ISSUE 4 – THE BLACK (AND WHITE) ALBUM

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We are excited to announce the next issue of Soft Punk – Issue 04: The Black (and White) Album.

Featuring work from Apoorva Tadepalli, K-Ming Chang, Frances Waite, Lisette Poole and more, this issue examines relationships, both with the self and other, familial, platonic and romantic.

We have continued to pursue the most engaging and explorative writing and art from around the world, and we believe this issue is a testament to that mission.

Covers by Corbin Shaw, shot by Ollo Weguelin

Instagram Poetry for Every Day: The Inspiration, Hilarious, and Heart-breaking Work of Instagram Poets

The first anthology of Instagram poetry, Instagram Poetry for Every Day, collates over 100 poems by 50 of the top handles to follow in the exciting world of digital poetry.

A must-have for fans of Rupi Kaur, Atticus and R.H. Sin and the perfect introduction to the wide scope of Insta-poetry for newcomers to the genre.

The first of its kind, this anthology brings together over 120 poems by 50 of most popular names in Instapoetry as well as up-and-coming talent. Short, relatable and hard-hitting, the poems embrace contemporary themes of mental health, women's empowerment, racial prejudice, gender diversity and political turmoil, as well as the perennial poetic preoccupations of love, sex and loss. With a wide range of voices, themes and visual approaches, there is something here that will speak to all of us.

Instagram poetry has become a massive phenomenon in recent years and is credited with introducing and popularising verse with a new generation. Insta-poets are dominating not only the poetry charts, but the bestseller lists and bringing poetry books to prime front of shop display in bookshops. The accessibility and shareable nature of the Instagram poem has hit a nerve and offers an emotional release with the modern, online audiences.

Including works from Instagram sensations:

• Jo Flynn @Flynx
• Hannah Gordon @hmsgordon
• M.ivy @ivyatmidnight
• Jane Lees @janetlees2001

Instagram Poetry for Every Day is curated by editors Chris McCabe and Jessica Atkinson from the National Poetry Library. Founded in 1953 and opened by poets T.S. Eliot and Herbert Read, the National Poetry Library is home to the most comprehensive collection of poetry in the UK. In 2017, the National Poetry Library curated the world's first Instagram poetry exhibition.

Dears – Issue 2

DEARS- magazine for writing practices at the crossroads between poetry, art and experimental writing.

64 pages with texts by Ann Cotten, Barbara Sirieix, Delphine Chapuis Schmitz, Heather Phillipson, Ines Marita Schärer, Kayije Kagame, Legion Seven, Leila Peacock, Louise Guerra Archive, Tarek Lakhrissi, and an epigraph by Rebecca Solnit

The second issue of DEARS is full of stories, magical statements and personal incantations. It contains dreams, confessions, rituals and invocations. Nirvana and nirvana show up in different (con)texts, “muck” meets aliens, fantasy and visions... The texts seem to be linked by an unconscious, underground network of thoughts, ideas and feelings. When we first read them, there was an uncanny sense of overlaps and interweaving, and yet each voice feels uniquely loaded with a personal urgency. Their words dig into raw feelings and emotions, do not pretend nor hide limitations.

It’s hard to reflect on the past year without feeling like we’ve entered a fictional tale. And yet here we are: not only has COVID-19 taken root around the world, but wildfires have raged across the Arctic Circle, Brazil, Australia, and the western United States; people have risen up to stand against racial injustice, and it feels as though we're witnessing only the beginning of a deep fracturing of this civilization. We do not yet know the changes that will come to light locally and globally.

Volume II of our print edition speaks to the multiple crises and opportunities unfolding around us: plague, extinctions, and loneliness grip us ever tighter even as they affirm our connection with the living world. Across 400 pages—and through essays, photography, adapted multimedia, poems, and original artwork—this collection considers the stories that we want to seed in these mythological times. Contributors include Pulitzer prize winners and finalists Forrest Gander, Richard Powers, Elizabeth Rush, David Haskell, and Linda Hogan; acclaimed writers, poets, and artists Robert Macfarlane, Camille T. Dungy, Jake Skeets, Brenda Hillman, Katie Holten, Sheila Pree Bright, Paul Kingsnorth, and many others.

32 p, ills b&w, 11 x 27 cm, pb, English

Dears – Issue 1

DEARS- magazine for writing practices at the crossroads between poetry, art and experimental writing. First issue with texts by Nicole Bachmann, Season Butler, Crystal Z Campbell, Alessandro de Francesco, Benjamin Egger, Gilles Furtwängler, Florinda Fusco, Donna J. Haraway, Serafina Ndlovu, Rose Rand, Rikka Tauriainen.

Mal Nº 5: Sex Negative

On anti-erotics and sexual pessimism in four essays, two stories and thirteen poems. Featuring illustrations by John Slade.

First published: August 2020

This issue of Mal Journal considers a range of ideas, from heterofatalism and the incel phenomenon to ongoing intersections between sex, violence and objectification. It features essays by Stoya, Philip Maughan, Sophie Lewis and Sasha Bonét, new fiction by Diane Williams and Kathryn Scanlan, and poetry by Wayne Koestenbaum, Kim Moore, Lara Mimosa Montes and Sam Riviere. 

Mal Nº 4: Real Girls

On projection in three stories, four poems and a sequence of poems. Featuring illustrations by Birdie Hall.

First published: October 2019

This issue of Mal Journal considers projection, transgression and adolescence, bringing together texts that challenge received notions of innocence and moral reasoning. It features new fiction by Chris Kraus, Luke Brown and Natasha Stagg, poetry by Rachel Long and a sequence of poems by Sasha Dugdale.

Mal Nº 2: Made in Heaven

On transcendence in two essays, a short story and four poems. Featuring illustrations by Franz Lang.

First published: January 2019

This issue of Mal features Fiona Alison Duncan on a legal case interrogating the blurred lines between sex work and spiritual practice, a personal essay on trans pleasure by Gabrielle Bellot, a short story on the volatility of mortal love by Sheila Heti and a series of poems by Mary Ruefle.

Mal Nº 1: That Obscure Object

On desire and its objects in two essays, a short story and three poems. Featuring illustrations by Ana Kirova.

First published: November 2018

The inaugural of Mal Journal features an essay by Anne Boyeron infatuation and literary creativity (from Dante's obsession with Beatrice to Chris Kraus's with Dick); an essay by Juliet Jacques on écriture trans-féminine (trans writing as genre); a short story by Saskia Vogel; and poetry by Eileen Myles. 

Stranger Than Kindness

NICK CAVE

A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Stranger Than Kindness is a journey in images and words into the creative world of musician, storyteller and cultural icon Nick Cave.

This highly collectable book invites the reader into the innermost core of the creative process and paves the way for an entirely new and intimate meeting with the artist, presenting Cave’s life, work and inspiration and exploring his many real and imagined universes. It features full colour reproductions of original artwork, handwritten lyrics, photographs and collected personal artefacts along with commentary and meditations from Nick Cave, Janine Barrand and Darcey Steinke.

Stranger Than Kindness asks what shapes our lives and makes us who we are, and celebrates the curiosity and power of the creative spirit.

The book has been developed and curated by Nick Cave in collaboration with Christina Back. The images were selected from ‘Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition’, opening at the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen in March 2020.