Cocoa and Nothing is a shiny new publication from SPAM Press. Written in collaboration between Colin Herd and Maria Sledmere, it's a golden slab of chocolate poetry (over 400 pages!!!!) that we're really excited to celebrate in decadence.
When and where: 7pm on 21st February at The Poetry Club, Glasgow
Free tickets: get 'em here 🍫🎟️
What's on the menu? Poetry readings by: Sara Mostafa
Leo Bussi Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir Colin Herd Maria Sledmere
PLUS +++++++ Chocolate Sprites Lost in Kaufland - original poets theatre written by Colin Herd & Maria Sledmere, performed by an all-star poetry cast.
Details Doors are at 7pm and event will kick off promptly at 7:30pm. There will be a mix of seating and standing space; please arrive early if you'd like a seat.
There will be a bar. There will be some special chocolate.
We are selling copies of Cocoa and Nothing on the night, along with other selected SPAM merch and publications. All Cocoa and Nothing books bought at this event will come with a limited edition bonus broadside insert.
Accessibility The Poetry Club is on the ground floor with an accessible toilet and bar located in the venue.
Key Distances: From AVP Parking in our yard to the Poetry Club front door – approx. 90metres on a flat tarmac surface. The Poetry Club does not have an accessible platform. We can arrange priority entry to this space, please email access@swg3.tv detailing your requirements and we will assist as best we can to ensure you have the best experience. More info here.
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About the book: 120mm x 120mm, 404pp. This is a big book. It’s inside and out. It’s peace. Were you ever encouraged by anyone, even your greatest love to go on and on about flavors, food personalities. I think this is that friendship, two poets joining at the mouth to free themselves in a kind of a blaze of total orality. I want to lie in it. I love it cause I’m with it by the way. — Eileen Myles
'This is instantly the most desirable poetry publication of 2023' — Ian Morrison
I know sex is good but have you ever tried combining poetry and chocolate? Even better, make it squared! Cocoa and Nothing is the culmination of a season of relay between what Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities called “the chocolate sprites”, inhabited here by Colin Herd and Maria Sledmere, fuelled by toothache, training and their favourite brand of iconic confectionary. Each poem is named after a variety of Ritter Sport and crystallises obsessively around the vibe affinity of each flavour. A poem can be a body image or a slice of portal. Documenting the nutty bits of daily existence — from academic burnout to boxing, trash, gossip and the family whatsapp — this is an ambitious assortment of lyrical gems, crispy confessions, devotion to grans and mischievous epistles. It’s both a love book and burn book of the general nourishment that is poetry itself — portable nutrition fit for all of life’s marathons.
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About the performers:
Sara Mostafa (she/her) is a rat poet & writer. She has been writing & performing poetry for a decade now. Currently, Sara is attempting new styles of writing in hopes of creating something raw & honest. Her favourite Ritter Sports is White Whole Hazelnuts.
Leo Bussi is a poet living in Glasgow. They've previously been published in Gutter, Des Pair Books, Tentacular and more. They also organise the reading series Waterwings.
Their favourite Ritter Sport is Cornflakes.
Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir is a poet, visual artist and musician based in Reykjavík. She is widely considered one of the country's most innovative poetry performers and has read her work worldwide. Her first full collection of poetry, Eilífðarnón (Forevernoon), was published in Iceland in 2019 and by Partus Press in the UK in 2022. Her first chapbook, Herra Hjúkket (Mr Phew) was published in 2012 and in 2017 she was the recipient of the prestigious annual Ljóðstafur Jóns úr Vör poetry prize for a single unpublished poem.
Maria Sledmere is the author of Visions & Feed (HVTN Press, 2022), Cherry Nightshade (slub press, 2022), Sans Soleil – with fred spoliar (Face Press, 2022), String Feeling (Erotoplasty Editions, 2022) and The Luna Erratum (Dostoyevsky Wannabe, 2021) among other publications. With Rhian Williams, she co-edited the weird folds: everyday poems from the anthropocene (Dostoyevsky Wannabe, 2020). Her work has been shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of the Year and highly commended in the Forward Prize. A collaborative exhibition with Jack O’Flynn, The Palace of Humming Trees, was curated by Katie O’Grady and shown at French Street Studios in 2021.
Her favourite Ritter Sports are Honey Salted Almonds, Praline and Butter Biscuit.
Colin Herd is the author of too ok (blazeVOX, 2011), Glovebox (Knives, Forks and Spoons, 2013), Oberwilding – with SJ Fowler, (ACF, 2015), Swamp Kiss (Red Ceilings Press, 2018), Click and Collect (Boiler House Press, 2017), and You Name It (Dostoevsky Wannabe, 2019). He has also collaborated on the artist books blots with Susan Wilson (2013) and Press Back Up Help (2013) with Cat Outram. His poem ‘rug design’ was highly commended in the Forward Prizes 2014.
His favourite Ritter Sports are Marzipan, Cashew and White Whole Hazelnuts.
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