“I think the main thing for me is if you’re going to write about violence, do it well. Let us smell it, taste it.”
Read Katrina Naomi’s interview with Ali Lewis of The Poetry School, where she discusses violence, ‘the gentility bind’ and her new poetry collection, The Way the Crocodile Taught Me.
Katrina also talks about her upcoming one-day workshop with The Poetry School, “The Bloodjet: Violence in Poetry”, in which she will teach how to harness violence in your writing.
The Way the Crocodile Taught Me is a collection richly bound up with violence, as Katrina explains:“The collection has two main concerns regarding violence – violence in the family (specifically from my step-father) and violence on the street (specifically sexual violence). People seem to have picked up on the ‘Willpower’ poem, I’m glad about that, it was quite a tough one to write and also I’ve had a lot of positive feedback on the title poem, which responds to being playful about sex and relationships after an attempted rape.  It’s probably my most personal set of poems to date. It’s interesting, other people have picked up on the humour in the book. While I knew the collection would have an undertow of violence, it has a lighter side too.”
Read the interview, and buy the book.

Happy International Dylan Thomas Day! This year is the second annual celebration of Dylan Thomas, held on 14th May to mark the date Under Milk Wood was first read on stage at 92Y The Poetry Center, New York in 1953.
We have a number of Dylan Thomas related books in our store, and for today only, these titles are 50% off:
Dylan Remembered: Volume One: 1914-1934, ed. David N. ThomasPaperbackWas: £12.95Now: £6.47HardbackWas: £25.00Now: £12.50This is the first of two volumes of transcribed interviews about the poet Dylan Thomas. Journalist, broadcaster, and author Colin Edwards interviewed numerous sources close to Thomas for a planned biography of the poet, but he was unable to begin work before his early death. The transcribed tapes have been edited into two collections, with the second due in 2004. Startling new information about Thomas’s life and writing is disclosed, including influences on his writing and the sources from which he drew inspiration and storylines.
Dylan Remembered: Volume Two: 1935-1953, ed. David N. ThomasPaperbackWas: £12.95Now: £6.47HardbackWas: £25.00Now: £12.50This second volume culled from the Colin Edwards Archive of interviews with Dylan Thomas’ family, friends and colleagues made during the 1960s covers Thomas’ ‘adult’ life from his move, aged 20, to London to become a professional writer to his death in New York 51 years ago. It is a story which we think we know, but the archive sheds new – often contradictory – light on a life which has been much mythologised.
Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas, David N. ThomasWas: £9.99Now: £4.99Who and what killed Dylan Thomas? The death of this iconic writer, in New York in November 1953, remains shrouded in mystery fifty-five years later. What might have been a triumphant new departure in his career and life with the first production of Under Milk Wood, and plans to work on operas with Igor Stravinsky and Samuel Barber turned instead into a requiem for man whose life spiralled out of control.Leading Dylan Thomas authority David N. Thomas draws on his extensive research, and uncovers startling new evidence, to produce the definitive answers in a superbly written account which balances historical context with forensic detail, Thomas’ character with the demands made upon him by friends, lovers and his reading public.. His verdict is a chilling study of a poet, a place and a death.
Advantages of the Older Man, Gwyneth LewisWas: £7.99Now: £3.99A light-hearted novella exploring the strange case of a Swansea woman who is apparently possessed by the spirit of Dylan Thomas. Naturally all is not as it seems. The woman, who works in the Dylan Thomas Centre, meets a rather different Dylan from the one she knows by repute, one who doesn’t really fit in with the ghosts of other poets in heaven and is desperate to train himself to join the fitter shades of the long distance runners instead. Her own life, which has been lonely and sad, is completely transformed by the encounter.Fluent and entertaining, the story is written with all the confidence and panache you would expect from the former national poet, also a playwright and award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction. Alongside the humour there is a warmth and pathos, and some pithy observations on poets and poetry and the nature of fame.
The 50% discount ends midnight tonight, 14th May, so take advantage before the time runs out!
And as always, there are events running all across the UK in celebration of Dylan Day, so when you’re finished browsing our website take a look on the Literature Wales website to find a Dylan Day event near you.

Kim Moore’s Sunday Poem is taken from Ilse Pedler’s Mslexia Poetry Competition-winning new pamphlet, The Dogs that Chase Bicycle Wheels…