John Field reviews Whatever You Do, Just Don't at Poor Rude Lines

Catching up on good stuff that's happened over the festive period: John Field has posted a gorgeously sculpted review of Whatever You Do, Just Don't over at Poor Rude Lines. Yet again, I'm grateful for his huge generosity. Here's a brief quote...
Matthew Stewart’s second collection, Whatever You Do, Just Don’t, offers its own meditation on sun and shadow. Small observations on living between Spain and the UK, family life and, of course, the beautiful game, might seem unrelated but, as the collection unfolds, these elements pull together as a bitter-sweet meditation on love and loss. 

And you can read it in full via this link. 

John Field reviews The Knives of Villalejo

Two flights, four hotels and going on for 2,000 miles of driving later, I'm finally back in Extremadura from my readings in Nottingham, Cheltenham and Manchester last week. Suffice to say, they were a terrific experience, most of all down to the new and old friends that I met along the way.

What's more, I found a wonderful present awaiting me on my arrival in Spain. The pleasure was two-fold: not only has my favourite poetry blog made a hugely welcome return, but it's done so to feature my book. In other words, John Field has published an exceptional and exquisite review of The Knives of Villalejo on Poor Rude Lines. 

John's reviews are creative works in themselves and must require a lot of work. I'm thus especially grateful to him for taking the time and trouble to engage with my collection in such a way. As is the case with all top-notch reviewers, his generous words even provide me with new insights into my own poetry. I'm not going to do his writing a disservice by quoting it out of context. Instead, I suggest you read the whole piece for yourself by following this link.

John Field at Aldeburgh

I read yesterday that John Field will be appearing at the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival (see here). This is excellent news, as he's been selected as the festival's Guest Blogger on the back of his terrific work over at Poor Rude Lines during the past year. Field's emergence underlines that poetry blogging can have a serious backbone and play a key role in the U.K. poetry world.

Field will be discussing the work of a number of pamphleteers who'll be reading at the festival, and I was delighted to notice that Richie McCaffery, whose chapbook I so enjoyed last year, is among them. All in all, Aldeburgh can boast a superb line-up once more!

A first review for Tasting Notes

I'm delighted to report that John Field has posted the first review of Tasting Notes on his Poor Rude Lines blog. It's extremely generous, as in the following extract:

"These poems, deceptively restrained in ambition, pack a punch nevertheless. In performance they read well but are doubly rewarding on the page."

You can read the review in full here.

Moreover, Field also highlights the ongoing offer that combines the book with the wine it evokes. You can find links to Bat and Bottle's webshop just to the right of this post. Why not give someone a book of poetry and a bottle/case of wine that illuminate each other? The package makes an ideal present!

John Field's Poor Rude Lines

The emergence of any new poetry blog is to be welcomed, especially one that concentrates on reviews, but John Field's Poor Rude Lines displays a quality of writing and insight that already make it remarkable. His pieces are clearly underpinned by the experience of academic essay-writing, yet they also manage to be accessible to general readers, succeeding in striking an extremely difficult balance.

In the context of the above, I'm very grateful to him for having featured Inventing Truth, and for having been so generous in his praise. You can read the article here. I've included Poor Rude Lines in the blog list that runs down the right-hand side of Rogue Strands, and I'll be following its development with a keen interest.