What a varied and exciting evening as we launched Magma 44 into the summer with a splash. On what felt like the hottest night of the year, the cellar of The Troubadour was packed with poetry lovers.
The contributors who read (including our two distinguished guests, Imtiaz Dharker and Lawrence Sail) were fabulous and many had travelled a long way to be with us. It’s always so good to hear the poems when you’ve only seen them on the page, and put faces to names and voices to their words. It’s also a revelation to hear the poems read more or less in the order in which they appear in the magazine, to experience the connections and juxtapositions. The ‘Vertical Dimension’ theme brought us a broad range of work, full of surprises.
The evening culminated with Imtiaz Dharker, who took us from the Bombay Tiffin Carriers in her Magma 44 poem Dabba’s dialogue, to the heartfelt intensity of She must be From Another Country.
We’re immensely grateful to those who send their work to us and to those who take the trouble to come to the launches and give us their poems in person. A big thank-you to Anne-Marie Fyfe for her continuing support of Magma, and all who came to read, to all those who came to listen and all who continue to buy the magazine.
The next Magma launch is on the 16th November for the launch of Magma 45.
Hello Jacqueline–
It was a great delight to meet you, and yes, what a steamy night! But to see so many people passionate enough about poetry to stick it out was gratifying. Well worth the trip from Cornwall to read, and a treat to be part of it.
I’d never heard Imtiaz Dharker read before. Very impressive.
All the very best
Alice
Very glad to read that the Launch went well – certainly the quality of the Issue is giving me great pleasure. I do what I can on Facebook to encourage people to investigate magma and invest in a subscription.
Thank you for continuing to give me so much pleasure.
Great to have your support on Magma, Christopher, and we’re honoured that you came all the way from Cornwall, Alice.
While we are on this thread, a small plug for Alice’s soon-to-be-published next poetry collection is surely in order. Please have a look.
http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/authors/kavounasA.html
Would have loved to be there and meet you all!
But I’ll have to content myself with being with you in the pages of Magma
Cheers from the other side of the world.
Laura