The Month of the Asparagus by Keith Armstrong £8.99 UK pp (£9.99 elsewhere)

Release date: July 2011

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Keith Armstrong The Month of the Asparagus: Selected Poems

Hear audio samples of Keith's poetry

The Month of the Asparagus spans some thirty years of writing and heartfelt commitment to the craft of poetry. It is a colourful journey from Armstrong's roots to the far corners of the world. He has a strong feeling for ordinary folk in all their complexity and demonstrates this in his lyrical grasp and desire to sing wherever he may be in his incessant poetic touring. This is the work of a rampant internationalist who never loses that local touch, combined with a sensual flair.

Comments

'Well Keith your beautiful poetry melts my heart, you know that don't you?

Good to see you writing about current politics, don't stop, our country may be depressing politically but the things that are happening are still brimming with meaning and young people today especially need to believe that poetry can be powerful.'

Jen Overett

'In another part of the field, another field, let's face it, sits Keith Armstrong's rakish gaff. His poems are rooted in the Tyneside music hall tradition, closely behind which is the august balladry of the Borders. His is an unashamed bardic stance, actor rather than commentator. Throughout the collection, the authentic lyrical note of this northern poet is struck.'

Michael Standen

‘A traveller with an open mind and without any fear of contact; strange lives, countries and people succumb to his poetic and real incorporation. 

Keith Armstrong is a bard, too, who has the knack of writing real songs: this poet is someone who in his biography and work inseparably unites wit and long gained knowledge, enthusiasm and great talent, pluck and social commitment...

This is a man who conquers, with his poems and charms, pubs as well as universities. He has always been an instigator and an actor in social and literary projects, an activist without whom the exchanges between the twin towns of Durham and Tübingen would be a much quieter affair. That he is a friend of many friends, able to open the most amazing doors for his guests, can be taken as read. Keith Armstrong’s songs are capable of opening the hearts of listeners and readers.'

Uwe Kolbe, Berlin

'Keith Armstrong is one of the north's longstanding finest poets.'

Liz Forster,  North East History

‘There are those who tell  the terrible truth in all its loveliness. Keith Armstrong is one of them, a fine poet who refuses to turn his back on the wretched of the Earth. He is one of the best and I hope his voice will be heard more and more widely.’ 

Adrian Mitchell

About the Author

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he has worked as a community development worker, poet, librarian and publisher, Keith Armstrong now resides in the seaside town of Whitley Bay. He is coordinator of the Northern Voices creative writing and community publishing project and has organised several community arts festivals in the region and many literary events. He was also founder of Ostrich poetry magazine, Poetry North East, Tyneside Poets and the Strong Words and Durham Voices community publishing series. 

He recently compiled and edited books on the Durham Miners’ Gala and on the former mining communities of County Durham, the market town of Hexham and the heritage of North Tyneside. He has been a self-employed writer since 1986 and he was awarded a doctorate in 2007 for his work on Newcastle writer Jack Common at the University of Durham where he received a BA Honours Degree in Sociology in 1995 and Masters Degree in 1998 for his studies on regional culture in the North East of England. His academic study of Jack Common was published by the University of Sunderland Press in 2009.

His poetry has been extensively published in magazines such as New Statesman, Poetry Review, Dream Catcher, and Other Poetry,  as well as in the collections The Jingling Geordie, Dreaming North, Pains of Class and  Imagined Corners, on cassette, LP & CD, and on radio & TV.  He has performed his poetry on several occasions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at Festivals in Aberdeen, Bradford, Cardiff, Cheltenham (twice at the Festival of Literature - with Liz Lochhead and with 'Sounds North'), Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Greenwich, Lancaster, and throughout the land. 

In his youth, he travelled to Paris to seek out the grave of poet Charles Baudelaire and he has been making cultural pilgrimages abroad ever since. He has toured to Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Poland, Iceland (including readings during the Cod War), Denmark, France, Germany (including readings at the Universities of Hamburg, Kiel, Oldenburg, Trier and Tuebingen), Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Cuba, Jamaica and Kenya.

Keith's Publications:

Books

Shakespeare and Company. Erdesdun Publications, Whitley Bay 1975.

Giving Blood. People's Publications, Newcastle 1977.

