BEPC - Frances Presley

The Sex of Art London: North and South, 1988
Hula Hoop London: Other Press, 1993
Porous, an art book by Irma Irsara, with words by FP. London: Irma Irsara, 1995
Linocut London: Oasis, 1997
Private writings Exeter: Maquette, 1998
Neither the one nor the other, a collaboration with the poet Elizabeth James. London: Form Books, 1999 (CD version also available)
Automatic cross stitch, a collaboration with the artist Irma Irsara. London: Other Press, 2000
Somerset letters London: Oasis, 2002
Paravane: new and selected poems 1996 – 2003 Cambridge: Salt, 2004 www.saltpublishing.com
Myne: new and selected poems and prose, 1976 - 2005 Exeter: Shearsman, 2006
www.shearsman.com

Affirming Flame, co-edited with Gabriel Chanan, Richard Mills & Pitika Ntuli, CPF, 1989
Prospect into Breath: interviews ed Peterjon Skelt, North and South, 1991
fragmente 5, 1993, & 7, 1997 ed Anthony Mellors & Andrew Lawson
Climbing through Fire editor, Other Press, 1993
The Smallest Poetry Festival in the World ed. Robert Sheppard, Ship of Fools, 1994
Feminist subjects, multi-media: new approaches to criticism and creativity ed. Penny Florence & Dee Reynolds, Manchester University Press, 1995
Odyssey 20, Spring 1996, guest ed. Elizabeth Bletsoe
Sub-Voicive Poetry 20, 1996; 24, 1997
PQR (poetry quarterly review), 13, Summer 1999, ed. Derrick Woolf & Tilla Brading
Angelaki, 5(1), April 2000, ed. Anthony Mellors & Robert Smith
Oasis, 100, June 2000, ed. Ian Robinson
How2, Fall 2001, ed. Anne Vickery
In the Company of Poets, ed. John Rety Hearing Eye, 2003
Wozu Vogel, Bucher, Jazz: Gedichte aus England, ed Hans Thill Heidelberg: Verlag
Das Wunderhorn, 2005

MA dissertation on `The convergence of art and poetry in the work of Guillaume Apollinaire and Ezra Pound’ (Univ Sussex, 1976)
MPhil thesis on contemporary French poet and art critic, Yves Bonnefoy (Univ East Anglia, 1986).
“Surrealism and Women, edited by Mary Ann Caws”, Word & Image, 9(1), 1993, pp. 90-92
“Cultural and poetic constructedness: review of Nicole Brossard”, PQR (Poetry Quarterly Review, 8, 1997, pp. 2-3
“The grace of being common: the search for the implicit subject in the work of Denise Riley”, Southfields 5(2), 1999, pp. 47-55. Also in How2, September 1999,
www.scc.rutgers.edu/however.
“Dream drover by Geraldine Monk: a review” in How2, February 2000, www.departments.bucknell.edu/stadler_center/how2.
“foil: defining poetry 1985-2000, edited by Nicholas Johnson: a review” in How2, March 2001, as above
“Collaboration: Neither the one nor the other by Elizabeth James and Frances Presley, with an introduction on working practice”, in How2, Fall 2001, as above
“Neither the one nor the other: aspects of performance within a feminist collaboration”, in Additional Apparitions (ed. David Kennedy & Keith Tuma, Cherry on the Top, 2002), pp 172-180.
“September 11: a view from London”, part of “Poetry post 9/11: witnessing dissent” in How2, Spring 2002, as above
“Nomadic: a folio for Fanny Howe”, PQR, 19, Spring 2002, pp. 19-20
“Sign language and babble: David Miller and Richard Price” Poetry London, 51 Summer 2005, pp. 45-47
‘Writing outdoors and outside: Harriet Tarlo and elizabeth james’ Poetry London, 52, Autumn 2005, pp. 33-36
“Common pink metaphor: from The Landscape Room to Somerset Letters”, forthcoming in Crowded Space: British perspectives on environmentalism, literature and culture, ed. R Kerridge and H Tarlo, Univ of Virginia
“Ring a-ring a-rosy: girls’ games in the poetry of Geraldine Monk”, forthcoming in Salt companion, ed Scott Thurston

