St Helens writer forms part of new worldwide poetry series

A Merseyside writer, single mum and home educator has penned the third book in a new worldwide series of affordable cutting-edge poetry books.

Cassie Fielding (40) from St Helens, said she was ecstatic that her book The Arbitrary Fractals of and Oracle was chosen to help kick start the international series.

“It’s the thrill of a lifetime to have my own book of surrealistic poetry published alongside so many highly regarded international poets,” she added.

Wolverhampton based publisher Nic Outterside’s Cast Iron Poetry series aims to recreate the world-famous City Lights publications of the 1950s and 60s; in an effort to make printed poetry affordable for everyone.

The new series of books, which retail at just £3.50 each, include the work of contributors from places as diverse as New York, Utah, Oklahoma, Austria, Paris, India, Miami, London and California.

The books will be published world-wide at regular five-week intervals throughout the year, in a not-for-profit venture.

More than 60 years ago, set against a post-war US government, the City Lights Pocket Poets books shared the counter-culture thoughts of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and others to millions of people who believed their own voices were unheard by the mainstream politics of the time.

Apart from Ginsberg’s seven collections, many of the early Pocket Poets volumes have attained the status of classics. These include: True Minds by Marie Ponsot (1957), Golden Sardine by Bob Kaufman (1969) and Revolutionary Letters by Diane di Prima (1971)

Now Cast Iron Poetry hopes to do the same for writers in this third decade of the 21^st century.

Even the simple monochrome design of the book jackets mirror the early City Lights publications.

The first book in the series – published in November 2020 – was penned by Nic himself and titled Reality Cornflakes in a deliberate homage to Ginsberg’s 1963 pocketbook Reality Sandwiches.

The second book A Moon Magnetized This Screeching Bird by revered New York poet A.i. Firefly ensured that the Cast Iron Poetry series had an early global feel.

After 28 years in UK newspaper and magazine journalism award winning editor Nic took early retirement in 2013.

In 2015, he set up his own publishing house – Time is an Ocean – and the Cast Iron Poetry.

The Arbitrary Fractals of and Oracle is his 18^th published book.

Nic said: “The idea for these books came after random discussions with some of the poets who took part in my earlier anthologies. “They in turn introduced me to others and suddenly we had a global team of like-minded cutting-edge writers.

“Then to get the brilliant Cassie Fielding to pen the third book was a fantastic bonus.

“None of us will make any money from this venture. The £3.50 price point just about covers printing and publishing costs. Cast Iron Poetry is a true labour of love to make modern printed poetry affordable to all.”

Reality Cornflakes, A Moon Magnetized this Screeching Bird and The Arbitrary Fractals of an Oracle are all available as (5”x8”) pocket paperbacks.

Priced at £3.50 from Amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk/Reality-Cornflakes-Cast-Iron-Poetry/dp/B08NM4XTGQ/

www.amazon.co.uk/Moon-Magnetized-This-Screeching-Bird/dp/B08RH4521J/

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VYFJS39/

Bereaved daughter releases stunning book of poetry and photos in tribute to her father

A bereaved young woman has published a unique book of poetry and photographs as part of her eight-year long process of understanding the loss of her dad.

The book Dissect my Fragile Brain by Londoner Kim Yudelowitz, 24, explores human grief in three stages: Loss, Love and Life.

Kim was just 16 when her beloved father and well-known dentist Leor, 57, died from cancer in 2013.

His death hit the whole family hard and after seeking help and support from grief counsellors, Kim began her own homage to her father which involved exhibitions of photographic art-work, public speaking and writing reams of intense personal poetry.

She did most of this while completing her A’Levels at JFS and studying for an honours degree in Comparative Literature at Queen Mary University Of London.

“Poetry has been my way of channelling my emotions and dealing with the significant loss of my dad. Writing is therapeutic for me and allows me to visualise my emotions by writing them down and having them eternally in writing for everyone to read and know how much I love my dad,” says Kim of Mill Hill in North West London.

Now she has compiled a heart-rending book as a culmination of her homage.

The book has been edited and published by Wolverhampton based editor Nic Outterside

After 28 years in newspaper and magazine journalism Nic took early retirement in 2013. During those years he scooped more than a dozen major press awards and in 2016 was awarded an honorary doctorate for his services to written journalism.

Following retirement Nic set up his own publishing house – Time is an Ocean – and Dissect my Fragile Brain is his seventeenth paperback publication.

Two earlier books – Death in Grimsby and Bones both became Amazon best-sellers.

Nic said: “It has been one of the joys of my editing life to work together with Kim on this project.

“Everyone experiences loss and grief at some point in their lives. But to have that happen while still a young teenager is particularly hard.

“But for Kim to turn that loss to something so positive is remarkable. Her book is truly a thing of beauty.”

Kim added: “Working with Nic has been a wonderful experience. As someone who hopes to pursue a career in book publishing it has been amazing to be so present in the putting together of my book. I just hope people read my words and gain more clarity on the concept of grief and start conversing more about losing loved ones and ending the taboo around speaking about death.”

Dissect my Fragile Brain isavailable as a paperback book priced at £7.99 from Amazon portals worldwide.

A formal launch of the book will take place on 12^th March – the anniversary of Leor’s death.

www.amazon.co.uk/Dissect-My-Fragile-Brain-Poems/dp/B08SGWD3Q5/