Feral Angels Press

16/07/2024

One of the key pieces in THE QUEEN ON HEAVEN, read by Tom Hirons

If you like this, you'll love the book...
Link in the comments.

14/07/2024

If you don't fancy the football, you can watch the recording of the launch of The Queen of Heaven on the Feral Angels Press site. Link in the comments... No charge, obvs.

07/07/2024

E-BOOK!

‘The Queen of Heaven’ is now available as an e-book.

Early this morning, I put the finishing touches to the pdf edition of the latest collection. I'm well-pleased with how it's turned out.

If you're outside the UK, this is a *much* more affordable (and fast) way to get the book. I know it's not the same, of course, but postage is brutal at the moment.

The usual Feral Angels Press sliding scale applies.
Spread the word!

Link to the e-book in the comments...

04/07/2024

THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN
Online launch - 12th July

👑 💫 ❤️‍🔥 💫 👑

You are most cordially and wildly invited to the free online launch of The Queen of Heaven, out now from Feral Angels Press.

Book your place to attend, and to receive the recording of the event in case you can't make it on the night.

Tom will be reading from the new book, as well as from other work, and answering questions, and also talking about the work and the process of putting his words into print.

We'd love to see you there!

(Let us know if there are any particular pieces you'd like to hear, from The Queen of Heaven or At the Orphans’ Door!)

🎫 link in the comments

And - of course - do get your copy from Feral Angels Press if you haven't ordered it already!

28/05/2024

WARRIOR POET REBEL ASSEMBLY
Five days of poetic community this Autumn, with me and Rozi Hilton in Shropshire, UK

Here's a new thing I'm VERY excited about.

Warrior Poet Rebel Assembly is our offering to cultivate community among warrior poets. It exists to help us find and sustain each other in our efforts. It is a place where each of us can bring what we are interested in and offer our piece in a holographic map of collective knowledge and experience.

Poets have always been a vital part of countercultural movements and resistance movements. We’re interested in the role of the Warrior-Poet; not one or the other, but believing in a way of being that inhabits both, or exists in the territory from which both images arise.

We are honouring the urgency of these times by being explicit in our belief that there is a Devouring force loose in the world. This camp is action towards Defying the Devourer and medicine against despair, including the active principle of using power and privilege effectively, as well as engaging the tools of poetics in the rising seas of despair.

We’ll be hanging out together in a beautiful and relatively wild space, cooking together and sharing meals (should you wish to) and digging deep during the day and then letting our hair down at night. Everything on offer will be invitation - none of it is compulsory.

Who is it for?

If the words here or on the event page add sparks to an already-burning fire, this camp is for you. If our words kindle a flame from wood that’s been sitting ready, this camp is for you. If you have been using your work in ways we suggest here, then this camp is for you. If you have curiosity about what we’re talking about and also experience and/or expertise to share, this camp is for you.

If you’re looking for sustenance through community and/or solitary time in nature, in the context of a ragged band of visionaries, vagabonds and poetic misfits, this camp is for you.

Pricing is offered on a sliding scale of four tiers, from £350 to £700.

30th September - 5th October

More details on the event page - https://tomhirons.com/events/warrior-poet-rebel-assembly-2024
I'd so love to see you there!

10/05/2024

02/05/2024

CLARION IS AIRBORNE!!
PLUS THE CLARION E-BOOK IS ALIVE!!

And we're off...

Clarion is flying off the shelves, all over the world. The first issues have arrived with subscribers and single-issue-purchasers already. We await reviews with excitement and nervous anticipation...

Yesterday, I put the finishing touches to the E-BOOK edition - it's a rather lovely navigable PDF and it's available in the Feral Angels Press shop right now. Sliding scale, of course.

All subscribers also receive a copy of the e-book. AND, when it's finished, they'll get a copy of the audiobook issue, too.

So, now's a good time to climb aboard this creature and feel the poetry-wingbeats on your skin.

