For some reason I'm listening to football songs in the middle of the night and you really do have to respect how little effort went into rewriting the lyrics of Whole Again for the Southgate version. Go on girls. Give us absolutely nothing.
Bloodaxe were out here asking £7.95 for poetry collections in 1996. WILD.
Photo of the books: Parade's End by Ford Maddox Ford, 16( Songs of Hatred and Failure - A History of Manic Street Preachers, and What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
Photograph of the books The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wooden, and No Truce With the Furies by R.S. Thomas
Some books recently
Reckon the worst thing about being born in 1992 is that until the day I die I will think 'motherfucker' when I hear/read the word riverside.
Resolving not to resolve to much because resolving leads to sadness and time is arbitrary? Here's a poem about how you can't fix your life with social media vibes:
youtu.be/3R_FYKfn72Y?...
Photograph of the book Mystery in White by J. Efferson Farjeon being held up in front of a Christmas tree
Did the reading a Christmas crime book thing for the first time. Weird but kinda festive. Suspect I will repeat the process in 2026.
Some of our Books of the Year choices include Sarah Hall @faberbooks.bsky.social @emilycotterill.bsky.social @traceyrhys.bsky.social @anthonyshapland.bsky.social @lucyrosecreates.bsky.social @jay-griffiths.bsky.social & @clareshawpoet.bsky.social
thelonelycrowd.org/2025/12/14/b...
If you fancy a copy of such a book you can get one direct from me here:https://emilycotterill.com/product/significant-wow/
Huge thanks to Taz for including Significant Wow in his books of the year. He describes the collection as 'an edgy, streetwise, alternative lens of self-hood' 💚🖤
One of those very normal poems I've written
youtu.be/3R_FYKfn72Y?...
The 'I really liked the way that he respected me' bit in the Sugababes song 'Push the Button' is surely the most unintentionally devastating moment in 21st century pop culture. Like what a tragic thing to have written down and then sung Jesus Christ.
Obviously there are many excellent poems in this collection by George Szirtes because George Szirtes wrote it but what is this thing with Bloodaxe and enormous collections?
Thank you Mamdani for allowing me to learn that it is *discomfited* and not *discomforted*. Truly the people's champion.
In a devastatingly rude move Waterstones have put my pamphlet The Day of the Flying Ants on clearance! Does mean you can grab it for all of three quid should you feel the urge:
www.waterstones.com/book/the-day...
Logos of the following brands: Dartington Crystal, Wetherspoons, Calendar Club, Schwartz, golddigga, Brains, BHS, Smash Hits!, BT, Warburtons, McDonalds Happy Meal, Wikipedia, East Midlands Designer Outlet, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Uno, Dr Martens, Carling, Debenhams, Burger King, BAFTA, Nescafe, Primark, J20, Hilton Honors, Monster Munch
I am so absolutely god awful at describing what Significant Wow is about. I might just get some pictures of this collage of brands printed out and hand it to people by way of explanation.
emilycotterill.com/product/sign...
Notes made to myself presumably in the pursuit of poetry:
- thin legged dads
- sick in your hands on the backseat
- on the days we know there are jacket potatoes for tea
???
Screenshot of a poem which reads She’s Lost Control You are never far from a drunk man in a Joy Division t-shirt. The old men gather around the cribbage board and from between them he emerges. He does not know that The Atrocity Exhibition is a novel by Ballard or recognise the pattern of a pulsar. The same way you do not know the meanings of flowers, or Latin, the names of famous painters, or anything. You know this because you ask him at every occasion. You are raw acne conscious of your matching attire. You make veiled reference to Peter Hook, giving yourself conspicuous permission. On occasion you have wanted to fuck the drunk man in a Joy Division t-shirt because you were young, stupid, vulnerable or he was hot. You do not have the necessary compulsion for mistakes. Having never existed when Joy Division existed, you are uncomfortable in your presentation of culture. Nervous. Wherever you go, you are testing the universe of knowledge around you, gathering up physics and post-punk drumming without the confidence required to push back what’s coming.
I hear that Joy Division t-shirts are in the news thanks to the Aussies
I don't know how often Anthony Albanese is drunk & he's about as far away from me as it's possible to be. That said I'd be a fool not to post this poem from my collection Significant Wow www.serenbooks.com/book/signifi...
I wonder what Ernest Hemingway would have to say about the number of unused baby shoes for sale on Vinted. Is this a poem or???
Photograph of the book The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall
🐺 I am an absolute sucker for rewilding. Bring back the wolf. Bring back the lynx.
Remember, if you are going out in the hail showers today, pop a child's xylophone on your head for added fun.
Won £25 on the Premium Bonds but am gutted to be reminded that the email you get no longer says 'Good News From ERNIE About Your Premium Bonds'. That's a poem out the window ffs.
Photo of the book V. by Tony Harrison
'They'll chisel fucking poet when they do you
and that, yer cunt, 's a crude four-letter word.'
💔
Oh no, I hadn't heard. What a man. What a loss.
I love the man but he has a lot of stackable music related offences. In his defence he did then say that no one can do Common People at karaoke because only Jarvis can pull it off.
Breaking up with Dan for saying 'the sort of shit you listen to, Britpop where the guy can't sing... PULP!'
Today is the first boot day of the year for me here in south Wales. Join me.
Perk of being a dual income no kids person over 30 and not in London, brands are desperate for your cash and have no single clue how to speak to you. It's hilarious. It's joy. It's fodder.
Photograph of the book The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
♟️ Several things:
- The bloke who wrote this also wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth? Mad.
- The sexy French woman was a TV only addition ffs
- BENNY WATTS
PS if you're in the circle and you nick my Brooklyn Beckham and/or Premium Bonds poem ideas I'll see you outside
Photo of Emily signing books
Photo of Emily sitting at a table in front of a Swansea & District Writers' Circle banner
Enjoyed speaking to the Swansea & District Writers' Circle last night. It is impossible to look good in a mid chat photo especially when you've spent six hours in the car that day 🚗 📚