Recent reviews & interviews

‘Love’s body’ by Graham Hartill Poetry Review 96(4), Winter 2006/7 pp 105-108
‘Leading off the path: a review of Frances Presley, Myne: new & selected poems and prose’ by Clive Bush Jacket, 31 October 2006: http://jacketmagazine.com
‘Interview with Frances Presley’ by Edmund Hardy Intercapillary Space, October 2006: www.intercapillaryspace.blogspot.com
’Paravane: new & selected poems’ by Tim Allen Terrible Work, April 2006 http://www.terriblework.co.uk
‘How were these poems moved together? Frances Presley Paravane: new and selected poems’ by Mary Michaels Salzburg Review 8 Autumn 2005 pp. 30-40
‘Minesweep: Paravane: new and selected poems’ by Meredith Quartermain Jacket 25, February 2004
‘Forms of enquiry’ by David Kennedy PN Review 163, May 2005 p. 91

biographical note

Born Chesterfield, Derbyshire 1952, of English and Dutch-Indonesian parents. My father’s family were miners and farmers in Derbyshire, although he became a teacher. My mother lived in the Dutch colony of Indonesia until the Second World War, and met my father after being liberated from a Japanese concentration camp. I have one brother. We lived first in Derbyshire, then Lincolnshire and finally moved to Somerset. I grew up in the country and had freedom to roam, although the agribusiness was already changing the landscape. I was educated at Grantham Girls’ Grammar School, where I rebelled against the rounded vowel, and at Minehead Upper School.

My defining moment in poetry came in 1969 when I first read Ezra Pound’s ‘Lustra’. My poetic and political interests developed as an undergraduate in the 70s at the University of East Anglia, studying American literature and history. I also spent a year in the United States at Franklin & Marshall College where I wrote about contemporary American poetry. However, in the States I realized that I was European and not just English, and decided to learn more about European poetry. My MA thesis at the University of Sussex compared Ezra Pound and Guillaume Apollinaire, and their response to the visual arts. It was followed by a year at the University of Neuchatel, and research in modern French poetry and surrealism. Returning to UEA, I completed an M Phil, which was a critique of the contemporary French poet Yves Bonnefoy, and of ‘logocentrism’ in French poetry.

In 1980 I moved to London to work as a librarian, and later specialized in research and information for community development. I now work part time for the national Poetry Library. I joined a housing co-operative in North London, which is where I still live. Although I had been writing throughout the 70s, and publishing in university arts magazines, my own writing and performance came into focus in the 80s. I was involved in the Sub Voicive readings in their various incarnations, and it was through these that I met my partner Gavin Selerie. I was a member and later co-ordinator of the Islington Poetry Workshop. I was also closely involved in the small press North and South, with Peterjon and Yasmin Skelt and David Annwn. North and South published my first collection of poems and prose: The Sex of Art.

In the early 90s I established my own small press, and published my second book Hula Hoop. Ian Robinson, of Oasis Books, published my third collection, Linocut in 1997. I embarked on a major collaboration and performance with the artist Irma Irsara, based around the fashion industry and women’s clothing, and part of this project is available in book form as Automatic cross stitch (Other Press, 2000). I have also collaborated on a simultaneous email text with the poet Elizabeth James – Neither the One nor the Other (Form Books 1999).
Somerset Letters (Oasis, 2002), which began as a collaboration with the poet Elaine Randell, experiments with prose, as well as exploring landscape and rural society. The sequence Paravane originated with discussions on the How2 editorial board post 9/11, but then focused on the IRA bombsites in London. It was published as part of New and selected poems, 1996-2003, from Salt. I am currently working on another Somerset sequence with the poet Tilla Brading, which approaches the Neolithic stone settings through visual experimentation and the writings of women archaeologists. Part of this sequence is published in my recent collection Myne: new and selected poems and prose 1976-2005, from Shearsman.

I have also written various reviews and essays, about my poetic practice and that of other poets, especially British women poets (see bibliography).

