My book, How to be Hungry, is now available!

Well, I know I’ve been talking about this for ages, but my book of poems How to be Hungry is finally available.

How to be Hungry mainly features poems I’ve written since 2006, based around the theme of desire in its various forms.

You can order it online by following this link: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/how-to-be-hungry/13213146
On that page you can also read the blurb, or download a preview, which includes the front and back cover and a short selection of poems from the book.

The cost of the book is $15, plus delivery. The delivery charge within Australia is currently $7.99 (check the site for delivery costs to other countries). Alternatively you can download the PDF file for $6. Note that Lulu is a US site, and these prices are in US dollars.

At this stage the book is not stocked in any bookshops. It may yet find its way into the odd specialist bookshop, but don’t expect to find it in your local Dymocks or Borders!

I expect I will have a launch in Melbourne at some stage (TBA).

Please feel free to spread the word to anyone you think might be interested.

I hope you enjoy the book. Putting it together has been … well … an odyssey!

Cheers,
Stu

* Note to editors of magazines/websites, etc: please let me know if you’re interested in reviewing the book, and would like to receive a review copy.

couple of recent things

The collaborative/collage poem 'before elapsing', conceived and constructed by Derek Motion, is now online over at Overland. The 200-line poem was published a couple of months ago in the 200th issue of the magazine. Contributing poets were: Adam Ford, Zenobia Frost, Rebecca Giggs, Susan Hampton, Stu Hatton, Kelly-lee Hickey, Hal Judge, Dan Lee, Carly-Jay Metcalf, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Ella O’Keefe, David Prater, Jaya Savige, Bel Schenk, Andrew Slattery, Amelia Walker, Louise Waller, Benny Walter, Fiona Wright and Mr Motion himself. Heaped thanks to Derek for getting me off my arse to be involved! Derek, I dig the results.

Also Cordite's Creative Commons: The Remixes (edited by Alison Croggon) went live not so long ago. Check out remixes by Lawrence Upton, Nathan Shepherdson, Stuart Cooke, Susan McMichael, Ashley Capes, Corey Wakeling, Chris Beckett, Francesco Levato, Bella Li, Maria Zajkowski, Anne Gorrick, Charles D’Anastasi, Nick Whittock, klare lanson, Rebecca Landon, Josh Mei-Ling Dubrau, Pascalle Burton, Carol Chan, Gillian Cameron, Chris Oakey, Sam Twyford-Moore, Adam Formosa, Stu Hatton, Mariana Isara, Dianne Cikusa and Oritsegbemi Emmanuel Jakpa. And heck, why not have a look through the Creative Commons issue while you're at it?

Cordite #32 - Zombie 2.0

Edited by Ivy Alvarez, Zombie 2.0 "features forty new poems by the undead including Gareth Jenkins, Derek Rawson, Jane Jervis-Read, Ashley Capes, Arlene Ang and Valerie Fox, Grant Balfour, Jen Jewel Brown, Nigel Holt, Jayne Pupek, suzanne jones, Tricia Dearborn, Fiona Wright, Mathew Abbott, Emilie Zoey Baker, Christine Swint, Michael Farrell, Lara Williams, Duncan Hose, Esther Johnson, Cameron Fuller, David Stavanger, Fleur Beaupert, Barbara De Franceschi, Sam Twyford-Moore, Janine Whyte, Scott Thouard, Sage Leslie, Jen Arthur and Gregory Horne. Not to mention feature articles, illustrations and audio."

What I've read so far has been very cool.

I put together a couple of things for the issue which didn't make the cut, but I thought they were worth sharing here. See the last two posts, 'slippages / undead' and 'Night of the Living Dead (Abject remix)'.

foam:e 7

foam:e issue 7 is now live. This issue, edited by Louise Waller, features poems by Michael Aiken, Stuart Barnes, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Iain Britton, Chris Brown, Sam Byfield, Julie Chevalier, Jennifer Chrystie, Stuart Cooke, Mark Cunningham, Alison Eastley, Angela Gardner, Patrick Green, Stu Hatton, Matt Hetherington, Jill Jones, Peycho Kanev, KJ, Natalie Knight, Kent MacCarter, Clyde McGill, Siofra McSherry, Adam Moorad, Kristine Ong Muslim, Jal Nicholl, Mark O'Flynn, Sergio Ortiz, Lyn Reeves, Ian Seed, Nathan Shepherdson, Paul Squires, Yassen Vasilev, Vlanes, Les Wicks, Jena Woodhouse, Enda Coyle-Green, Cherry Smyth and Enda Wyley, plus reviews by Derek Motion and Angela Gardner.

