WE ARE POETS! by HELÊN THOMAS
"Helên sets about planting seeds with this super collection of contemporary poetry for children (7-11yrs). She is well known for her entertaining and thought provoking poetry readings and school theatre and with this book sets about translating some of her energy, enthusiasm and playfulness to the page. Playing with structure and form she produces magical poetry which shows how relevant poetry can be. It's fun, it's amazing, it's Helên on top form. Some great illustrations by Paul Neads. This is a collection that should be in every school library." Jim Bennett, The Poetry Kit

"I love your poems so much, I think you deserve a treat," Year 1 pupil at Holy Spirit Primary School, Merseyside

"A lively, lovely and very funny collection of children’s verse in the spirit of Edward Lear and Roald Dahl, among others. Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories may well be an influence on Why Fruit Bats Must Always Eat Fruit. Modern rap influences Anytown School Superstars Rap. This one cleverly lets the kids insert the name of their own school without ruining the flow of the verse – song in the process. Helên, an established poet, visited several schools to read the poems out live – a real treat for the kids – I have seen the author in performance and to encourage the pupils to have a go at writing their own poetry. It was obviously a very successful project as teachers have told Helên that some of the children have never stopped writing poetry since. There are dream poems about looking forward to holidays and seeing the world (Let’s Globe Trot) and irreverent looks at the aspects of school life few of us ever enjoy (I hate tests). If I have a favourite poem here it’s My Baby Brother, in which the narrator wishes she had a pet dog instead.
Though there is just one author, the poems have two distinctive personalities – Penelope Page, who writes about nice pleasant things such as ice cream (Vanilla Villanelle) in a posh voice, and Gabby Mouth, who writes about being sick on public transport and leaving others to take the blame for it (Why you won’t See Me Travelling by Bus), how some kids can’t control their bodily functions (Burping Beryl) and the way some of us just can’t keep neat and tidy (Dirt Magnet). In school performances, teacher Kate McGann often assisted Helen.
There are limericks, and structured poems as well as verse that just play with the joys of rhyme and alliteration. The book comes with tremendous cartoon illustrations provided by Paul Neads." Arthur Chappell, www.arthurchappell.clara.net/book.review

OCCAM'S BLUNT INSTRUMENT by DERMOT GLENNON & PAUL NEADS
"Razor sharp," Salford Advertiser

"Utterly superb! I savoured the richness and splendour of the language like a fine wine," Marvin Cheeseman

"Short sweet and to a very obtuse point, these short stories had me laughing out loud. Just the right size to digest a quick one over your break, I cannot recommend it highly enough," Dr Christophe M. Turner, amazon.co.uk

"I laughed out loud more than once and smiled quite a lot too. It deserves to be a huge success," Helên Thomas

THE UGLY TREE POETRY 'ZINE, ISSUE 17
"With 38 poems from 19 contributors including one featured poet, this A5 perfect-bound issue represents very good value. The 19 contributors comprise some really big hitters - 5 are editors of other poetry magazines, but more importantly, major poets, 9 are accomplished performance poets and 4 are slightly less well-known.
The magazine is special in that it claims not to discriminate between any particular forms of poetry and (from their submissions blurb) ‘whilst we do have a penchant for the relationship of spoken & performance poetry to the page it is not necessarily our raison d’être.’ Very interesting: not all performance poetry works in a printed context in that, inter alia, reading and writing are reflective skills while speaking and listening are instant. Or so you would think. It is when you straddle these two areas that things can become different and edgy.
The vast experience of most of these poets shines through, not only in their originality of subject and treatment but also in their technical fluency. All other poets could benefit from reading these poems and noting the absence of cliché and bombast, the lack of arcane vocabulary and prolix phrases... There are many poems to which I shall return many times to taste the humour or the aural flow or the killer last line and wish that I’d written them.
I think the editor has the balance right in more than one sense. I recommend you buy it online immediately," James Hartnell, Write Out Loud

