Small press poetry under extremist pressure

The latest work from patrick jones, South Wales poet and playwright, suffered attack last night when Waterstones Managing Director, Gerry Johnson, stepped in to cancel the book launch at the Cardiff branch of Waterstones in the face of threats of protest from Stephen Green and Christian Voice. “This is a sparkling, energetic poetry collection that engages with serious issues including domestic abuse of men, oppression of women, ecological disaster and much more,” says Jan Fortune -Wood, commissioning editor at Cinnamon Press. “A few of the poems deal with patrick’s strong views on religion, particularly the way in which it is often associated with military conflict, the subjugation of women or movements that exclude the ‘outsider’. These are issues that art should rightly be pushing to the forefront of debate in a liberal society and there are people of faith who are concerned with such issues as well as humanists and secularists.

She goes on, “Debate is not served by caving in to extremists, who do not even represent the majority of Christians, let alone the values of civil, liberal society, but proceed by threat and intimidation. We deplore Waterstones’ decision to cancel at the eleventh hour and do not accept it was the right decision. Whilst we would not want Waterstones’ staff to come under threat, we believe Waterstones should have called the police, not capitulated to such pressure.”

Emails in support of the book are pouring in to the press and to patrick jones. This page will co-ordinate a campaign for the book and for free speech in the arts.

Patrick will be reading at the Melville theatre, Abergavenny on November 14th and at Y Ddraig Goch Cafe, Eastgate Street, Caernarfon, LL55 1AG (opposite Weatherspoons pub) on November 21st 7.30 p.m. The book site and cinnamon press’s website will also carry information about other readings to be organised to promote this important book.

About darkness is where the stars are:

Domestic abuse against men is such a taboo subject ...men who are suffering from it are embarrassed to broach it, causing them to feel isolated and ultimately causing them to remain in their same vulnerable position. Patrick’s poetry does anything but.

It’s harrowing, compelling and psychologically acute... juxtaposing the cruelty of domestic abuse against the pleasure of a new relationship, a technique which thoroughly engaged me as a reader and left me feeling utterly hopeful, despite the distressing subject matter: The theme is fascinating because of its virtual invisibility, and it is handled adeptly with skill and sophistication. The poems give the reader an insight into the painful effects of domestic abuse without having to resort to malice or sentimentality.

Rachel Trezise

“strong stuff”

Harold Pinter

"Thoughtful, provocative and challenging, these poems engage and enrage."

Peter Tatchel

“…unflinching and uncompromising, provocative and highly- charged. Patrick is the voice of opposition for the 21 st Century. His work demands that his audience think, and think for themselves, about the injustices of the decision makers, of history, and of contemporary society, a rare quality in the art and literature of today. Much of his material is dark, and this collection is no exception, but it is also imbued with an eternal sense of hope.”

When bigots stir up censorship, don’t blame the poet

Continued thanks to all those sane people who are supporting patrick jones’ excellent poetry collection, darkness is where the stars are. As you all know patrick jones’ launch at the Cardiff branch of Waterstones was cancelled in response to threats of protest from Stephen Green and Christian Voice. The tactics used were those of bullies and thugs and the idea that we should allow such people to dictate how and where poetry can be performed is frankly repugnant, as well as politically dangerous.

We continue to be grateful to Waterstones’ branch staff for their good sense and support in the face of lunacy and to Waterstones nationally for continuing to stock the book in their stores. We don’t think that the decision to cancel the event was the right one, but appreciate that events happened quickly and that fears for staff safety were real.

However, what is completely unacceptable is the smear campaign blaming patrick and Cinnamon Press for events that led to the cancellation. On Friday evening, (November 14th) I was reassured by Gerry Johnson, MD of Waterstones, that he would desist from sending an inflammatory email blaming the victim, so it was a shock to see the same tired and misleading wording in a BBC news item on Saturday 15th November with the tag ‘poet stirred up storm over book’.

