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This is Mark's blog.

Mark Pirie edits Basim Furat's Visions New Arabic poems in translation

In July 2021, I edited a new collection of translations from the Arabic by Iraqi poet/travel writer Basim Furat, Visions.

The book contains new poems written on Furat's travels in Japan, South America and the Sudan.

The title is included in the ESAW Mini Series (being No. 43). Furat was also the first title in the ESAW Mini Series back in 2005.

It is an honour to be able to collect more of Furat's poetry in translation for readers in English. Furat is a highly regarded and award winning writer in the modern Arab world of travel writing and literature.

ESAW publishes Mark Pirie’s Bono Mato Poeia rock poems and drawings

In July 2021, my new collection of rock and roll poems and drawings, Bono Mato Poeia, was published by Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop.

It presents new poems on rock written since my previous music collection Electrimotive in 2018.

Artists included: Lauryn Hill, Leonard Cohen, Ryan Adams, songwriter Jimmy Webb, Van Halen, Jim Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, Ronnie Van Zant, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, David Bowie and more.

It also includes some B&W line drawings of Sammy Hagar, Leonard Cohen, Bono (cover), Bob Dylan, and Anthony Kiedis previously featured in my artbook Folk Punk.

This will be my final mini book in the ESAW Mini Series (being No. 42) which ESAW publisher Michael O'Leary intends to end at No. 50.

Mark Pirie co-authors an anthology of lockdown poetry

June 2020 saw the release of an anthology of national lockdown poems by myself, Alex Jeune and Margaret Jeune. 

I put together the sequence from our poems written during the COVID-19 national lockdown period, March to May 2020, in New Zealand.

The book gives three differing perspectives by New Zealand poets on the global crisis and is our personal responses to it. Our book is not meant to speak for everyone’s thoughts and feeling during the lockdown period in New Zealand. We hope it gives an affirming sense to readers of what we have all been through and endured during the lockdown in New Zealand.

It is published in the relaunched ESAW Mini Series (No. 39).

Here's the link to the publisher's blog:

https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/2020/07/16/esaw-publishes-lockdown-mini-book/

Mark Pirie compiles an anthology of the ESAW Poetry Prize winners

February 2020 sees the release of an anthology I compiled of the winners of the ESAW Poetry Prize, 2007-2019.

It is published in the relaunched ESAW Mini Series (No. 36).

The winners are: Evelyn Conlon 2007, Will Leadbeater 2008, Jill Chan 2009, Robin Fry 2010, Barry Southam 2011, Jeanne Bernhardt 2016, Mary Maringikura Campbell 2017, Bill Dacker 2018 and Jeremy Roberts 2019.

Here is the link to the publisher's blog:
https://michaeloleary.wordpress.com/2020/02/06/esaw-publishes-the-esaw-poetry-prize-anthology/