Remember - single issues of print and e-book editions from the Feral Angels Press site
and subscriptions via the Clarion site.

Of course, there are copious links back and forth on both sites.

Shop links in the comments...

ps images courtesy of Ella in the packing room - massive thanks to her for her epic packing efforts this week.

24/04/2024

CLARION IS HERE!

In brief, as I'm running to get things ready for tonight's online launch*

The first copies of Clarion arrived today. I think they're quite gorgeous and they feel GOOD in my hands.

You can now buy copies of issue 1 via the Feral Angels Press website, and yes, it's on a sliding scale like all the other books.
You can also buy a subscription (paid annually or monthly) and save about 10% anywhere in the world. The subscriptions are also offered on a sliding scale, which is a bit of a headf*&% to work out, but I got there...

More news and snippets and sound recordings as time allows over the next few days.
I do hope you can make it to the launch - see clarionpoetry.com for all the details!

Something beautiful is being born and I'm very very excited!!

*you have your FREE ticket already, I'm sure, but visit the Clarion site to book your place if you haven't

19/04/2024

CLARION #1 - The online launch
Wednesday 24th April, 7.30pm (UK time)
FREE

Join us to celebrate this first edition of Clarion Poetry Quarterly. Many of the 37 poets will be reading their work and I (Tom) will be talking about what I'm trying to do with Clarion and what I hope will arise out of it's making.

I'm very proud of what this first issue has become and I do hope to see you there. Please spread the word! Yes, it's totally free. Book a place via the Clarion website - link in the comments.

Dress code is informal vagabond or sympathetic disruptor. Bring your own margaritas, duende receptors and/or sensation-enhancers.

Pre-sales and subscriptions will be opening early next week - sign up to the Clarion newsletter via the site to be the Very First to know all the important things.

And keep your eyes on the site, as bits and pieces will be (hopefully) going live over the next five days in preparation for the Launch.

Featuring poetry from:
Ace Boggess, Andrew Urquhart, Anne Paré, Antonia Green, Aoife Mannix, April Tierney, Cherise Lily Nana, Darja Malcolm-Clarke, David Woolley, Ellen Crow Vodicka, Helen Scadding, Helen Smith, Holly Sayer, Holly Winter-Hughes, Hugh Thomson, Ilana Laps, Jackie Juno, John Berry, Karan Chambers, Kathy Wray, Matt Niemeyer, Miranda Saake, Natasha Kindred, Pamela Basham, Penny Lapenna, Phillip Webb Gregg, Rachel Bell, Roselle Angwin, Rosie Seymour, Rowan Middleton, Sam Rose Phillips, Sarinea Meserkhani, S.C. Morgan, Seán Pádraig O’Donoghue, S. Preston Duncan, Tom Hirons and Victoria Punch

02/04/2024

TOMORROW NIGHT!

WE'RE HIRING
AND CHANGING

I'm turning Feral Angels Press into a radical workers' co-op and I need you. Or maybe I need someone you know. Or maybe you know what I need and I don't.

As the press expands, it's become increasingly clear to me that I need more people involved. For a while, I thought that might look like being the director of a growing company. It didn't appeal. I've set up a workers' co-op before, but somehow I had a blind spot about making Feral Angels Press into one. No longer. This is the way we're going.

I need a team to help this happen, and to become the members as we leap/tiptoe/bellyflop/soar into the new dimension.

I'm looking for adminisers, layout geeks (Scribus, anyone?), designers, event-makers, editorial eagles, promo-people, organisational wizards and more. I need some people with experience of making transitions like this, but particularly I need enthusiasm, commitment and skills and a good team. I'm excited to find out who you are. Some of the roles can be overseas and some need to be in the UK.

So, I'm having an open call (free, obvs) on April 4th, 8pm UK time (GMT+1) to talk about my vision for the press and to answer questions, pick your brains. Off the back of that, I'll be taking expressions of interest and CVs and so on. If you're curious, please come along. Joining the call isn't a commitment to joining us!

