Saturday, July 17, 2010

Salt, Neruda and Ten more years

To help keep Salt Publishing's head above water there's the Just One (more)Book campaign, which is simple enough: browse and buy one book. Recessionary times have been incredibly tough on publishing: more so on poetry! There are some great books there, and if you've been promising yourself a book from Salt, now's the time.

But there's also a 'flashmob' gathering in London today - er, just now - at the Southbank Centre, at 3pm London time, to celebrate ten years of Salt Publishing with a mass public recital of Pablo Neruda's "Ode to Salt."

To get you in the mood:



Ode to Salt

This salt
in the salt cellar
I once saw in the salt mines.
I know
you won't
believe me
but
it sings
salt sings, the skin
of the salt mines
sings
with a mouth smothered
by the earth.

by Pablo Neruda


Much more here at this link

4 comments:

Emerging Writer said...

I think Salt does great work supporting emerging writers but their website is awful. There's no way of working out what book you might like to read. You have to click on each one individually and go back to the long long list for the next one. They're doing themselves no favours. The last book I bought from them I didn't enjoy at all.

Rachel Fenton said...

I've had a few books from them and got a few more ordered and they've been really brill - speedy delivery and great service. I hope very much they stay afloat.

Kay Cooke said...

I think it's a shame the smaller publishers are getting squeezed by the pythons of the corporate world ... it can only result in the destruction of our civilization as we know it. Go Salt - I hope you can survive somehow.
(Love the poem - yours?)

Unknown said...

Thanks gals for dropping in. EW, sometimes books are like that; but in the main, Salt books I've got that I enjoyed number about six to seven - could be more.

Rachel, me too.

Kay, Not mine - Pablo Neruda! Must go and credit it properly - oops!