Graham Fulton

 

 

Tower of Babble

(with Jim Ferguson, Bobby Christie & Ronald McNeil)
Itinerant Publications, 1987.
52 pages. £1.50.
ISBN 0-9512440-0-0.

 

The first Itinerant publication. A collaboration between four of the writers from Tom Leonard's Paisley writers' group.

 

'Reaffirms the vitality of the small publication … no slickness here, just men looking outside the wonders of their own experience to a world in need of creative interpretation … no amount of fine-toothed criticism will diminish the freshness and insight of Tower of Babble. Humility of purpose allows one scope beyond the self, and from this springs the seed of inspired poetry.'
Cheryl Foster, The List

 

 

 

 

'Ability to raise a dry laugh from what would make grown men greit comes through all the greyness of the environment out of which this kind of poetry evolves.'
James Robertson, Radical Scotland

 

The Eighth Dwarf

 

Itinerant Publications, 1989.
20 pages. £1.
ISBN 0-9512440-5-1.

 

One of a number of pamphlets produced by Itinerant Publications in the late 1980's.

 

'Fulton uses a free style, is less directly aggressive, and so his points are made more effectively … clearly written from a deep sense of need and deserve to be read.'
Ken Morrice, The List

 

Humouring the Iron Bar Man

 

(Link To Poem: Humouring the Iron Bar Man)

Polygon, 1990.
65 pages. £6.95.
ISBN 0-7486-6039-9.

 

 

Part of the process whereby little boys become grown men involves the careful shutting off from the curiosity, hilarity and horror with which children look at the world. This does not happen in the poetry of Graham Fulton: unusual rhythms and miraculous trains of thought bring readers close to the goggle-eyed astonishment and wry seriousness with which this original young poet would appear to view eggs, insects, America, the people, places and strange and sad relationships around his home town of Paisley.

 

 

 

 

This is Fulton's first major collection, bringing together the fruits of several small press publications as well as new work. It is also perhaps the first written-word artefact to tackle, at the level of form, the way perceptions of people and politics are influenced by fast-cut advertising, music, scratch video and other media.

 

 

 

'He has found new angles of perception, new comparisons to draw … a clarity of imagery which will force both a smile of recognition and a start of surprise.'
Ronnie Smith, West Coast Magazine

 

 

 

'Here's a poet who explores the world with wit, irony and intelligence … buy this book.'
David Crystal, Scratch

 

 

'It is some time since I have enjoyed a book of poems and verses so much … he is gloriously articulate in sharing his accumulated street wisdoms.'
Hayden Murphy, The Glasgow Herald

 

 

'An accomplished first collection … he picks his targets like a sniper, waiting for bland cosiness or slick mediocrity to walk into his sights before opening fire.'
Robin Bell, Books in Scotland

 

This

 

Rebel Inc, 1993.
22 pages. £2.
No ISBN.

 

One of a series of limited edition pamphlets that Rebel Inc editor Kevin Williamson published in the early 1990s.

Themes: Madness, loneliness, The Monkees, Charles Manson.

 

Knights of the Lower Floors

 

(Link To Poem: Cream of Scottish Youth)

Polygon, 1994.
91 pages. £7.99.
ISBN 0-7486-6154-9

 

Fulton's second full length collection exhibits a poetry which is sharply observant and spikily mature. Blackly humorous, ferocious and unsettling, Fulton jumps from everyday Transylvanian Paisley to Paris and Berlin, passing Kirk Douglas, Oscar Wilde and Elvis Presley on the way. Altogether, an edgy and exuberant collection.

 

 

'Graham Fulton has a highly original talent, celebrating the bizarre detritus of our times without losing the human touch. His vivid jagged poetry catches the acrid tang of reality with impressive force.'
Edwin Morgan

 

 

'Another batch of cool and sexy terse verse which has lost none of its spiky jagged pop appeal.'
Eddie Torrance, Rebel Inc

 

 

'Angry, funny, affecting, accessible.'
The Scotsman

 

 

'Fulton's work is impressive because he finds new ways of looking at a world we all recognise … he has reshaped it to create a vibrant literary art. And its vibrancy comes from the humanity with which the lines and their characters are invested.'
West Coast Magazine

 

 

 

'Fulton has developed an original poetic personality that's aggressively his own … having been to the same America as Edwin Morgan, Fulton has brought back a scarier poetics. He is less a dream than a nightmare state.'
Donny O'Rourke, Dream State

 

 

Blissed-out for Five

 

(with Des Dillon, Shug Hanlan, Ally May & David Crystal)
Neruda Press, 1997.
36 pages. £4.
ISBN 1-900111-1-00.

 

A chapbook featuring new work from 5 of the best writers working on these islands.

 

Ritual Soup and other liquids

 

(Link To Poem: The Statues Outside Paisley Town Hall)

Mariscat Press, 2002.
39 pages. £5.
ISBN 0-946588-32-5.

 

 

A chapbook bringing together some of the best of the new poems written towards the end of the first phase of Graham Fulton's poetic career.

 

 

'This is 'in your face' poetry, verse as stand-up comedy; even on the page every Fulton poem is a performance, while on stage Fulton puts his work over with a pugnacity and aplomb uncommon among poets. His chippy lack of sentimentality, his excoriating ability not merely to describe but to embody frustration, the detached hipness of the technique, all these serve to amplify the scream.'
Donny O'Rourke

 

 

 

 

 

'It's all 17th Century Dutch cow carcass and Francis Bacon – but it is the truth … The Statues Outside Paisley Town Hall has the cinematic element that Fulton does so well. Perhaps it's a bit naïve but the word 'happy' reverberates as you close the book. Why? I know you're not supposed to read poetry like a book but with a short collection – that's what you do. So the denouement is important.'
Karen Docherty, Northwords