I’ve had my share of boom and bust,
and now the times have bottomed out
I’m the Cazique of Mexborough –
mucky St Helena of my mind.
I have a plan and all I need
is half of everything you own.

Longbarrow Press is proud to announce the publication of Cazique, Matthew Clegg‘s third full-length collection.

Cazique is a book in three movements. ‘Officer’ / ‘Zipped File’ details the breakdown in communication between employee and employer. ‘Holodets’ tackles what is lost in translation during a love affair between an English poet and a Russian immigrant. The title sequence offers the last confessions of a washed-up confidence trickster: a man inspired by the 19th century swindler Gregor MacGregor – the self-titled Cazique of Poyais. The poems of Cazique continue the author’s engagement with personae and place – and the ever-unstable relationship between the two.

A beautifully produced 96-page hardback, Cazique is available now from Longbarrow Press. You can read a poem from the book here; visit the Cazique microsite here; and order it by clicking on the relevant PayPal link below (major debit cards accepted – no PayPal account required):

Cazique
£12.99 (hardback)

UK orders (+ £1.70 postage)

Europe orders (+ £5 postage)

Rest of World orders (+ £7 postage)

All orders are carefully parcelled in robust packaging and will be despatched within 24 hours.

‘Find out what someone wants to believe. Find out how they are inclined to deceive themselves, and that’s where you will have leverage. It’s a simple and powerful principle. Even intelligent people can deceive themselves. Coleridge said: ‘men’s intellectual errors consist chiefly in denying.’ He knew.’  In a new post for the Longbarrow Blog, Matthew Clegg discusses the role of the ‘conman’ – historical, contemporary, imaginary – in shaping the title sequence of Cazique. Click here to read ‘The Outside Inside: Some Notes on Creative Practice’.

On Sunday 11 November, Rob Hindle‘s new collection The Grail Roads is launched in Sheffield. On the centenary of the Armistice that ended the First World War, Rob will read with Matthew Clegg and Ray Hearne in what promises to be a memorable event in DINA’s beautiful Jara Room. As capacity for this performance is limited, advance booking is  essential. To reserve a place, please email longbarrowpress@gmail.com (confirming your name and the number of places you wish to book). Payment will be taken on the door (cash only). Click here for further details of the launch event.
This is a book that I can’t recommend highly enough… ‘The Grail Roads’ is a beautiful piece of work, a masterpiece. Charlie Connelly on The Grail Roads for The New European, October 2018.

Longbarrow poets Angelina D’Roza, Chris Jones and Fay Musselwhite read poems on the theme of Sheffield and the North (with Karl Riordan and Stephen Sawyer) at the Central Library, Sheffield (Saturday 27 October, 1pm – 3pm). Admission free (click here to book). On Friday 9 and Saturday 1o November, the Small Publishers Fair returns to the Conway Hall, London, showcasing the work of over 60 publishers from across the UK and around the world, with an exhibition and a varied programme of readings and talks. Longbarrow Press will be sharing a stall with Gordian Projects over the two days of the fair; we’ll have a full range of titles and a number of special offers. Join us for the
Gordian Projects showcase and a reading by Brian Lewis of Longbarrow Press in the Brockway Room on Saturday afternoon (full programme details will appear here in the near future).