Get a place on the call at feralangels.com/events
Please spread the word!

17/03/2024

WE'RE HIRING
AND CHANGING

I'm turning Feral Angels Press into a radical workers' co-op and I need you. Or maybe I need someone you know. Or maybe you know what I need and I don't.

As the press expands, it's become increasingly clear to me that I need more people involved. For a while, I thought that might look like being the director of a growing company. It didn't appeal. I've set up a workers' co-op before, but somehow I had a blind spot about making Feral Angels Press into one. No longer. This is the way we're going.

I need a team to help this happen, and to become the members as we leap/tiptoe/bellyflop/soar into the new dimension.

I'm looking for adminisers, layout geeks (Scribus, anyone?), designers, event-makers, editorial eagles, promo-people, organisational wizards and more. I need some people with experience of making transitions like this, but particularly I need enthusiasm, commitment and skills and a good team. I'm excited to find out who you are. Some of the roles can be overseas and some need to be in the UK.

So, I'm having an open call (free, obvs) on April 4th, 8pm UK time (GMT+1) to talk about my vision for the press and to answer questions, pick your brains. Off the back of that, I'll be taking expressions of interest and CVs and so on. If you're curious, please come along. Joining the call isn't a commitment to joining us!

Link to get a place on the call in the comments or visit feralangels.com/events
Please spread the word!

09/03/2024

The old world is dying.
Human-scale commerce needs to adapt to the collapsing systems and complex uncertainties in which we live.

In simple terms, all books, audiobooks and e-books at Feral Angels Press are now for sale using a four-stage sliding scale. You choose how much to pay.

I've written more about it on the Feral Angels Press site (link in the comments) but, in short, this is a way of solving a conundrum:

Publishing books that are printed and produced with high ethical standards makes them cost way more than people are used to paying. Using 100% recycled paper and having them printed by workers' co-ops in the UK adds even more to the costs. Paying workers a proper wage and trying to make sure no one's exploited in the process of running a business, using recycled packaging, not cutting corners, aiming for beauty - all of these are things that add to costs.

And yet, I don't want our books to only be affordable for people with massive disposable incomes.

What to do?

I realised I could give you the choice.
If you can only afford a fire-sale price, you can get the book.
If you can afford a regular price, or a bit less, you can get the book.
If you're able to pay a bit more and support the press, you can get the book.

It's actually quite simple and I'm a bit surprised I didn't think of it earlier, as I've used sliding scales for years for ticket sales and for treatments when I was a community acupunk. Thanks to those in conversation on Bear Mountain that reminded me of a way ahead.

What does this mean in terms of price?
Well, Sometimes a Wild God is now going to cost you between £4 and £14, for example.
For the rest of the prices, see the website.

Thanks for playing along and for supporting this shift.
I hope we can all benefit from it.
Welcome to the radical economy.

08/03/2024

It's International Women's Day.

I'm a white, middle-aged man. What can I usefully do (apart from the constant work of noticing the ways I reinforce the crush of Patriarchy and do my best - and better - to address that. And call it out where I see it. And make space where I can. And own my own mistakes and prejudices and areas of unconsciousness. Learn, unravel, help others do the same if I can. Not be quite as much of an arse as time goes by. Protect, elevate, respect, relate, unpack, self-educate, genuinely love. Use my privilege. Raise my sons to do the same, and better. And and and...) It turns out there's quite a lot I can usefully do...

But, as someone running a small press, here's one small thing.

***

Use code womensday24 in the Feral Angels Press shop and get a half-price book** for yourself or for a woman in your life. The code will work from now until Monday morning (UK time). (Upper case or lower case will work.)

***

Along with the new sliding scale for books*, you can get a bargain or two over the weekend. Enjoy. Or enjoy the anticipation of someone else's enjoyment.

* more about that in the next few days, but see the website for more about this radical approach to bookselling.

** or books - yes, it's 50% off your whole order...

Link to the shop in the comments
Happy International Women's Day
Love and respect to you all - I know it's very often a sh*tfest nightmare out there and a constant crush of injustice, invisibility and inequality a lot of the rest of the time.

In solidarity and with books,
Tom

28/02/2024

HYVEMINDE!

I'm looking for recommendations for ethical business banking in the UK for a workers' co-op...

I know it's a quagmire, but any thoughts are welcome...

I need to have a card, be able to deposit cheques (rarely cash), make regular payments and all the usual stuff, nothing fancy...

What do you reckon?

28/02/2024

I'm deeply honoured to be part of this online event on March 19th, supporting award-winning Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha alongside an extraordinary host of other poets.

Honoured? I'm also flabbergasted and very excited.

The event is a fundraiser - hosted and organised by Sophie Howarth - and tickets are by donation. All donations will go directly to the Middle East Children’s Alliance, a charity supporting community projects and emergency relief across Gaza with whom Mosab Abu Toha has a close relationship.

This is what it says on the event page:

"Every child in Gaza is me. Every mother and father is me. Every house is my heart. Every tree is my leg. Every plant is my arm. Every flower is my eye. Every hole in the earth is my wound." - Mosab Abu Toha

Mosab Abu Toha has been one of the most powerful voices of witness for Gazans during the horrors of recent months. His award-winning poetry debut Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear (City Lights, 2022) helped many people in the English-speaking world understand more about daily life in Gaza before October 7th. Since that day, his voice has become more influential and urgent than ever.

Although he has lost many friends and family members in recent months, as well as his home and the two Edward Said libraries he founded in Gaza, Abu Toha has never stopped speaking out. Day after day he has written about the suffering of his people, both on social media and in a series of much-admired essays for the New York Times. "Freedom is a state of mind," Abu Toha insists, "If I choose to be free, I can be free through my writing, through speaking."

For this online event, Mosab Abu Toha will be joined by a number of prominent poets from the UK and Ireland including Nikita Gill, Pascale Petit, Tom Hirons, Yazzie Min, Anthony Anaxagorou, Kerri ní Dochartaigh and Hanan Issa who will also be sharing expressions of love and rage, sorrow and solidarity. The event will be hosted by Sophie Howarth.

***

A recording will be available to those who got tickets but can't attend at the time.
Please come along and share very, very widely.
Bless you all.

>> Ticket link in the comments

17/02/2024

EXTENDED SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE!
FEB 24TH NEW DATE TO REMEMBER.

>> Reposted from

18/01/2024

Reposted from the Clarion page:

SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN FOR ISSUES 2 AND 3!

The first issue of Clarion is slated to come out in February 2024.
Submissions are now closed for issue #1 and layout is underway. The extended deadline for submissions for issues 2 and 3 is 9pm GMT on February 11th.

For these issues, we are particularly keen to hear from Palestinian poets and poets writing in the context of ongoing oppression and in response to the ecological catastrophe of our times.

We believe in the role of poetry as a vital conduit for truth-telling and bringing about change (both individual and collective) and our name is a reflection of that. We will not — we cannot — remain silent in the face of injustice and horror. We also believe in the complex powers of genuine duende and poetry that makes the subtle fibres of reality sing, and in nurturing new and emerging writers. Be bold!

(And follow the formatting notes.)

See the 🔗 in the comments for all the info.

AND PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

15/01/2024

FERAL ANGELS PRESS orders are being packed this afternoon...
We currently send out once a week, so if you’d like to get your hands on one of Tom’s books this week (in the UK) or get one on its way to you overseas, now’s the time to jump in.

Free UK postage over £30 and free worldwide tracked shipping for orders over £50.

Winter's the time for letting the dreaming in.
Open the door. Dive in.

Link in the comments

29/12/2023

I've just spent the last couple of days entirely rebuilding the Feral Angels Press site as it developed some terminal glitches in the run-up to Christmas. If you've been trying to use it, my sympathies... I've just finalised the rewrite and I think everything is working just about fine - I still have work to do, but it functions, which is significant progress!!

