adambeyoncelowe

[adambeyoncelowe]

Today I learned that my debut full-length collection, Patterflash, has been longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2024!

I have only just returned from an absolutely gorgeous time in Armagh, for the John Hewitt Summer School, and opened my emails late this morning to find out the good news.

I am honoured to be in the company of such stellar writers! This is an extremely competitive longlist, so to even place is fantastic news.

The full longlist for the First Book Prize category is:

Neon Roses by Rachel Dawson (John Murray) Local Fires by Joshua Jones (Parthian Books) Sunburn by Chloe Michelle (Verve Books) A Trans Man Walks into a Gay Bar by Harry Nicholas (JKP) Patterflash by Adam Lowe (Peepal Tree Press) Bellies by Nicola Dinan (Penguin) Greekling by Kostya Tsolakis (Nine Arches Press) Transitional: In One Way or Another, We All Transition by Munroe Bergdorf (Bloomsbury)  Last Dance at the Discotheque for Deviants by Paul David Gould (Unbound) Rosewater by Liv Little (Dialogue)

The judges are author Rachel Holmes, author and writing coach Karen McLeod, author Jon Ransom (Polari Prize winner 2023), Co-chair of Spread The Word Simon Richardson and author Paul Burston (chair).

Judge Jon Ransom said, “This is an exciting and diverse longlist, representing the very best of LGBTQ+ writing today.” 

The Polari Prize is the UK and Ireland’s only dedicated LGBTQ+ book prize, founded by author and activist Paul Burston. The Polari First Book Prize was launched to celebrate debut writers in 2011. The Polari Prize was launched in 2019 to celebrate writers at any stage of their career. Previous winners include Fiona Mozley, Saleem Haddad, Paul McVeigh, Kirsty Logan, Diriye Osman, John McCullough, Mari Hannah, James Maker, Angela Chadwick, Amrou Al-Kadhi, Mohsin Zaidi, Adam Zmith and Jon Ransom.

[adambeyoncelowe]

Gorgeous review from the wonderful Cheddar Gorgeous.

"Lowe leads us eloquently through back alleys, back rooms and beyond in this poetic proving of gossip's potential to convey the complexities of human experience. Unabashed and liberated of shame, they bare their joy, pain and desire in all its commingled glory. Playful, powerful, and always honest. A necessary voice that can’t help but be heard in its reading!" Cheddar Gorgeous

[adambeyoncelowe]

A wonderful review of Patterflash in The Big Issue! This is in tomorrow's print edition.

If you haven't got your copy of the book yet and you'd rather support a charity than a megacorp, consider buying from The Big Issue's bookshop.

Review title: Acrobatic and winking poems of queer life

Reviewer: Annie Hayter

Review summary: "Patterflash by Adam Lowe is a poetry collection that glories in the language of the queer underground"

Some choice quotes:

His verse is acrobatic and winking – describing deliciously amorous encounters and the raptures of queer nightlife in Manchester. He delves into the beautiful mundanities of truly loving other people for what they are.

Fashioning assorted personas and mythos, Lowe slinks between the discomfort and joy of various guises.

Lowe celebrates acts of protest, whilst attending to the insidious pressures of living as a queer, mixed-race person within an authoritarian climate.

In the face of it all, these poems rollick across the page, offering elation in their very being.

Thank you, Annie and The Big Issue!

[adambeyoncelowe]

Available from 1 June 2023 (and available for pre-order now)!

This is my debut full-length poetry collection, Patterflash. I'm honoured to have been a Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Summer 2023.

I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

[adambeyoncelowe]

I was recently on BBC Radio 4's The Digital Human. I was speaking about the nature of coded language and how it can be used to hide in plain sight. I got to talk about Polari in particular.

[adambeyoncelowe]

A great review of More Fiya in Publisher's Weekly:

'These versatile and varied poems serve as a testament and witness to this fact as they touch on racial injustice, ecological grief, the politics of hope, and the pull of sex, desire, and other worldly forces. Dean Atta writes, “my phone is a grave and my bed/ is a grave.” “My life is fragile/ round here,” echoes Bridget Minamore. Momtaza Mehri writes that “unfreedom is so boring,” and yet these poems are anything but. They are the “funny thing” that Adam Lowe calls desire—complex, surprising, and radical in both theme and structure, and whole in their moments of fragility and strength."'