THE UGLY TREE POETRY 'ZINE, ISSUE 14
"It has an astonishingly simple premise. No themes, no labyrinthine submissions policy, no waffly articles stuffed full of cod philosophy about why writing matters. Just a short editorial, a couple of reviews, a few notes at the back and...pages of poems, written by lots and lots of poets. Good poets, too.
With so many voices given a free reign, the result is a refreshing variety of work. It's like a big box of poetic Quality Street.
The standard is high... This collection - along with The Ugly Tree's continued success - shows that it is possible to have quantity, quality and variety," Michael Whalley, Pipeline

THE UGLY TREE POETRY 'ZINE, ISSUE 13
"A solid publication with a large selection of poetry that is for the most part witty and urbane...it’s worth pointing out the plethora of good humoured poems, not shy with their quipping and ribaldry. Very communal," Orbis

THE UGLY TREE POETRY 'ZINE, ISSUE 6
"What started out as a regional magazine has become a long running (over two years - practically elderly for a poetry mag) publication that incorporates works from the North West and around the world. But the focus is still on encouraging local talent and the 'zine retains its devotion to poetry, poetry and more poetry.
The opening poem from Irving...sees the poet watching a man choose between buying a sandwich and a porn mag, which certainly offers food for thought... [Carol Batton's] contributions are appealing, though in different ways: 'The Rain Makes a Mark' has rhythmic repetitions, creating an atmosphere you can feel but not quite grasp. More direct is 'Medical Help, Psychiatry'... Alan Keogh's short and simple poem 'Naked' is worth checking out, as is his paean to 'Old Hulme'... Humour comes from Dermot Glennon's 'We Don't Complain Enough in this Country'...and Mark Spiden makes a sad and vivid picture in 'Old Couples'...
All in all, The Ugly Tree is making good progress as it enters its third year. There are some beauties to be found within its pages, if you care to look," City Life

THE UGLY TREE POETRY 'ZINE, ISSUE 1
"Recently, the UK Government Office of statistics launched an investigation to identify the most unequal ratio that it is mathematically possible to apply to any group... One paticular ratio trounced all others. The ratio of people who think they're poets to people who actually are. Full marks to The Ugly Tree for going at least some way towards redressing the balance.
None of the poets featured here are bad enough to inspire crashing an open mic night with an Uzi. Some of them are actually (whisper it) pretty good.
It manages to hang together in a pleasingly ramshackle way. Standouts include Tim Smith's scattered images and heart-on-sleeve politics, Brink's hilarious '12 Unnatural Practices of Country Folk' (any poem with the phrase 'cup a squirrel's nads' in it has to be worth a mention), and the equally funny Arthur Chappell, whose 'Fetish' basically crossbreeds Pam Ayres and pornography. Roll on next issue..." City Life

EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW W/PAUL NEADS BY ANDREW ROBERTS FOR POSITIVE CREED, JUN 2004
What inspired you to create The Ugly Tree poetry 'zine?
...It was clear that the poetry seed was still sprouting [in Manchester], albeit with various mutant hybrids, but that nobody particularly cared any more (well, not like thay used too - too many people pretending to be happy nowadays I s'pose). A couple of reasonably good local magazines had just folded, leaving just the one to provide a voice...so I established TUT to fill a niche and really as an experiment to see what was out there. One of the major tenets was translating performance onto page, since Apples & Snakes was still really London-based at the time, and co-founding the performance night Per Verse also proved a useful source - again, Manchester seemed to be losing such nights at an alarming rate.
Are there any particular poets whom you admire and inspired you to write?
Being a mardy git, I always reckoned that if John Hegley could get away with it then so could I. Needless to say John Cooper Clarke holds sway... I did hear a fantastic rant by Vis the Spoon the other day, but haven't yet discovered if he's a poet or a band.
Do you think that poetry can be a serious vehicle for protest and inspire social change?
Philosophies are sadly ignored these days, it seems, and to be honest always have. Retrospect seems to be the way forward at times, if that's not too glib. I know several poets who vehemently believe that it's actually a dead art form nowadays and social comment is still regarded as a whinge and '80s throwback. Bollocks, I reckon, but I'm basing all this on what I see and hear out there, so I've come to the cynical conclusion that it can't. The only thing people notice is a punch in the face. Mind you, I'll probably change my mind next week.

