Walcott

I consider myself lucky to live in Norwich: a reasonably-sized, something-for-everyone, arts-focussed city. Even better, the coast is only twenty minutes away. One of our favourite places is Walcott, with it's often deserted beaches, strolling waves, and amazing fish 'n' chip shop. There's nothing in Walcott itself other than the flat landscape of beach and sea but that's enough. It's provided the inspiration for a couple of short stories and is perfect for our three-year-old to make discoveries.

 

One afternoon - childfree - myself and my partner were wandering along the beach. It was an awesome day. The light was perfect and the sky was blue. It struck me at that moment that I would be happy should that day be repeated on a never-ending loop. Nothing else mattered at that juncture, I felt free to shed normal responsibilities and accept it as my personal heaven. Of course, a story came out of this - a love story, at heart, although of course such a heaven must always come at a cost. Whilst the story, "The First You & I", is currently unpublished, here's me reading it at a recent Poetry Collective event.

Inspiration at Walcott was also found for another story of mine, "The Caged Sea", simply from this photograph taken through the top grid of one of the metal steps that lead from the sea defences to the beach when the tide was in. Whilst the story itself bears no relation to Walcott other than the title - it's actually set in Japan, inland - it's another indication of how stories can develop from the simplest things.

Nothing to do with Walcott at all, this song, "Walcott", by Vampire Weekend is a favourite to sing along to whilst we're driving to Walcott.

Finally, here's another shot of one of our favourite places. There are few distractions here, maybe that's why we find it so special; whilst on the face of it nothing is here, in fact everything is here. The flat beach/sea landscape is perfect at every time of year.

Actual Cloud

As blog readers will be aware I'm now co-editor - with my partner, Sophie - of Salò Press. An independent publisher dedicated to showcase the best surreal/experimental poetry and fiction. Our first publication - a poetry collection titled "Actual Cloud" by Dalton Day - is now available and orders can be taken through our website (UK/ELSEWHERE) which will be fulfilled immediately (official publication date is 1st October for other outlets).

The blurb for the book is as follows:

Actual Cloud is a being in awe of its existence // is lightness  // is a vortex of movement // is a hello, you exist // is a mountain of a person declaring feel this.

In his first full length collection, Dalton Day presents a landscape of subtle purity cocooned in natural honesty where simplicity and raw emotion endures what it feels to be.

Dalton Day is a poet & literal dog-person living in Austin, Texas. He is the author of the chapbook Fake Knife, & his poems have been featured in Hobart, PANK, Everyday Genius, & Columbia Poetry Review, among others. He can be found at myshoesuntied.tumble.com and twitter.com/lilghosthands.

“Reading Actual Cloud is like tracking a mysterious animal through a wood of fog and feeling. Its body keeps changing, gaining fur, finding sorrow, leaving antlers, then paw prints, then hoof prints behind. The path the language takes is simple, declarative, but also full of gaps and quick swerves. It's clear this poet finds pleasure in leading the way, and it's a joy to wander in pursuit.” -  Heather Christle, author of Heliopause and What is Amazing

The great cover art is by Muxxi (www.muxxi.me)

We encourage you to buy direct from us and to support our fledgling press in addition to supporting Dalton's fantastic writing. We are also open to submissions for this project: "A Galaxy Of Starfish: An Anthology of Modern Surrealism". It's exciting times for us. We want to champion the best poetry/prose we can find and with this first collection we've set our standards high. Join us.

To whet your appetite here's an actual poem from Actual Cloud: