DOUGLAS FIELD relishes the hard-boiled language, satire and humour of the third and last of the Harlem trilogy
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A Class Act by Chip Hamer
Debut poetry collection does what it says on the tin
STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
LIVING up to this book’s title, poet and boxing aficionado Chip Hamer comes out fighting from the first bell, landing a few blows on the “real poets” who “don’t wear Harringtons, Ben Sherman button downs or step out in proper daisies.”
Hamer is not just about style but about substance and depth, which is why the literati are taken to task in opener Death of a Pie’n’Mash Shop, while the next, A Class Act, is a knock-out punch which provides the title of this collection of poems.
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