"Don't forget to hail Paul Neads of The Ugly Tree," Ra Page, www.bbc.co.uk/manchester

BALLISTA MAGAZINE, ISSUE 2
“There are some stories in here that I am glad I read,” www.asif.dreambusters.com

CHLOE POEMS'S LI'L BOOK O' MANCHESTER by CHLOE POEMS
“Chloe Poems is an inspiration. Heroic, poetic and honest,” Mike Garry

"Ever wondered what a night around Manchester with Chloe Poems as a tour guide would be like? Well, here it is, improvised and filled with the crackling energy that comes from trusting those initial sparks of inspiration," conor a

“She is simply one of the greatest live poets you will find in this country,” Neil Bell

THE NOBLE SAVAGE by TONY CURRY
"Tony Curry’s poetry is a window into yesterday. A rhythmic world of skunk, Es and 501s, gorillas, queens and signing on. Historical and poetic. I love it," Mike Garry

WHEN I GROW UP by NEIL DEADMAN
"The handy Christmas stocking filler for someone you're not too bothered about shopping for," amazon.co.uk

MEATBALL PANDA THRILLS by ADAM IRVING
"Frank, harmonious, erudite & socially aposite, this collection of is more than its composite binding. Adam Irving has the bone-marrow knack of sourcing human id and transposing it into not only performance-absorbing open mic spots but into lobe-crunching print reflection. This collection of his observational & realisational poetry is a Must Have," Garry Sweeney

EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW W/PAUL NEADS BY SARAH IRVING FOR CAKE, JAN 2004 (ISSUE 2)
How would you rate the poetry scene in Manchester?
The scene itself remains constant - hidden away in little corners of bars, quarter inch columns of City Life, in shoe boxes under bed-sit beds and in your face glory when you least expect it. Accessibility and promotion have always been the key, with editorials often unwilling to devote even a line of info to events, which is incongruous with Manchester's poetic heritage and resurgence. City Life often seemed to be the only champion of poetic causes. At times, Manchester's poetry scene has had to evolve through the necessity of self-sustainment and whilst the quality of North West voices has not diminished it seems that this 'scene' is at least becoming more accessible.
What advice would you give to someone new in Manchester wanting to hear/read local poetry and get published or perform?
Certainly attend as many poetry nights & events as you can to get a feel for what's on. It's an incredible mix of wit & wisdom out there. City Life is ultimately the best source of info re events, since MEN tends to only mention poetry as a typo. Workshops are a great source of encouragement and information and will not fail to help develop any talent. If you feel a yen for seeing your work in print don't feel shy in submitting work to some of the magazines in the area - or re-submitting other pieces if rejected. Some may be willing to offer advice and explanations. Most libraries will have ads and info for nights and magazines. Get out & have a nosey.

KARMA VERANDA by ADAM IRVING & DERMOT GLENNON
"A shocking collection of humourous, sarcastic and observational poetry," scooptheloot.com

"The contents...make you want to punch the poets, eat the poets and shake hands with the poets. A review would be futile, buy the book," City Life

EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW W/PAUL NEADS BY TRACIE SHERIDAN (unpublished), JAN 2004
Would you say that money is a contributing factor when deciding which submissions are included / rejected?
If you mean are subscribers’ poems given priority over cold callings, then no. If you mean are ‘named’ poets’ works prioritised to add kudos to the ‘zine, then ‘no’ too. If I had it my way the ‘zine would be just full of pics of cats and the poets could sod off.
Do you believe that a poetry magazine editor should be a poet themselves?
It helps. As an editor it allows you to plagiarise so many other people. [In actuality] ...the eclectic esotericism denies the individual’s anal retentiveness.

COFFEE SHOP PHILOSOPHY by ADAM IRVING
"This collection shows someone with a lively mind who can be profound without pretension, witty without being groan-worthy, and above all, entertaining," City Life

EXCERPT FROM AN INTERVIEW W/PAUL NEADS BY ANDREW ROBERTS FOR FREE PAGAN PRESS, BELTANE 2003 (ISSUE 13)
What advice would you give to any budding artist or poet?
Go with your creative instinct... There will be many times when your confidence will dip and you’ll get frustrated, but a modicum of self-belief will see you through. That and a good friend or two. Never be afraid to experiment and sometimes wear a hat.

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