I'd be delighted if you were to take a look and see what's what...

I still have to redo subscriptions, and generally make it super-pretty and tidy up some unfinished corners, so let me know if you come across anything weird or clunky.

Now I'm going to go for a walk. It's been a weird time of antibiotics and websiting.

Link in the comments.

24/12/2023

NETTLE-EATER!
FALCONER’S JOY!
NEW AUDIOBOOK LISTINGS!

Better late than never, I've just listed the audiobooks of both NETTLE-EATER and FALCONER’S JOY on the Feral Angels Press site!

The site's misbehaving at the moment, so if you're trying to buy anything and it goes to a weird page when you click 'Add to Cart', just navigate back and all should be well... I'll fix it after Christmas, because life's actually too short for me to be wrangling with websites on Christmas Eve.

Links in the comments...

23/12/2023

Lunched out, overwhelmed, just couldn't find the right thing?

Feral Angels Press have e-books of SOMETIMES A WILD GOD and AT THE ORPHANS’ DOOR available for immediate download!

We also now have year-long FERAL ANGELS PRESS SUBSCRIPTIONS - everything we publish sent to you as soon as it exists.

Don't run the risk of your loved ones hating you forever - give the gift of poetry!

FERAL ANGELS PRESS
Poetry for a world on fire.

Link in the comments...

07/12/2023

Damn. Just damn.
Way too young at 65.
One of the poetry heroes of the UK, and a constant force against injustice.
We need these poet-warriors now more than ever.
Safe journey on, Benjamin.

23/11/2023

It's Black Friday (again) tomorrow
(or International Buy Nothing Day, as we know it)

** reposting this for actual Black Friday rather than a week early...**

When Rima and I ran Hedgespoken Press, we always made sure to resist temptation and close the shop on Black Friday. The rampant excesses of global Capitalism reach their commercial peak on this day and rather than join the rush to capitalise, we prided ourselves on staying closed and encouraging our customers - and would-be customers - to delight in the free joys of the world: nature, solidarity, community, kindness, and the magic that is everywhere.

I'm proud of us for that and so, with Feral Angels Press, I'm continuing the tradition. The shop will be closed all day and instead, this year, I encourage you to support creative artists in other ways. For those of us trying to make a living out of our art, these are hard times. Everyone's feeling the pinch and while our work is sometimes seen as a luxury, it's also what sustains us all in rough times, and these are very rough times for very many people for very many reasons.

This Friday, I wish you good company, a revolutionary heart and an abundance of simple joys. Seek out the artists and hold them up. Not only is the world bleaker without them, but they weave the fabric of aliveness in vital ways that sustain us all and remind us of what we knew, but had somewhere, somehow, forgotten.

***

21/11/2023

The Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha has been kidnapped by Israeli forces while fleeing to southern Gaza. Please read this and sign the petition and share - there's a long history of writers and artists suffering as symbols of resistance and dissent during wartime.

LINK IN THE COMMENTS

[UPDATE 2 - I've now restricted comments on this post because of the amount of trolling. I haven't got the time to be sorting genuine comments from sock puppet spam and random hate. Also, there's a health update from Mosab's twitter in the comments.]

[UPDATE - word is, he's been released. Phew.]

The Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha has been kidnapped by Israeli forces while fleeing to southern Gaza. He has recently published poetry in major American outlets like The Atlantic and The New Yorker, and is, among other things, the founder of Gaza’s first English-language library. Last month, he was in the USA on a tour. He has been recognized with several awards, including the Palestine Book Award 2022. He also received the Arrowsmith Press Award, was a finalist for the American Book Award 2022, and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Additionally, he received the Before Columbus American Award.

