Portsmouth’s own Mayhem Magazine‘s latest issue has just been released. This issue gears up for St. Valentine’s Day and has interviews with Keira Knightley, Kaiser Chiefs and is full of lifestyle articles. The magazine is available free around many bars and shops all over the city so keep your eyes open and grab a copy.
David Kirby just got in contact regarding his new book Stone Dead Forever II, a series of messages written on to pebbles along Southsea Seafront. A unique and interesting way to add a little treat to your walk, if you’re keeping your eyes out…
“In 2008 I started a project writing on pebbles on Southsea beach. I photographed the stones and left them there for people to find and enjoy. The first book, “Stone Dead Forever”, came out in 2010 and featured over 60 photos of inscribed stones.
In 2009, photos of the stones were featured on the GPS website by the South Bank Centre, London. There is a group on Flickr, at http://www.flickr.com/groups/stone_dead_forever/ where you can see the full set and upload pictures of your own poetical pebbles.
Three and a half years later the project is still going and I have scribbled and drawn on over 450 stones. Text comes from experiences, ideas, song lyrics, poetry and conversations. A few have been written by request, but I would rather encourage you to grab a permanent marker and go out and scribble, write or draw on your own pebble. This new book, “Geologic Shift” collects together 40 or so of the most recent photographs for you to enjoy.”
Preview the book on Blurb at www.blurb.com/bookstore
I’m a huge fan of self produced zines and have built up a bit of a collection over the years. There is something special about someone wanting to put their photos, words and ideas out there in a DIY, pre-Internet, tactile way.
So needless to say I was stoked to see a new local zine the other day, Gnar Pages by local photographer and skateboarder Eugene Noble. We’ve featured Eugene’s amazing photography previously on a couple of occasions and he is one of Southsea’s young new breed of local creatives and this new zine is really good. Gnar Pages is a sort of skatespot directory featuring some famous and not so famous Portsmouth and Southsea skatespots but also includes Eugene’s own thoughts and memories on the locations.
The zine is free and has been distributed here and there around Southsea so keep your eye’s peeled if you want a copy. You can also check the zine and Eugene’s photography and artwork on Flickr HERE.
Southsea writer Matt Wingett has just published his first e-book set on the Strong Island – a story of hallucination, cats, madness and mermaids, with a dose of time distortion thrown in.
Described by Portsmouth author Graham Hurley (renowned for his Faraday detective novels set in Pompey) as having “… a slightly hallucinatory, hugely evocative dreaminess”, Turn The Tides Gently is the story of Dave, a young man with a painful past who has withdrawn into a world of his own. But one night as he walks on Southsea Beach he encounters a mythical creature that turns his world upside down. Or at least he thinks he does. His doctor on the other hand is pretty clear it’s all part of his worsening mental illness.
Filled with precisely described locations around this Strong Island, and with a really cool twist at its end, this short novella will hold you with its driven narrative and deranged world, right the way through to its unexpected denouement.
Matt Wingett is an advertising copywriter who previously wrote episodes of The Bill for Thames TV.
The book was free over the weekend on Amazon and has been riding high in the Amazon book charts. It is still free as of this post going live so get in quick!
Turn The Tides Gently is available from Amazon HERE.
“It’s fun, it’s utterly compelling and finally truly magical.”
Find out more on Facebook and Twitter.
This weekend at (GASP) Gallery Art Space Portsmouth there are numerous events happening:
Is Britain Great? 3 – The Caravan Gallery exhibition and book signing
Reasonably Priced Art – A selling show of original paintings, prints, drawings and more by members of Art Space Portsmouth
6 x 4 – Another chance to buy fantastic original postcard-sized art works
‘Is Britain Great 3′ is the new book by Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale – The Caravan Gallery. This is their third book in their bestselling Is Britain Great? series and published by Cornerhouse.