Frances Presley

texts

Statement of Poetics

recent publications

biographical note

contact

		texts Culbone underwriters Statement of Poetics Neither one nor the other - recording by John Whiting recent publications Poetry Publications Books: The Sex of Art London: North and South, 1988 Hula Hoop London: Other Press, 1993 Porous, an art book by Irma Irsara, with words by FP. London: Irma Irsara, 1995 Linocut London: Oasis, 1997 Private writings Exeter: Maquette, 1998 Neither the one nor the other, a collaboration with the poet Elizabeth James. London: Form Books, 1999 (CD version also available) Automatic cross stitch, a collaboration with the artist Irma Irsara. London: Other Press, 2000 Somerset letters London: Oasis, 2002 Paravane: new and selected poems 1996 – 2003 Cambridge: Salt, 2004 www.saltpublishing.com Myne: new and selected poems and prose, 1976 - 2005 Exeter: Shearsman, 2006 www.shearsman.com Selected Anthologies & Journals: Affirming Flame, co-edited with Gabriel Chanan, Richard Mills & Pitika Ntuli, CPF, 1989 Prospect into Breath: interviews ed Peterjon Skelt, North and South, 1991 fragmente 5, 1993, & 7, 1997 ed Anthony Mellors & Andrew Lawson Climbing through Fire editor, Other Press, 1993 The Smallest Poetry Festival in the World ed. Robert Sheppard, Ship of Fools, 1994 Feminist subjects, multi-media: new approaches to criticism and creativity ed. Penny Florence & Dee Reynolds, Manchester University Press, 1995 Odyssey 20, Spring 1996, guest ed. Elizabeth Bletsoe Sub-Voicive Poetry 20, 1996; 24, 1997 PQR (poetry quarterly review), 13, Summer 1999, ed. Derrick Woolf & Tilla Brading Angelaki, 5(1), April 2000, ed. Anthony Mellors & Robert Smith Oasis, 100, June 2000, ed. Ian Robinson How2, Fall 2001, ed. Anne Vickery In the Company of Poets, ed. John Rety Hearing Eye, 2003 Wozu Vogel, Bucher, Jazz: Gedichte aus England, ed Hans Thill Heidelberg: Verlag Das Wunderhorn, 2005 Critical writings MA dissertation on `The convergence of art and poetry in the work of Guillaume Apollinaire and Ezra Pound’ (Univ Sussex, 1976) MPhil thesis on contemporary French poet and art critic, Yves Bonnefoy (Univ East Anglia, 1986). “Surrealism and Women, edited by Mary Ann Caws”, Word & Image, 9(1), 1993, pp. 90-92 “Cultural and poetic constructedness: review of Nicole Brossard”, PQR (Poetry Quarterly Review, 8, 1997, pp. 2-3 “The grace of being common: the search for the implicit subject in the work of Denise Riley”, Southfields 5(2), 1999, pp. 47-55. Also in How2, September 1999, www.scc.rutgers.edu/however. “Dream drover by Geraldine Monk: a review” in How2, February 2000, www.departments.bucknell.edu/stadler_center/how2. “foil: defining poetry 1985-2000, edited by Nicholas Johnson: a review” in How2, March 2001, as above “Collaboration: Neither the one nor the other by Elizabeth James and Frances Presley, with an introduction on working practice”, in How2, Fall 2001, as above “Neither the one nor the other: aspects of performance within a feminist collaboration”, in Additional Apparitions (ed. David Kennedy & Keith Tuma, Cherry on the Top, 2002), pp 172-180. “September 11: a view from London”, part of “Poetry post 9/11: witnessing dissent” in How2, Spring 2002, as above “Nomadic: a folio for Fanny Howe”, PQR, 19, Spring 2002, pp. 19-20 “Sign language and babble: David Miller and Richard Price” Poetry London, 51 Summer 2005, pp. 45-47 ‘Writing outdoors and outside: Harriet Tarlo and elizabeth james’ Poetry London, 52, Autumn 2005, pp. 33-36 “Common pink metaphor: from The Landscape Room to Somerset Letters”, forthcoming in Crowded Space: British perspectives on environmentalism, literature and culture, ed. R Kerridge and H Tarlo, Univ of Virginia “Ring a-ring a-rosy: girls’ games in the poetry of Geraldine Monk”, forthcoming in Salt companion, ed Scott Thurston Recent reviews & interviews ‘Love’s body’ by Graham Hartill Poetry Review 96(4), Winter 2006/7 pp 105-108 ‘Leading off the path: a review of Frances Presley, Myne: new & selected poems and prose’ by Clive Bush Jacket, 31 October 2006: http://jacketmagazine.com ‘Interview with Frances Presley’ by Edmund Hardy Intercapillary Space, October 2006: www.intercapillaryspace.blogspot.com ’Paravane: new & selected poems’ by Tim Allen Terrible