Entering into the season of Beltaine, the earth is becoming visibly more abundant ~ flowers bloom, trees take on their richest deepest green leaves, new life is born in the animal and bird worlds… And May is going to be a particularly abundant month for my writing, poetry and performance too! So I’m making a timeline here, which will be updated with relevant links as soon as each becomes available.

Wednesday 1 May:

• Utopian Acts Special Issue of Studies in Arts and Humanities Journal – this is the first academic publication of my creative-critical research into Utopian Poetics, a manifesto for the act of WRITING UTOPIA NOW. Click here to read the abstract online, then download the full PDF!
• Original Plus Dub – “beautifully rhythmic poetry, remixed and collaboratively dubbed” – this anthology features two of my poems in a four-poem collaborative sequence with Dolly Turing. Get the book here! And read more about our process here.
• Month-long poetry book feature on local indie publishing website Red Cape Publishing. Alongside a wide range of poetry from other local poets, my poetry is featured here!

Friday 3 to Sunday 5 May:

• I’ll be at Into the Wild Beltane – my first ever festival gig as a practising poet! – reading my poetry and sharing what I do throughout the weekend. I’ll be reading at the Foxes’ Den Spoken Word Yurt on Friday night and Sunday night; and performing at the Into the Wild Cafe on Saturday night.
• I’ll also have a brand new handful of my new book Atha with me, because:

Monday 6th May:

• Atha book launch! Yes! Atha will be published by Knives Forks & Spoons Press on Monday 6th May, and I’ll be launching it at Into the Wild with pre-launch copies available!

Saturday 25 May:

• Rise Up & Repeal – an anthology of poetry to mark the one year anniversary of the Repeal the 8th Referendum in Ireland, including my poem ‘radical doula’ (which I’ll be posting about this month) is published by Sad Press. You can pre-order your copy here!

Looking further ahead…

Saturday 1 June:

• I’ll be at the Magical Women conference in London, where my poems will be published in the conference programme!

Thursday 11 July:

• I’ll be presenting at the Extraordinary & Everyday Utopias conference hosted by the University of Brighton!

I’ll add more details whenever there’s more to add!

So much gratitude for this magical abundance in my life.

Sally-Shakti