poetry Salzburg Review makes no bones about its mission: "We need to get back to a time where the 'general public' see poetry as an essential literary engagement." Here you'll find poetry for just about everyone, from narratives, translations and humour, to experimental lay-outs, ekphrasis and sonnets. As a reader, I really love the mix I find here....
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/04/02/poetry-salzburg-review-eclectic-as-ever/
Poetry Salzburg Review – eclectic as ever In its latest editorial, Poetry Salzburg Review makes no bones about its mission: “We need to get back to a time where the ‘general public’ see poetry as an essential literary eng…
22/02/2021
It's great to see how young editors are moulding the poetry world. As something of an oldie, I'm especially happy to be part of the new wave of literary magazines, such as the Dublin-based Channel, which are redefining what really matters. Channel editors Cassia Gaden Gilmartin and Elizabeth Murtough believe the creative arts have a role to play in the challenges we now face as a planet....
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/02/22/channel-magazine-and-fragmented-voices/
Channel Magazine and Fragmented Voices It’s great to see how young editors are moulding the poetry world. As something of an oldie, I’m especially happy to be part of the new wave of literary magazines, such as the Dublin-ba…
29/01/2021
I'm a huge fan of John Mole's work, so it was a real thrill to find myself published alongside him in the same issue of The Spectator last month. His satiric, but deeply moving, 'Keeping in Step' contemplates the graveyard, via the carnival of jazz and brass bands. My 'Museum of Childhood' tackles the other end of life. You can read our poems via the following links, or look out for them in the 12th December issue at your library when it reopens: …...
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/my-poem-about-childhood-in-the-spectator/
My poem about childhood in The Spectator I’m a huge fan of John Mole’s work, so it was a real thrill to find myself published alongside him in the same issue of The Spectator last month. His satiric, but deeply moving, ‘…
18/01/2021
Here Comes the Sun!
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2021/01/18/here-comes-the-sun/
Here Comes the Sun! The days are growing longer already. It’s as if they’ve just picked up a copy of the Arachne Press Tymes Goe By Turnes anthology of writing inspired by Robert Southall’s poem, and…
30/12/2020
I love submitting my work to a new or unusual literary publication. Here are two I tried earlier. The Wax Paper is an American broadsheet distributed in Chicago, Brooklyn, Mankato (I had to look that one up - its in Minnesota) and Los Angeles. I had two short dramas published there a few years ago, but would they take my poetry?...
https://bookerplays.wordpress.com/2020/12/30/the-wax-paper-lighten-up-online/
The Wax Paper + Lighten Up Online I love submitting my work to a new or unusual literary publication. Here are two I tried earlier. The Wax Paper is an American broadsheet distributed in Chicago, Brooklyn, Mankato (I had to look th…