Poets @ Watsonia this Tuesday 9 March

A last-minute gig alert... this one came out of the blue.

This Tuesday (the 9th of March) I'll be featuring along with Lisa Gorton at Watsonia Library. 7pm for 7.30pm start (or thereabouts).

I expect to read for about 10-15 minutes, mainly material from my manuscript How to be Hungry, probably including two or three poems which I've never performed before.

Would be great to see you there...

New blog URL

Folks, I've now changed the URL (i.e. the address) of this blog to www.stuhatton.net

The old address (wordyness.blogspot.com) will redirect to the new address.

Still, you might like to update your bookmark/blogroll/etc.

I'm currently testing out the feed settings. Everything appears to be functioning as normal, but please let me know if you experience any problems.

upcoming & recent

This Friday I'll be heading along to the monthly reading at Caffe Sospeso. I enjoyed the last installment, which featured David Gilbey and Randall Stephens, plus there was plenty of quality in the open mic. This Friday features Derek Motion versus Nathan Curnow; the theme is domestic rock 'n' roll. Hmmm... if I read in the open mic I might have to tweak that to 'undomesticated' rock 'n' roll. Maybe.

I also went to see Matt Hetherington's feature at the Dan a few weeks ago. Great stuff from Matt... a really diverse set... at times enigmatic, often hilarious... unexpected, vivid... showing no fear of honesty.

Something I couldn't make it to, unfortunately, was the Melbourne launch of Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets, edited by Michael Farrell and Jill Jones. It's a brilliant anthology - highly recommended.

Looking ahead... on Saturday March 13 I'll be at the Format Festival in Adelaide, featuring on a panel re: non-paper publishing as part of the 'Academy of Words'. Chances are I'll be talking about blogs and the online publication of poetry, and the discussion may also swerve into spoken word as a form of publishing.

And one to put in the diary: on Wednesday April 14 (6-8pm) I'll be at Readings Carlton for the launch of Miscellaneous Voices: Australian Blog Writing, which is to be published by Miscellaneous Press. This anthology, edited by Karen Andrews, will feature work by "James Bradley, Lisa Dempster, Angela Meyer, Jennifer Mills, A. S. Patric, Penni Russon, and many others." I'm one of the many others: my poem 'café date' will be in there, and I'll be giving a reading of it at the launch.

qarrtsiluni: Health

The Health issue of qarrtsiluni (edited by Susan Elbe and Kelly Madigan Erlandson) is gradually taking shape. Poems, prose, images and collaborations will continue to be added through to April.

My remix of Nathan Moore's 'Sharps' is now visible, along with a link to the original poem. Plus you can listen to streaming audio of my reading of the remix. Once again, cheers to Chris Andrews for helping out with the recording of that. To the best of my knowledge, all poems/prose pieces in the issue will be accompanied by audio, which is very cool.

For all you trainspotters, composition notes and more info about the remix can be read here.

I have to say that for me, qarrtsiluni is one of the best, and most innovative, online literary magazines out there, so it's a real buzz to be included. Thanks to all the qarrtsiluni editors. Most of all, thanks to Nathan, whose poem was (and remains) an inspiration.

madswirl

Three of my (darker-variety) poems are now visible over at madswirl. Plus a funny pic of yours truly.

Thanks to the ever-cool madswirl eds for having me aboard. The site is well worth checking out.