The article goes on to refer to emails that Patrick sent to several organisations that he has a long history of engaging with over a range of contentious political issues, none of them mentioning the launch at all. The article also refers to Gerry Johnson’s email, the one I was told would cease and had been recalled, blaming patrick jones for the cancellation of the launch and effectively implicating Cinnamon Press in bad faith and changing the nature of the agreement.

So let’s set the record straight. The communication that patrick had with Christian Voice was of an ongoing nature and began on March 8th, long before any event was planned. He sent extracts of three poems (one of which was about female genital mutilation in honour of Waris Dirie) at the beginning of November as part of this ongoing debate that had begun much earlier when Stephen Green made public homophobic remarks. To conflate this long term debate with deliberate provocation is inaccurate and unacceptable. Stephen Green says that he was ‘later’ sent an email by ‘someone else’ informing him that the launch was taking place. Whether the ‘someone else’ was a supporter of Christian Voice or of patrick is irrelevant – what is clear is that patrick was doing what he has done for years – engaging those with opposing views in dialogue. This was nothing to do with the launch and no one associated with Cinnamon Press informed Christian Voice about the launch.

The leaked, recalled email from Waterstones contains the very shaky allegation that “provocative action... was taken without prior discussion with the store or their consent and altered the nature of the pre-agreed event.” If this wasn’t so outrageous it would be laughable. The ‘agreement’ in question was a couple of informal emails agreeing time and date. At no point in the agreement between Cinnamon Press and Waterstones was there any mention that the poet needed to keep quiet about the content of his work. Why would an author need Waterstones’ consent to continue a discussion begun months or years before and which made no reference to the launch? Christian Voice actively seek targets and were aware of patrick’s work and views long before an event was arranged.

As to the nature of the pre-agreed event, the only agreement was that we would turn up with refreshments and introduce our poet, which is exactly what we did, only to find we’d travelled for five hours for nothing. There was no agreement with Waterstones to keep the books content’s secret and it is extremely bad faith to suggest that patrick and Cinnamon Press changed anything or gave grounds for the cancellation. Cinnamon Press is extremely shocked at this line of argument. It appears that this may be an attempt to insulate Waterstones from any possibility that they should compensate Cinnamon Press for the lost expenses of the aborted launch, particularly since we turned up in good faith having been told the day before by Waterstones that they were expecting protests, but had no intention of bowing to these or allowing the protestors to prevent the launch.

The only people to blame for all of the furore are members of Christian Voice prepared to make threats. There was no publicity stunt here from either the poet or the press. By shifting the focus to trying to blame the poet the real issue is being lost. The real issue is that Christian Voice are being allowed to trample free speech with their threats and hate-filled diatribes and that Christian Voice are continuing to threaten all the venues that patrick reads at. patrick jones has corresponded with many organisations with whom he strongly disagrees and on every other occasion the result has been mature, if passionate, discussion, not threats. patrick has never threatened anyone nor tried to curtail anyone else’s freedom of speech. Anyone suggesting that patrick or Cinnamon Press are in any way to blame is simply giving the bullies ammunition.

Patrick will be reading at Y Ddraig Goch Cafe, Eastgate Street, Caernarfon, LL55 1AG (opposite Weatherspoons pub) on November 21st 7.30 p.m. and at the Welsh Assembly at noon on December 11 th in committee room 24. Please come back often as this book site and cinnamon press’s website will carry updated information about other readings to be organised to promote this important book.

About Patrick jones

patrick jones is a poet and playwright, born in Tredegar, 1965. He studied at Swansea University and the University of Tennessee, travelled widely in America and was a member of the Open Mic Poets in Chicago. Patrick has worked as creative writing worker with the mentally ill and recovering drug addicts and with the highly successful Write for Cynon scheme. He has also worked closely with Manic Street Preachers; his  The Guerilla Tapestry (revpress, 1995) was accompanied by a musical soundtrack composed by James Dean Bradfield. Patrick tutors Blackwood Miners Institute Young Writers’ Group and teaches adult literacy. His poetry has been performed on BBC Wales. Guerilla Tapestry was performed live at the opening of the Welsh Assembly at the Voices of a Nation concert, 1999.