The Poetry Society Best Books of the Year

A wonderful way to end a difficult year – ‘What Girls Do in the Dark’ selected by Pippa Hennessy as a Poetry Society Best Book of the Year!

https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poetry-news-best-books-of-the-year/
“Finally, Rosie Garland’s What Girls Do in the Dark (Nine Arches) – Garland is a true gothic polymath. This is reflected in her poetry, which roams through astrophysics, war zones, quantum theory, human biology, history, relationships and non-relationships, and more. The poems in What Girls Do in the Dark take this variety to extremes, yet somehow manage to bring concrete details and abstract ideas from all these areas together into a coherent, explosive, dazzling, gorgeous whole.”
– Pippa Hennessy is a bookseller at Five Leaves Bookshop, Nottingham.

Northern Soul’s Best Reads of 2021

Thank you Henry Normal for selecting What Girls Do in the Dark for Northern Soul’s Best Reads of 2021!

Books: Northern Soul’s Best Reads of 2021
Henry Normal, poet and writer
What Girls do in the Dark (Nine Arches Press) by Rosie Garland is my favourite poetry book of the year. Garland was a singer in the 1980s post-punk/goth band The March Violets. More recently, she’s established herself as a poet and novelist with several titles. I had the honour to read with her in Birmingham a while back, so when her new collection was released I was already interested. From the first poem I was captivated. She has a way of keeping one foot tentatively in the world we know with the other searching for a foothold in an unseen or imaginary world. I was inspired and transported by these poems in a way I’ve not experienced since first getting excited by the possibilities of poetry in my teens. I suspect it would not be good form to choose one of my poetry books for this feature but even if it was, I would choose Garland’s What Girls do in the Dark.

https://www.northernsoul.me.uk/books-northern-souls-best-reads-of-2021/

Thrilled to announce that ‘What Girls Do in the Dark’, my poetry collection with Nine Arches Press, has been shortlisted for the Polari Prize 2021, the UK’s only literary award for LGBTQ+ literature.

It’s a huge honour!

The Polari Prize 2021 shortlist:
• Dragman - Steven Appleby (Vintage)
• The Air Year - Caroline Bird (Carcanet)
• The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle - Neil Blackmore (Windmill)
• What Girls Do in the Dark - Rosie Garland (Nine Arches Press)
• The Ministry of Guidance - Golnoosh Nour (Muswell Press)
• No Modernism Without Lesbians - Diana Souhami (Head of Zeus)

Author, Polari Prize founder and Chair of Judges, Paul Burston said: “ This year’s shortlists are our most diverse ever, with a wide variety of writers working across different genres to explore the intersections between sexuality, gender, race, class, religion and more. These 12 remarkable books include tales of resilience and celebration, love and pride, exploring the LGBTQ+ experience with emotional honesty, humour, passion and joy.”

https://fmcm.co.uk/news/polari-prize-2021-shortlists-announced

Thrilled to be nominated for The Polari Prize 2021, for 'What Girls Do in the Dark'.

And such a stellar list, too!

The Polari Prize 2021 Longlists
Now in its tenth year, the Polari Prize is the UK’s first and largest LGBTQ+ book award. Established to promote writing that explores the LGBTQ+ experience, Polari also focuses on amplifying diverse voices through a series of literary events, including the regularly touring Polari Salon.

https://www.waterstones.com/category/cultural-highlights/book-awards/the-polari-prize

I thought it wasn't possible to feel any more thrilled about joining Nine Arches Press
- then I see the stunning cover of my new poetry collection, 'What Girls Do In The Dark'.
Out October 2020
https://www.ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/what-girls-do-in-the-dark.html

New collection forthcoming in October 2020 from Nine Arches Press

I’m thrilled to be on the 2020 list of Nine Arches Press!
I’m in the company of a fantastic group of poets. I couldn’t be happier.

https://www.ninearchespress.com/about-us/news.html

“Midlands-based independent poetry publisher Nine Arches Press, which achieved Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation status in 2018, will publish eleven new books of poetry in 2020, from a mix of established and emerging poets from across the UK and across the world…

Acclaimed novelist Rosie Garland will also join the 2020 list in October with her third full collection of poems What Girls Do in the Dark, a book alive with galactic, glimmering energy. Rosie’s award-winning short and long fiction, poems and essays have been widely anthologised and in 2019 she was selected by Val McDermid as one of the 10 most compelling LGBTQI+ writers working in the UK.”

