Here's a quick round-up of IS&T contributor-related news and developments...

* The latest issue (No.#3) of the Clueless Collective online magazine is out now and includes (it sez here) 'a new pullout Sunday paper style full colour art supplement, an opportunity to receive your very own slither of night and some poetry as well ' – all free. Click here for details www.cluelesscollective.co.uk

* If you are interested in the relationship between poetics and language in art, with a focus on text in performance and sound art, then check out the second Text Festival which takes place in Bury (UK) in May and features exhibitions and commissions from some of the world’s leading practitioners including US visual poet Geof Huth, US Poet Ron Silliman and artist Jenny Holzer as well as emerging artists. The festival opens on 30th April, with exhibitions running through until July. For more details visit www.textfestival.com

* New chapbook: Frostbitten by Mark Walton (48pp, US$10, ISBN 978-0-9811844-0-1) – this is the first entry in the Epic Rites Press workers in blood chapbook series and now available for purchase from www.epicrites.org Mark Walton is the winner of the 2008 London Slam! Championship and this collection of 23 poems is Mark’s debut volume of poetry. Samples from Frostbitten are available at www.frostbittenpoetry.com

* Finally – after some nightmare encounters with production near-disasters, regular IS&T contributor John Irvine has been able to announce the availability of Anomalous Appetites 2009 - an anthology of illustrated speculative poetry – we'll let John take over from here...

"Never before has an anthology like this been attempted. Many publishers spurn poetry, citing a lack of interest from the buying reader. However, it has long been my desire to offer poets in the speculative genre a platform to display their talents. I looked for subtle rather than brutal when selecting the final contributions, trying to avoid the ‘Hollywood’ style of hack and slash employed by most other magazines and anthologies in the genre. I wanted to offer the reader a vastly different experience.

"As the poems for inclusion were selected, they were despatched to artists to interpret under the same plan… subtle rather than gory. The results of my desire have exceeded my wildest expectations. I am utterly indebted to the poets and artists without whom there would have been no anthology at all. I was also fortunate to secure the services of Australian graphic designer/artist/cartoonist Dave Freeman to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude.

"For those readers who like their horror and sci fi sautéed slowly with garlic and served up on fine china, then this anthology is for you. Do not expect axe hacking, explosions, bug eyed monsters or crudeness. Do expect fine and subtle poetry augmented by exquisite art… every single poem is illustrated. This is a collector’s anthology, created for those who are a little more discerning in their speculative tastes. We offer two hundred and nine pages of the best speculative poetry and art you will ever see from poets and artists from all corners of this creative planet.

"I hope that you will find as much enjoyment in reading this book as Dave and I have had in collating and publishing it."

John Irvine, Editor                    
Dave Freeman, Design/art editor

The book may be purchased by visiting the following link: www.lulu.com/content/3236199 (ISBN: 978-1-4092-5973-2)