I wish I was somewhere near Belfast this Thursday night. And the reason for this is the upcoming Abridged publication launch of the collection Rust. I am rather excited to have one of my poems – ‘Harvest’ – published in the collection, which will be part of the exhibition this week.
Abridged is an art and poetry initiative based in Derry, Northern Ireland, which publishes and commissions contemporary works for collections and gallery exhibitions. Edited and run by the talented Gregory McCartney and Susanna Galbraith, it can be found in many galleries and arts organisations in its printed form. It can also be accessed on Abridged’s webpage, once the launch has occurred. The basis for the collection was the term ‘Rust’, which, in the words of Abridged, ‘is our mutability … our diminution … the evolution of the elements’. The particular poem that I have published in the pages of Rust focuses in detail on the natural rust that occurs on asparagus tips that are being harvested.
So for anyone in the close vicinity of the Golden Thread Gallery on the 23rd (this Thursday!), do pop in and pick up a copy of Abridged’s Rust and enjoy the vibrant launch on my behalf. I’ll be thinking of all the talented poets and artists involved from my London flat, with a glass of wine in my hand, pretending I am actually at the gallery, surrounded by inspirational contemporary poetry and art.
