Amazing Stories: Poetry Reviews - Where Rockets Burn Through and Spaces of Their Own, by Russell Jones et al

My latest post for Amazing Stories will go went up today! In it I review two books of poetry. The first is the anthology Where Rockets Burn Through, edited by Russell Jones. The second is Jones' own chapbook poetry collection Spaces of Their Own. It's a very long post with LOTS of poetry to listen to. I hope you'll read and listen to all of it. It's so worth it. You can find the post here (when it goes up!).

Because there are 19 poets represented in this post, I couldn't give any of them individual airtime, so to speak. I'd like to make up for that in this post, so if you are interested in any one poet from my review, you can read more here and follow links to their work. I know poets appreciate the time you take to look into what they are doing, so thank you!

Russell Jones - an Edinburgh-based writer, editor and researcher. His first collection of poems, "The Last Refuge" was published in 2009 by Forest Publications. He is guest editor of The Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. His most recent collection of sci-fi poems is "Spaces of Their Own" (Stewed Rhubarb Press, 2013). Russell has researched and published on the science fiction poetry of Edwin Morgan. (From his website)


Edwin Morgan - Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) published many volumes of poetry including Star Gate: Science Fiction Poems (Glasgow: Third Eye, 1979), as well as collections of essays, most of which are available from Carcanet Press and Mariscat Press. Morgan translated poetry from Italian, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Hungarian, French, German, and other languages. Among other achievements he was made Glasgow’s first Poet Laureate in 1999 and was named as the first Scottish national poet — the Scots Makar — in 2004. (From Where Rockets Burn Through WRBT)


Alisdair Gray - is a Scottish writer and artist. His most acclaimed work is his first novel, Lanark, published in 1981 and written over a period of almost 30 years. It is now regarded as a classic, and was described by The Guardian as "one of the landmarks of 20th-century fiction." His novel Poor Things (1992) won the Whitbread Novel Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize. He describes himself as (despite critical comments regarding the influence of English immigrants to Scotland) a civic nationalist and a republican. "From Wikipedia)

Steve Sneyd - His most recent SF poetry collection is Mistaking The Nature of The Posthuman (2009). SF-related readings include the 1995 National Year of Literature, Swansea, Radio 4’s Stanza in Space, Newham Libraries SF Festival, and SF conventions. He has written many books and articles about SF poetry and has been a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association since 1977. MA in Poetry (1999). (From WRBT)

--> Jane McKie - Her first collection, Morocco Rococo (Cinnamon Press), was awarded the 2008 Sundial/Scottish Arts Council prize for best first book of 2007. Her other publications include When the Sun Turns Green (Polygon, 2009), and Garden of Bedsteads (Mariscat, 2011) which was a Poetry Book Society pamphlet choice. She won the 2011 Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition and is currently working on a third collection of poems.  She is also interested in writing short stories and reads with the Edinburgh-based Writers' Bloc.
--> James McGonigal - is a Glasgow-based poet, editor and critic. He has published on Ezra Pound and Basil Bunting, Scottish religious poetry and Scots-Irish writing. Recent work includes his biography of Edwin Morgan, Beyond the Last Dragon (Sandstone Press, 2010, 2012) Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year; Poetry: Cloud Pibroch (Mariscat Press, 2010) winner of the Michael Marks Poetry Pamphlet Award; The Poetry of Edwin Morgan and 'Life Sentences' in Black Middens: New Writing Scotland 31.
Sarah Hesketh - Sarah Hesketh was born in 1983 and brought up in Pendle, East Lancashire. Her first full collection of poetry Napoleon’s Travelling Bookshelf, was published in 2009 by Penned in the Margins and was highly commended in the Forward Prize 2010. She currently lives in London and works part time as the Events and Publications Manager for the Poetry Translation Centre as well as teaching creative writing for the Open University.

Andy Jackson - Andy Jackson (b.1965) has had poems published in Magma, Gutter, Trespass, New Writing Scotland and other journals. His collection The Assassination Museum was published by Red Squirrel Press in 2010, and he edited Split Screen : Poetry inspired by film & television, published in 2012, also by Red Squirrel Press. He blogs at "Otwituaries".