I know that signing petitions is often a token gesture in the face of overwhelming circumstances, but this is also a way of keeping Mosab in the news and general awareness. There's a long history of writers and artists suffering as symbols of resistance and dissent during wartime. To his family and friends, I send prayers for his safety and release. Fellow poets and poetry-readers, whatever your allegiances and loyalties, please sign the petition, spread the word and keep him in the news.

LINK IN THE COMMENTS

17/11/2023

Join Bear Mountain here: https://tomhirons.com/bear-mountain/join

BEAR MOUNTAIN
Join me in my own algorithm-less space of story and poetics

Make no mistake. I know that my life's incredible. I'm pursuing this apprenticeship to language in a way I could only dream of in my younger days. People buy my books and read my work. Astonishing! Some people say my writing has saved their life. It doesn't get better than that. Just today, I got a message from a long-time reader asking if a piece of mine could be read at their impending funeral. These are the honours I didn't even know could be mine when I began writing.

But, I'm tired. I work like crazy. I get up in the deep belly of the night to work and - when I can - I work through the day and into the evening. Some of that work is writing, but most of it is the admin of the self-employed writer. Half the time, I co-parent my young sons, who are each a particular wonder, but anyone creative knows the complexity of the juggle of parenting and art.

I've been trying to get BEAR MOUNTAIN set up and running for about two years now and here - on another Black Friday*, of all days - it's finally arrived.

By now, it's probably a familiar idea - for a monthly subscription (of £1 or more) you get access to posts and videos and recordings and so on that are only available to members. In addition, you can join a monthly members-only Zoom call which should be pretty good craic and where you can ask me anything you like about what I'm up to.

This is also my best effort at gradually slipping away from the clutches of social media and being so caught up in the weird games of the algorithms that feel so fickle and fragile, and so unhealthy.

I recorded a short film about it all, but the video is too long and meandering for social media - you can watch on my website on the Bear Mountain page.

I could've made a Substack or a Patreon and joined the streamlined world, I know - instead I've gone DIY again and made Bear Mountain. The link's in the comments.

I'd love for you to join me there.

***

[ps the petroglyph dude is from Tamgaly, in Kazakhstan and the bear is from Chauvet cave, in France 🌞]

[*also, Black Friday is next week. That's how tired I am...]

24/10/2023

THE FERAL ANGELS PRESS AUTUMN SALE!
Over a third off everything - some books half-price

>> https://buff.ly/3qcuSmX

17/10/2023

The hard work of editing.
This is work on ALL THE BEES, part of Tom's collection THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, due out at the end of this month...

EDITING

Editing is hard work. My brain is fried and I'm walking a thin line in the dark, trying my best to remove what's superfluous without cutting into the bone. My knife slashes wildly. It's more like dancing than surgery. But, it's a dangerous dance, which is (perhaps) is part of the appeal.

As I walk that line, the grief and anger and horror of the world blows sparks across me . Sometimes it spurs me onwards and sometimes I can only crouch and shiver.

But, I'm almost there.
Which is to say, I'm just about done.
Which is to say, if I had a month of leisure, these poems would be better (possibly) but here and now, under the circumstances, I'm not too ashamed of most of them.
Which is to say, I'm doing my best to lay down in language the this-world shadow of things glimpsed or tracked in the other world. That's my primary loyalty, I suppose. And to the Queen of Heaven. All the rest is the craft of how best to do that.
Which is to say, I'm doing my job as best I can.

Here's a snapshot of the process on one of the pieces called ALL THE BEES.

The book should be ready for the end of this month.
Unless it isn't.

Follow Feral Angels Press for updates...

04/10/2023

From FALCONER'S JOY (2018)

The book includes these pieces:
THE LAPWING STARS
THE WORSHIP OF PLACE
MERRIVALE
FALCONER'S JOY
THE DEAD FATHERS

Available from the Feral Angels Press shop!
Link in the comments...

The Worship of Place appears in Falconer's Joy by Tom Hirons - you can read the piece at https://tomhirons.com and the book is available as a paperback and audiobook at https://hedgespokenpress.com