Christodoulos Makris

On joining An Inventory of Al-Mutanabbi Street I had a clear idea of the concept for my contribution - though the details, especially in relation to the book's production, were (and are) still hazy. I made the initial assumption that a poetry chapbook would qualify as an artist's book without the need for visuals or special production techniques. * The poem 'Muses Walk', included in my upcoming collection, is the product of an attempt to write a specific street in the centre of Nicosia as it stood at a (less) specific period of time. It's made of 16 lines, some as short as three words, others running to a second or third physical line on the page. The poem is an attempt to freeze space and time, and present Οδός Μουσών in a condition now long gone. Οδός Μουσών is - or was - a street containing elements that I imagine, through pictures and verbal descriptions, Al-Mutanabbi Street to also contain. I was also struck by the idea that Al-Mutanabbi Street could b...

Herbarium is an anthology of poems, edited by James Wilkes , celebrating and exploring the contemporary resonances of medicinal plants and herbs. It features contributions from over 50 poets and is published in celebration of the Urban Physic Garden , a pop-up community-built garden of medicinal plants installed in Southwark this summer by Wayward Plants - a collective of architects, designers, artists and urban growers - with the aim of blooming a slice of neglected London land for a short period. The garden is open to visitors Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 6pm, until 15 August 2011. For the anthology, each species in the garden was selected by a participating poet, who then produced a poem around it. My contribution ('Sincerely') relates to the herb gravelroot. Gravelroot is a "white- and purple-flowered plant up to 3m/10ft; North American Indian red dye plant" ( The Complete Book of Herbs , Clevely and Richmond, Lorenz Books, 1994). Its roots and seedheads ...

Spitting Out the Mother Tongue is now available to pre-order from the Wurm Press website for the special pre-publication price of €10 (plus € 2 postage to addresses outside Ireland). Publication will be in September, with a launch planned for early October - details nearer the time. At the moment I'm correcting the proofs. I'm really pleased with how it's coming together - the typography, cover design, overall feel - and excited about bringing out this strand of my work in book form. I can't wait to get my hands on the actual thing!