Christodoulos Makris

The Burning Bush 2 is an online 'revival' of the original Burning Bush  magazine , which was published in print from Galway between 1999 and 2004. I remember coming across a couple of issues just before it ceased publication and being impressed by what I saw as an outward-looking, experimentalist ethos and underlying radical dimension - a refreshing approach in a conservative Irish poetry scene. TBB2 , edited from Dublin by Alan Jude Moore , aims like its predecessor to publish work from a mix of new and established writers while operating under new publishing and social conditions. It therefore represents both a revival of and a break from the original magazine. Issue 2, published last week and available both as a download and on the magazine's website , includes two new poems of mine . There's also excellent work from, among others, Kimberly Campanello and co-founder and editor of the original magazine, Michael S Begnal.

The Poetry Parnassus  festival is a global gathering of poets due to take place at London's Southbank Centre from 26 June to 1 July 2012 as part of this year's Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 celebrations. Selected out of reportedly more than 6,000 nominations/recommendations, 204 poets will participate in the festival - each representing an Olympic nation. The list of confirmed poets  was published last week, and I can announce that I accepted an invitation to take part as the representative of Cyprus. The invitation came a few months ago, rather unexpectedly. It's a unique opportunity to meet and get to know the work of a great array of poets. And I view the invitation, considering the calibre and record of some of the other poets involved, as a significant and fortifying mark of recognition. I look forward to it! The full programme of readings and events is yet to be finalised; in fact, representatives for some countries are still to be confirme...

gone walkabout I'm very happy to announce that Muses Walk , my new chapbook / artist's book, is now available in an individually-numbered edition of 100 copies. The first three of these have been donated to 'An Inventory of Al-Mutanabbi Street', for which project the book was originally conceived (I have been writing  a series of posts on my involvement with this project, the idea behind the book, its relevance to the project and also to the rest of my work, and its development). The remainder will be available to buy at readings and events, and can also be purchased directly from me on request. The price is 5 Euro. Writing, producing visual material, designing, laying out the text and images, printing, binding, cutting and generally publishing Muses Walk is proving a hugely valuable experience, if only as a sobering lesson in small-scale book-making and publishing. The finished book measures 148 x 105 mm (A6) and is in the quarto format - which means that it ...

A paragraph towards the end of Adam Rudden's  introduction to the online publication/hosting of his collection Solar Winds and Ions (Lapwing, 2011) by Poetry Ireland, describes the launch of a limited print edition of the same collection a few months before. "There was a different type of energy surrounding the launch at the Irish Writers’ Centre, in September 2011," Rudden writes. "Launching a limited edition publication has a more distinct ‘vibe’ to it than a standard publication launch. As a poet, I got a real sense of immediacy in the room: I was aware that the people seated in front of me, might be the only ones to receive a hard copy." Note the contrast between the immediate and very real "vibe" of presenting a limited-edition publication as described by Rudden, and the surprising mundanity of it subsequently being made freely available online. Does unlimited access to the collection affect how the work in it is actually read? And is such a mo...