Welcome back to The Book Bag. I hope you’ve had a poetic week.
This week has been fairly busy. A Black Bough Poetry open mic attended online (due to being unable to attend my Sax lesson because of a bad shoulder), saw Vera; End of an Era at Newcastle City Hall hosted by Steph McGovern with Ann Cleeves and Brenda Blethyn in conversation. Also, I’ve been able to write a few new pieces, some slight tweaks needed and I’ll be very happy with them.
On top of that, I’ve been reading;
All Island, No Sea
- Author: Chris Campbell
- Press: Alien Buddha Press
I met Chris Campbell in person at Black Bough Poetry’s poetry party last year. He is a top guy and a great poet. His poetic delivery is great. I enjoyed having a couple of pints with him and learning of his journalistic exploits after our readings.
All Island, No Sea is Chris’s third collection, and he has been published widely in journals, lit mags and anthologies.
There is some sprinkling of Sartre in the poem ‘That Which We Own’. It opens by discussing if a tree can truly be owned then navigates materialism before offering a solution. I took time to reflect on this poem and realised I had written a recent piece called ‘Resurgency’ which deals with an oak reclaiming land.
Pieces including ‘Dear Alan, Alan, Alan’, ‘Joey Barton Has the Same Barber’ and ‘Aim’ have a great sense of humour. My wife asked if I was okay as I sniggered quite loudly for a good few minutes after reading ‘Dear Alan, Alan, Alan’.
Poems including ‘The Morning You Threw Wet Socks As We Argued Over Bagels’, ‘The First Few Letters of Happy Birthday’ and ‘Hot Chocolate Doesn’t Taste The Same’ brim with honesty and emotion. Chris’s ability to draw focus to the minor details, ground the reader in reality. The use of wet socks fuelling a squabble before the memories of bagels gone before bringing lightness and defusing the tone is terrifically done.
Love shines brightly through the book in ‘Minutes Tiptoe’, ‘Pocket To The Stars’ and ‘I Scrape the Earth Underneath This Pram’. These are tender and delicate pieces that will raise a smile.
The collection pivots into political sentiment in the pieces ‘All Island, No Sea’ and ‘England Sits on A Brick Wall’. However, Chris’s skill in personification and metaphor ensures this does not jar with the rest of the book which can sometimes be the case.
Nostalgia is woven through the collection without being overdone. Pieces including ‘Why I Salute with Miniature Swords’, ‘Blossom Skins’ and ‘Ostrich’ give us an insight into Chris’s past and values. These are authentic poems without cliche.
Lovers of rich imagery are well-catered for in this collection. ‘Rusting Boat’, ‘Starfish’, ‘Morning’ and ‘Skeletal Leg’ are all exemplary vivid examples of this.
Readers are treated to various forms throughout and the use of language is deliberate and precise. The poems ‘Petersfield Saxophonist’, ‘Aim’ and ‘Ants’ show how to craft poems using the best style to bring them to life from the page.
All Island, No Sea is a highly accomplished collection. Buy this book if you like poems that traverse emotion, are both introspective and wide in scope and appreciate great language and form. This collection is poetry’s sweet spot.
Read more about Chris at https://www.chriscampbellpoetry.co.uk/
Buy All Island No Sea here.
Favorite Poem:
Petersfield Saxophonist for its use of form, vivid imagery and sensory detail.
One More Thing…
You can see Chris perform at Cheltenham Poetry Festival on 17 May 2025. Details of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival can be found here.
And Another…
A Broken Spine Arts #PoemsAbout Open Mic is taking place in a couple of weeks time on Zoom. 3 April 2025 at 8:00pm UK Time. Details here.
And Another…
Frazzled Lit’s new issue is released today. Check out their site here.
And Finally…
Congratulations to Peter Devonald for winning The Broken Spine Arts Readers Choice Award 2025 with his poem ‘No One Lives Here Anymore’.
Next Week’s Read
- Title: Mountains That See In The Dark
- Poet: Regine Ebner
Take it easy and stay poetic, I’ll catch you next week.
Paul
Paul Writes Poems 