Otoliths 16

I recommend checking out the latest edition of Mark Young's Otoliths, which features work by Thomas Fink, Satu Kaikkonen, Nate Pritts, Jane A. Lewty, Craig Foltz, Michael Basinski, Stephen C. Middleton, Márton Koppány, Arpine Konyalian Grenier, Raymond Farr, Jeff Crouch & Sheila E. Murphy, Joel Chace, Caleb Puckett, Philip Byron Oakes, Ed Baker, Tom Beckett interviewing William Allegrezza, William Allegrezza, dan raphael, Alyson Torns, Jeff Harrison, Grzegorz Wróblewski, Michele Leggott, PD Mallamo, Ray Craig, Mark Cunningham, Cecelia Chapman, David-Baptiste Chirot, Vernon Frazer, Helen White & Jeff Crouch, James Yeary, Robert Lee Brewer, Michael Brandonisio, J. D. Nelson, Scott Metz, Geof Huth, Corey Wakeling, John M. Bennett & Thomas M. Cassidy, Sheila E. Murphy & John M. Bennett, John M. Bennett, Rebecca Mertz, Felino Soriano, Cath Vidler, David Wolach, Carlyle Baker, Stu Hatton, Jenny Enochsson, Robert Gauldie, Rebecca Eddy, Joe Balaz, Bobbi Lurie, Andrew Topel & Márton Koppány, Hugh Tribbey, John Martone, J. Gordon Faylor, Evan Harrison, A. J. Patrick Liszkiewicz, Bob Heman, Guillermo Castro, & sean burn.

Four of my 'Sevens' are in there. I just posted the latest Seven below.

Review: 'Dead End Road' by Richard Wink

My review of Richard Wink's collection Dead End Road is now online over at Sein und Werden.

This is the first poetry collection I've reviewed for a journal, and I hope to do more of this kind of thing in the future.

The Words We Found

I was at the launch of The Words We Found last night. This anthology presents the best writing and artwork from 21 years of Voiceworks magazine. Happy 21st, Voiceworks!


Lisa Dempster has excelled herself as editor, putting together an eclectic mix of raw, vibrant stuff.

Here's the list of contributors: Christos Tsiolkas (foreword), Lisa Dempster, Johannes Jakob, Bel Schenk, John Marsden, Bryce Wolfgang Joiner, Ella Holcombe, Justin Lim, Paul Hardacre, Justin Woolley, Christopher Jacobin, Mandy Ord, Jessica Au, Chloe Walker, alicia sometimes, Arlene TextaQueen, Mel Campbell, David Blumenstein, Christopher Currie, Albee Ontop, Stu Hatton, Jack Heath, Jade O'Donohue, Alice Swing, Vanessa Berry, Romy Ash, Lili Wilkinson, Andre Dao, Tai Snaith, Geoff Lemon, Cameron T, Mel Stringer, Lisa Pham, Liam Pieper, Lahmann B. Smith, Alison Hall, Greg Foyster, Steve Smart, Ula Majewski, Briohny Doyle, Anna Krien, Ronnie Scott, Thuy On, David Mence, Peter Savieri, Mia Timpano, Sofia Stefanovic, Tallace Bisset, Justin Heazlewood, Zoe Barron, Eirian Chapman and Simon Cox.

The poem of mine that's in there, A Billboard Said 'Yes', was first published in 1998(!), when Adam Ford was editor. I got to meet Adam last night, so it was as if circles were completing themselves. I remember writing the poem while 'working' in a video store. Those were the days, haha!

Kudos to everyone who's been involved in making Voiceworks what it is, i.e. essential.

Shadowtrain

The latest issue of Shadowtrain (#23) is now online. Here are a few hints as to the contents...

POETRY:

Jocelyn Page wades out on tiptoe; Tom Page observes a menagerie à trois; David HW Grubb listens to the owl wife speak; Stu Hatton leaves the city; Catherine Hales goes for an audition; Peter Hughes has been listening to Beethoven; Aidan Semmens examines the uncertainty principle; Pete Marshall tries to define what a poem might be.

REVIEWS:
Ian Seed takes the scissors to Jeremy Over and Rupert M Loydell.

Thanks to editor Ian Seed for letting my poems travel without a ticket...
 

The Reader

The Reader of the Emerging Writers' Festival is now out in the world. Congrats to everyone involved in putting it together, especially Dion Kagan, who's done an excellent job as editor.


