literature

Steve Roud’s ‘Folk Song in England’ is a much-needed book, less about the song and more about the cultural life of those who sang them. He tackles the murky waters well as he investigates the wider social history of traditional song in England and he succeeds at furthering our understanding rather than hindering it. An essential and inspiring read.

The Poetry and Lyrics Festival returns to Kings Place in June, celebrating the inexorable link between music and verse. Including Jackie Oates, Nest Collective, Don Paterson & PJ Harvey, Kayo Chingonyi, Kristin McClement, Murray Lachlan Young and more.

Following his celebrated adventures in drama, translation, travel writing and prose poetry, Simon Armitage’s eleventh collection of poems, The Unaccompanied, heralds a return to his trademark contemporary lyricism. Watch Simon read ‘Thank You for Waiting’, an exclusive new poem.

West Virginian poet Randi Ward publishes Whipstitches…about how people, words, images, memory, and other things become bound up in one another— even as they are simultaneously becoming something else.

As sales figures report that the UK’s love affair with the printed book is far from over The Bookshop Band take that love and prepare for the Spooky Season with their new album That Ghost Belongs To Me from which we take our Song of the Day. Support your local bookshop.

From a small town on the north-east edge of Dartmoor called Chagford a comic book artist, painter and writer & folk musician have created The English Magic Tarot – the first of its kind to draw explicitly on the English magical tradition.

Ezra Furman will be in discussion at the British Library this month talking about his new book ‘Transformer’ to be released by Bloomsbury next year as part of their ongoing 33 & 1/3 series.

Tim Burgess returns with a follow-up to his successful autobiography ‘Telling Tales’. ‘Tim Book Two’ is a tale of Tim’s lifelong passion for records, the shops that sell them, and the people who make them. Book tour kicks off in July 2016.

Poetry and Lyrics is a new festival dedicated to the relationship between poetry and music which will be hosted at London’s Kings Place featuring Cerys Matthews, Chris Wood, Gareth Bonello, Haiku Salut, Dizraeli and many more.

How does a thirteenth century poet born in the Persian Empire speak to us today? This new recording brings together the most experienced translator/interpreter of Rumi’s words, a poet who traces his roots back to the Beats and a contemporary American Iranian poet.

Described as Ireland’s equivalent to the story of the blues in America, The Wheels of the World tells the fascinating story of Ullieann Pipers through some of the most entertaining and revealing interviews – a seriously riveting read.

There are few books I can name that actually make such an impression as to change the way I think about music but Josh Rosenthal’s ‘The Record Store of the Mind’ is one. Do yourself a favour and buy it!

In association with Caught by the River we have a special giveaway to their upcoming Caught by the River Social Club in London – featuring Darren Hayman, Richard Skelton, July Skies and more.

Orison for a Curlew is a new book by Horatio Clare telling of his journey across Europe in search of the Slender-billed curlew, ‘Numenius tenuirostris’, ‘the slim beak of the new moon’, one of the world’s rarest birds.

Beyond the Fell Wall is a new book by Richard Skelton… a distillation of his thoughts and observations from his brief tenure spent living in a small valley, high in the Furness hills of Cumbria, informed by his daily wanderings along its network of paths, the banks of its streams and the edges of its walls.

Eilon Paz’s 436-page coffee-table book ‘Dust & Grooves – Adventures in Record Collecting‘ has been updated and re-issued. Get an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts.

John Peel: Good Night and Good Riddance is a new book by David Cavanagh focusing on 300 of Peel Sessions between 1967 and 2004. One for fans and newcomers to the musical world of John Peel.

Black Apples of Gower is the latest non-fictional offering from Iain Sinclair in which he is drawn back to the South Wales of his childhood and the scenic Gower Peninsula – a quest that leads him to the mysterious Paviland Caves and the site of the first recorded ritual burial in these islands.