Panshine Press was set-up in the late 1990s by Jan Whalen and Suzanne Batty who wanted to address the poor representation of women in poetry publications – both on the editorial and writing side. In this episode you’ll hear what contemporary Manchester poets Ella Otomewo and Roma Havers make of Rain Dog and other Panshine publications, including their favourite pieces, alongside a commentary on the state of poetry publishing today.    

Hosted by Radhaika Kapur and Heena Patel

Episode credits: Title music by Jowonio 

The Hard Pressed heritage project is funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks To National Lottery Players 

Panshine Press Podcast final

In this episode, you'll hear what contemporary Manchester poets, Ella Ottumwa and Roma Ha Make of Rain Dog and other Han publications, including their favorite pieces, alongside a commentary on the state of poetry publishing today.

Hi. Hi. Hello. I'm Ella Otomewo, a poet and performer based in Manchester, and I'm part of the Commonword Team. And I'm here with Roma Havers, um, on the Hard Press podcast, uh, to chat about some of the publications from the Hard Pressed archives, uh, rain Dog. But first Roma, could you introduce yourself? Yeah. Um, I'm Roma, I'm a poet based in Manchester and um, an editor as well.

So that's the phrasing I'm going to use. And it was initially called Soup Dragon, but became Rain by Issue two, named after. Um, which is wonderful. Some of the lyric are inside a broken clock, splashing the wine with all the Rain Dogs. Taxi. We'd rather walk huddle a doorway with the rain dogs for, I, I'm a rain dog too, which I really love.

It's referencing when a dog goes out in the rain and then it loses its cent trail to get home, which is a bit sad. Um, yeah, I guess this whole idea of being lost in the city and, and downtrodden, um. And it was set up just to make the poetry world more accessible to underrepresented writers, particularly women writers.

Um, and they wouldn't distribute it, and they often had trouble promoting there. As well. They did get arts council funding, which is great. And they had poems flooding in and mainly people would post the poems by mail, but they did get an email, uh, which is pretty cutting edge at the time. But it came to an end in November, 2009.

Woof Re. So yeah, it was a really important publication and there are loads of poets, um. It was kind of their first shot and after that they went off to publish their own pamphlets and make a living outta writing. But Roma, when I first dropped this bundle off, uh, to you in the studio, what were your initial.

Impressions of the magazine, of its, what was its style? Um, I think the first thing I noticed was I really loved the design of them. They've got this rain dog and then the mirror of the rain dog, like it's in a puddle. Yes. Yeah. Which I really, yeah, it's beautiful. And, um, with the dog itself and the shadow.

And the footprints on the back. Yes. I have noticed walking away noticed that. Yeah. Yeah, it's huge. I hadn't noticed that until I turned it over. And also for the LOLO price of three 50, oh my gosh. Can you imagine getting a pamphlet below 10 pounds now? I'm like, wow, what a deal, a steal. I also like that they clearly changed their font.

By, by issue three, they changed their font. Is that comet Sands? Yeah. Maybe. Wow. Good for them. For accessibility. Yes. Yeah. And then the other one that you dropped off was, um, an anthology. They made roadworks poems from the asic. Yes. Um, I love this, which feels very early two thousands. Brand like Yeah, yeah.

Humor, I thought was very cool. Yeah. Yeah. Also three 50. That's crazy. Again. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Were there any poems that. Stood out to you that resonated with you or any issue in particular that you Yeah. That really stuck with you? I was really taken with the anthology. I feel like people should do more things like that.

Yeah. And to pick a road as well, to pick something that felt like, yeah. Urban and industrial and yeah. This is Manian Poets, and we're gonna talk about. The asics specifically. I really love that. I thought that was such a great idea for an anthology. And there was clear such a, at that time, this sense of they're trying to improve this area, but this is also an area where we love live, that we really love it.

Mm-hmm. Um, and they've got poems from campaign groups, like the Friends of Loven Team Station. Oh, nice. It was really local. Like really local. Yeah. They're really making it for. The people of that place and of that time. Yeah. I, I really like that. Um, the title, is it The Owl on the one, two? Um, yeah. Really?

Yes. Would you like to read it for us? I can do. This is by Rev Paul, who I think we did find Yes. We could link it in this, we'll link it. Description who I think is still still writing. Certainly had a book out in 2012 of Paul Poet. I didn't have any of that context when I was reading it. Um, this is the invisible Bison of South Manchester.

A making love slow, graceful softy. Lowing shall we run with this herd? Bison like steely, invisible vapor clouds, and neon air dead set for the shoals. Freed. Mm. Yeah. I just like the level of ambition of it. He goes so many places and then he's like, but also, just to remind you all, mm, this is set South Manchester.

That people are now talking about that it's gonna change and be regenerated. Mm mm But personifying that in this kind of animal that's just charging through. Yeah. Yeah. I think also feels really relevant right now with the kind of, oh yeah. Renaming of places. In order to then gentrify that place, we're gonna call it back Piccadilly or something?

Yeah. Oh my goodness. Um, how Manchester's changed so much. Yeah. Even because this so rain do, it was the naughties that it's such a specific time in Manchester history and its culture without poetry and music. And then to look at Manchester. These poems would be completely different because the city has changed so much.