Simon Barraclough - is the author of the Forward-finalist debut, Los Alamos Mon Amour (Salt, 2008), Bonjour Tetris (Penned in the Margins, 2010) and Neptune Blue (Salt, 2011). He is the editor of Psycho Poetica (Sidekick Books, 2012) and co-author of The Debris Field (Sidekick Books, 2013). He is currently poet in residence at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in Surrey and working on a book and event entitled Sunspots. An Article in Pages Of Magazine. An Interview.

Jane Yolen - Jane Yolen is a widely published author of 300+ books. Her poetry has been in numerous magazines, journals and anthologies around the world. Two-time Nebula winner for short fiction, she’s also a World Fantasy Grand Master and a Science Fiction Poetry Association Grand Master. Six colleges have given her honorary doctorates.

--> Dilys Rose - Dilys Rose has published eleven books, including Red Tides, Pest Maiden, Lord of Illusions and Bodywork. Her work has received a number of awards. She enjoys creative collaborations and is currently completing the text for a song cycle. Her novel, Pelmanism, will be published later this year by Luath Press.
Aiko Harman - is a Los Angeles native now living in Scotland where she completed an MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh. Aiko’s poetry is published in The Best British Poetry 2011, Anon, and The Edinburgh Review, among others.

Ian McLachlan - His illustrated poetry pamphlet Confronting the Danger of Art  is available from Sidekick Books. He has recently completed a story consisting of twenty-six poems about a London vampire and is currently scoping out publishers. Two poems from this collection can be read in the Spring 2014 issue of Magma. He tweets @ianjmclachlan.

Kirsten Irving - Kirsten Irving is one of the editors behind collaborative poetry press Sidekick Books. Her first collection, Never Never Never Come Back, was released in 2012 by Salt Publishing. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, translated into Russian and Spanish and thrown out of a helicopter. She is currently writing on a steampunk novel-poetry crossover and works as a freelance copywriter. She blogs at "Copy That".

Kona MacPhee - (a lifelong SF fan) grew up in Australia and now lives in Scotland. Her second collection, Perfect Blue (Bloodaxe 2010), won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for 2010. Her most recent collection is What Long Miles.

 WN Herbert - has been visiting this planet in a number of disguises over the last few millennia. Most recent cover story is he was born in Dundee in 1961, XXX is published by Bloodaxe Books, and teaches Creative Writing at Newcastle University. But he’s fooling no-one.

 Andrew J. Wilson - "Merciless" originally appeared in Split Screen: Poetry Inspired by Film & Television, edited by Andy Jackson (Red Squirrel Press, 2012), and then, after being selected for Where Rockets Burn Through, it was reprinted again in Weird Tales #361. His short stories, articles and poems have been published all over the world. Recent work appears in A Sea of Alone: Poems for Alfred Hitchcock and Split Screen: Poetry Inspired by Film & Television. With Neil Williamson, he co-edited the award-nominated anthology Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction.

Claire Askew - Her poetry has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Guardian, The Edinburgh Review, The Istanbul Review and Poetry Scotland.  Her work has also been widely anthologised and won many awards, most recently the inaugural International Salt Prize for Poetry.  She works at Scottish Book Trust as a project co-ordinator, and blogs at One Night Stanzas.

Sue Guiney - Though a native New Yorker, she has lived in London for over twenty years. Besides science, her writing now focuses on modern Cambodia where she teaches for a part of each year. She is the author of 3 novels and 2 poetry collections. Out of the Ruins, Wardwood Publishing.

Ken MacLeod - Ken MacLeod has written more than 13 novels, from The Star Fraction (1995) to Intrusion (2012). In 2009 he was Writer in Residence at the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum. He is now Writer in Residence at the MA Creative Writing course, Edinburgh Napier University. His most recent novel is Descent.

Ron Butlin - is the Edinburgh Makar. An international prize-winning author, his novel The Sound of My Voice was included in the Guardian’s 1000 Books You Have To Read. He is also an opera librettist, short story writer and playwright. His new novel, Ghost Moon, will be published in April; and his new opera, Wedlock, will be premiered later this year by Scottish Opera.

Pippa Goldschmidt - is a writer based in Edinburgh. I used to be a professional astronomer and much of my writing is inspired by science. My novel ‘The Falling Sky’ about a scientist who thinks she’s found evidence contradicting the Big Bang theory was a finalist in the Dundee International Book Prize in 2012 and was published last year by Freight Books. My short stories, non-fiction and poetry have been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including Gutter, Lablit, New Writing Scotland and the New York Times.

Thanks for reading!!!