[adambeyoncelowe]

Patterflash is a Summer 2023 Poetry Book Society Recommendation. I'm so thrilled to hear this great news. The book releases on 1 June 2023, and now we can add "PBS Recommendation" to the cover.

[adambeyoncelowe]

A brief mention in the Times Literary Supplement

I'm mentioned briefly in the Times Literary Supplement, in a review of 100 Queer Poems, edited by Andrew McMillan and Mary Jean Chan:

'Adam Lowe’s “Vada That” […] exuberantly resuscitates the now-defunct queer cryptolect Polari to offer a portrait of a “bimbo bit of hard” on the cruise for “trade”'

-- Lloyd (Meadhbh) Houston, The TLS

https://web.archive.org/web/20230128072331/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/100-queer-poems-mary-jean-chan-andrew-mcmillan-queering-the-green-paul-maddern-the-sun-isnt-out-long-enough-tatevik-sargsyan-book-review-lloyd-meadhbh-houston/

[adambeyoncelowe]

The World Reimagined

I'm pleased to announce the publication of The World Reimagined! I edited this anthology for The World Reimagined project, and it features a stellar line up, including Anthony Joseph, Belinda Zhawi, Benjamin Zephaniah, Cheryl Martin, Connor Allen, Curmiah Lisette, Dorothea Smartt, Ella Otomewo, Eric Ngalle Charles, Henry Stone, John Agard, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Kadija Sesay, Keisha Thompson, Khadijah Ibrahiim, Malika Booker, Marvin Thompson, Mike Garry, Nick Makoha, Otis Mensah, Poetra Asantewa, Raymond Antrobus, Sea Sharp, Shara McCallum, Shirley May, Shivanee Ramlochan, Tanya Shirley, Vanessa Kisuule and Yomi Sode.

Free copies are going to schools and anyone else can buy a copy for £15.

Buy your copy here: https://theworldreimagined.myshopify.com/products/the-world-reimagined-a-poetic-journey-of-discovery

[adambeyoncelowe]

Here's a brand new portrait of me taken for the Museum of Colour.

You can also read the poem I wrote for the Museum (and which I performed at RAMM in Exeter last month) at this link: https://museumofcolour.org.uk/my-words/response-gallery/adam-lowe/

Read my full profile here: https://museumofcolour.org.uk/my-words/adam-lowe/

[adambeyoncelowe]

This was a thing I did with the Family Gorgeous. Poems and drag and lots of fun with stories.

[adambeyoncelowe]

Alumni feature: Adam Lowe with poems

[adambeyoncelowe]

Beyonce Holes at #ManchesterQueens 2

Catch me at approximately 31:05 minutes and 45:45 minutes for a lipsync and an interview, in that order.

[adambeyoncelowe]

I was a part of Queer Tales: Myths & Monsters at this year's Queer Museum. I slipped in some poetry and a lipsync among this superb selection of storytelling and drag. Check it out.

[adambeyoncelowe]

I have been longlisted for the prestigious Live Canon International Poetry Competition for Single Poems 2020. This year’s prize is judged by the wonderful Mona Arsha.

[adambeyoncelowe]

HOME was very proud to be one of the partner organisations on Eclipse’s Slate programme which over three years supported over 2,000 artists of colour in the North to work locally, nationally and internationally.

Building upon the Slate legacy we want to continue to provide opportunities to support and engage with artists of colour living and making work in the North West.

Our first step is to continue with a series of Slate Legacy Socials, bringing together artists to talk about next steps, plan together and provide ongoing support during these difficult times. The Slate Legacy Socials will be a virtual space to meet other artists in an informal setting. Whatever art form you’re working in, whether you’re starting out or an old hand, this space is for you! Join us and help shape the future of our movement.

Socials will be led by former Slate (Greater Manchester) Enabler, Adam Lowe, and former Slate (Merseyside) Enabler, Saphena Aziz, who will be on hand to discuss our plans and listen to your needs as we shape future opportunities. Adam and Saphena are leading artists of colour in their own right.