Pains of Class. Artery Publications, London 1982.

Love Poems. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 1984.

Dreaming North (book & LP). With Graeme Rigby. Portcullis Press, Gateshead Libraries 1986.

The Jingling Geordie: Selected Poems 1970-1990.

The Common Trust & Rookbook Publications, Edinburgh 1990.

Poets' Voices. With Cynthia Fuller, Michael Standen & others. Durham County Council & Tuebingen Cultural Office, Tuebingen 1991.

The Big Meeting: A People's View of the Durham Miners' Gala. TUPS, Newcastle 1994.

The Darkness Seeping: Northern Voices & Crowquill Press, Belfast 1997.

The Hexham Riot. With historian Tom Corfe. Northern Voices & Crowquill Press, Belfast 1997.

Old Dog on the Isle of Woman. Cold Maverick Press Legend Series Number 1, Sunderland 1999.

Our Village. Memories of the Durham Mining Communities.The People's History, Durham 2000.

Bless'd Millennium: The Life & Work of Thomas Spence. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2000.

The Town of Old Hexham. The People's History, Durham 2002.

Imagined Corners. Smokestack Books, Middlesbrough 2004.

Out to Sea. With artist Rolf Wojciechowski. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2004.

Sweet Heart: Erotic Verse. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2006

Angels Playing Football: Newcastle Poems. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2006.

The Hive of Liberty:The Life & Work of Thomas Spence. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2007.

Hermann Hesse in the Gutter: Poems on Tuebingen. With translations by Carolyn Murphey Melchers. Northern Voices,  Whitley Bay 2007.

A Blush in Staindrop Church. Christopher Smart (1722-1771). Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2008.

Common Words & the Wandering Star: Jack Common (1903-1968). University of Sunderland Press 2009.

From Segedunum to the Spanish City. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2010.

Grand Times. The story of the Grand Hotel, Tynemouth. Grand Hotel, Tynemouth 2010.

The Spanish City. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2010.

Magazines

Revival, True Faith, Red Pepper, Poetry Review, Iron, Aesthetica, The Poetry Business, The Ranfurly Review, The Penniless Press, Citizen 32, Morning Star, The Recusant, Kenaz, The New Statesman, Other Poetry, Poetry Scotland, True Faith, Dream Catcher, Episteme, Northern Echo, Newcastle Evening Chronicle, Sand, North East History, Northern Review, X magazine, Poetry Salzburg Review, Ash (Oxford University Poetry Society).

Recent anthologies

Golden Girl. Credo, Newcastle 2001.

The Seven Deadly Sins. University of Groningen 2002.

Mein Heimliches Auge Erotic Yearbook. Konkursbuch, Tuebingen 2002.

Red Sky At Night: Socialist Poetry. Five Leaves Publications, Nottingham 2003.

War On War. Sub, Breda, 2003.

Paging Doctor Jazz. Shoestring Press, Nottingham 2004.

Microphone On. Poetry from the White House Pub. White House Press, Limerick 2005.

Paint the Sky with Stars. Re-Invention UK, Rayne 2005.

Miracle and Clockwork. Other Poetry, Durham 2005.

North by North East. Iron Press, Cullercoats 2006.

Revival. White House Poetry, Limerick 2006, 2007 & 2009.

Both Sides of Hadrian’s Wall. Selkirk Lapwing Press, Selkirk 2006.

The Wilds. Ek Zuban, Middlesbrough 2007.

Two Rivers Meet. Poetry from the Shannon and the Tyne. Revival Press, Limerick 2008.

Fishing and Folk. Northumbria University Press, Newcastle upon Tyne 2008.

CDs

Bleeding Sketches. With The Whisky Priests. Whippet Records, Durham 1995.

Out to Sea. With The Ancient Mariners, Jim Mageean, Ann Sessoms. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2007.

Sound City. With Rick Taylor, Bruce Arthur, Pete Challoner, Ian Carr & Bob Fox. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2007.

The Elvis Diaries. With Jim Nunn. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2007.

The Poetry of Percussion. With Bruce Arthur. Northern Voices, Whitley Bay 2008.

Cassette

The Pitman Poet of Percy Main:The Life & Times of Joseph Skipsey (1832-1903). North Tyneside People’s Centres 1991.