Their unique take on social documentary is refreshing and always opens the viewers eyes to their surroundings. Seeing things and finding humour in the everyday. The book also features essays from Sara-Jayne Parsons (Exhibitions Curator at the Bluecoat, Liverpool) and Dan Thompson (founder of the Empty Shops Network and co-founder of Culture on Wheels). The book has photographs taken in Wales, Scotland and England. Of course with my welsh roots I have always thought that the land of my fathers was ripe for the taking and Jan and Chris visited the Elvis Festival back in September to capture a weird weekend in Porthcawl. You have to buy the book to see the results.
“We find Portsmouth utterly photogenic because it’s a unique island city boasting a crazy cocktail of ingredients. Smart aspirational buildings lurk alongside traditional, sometimes shabby and forgotten areas. There’s a strong sense of identity and no shortage of character and creativity. You never know what you’re going to find next when you roam the streets of the city and go off the beaten track. Things are always in a state of flux. When we were immersed in our Pride of Place Project at Space Gallery, University of Portsmouth earlier this year we forced ourselves to look at Portsmouth in a new light. We made plenty of exciting new discoveries about the city in which we’d lived for years just by deviating from the routes we generally take.” Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale.
They are doing an extra special deal over the weekend – signed copies of the book will be available at the astounding price of £10 (RRP £15).
See the Facebook page for further details of this weekend’s events – http://www.facebook.com/events/188075371281003/
Photographs below feature in ‘Is Britain Great? 3′ and have all been taken in Portsmouth.
“The original doughnuts picture was taken in 2008, the second in 2010. The credit crunch has resulted in a doughnut downturn!”
Jan Williams
Portsmouth has a strong literary heritage including Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and HG Wells and Portsmouth BookFest strives to continue that tradition, attracting diverse audiences to exciting local events featuring popular and accessible authors. This year BookFest will run between October 17th and November 13th 2011 with a programme including such authors as Darren Shan, Jazz Domino Holly, Claire Tomalin, Guy Bass, D.J. Kirkby, Dee Williams, Lesley Pearse and more plus a host of talks (including one with local publishers Tricorn Books), workshops and poetry readings.
Portsmouth BookFest is jointly organised by Portsmouth City Library Service and The Hayling Island Bookshop. There is an associated schools programme organised by Portsmouth School Library Service.
You can find the full programme details HERE and can contact the box office at 02392 688 685.
www.portsmouthbookfest.co.uk
‘Othello – A Bestiary (with Floral Additions)’ is a wordless reworking of William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ as an illustrated collection of common, rare and fabulous animals. In removing the text, Borbonesa presents a deconstructed version of ‘Othello’ in which the storyline is plotted by the guinea-hens, baboons, blind puppies, strawberries and figs that inhabit the speeches of Shakespeare’s human characters. These faunal and floral forms are arranged in their original sequence so the structure of the play is visually revealed.
‘Othello – A Bestiary (with Floral Additions)’ is illustrated by Ian Whitmore and issued as a concertina bookwork, with a foreword by Anna Fewster. Borbonesa is an art company based in Sussex and Hampshire producing occasional books and papers. Co-founder Ian Whitmore is an interdisciplinary artist with a passion for the Natural World.
Anna Fewster is a book arts academic and practitioner. She teaches at universities in Sussex and Kent, and under the imprint Lampyridae Press, produces limited edition letterpress printed matter. Robert Stillman composes music for simultaneous, multi-instrumental performance using piano and percussion modified for the feet.
New Theatre Royal, 20-24 Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth, PO1 2DD, Saturday 3 September 2011, 6-9pm
Round Tower At Sea Zine dropped in to our laps the other week, it seems to be available for free around Southsea and is well worth picking up if you spot it. The zine is aimed at promoting Southsea and is full of local written and created content and even has a food section by Strong homie favourite Charlie Thompson, good stuff. If you want to find out more or contribute to the next issue visit Kimberly Barber’s blog:
southsealife.blogspot.com
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