Here's the blurb:

The Reader is a new collection that combines highlights of the 2009 festival with general writing information and new creative works across various writing forms.

The Reader is about the craft, the approaches, the techniques and processes; the discipline(s), the forms, the experiments; the inner life, the social life, the lifestyle; the ups and downs, the tricks and the tribulations, the fun and the failure…

The Reader is Steven Amsterdam on writers’ workshops, Clem Bastow on freelancing, Jen Breach on writing comics, Mel Campbell on pitching to editors, Kathy Charles on shameless self-promotion, Stephanie Convery on writing Black Saturday, Olivia Davis on fear and writing practices, Lisa Dempster on how much writers earn, Koraly Dimitriadis talks to Christos Tsoilkas, Caroline Hamilton compares writers’ festivals and music festivals, Stu Hatton on his mentorship with Dorothy Porter, Jane Hawtin discusses publishing academic research for a general audience, Andrew Hutchinson recalls the Emerging Writers’ Festival, Tiggy Johnson on parenthood and writing, Krissy Kneen on not writing about sex, Benjamin Law on failure, Angela Meyer reviews books for writers, Jennifer Mills on the politics of publishing and engaging with readers, Anthony Noack on good grammar, John Pace on re-drafting your screenplay, Ryan Paine on the role of the critic, Ben Pobjie on writing comedy, Robert Reid on the role of the contemporary playwright, Aden Rolfe on the emergentsia, Jenny Sinclair on the landscape of her book research, Chris Summers talks to Lally Katz about theatre writing, Mia Timpano on how to cultivate the ultimate author profile photo, Estelle Tang on Christopher Currie and blogging fiction, Simmone Michelle-Wells pens a letter to her younger self, Cameron White reviews alternatives to Microsoft Word.

And new creative works by Maxine Clarke, Chris Currie, Chris Downes, Claire Henderson, Kirk Marshall, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Alice Mrongovius, Meg Mundell, Warwick Sprawson and Cameron T.

Wordsalad 17/9/09

The latest Wordsalad podcast features poetry and spoken word from Alex Hamburger, Andrea Gibson, Aaminah Hernandez, Corbet Dean, Janet Kuypers, Joan Retallack, Jorie Graham, Maria Fama, Naomi Shihab, Pierre Joris, Richard Huelsenbeck, Sekou (tha misfit), Stu Hatton and Wyndham Lewis. All interspersed with music from Morton Feldman.

Thanks to Paul Baker for putting together another inspiring show, and to Chris Andrews for helping out with the recording of 'faulty'.

Thirteen Myna Birds

My poem 'stock' is making an appearance over at Thirteen Myna Birds, brushing wingtips with poems by Walter Conley, Adam Fieled, Asmara Malik, Alishya Almeida, Dana Guthrie Martin, John Rocco, James Brush and Kyle Hemmings. Thanks to editor Juliet Cook for letting my poem join the flight formation.

'stock' will only be up there for a limited time. Thirteen Myna Birds features 13 poems at any given time, and each time a new poem is published, the oldest poem gets 'etherised'. Archives? Pffft.

* Wrap-up of Overload and other gigs coming soon...

5 years of thoughs

As my wife Monica (aka the human calendar) kindly pointed out, today marks the 5th anniversary of this blog.

To mark the occasion, I've dug deep into the vaults and selected a poem from each year of the blog's existence. Not necessarily my favourites, but pieces which I thought deserved a second look for whatever reason.

Year 1: the great singing voices of the dead
(I don't write 'em like this any more!)

Year 2: Portrait of Ledong Qui
(I still see Ledong at poetry gigs occasionally - hopefully I'll see you at Overload, Ledong!)

Year 3: digitalia
(Think I can see a family resemblance with more recent experiments in this one.)

Year 4: rain
(Simplicity?)

Year 5: stoppages
(Sentences on a theme?)

Thanks to you, the readers of the blog, for your feedback and encouragement. I wonder what this blog, my (writing) life, and the world will look like 5 years from now... Any predictions?