Work, April 2006 http://www.terriblework.co.uk ‘How were these poems moved together? Frances Presley Paravane: new and selected poems’ by Mary Michaels Salzburg Review 8 Autumn 2005 pp. 30-40 ‘Minesweep: Paravane: new and selected poems’ by Meredith Quartermain Jacket 25, February 2004 ‘Forms of enquiry’ by David Kennedy PN Review 163, May 2005 p. 91 biographical note Born Chesterfield, Derbyshire 1952, of English and Dutch-Indonesian parents. My father’s family were miners and farmers in Derbyshire, although he became a teacher. My mother lived in the Dutch colony of Indonesia until the Second World War, and met my father after being liberated from a Japanese concentration camp. I have one brother. We lived first in Derbyshire, then Lincolnshire and finally moved to Somerset. I grew up in the country and had freedom to roam, although the agribusiness was already changing the landscape. I was educated at Grantham Girls’ Grammar School, where I rebelled against the rounded vowel, and at Minehead Upper School. My defining moment in poetry came in 1969 when I first read Ezra Pound’s ‘Lustra’. My poetic and political interests developed as an undergraduate in the 70s at the University of East Anglia, studying American literature and history. I also spent a year in the United States at Franklin & Marshall College where I wrote about contemporary American poetry. However, in the States I realized that I was European and not just English, and decided to learn more about European poetry. My MA thesis at the University of Sussex compared Ezra Pound and Guillaume Apollinaire, and their response to the visual arts. It was followed by a year at the University of Neuchatel, and research in modern French poetry and surrealism. Returning to UEA, I completed an M Phil, which was a critique of the contemporary French poet Yves Bonnefoy, and of ‘logocentrism’ in French poetry. In 1980 I moved to London to work as a librarian, and later specialized in research and information for community development. I now work part time for the national Poetry Library. I joined a housing co-operative in North London, which is where I still live. Although I had been writing throughout the 70s, and publishing in university arts magazines, my own writing and performance came into focus in the 80s. I was involved in the Sub Voicive readings in their various incarnations, and it was through these that I met my partner Gavin Selerie. I was a member and later co-ordinator of the Islington Poetry Workshop. I was also closely involved in the small press North and South, with Peterjon and Yasmin Skelt and David Annwn. North and South published my first collection of poems and prose: The Sex of Art. In the early 90s I established my own small press, and published my second book Hula Hoop. Ian Robinson, of Oasis Books, published my third collection, Linocut in 1997. I embarked on a major collaboration and performance with the artist Irma Irsara, based around the fashion industry and women’s clothing, and part of this project is available in book form as Automatic cross stitch (Other Press, 2000). I have also collaborated on a simultaneous email text with the poet Elizabeth James – Neither the One nor the Other (Form Books 1999). Somerset Letters (Oasis, 2002), which began as a collaboration with the poet Elaine Randell, experiments with prose, as well as exploring landscape and rural society. The sequence Paravane originated with discussions on the How2 editorial board post 9/11, but then focused on the IRA bombsites in London. It was published as part of New and selected poems, 1996-2003, from Salt. I am currently working on another Somerset sequence with the poet Tilla Brading, which approaches the Neolithic stone settings through visual experimentation and the writings of women archaeologists. Part of this sequence is published in my recent collection Myne: new and selected poems and prose 1976-2005, from Shearsman. I have also written various reviews and essays, about my poetic practice and that of other poets, especially British women poets (see bibliography). contact 19, Marriott Road, London N4 3QN. 0207 272 9023. frances@presley.ndo.co.uk.

		last updated February 23, 2007
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