Image: Poets confirmed for the Nine Arches Press 2020 list
Top: l-r: Jennifer Wong, Rishi Dastidar, Abegail Morley, Geraldine Clarkson, Nina Mingya Powles.
Bottom: l-r: Peter Kahn, Maria Taylor, Gregory Leadbetter, Rosie Garland, Kate Fox

Yes We Can’t!

Sunday 5th September 2021
7.30pm – 10pm
Free event / pay as you feel

Online poetry from Poets, Prattlers & Pandemonialists.
Welcoming headliner Rosie Garland.

Email for the Zoom link -
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

An evening with Rosie Garland

Five Leaves Bookshop
Nottingham’s independent bookshop
Wednesday, 5th May
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm - free event

In this event Rosie will read from ‘What Girls Do in the Dark’ and talk to Megan Taylor about her life and writing. She will also answer questions from the audience.
Free. Book via Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/145051221107

https://fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk/events/rosie-garland/

14a Long Row, Nottingham NG1 2DH 0115 8373097
One of the few independents to open in any UK city centre this century! Find us opposite Nottingham Tourism centre. Specialising in: Cityscape and Landscape, Politics, Fiction and Poetry, Lesbian and Gay, Counterculture, International writing, Magazines and Journals.

Ledbury Poetry Festival presents

Poetry Salon with Rosie Garland
Thursday, 18th March 2021
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Ledbury Poetry Salon and Open Mic with featured poet Rosie Garland, in conversation with fellow poet Tania Hershman
Thursday 18 March, 7pm – 9pm
Tickets £3, on Zoom
Once you have purchased a ticket, you can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for an open mic slot. These are allocated on a first come first served basis. Each slot is for one poem or two minutes.
Join us for a fascinating conversation between poets, featuring Rosie Garland, a renowned performer, whose debut collection, What Girls Do in the Dark invites us to leap into outer-space, inner space and through strange night-time transformations.
https://www.poetry-festival.co.uk/events/ledbury-poetry-salon-with-rosie-garland/

Black Cat Radio: Interview with Rosie Garland ONLINE

Wednesday 18th November 2020, 20.00 GMT

Hosted by the ‘Blogging Goth’ Tim Synyster and academic Dr Claire Nally, Black Cat Radio is an hour-long broadcast of music, news and discussion on goth – as well as sibling genres like punk, metal, industrial and other alternative styles.

It’s hosted by the kind people at Star & Shadow Cinema, a DIY community collective project in the bijou enclave of Heaton, Newcastle. Every second Wednesday at 8PM GMT we transmit the show online. Each show is available to listen again so it also sidles into the ‘podcast’ category.

As well as going live, we have another first when we return on Wednesday 18th November. Dr Nally sat down for a (Zoom) chat with the exceptionally multi-talented Rosie Garland – author, performer, compere, the very first writer in residence of the gothic splendour that is the John Rylands Library, and of course singer with famed post-punk band The March Violets, amongst her very many skills.
She and Dr Nally talked about her new poetry collection What Girls Do In The Dark - Tune in on the 18th November for the next episode of Black Cat Radio to hear what they discussed!
What Girls Do In The Dark is out now via Nine Arches Press and can be purchased directly from them or ordered through your local booksellers if you wish to avoid a certain multinational online vendor on this occasion!

Ensure you’re listening every second Wednesday
https://starandshadow.org.uk/programme/event/black-cat-radio-fortnightly-goth-music-show,5160/
and join us in the chatroom to let us know just where on the gothosphere you’re tuning in from!
https://theblogginggoth.com/2020/11/11/black-cat-radio-interview-with-rosie-garland/