Cheers,
Stu

Overload in the area!

The start of Overload is only a week away. The festival proper kicks off on Friday the 4th of September, and runs through to Sunday the 13th.

To celebrate the highpoint of the Melbourne poetry calendar, short poems will be scrolling across the text tickers of the west-facing wall at Fed Square (pictured) for the duration of the festival.

My poem 'free of the fear of freedom' will be one of the poems featured on the wall. Check them out if you're in the city during the festival.

Also, the Overland blog will be devoted to all things Overload and poetry-related during the festival - so have a read and don't be afraid to chime in with a comment.

gig/antics

It's happenings and gigs a-go-go for the next couple of months.

Before I get to the upcoming stuff, I want to mention how great it was to be there for the launch of Nathan Curnow's Ghost Poetry Project at the Old Melbourne Gaol just over a week ago. Loved Nathan's performances on the night (haunting stuff, seriously). I'd definitely recommend grabbing a copy of zee boke.

On Sunday the 30th of August at BMW Edge, Fed Square, the Melbourne Writers Festival plays host to the final of Poetry Idol. Tickets are still available. I'll be somewhere in the audience, having been involved in judging a couple of heats along the way, and also judging (along with Gig Ryan) two poems submitted by each of the finalists. The scores for the 'page' poems will be tallied up with results from each poet's performance on the night. Good luck to all the poets! I was going to throw in some clever punning based on the fact that Gig Ryan is yet another gig... but I think I'll leave it. The title of this post is probably enough for one day.

As I've mentioned previously, I'll be performing at Overload in Tripping the Light Ekphrastic on Tuesday the 8th of September at Glitch Bar. I'll also be getting to as many other Overload gigs as I can.

Then on Thursday the 10th of September I'll be at the launch of [untitled] magazine's debut issue at Watsonia Library. I'll be performing one of my poems, which is featured in the mag. The launch kicks off at 6:30pm.

Looking further ahead, in early October I'll be heading up to This Is Not Art (TINA) in Newcastle. I'll be involved in a panel discussion with Derek Motion, Jill Jones and Michael Farrell as part of Critical Animals, talking about the place of the experimental in contemporary Australian poetry. I've also put my hand up for a group performance of Gertrude Stein's Stanzas in Meditation. But more on TINA later. The official program will be online in the coming week.

There may be one or two other happenings coming up in the next few weeks - I'll keep you posted.

otoliths 14 goes live

Check out the cover and contents...

Including work by Kirsten Kaschock, Pat Nolan, Márton Koppány, Jim Meirose, Anne Gorrick, Caleb Puckett, Peter Schwartz, Fredrick Zydek, Ed Baker, Ross Brighton, Derek Henderson, John M. Bennett, John M. Bennett & Sheila E. Murphy, Raymond Farr, Jill Chan, John Martone, Bob Heman, Philip Byron Oakes, Ric Carfagna, Eileen R. Tabios, Justin Mulrooney, Jeff Harrison, Eric Burke, K. R. Copeland & Jeff Crouch, Crane Giamo, Paula Kolek, Daniel f Bradley, Arthur Leung, Joseph Harrington, Iain Britton, Thomas Fink, Tan Lin, Kristine Marie Darling , Joel Chace, Paul Siegell, Mariana Isara, Jay Snodgrass, Bill Drennan, Jill Jones, Stu Hatton, Nicholas Michael Ravnikar, Mara Patricia Hernandez, Felino Soriano, Matt Hetherington, Marcia Arrieta, Charles Freeland, Vernon Frazer, Grzegorz Wróblewski, Julian Jason Haladyn, Martin Edmond, harry k stammer, Reed Altemus, Randall Brock, Anny Ballardini, sean burn, A. Scott Britton, David-Baptiste Chirot, Joan Harvey, Mary Ellen Derwis, Bobbi Lurie, John Moore Williams, Sarah Ahmad, Scott Metz, Theodoros Chiotis, & Sheila E. Murphy.

That's a great list of names, in my humble opinion. I'm very happy to have four poems in the mix. Thanks once again to Mark Young for accommodating some of my less well-behaved efforts...