What I liked most about the style is. A sense of ambition and weirdness. Mm. And it's not necessarily an experimental poetry as informally necessarily, but it's interested in the surreal, yeah. Yeah. In a way that I think is really fun and that manian tone comes through. Um, like this, you don't need to wear a fish head to feel weird by Rose Cook.

Yes. I really like what a title. What a title. And I think that in magazines, like titles are where, because you'll go through the Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And then you are like, okay, you don't need to wear a fish head to feel weird. I'm interested. Yeah, let's do it. Lemme turn the page to that. It's very rare that with a, a poetry collection like this with whole bunch of different contributors that I would read it cover to cover.

Those are recognizable names to me and I'm sure there's plenty of people as well. That is just a gap in my knowledge, who absolutely are still writing and things, but it's cool to see that. Yeah, the poets and yeah, like you said, 25 odd. Years ago. Mm-hmm. Of how they're writing then. Mm. And like where their careers have gone.

Um, and I think we both liked this poem because. Like a metaphor. Something that is actually, it's about this rat. Yes. This poor rat called Ivan. Um, shall I read it? Yeah, you should read it. So this is Ivan by Claire Shaw. Ivan was a desert rat, a creature of endless skies, an infinite space beyond innumerable horizons of shaded places, and cool tunnels of moist curves and underground sand.

Oof. It's sad. It's really sad. It's sad, this rat. And yeah, when I first read it, I really thought it was gonna be a metaphor for something else. I thought it was going somewhere slightly different. No, it's the sad, the sad lab rat. The sad, sad lab rat. But it's, it's gorgeous. Yeah. And yeah, great to see her early work as well.

I. So I think it would've been a while ago. I think there was, um, I think there was an online magazine, Fox Glove Journal, I wanna say that was run by a poet. Um. Who is still still Ping Elizabeth Gibson, um, who I think has a book out later this year. Ooh, I can come think. But anyway, I think that, um, they published a first poem of mine and then I've done a bit of a couple of different online magazines from that.

Can I publish this on my website? Um. It was a poem called Eve. I dunno if you remember. I remember Eve, uh, back in the day, that was, it was one of my favorites to start off a set Uhhuh if I had a set. Anyway, so I, and I think that was it, but whi which was, it was, yeah, it, it was great. But looking at, at these, I think, oh, I feel like there's a.

A need for physical print copies. Um, like yeah, I love the internet for being able to share work immediately and everywhere, but yeah, I don't know if you feel the same, but. The wants to have the physical copies in my hand and to distribute them and to put them into somebody else's hand. Um, yeah, I feel like we're lacking that a little bit.

Um. But I think part of it is that I wonder if more localized stuff actually doing, we're gonna do a print magazine that for people where we are. Yeah, there's something about being, and it's smaller scale, I think. Yeah, connect with that and this like DY stuff, it's so, it really is quite easy to. Print stuff.

But actually to print, say like a hundred copies, and then when you get it in your hand and you're, oh, this is number 75. Of 100 copies. There's something special in that as well. But I'd love to see more of that. I would also love to see more. There's clearly such a, such a community around the magazine.

Yes. Yeah. You get these, like repeat writers. They did this thing where every magazine people could vote for their top three, and then they got book tots, which I think is so sweet, because you get that, you wanna get the next one to find out who won. Mm-hmm. Or like mm-hmm. And you are part of it, the readers are part of it and they performed as well.

Mm. And then we can do open submissions. And if other people do submit, that's cool, but we wanna care about our work and we're not gonna wait for whether a publisher cares about it or not. Yeah. Yes. Because we think our community. Want to read it. Mm. Yeah. Which is totally the spirit of Rain Dog. And that's, and this how specific it was as well.

Mm. But yeah, the AS six, yeah. Roadworks is a perfect sample of that. Should we have one more poem before we get going? Yes. I think, um, I'll let you choose between. Oh, okay. We've got one that is about a swamp. Okay. Yeah. And we've got one that's about a fish head. Ooh, because I did mention that name. You did mention the fish head.

I can stay up all night, drink till I throw up whatever. No one minds, at least my eyes aren't too small to see. At least I know I'm not a swan. I know what's happening. Transversal. Disintegration. Yeah, I've done this before, but then it was cool. Just get in the swing. Before you know it, you're humming.

Yeah, I really like the ending. Nothing does what it should apart from the eyelash really in this poem like Yeah. Yeah, it's brilliant. I love the scale of it. I love this surreal moments of like, oh, I know I'm not a swan. Yeah, yeah. But then also I think the like conversational of it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I've done this before, but then it was cool.

Yeah. I like that it builds and builds. Mm-hmm. So shout out Rose Cook and all the others in here. Yes. Thanks so much for coming in and chatting to me about these publications. No problem at all. I've enjoyed myself thoroughly. Yeah, thank you. If you wanna hear more about the hard pressed project, and then you can check out the Culture World website or the hard pressed website.

Or do you like this podcast? Well, we are not going to say no. Music in this episode is by Jowonio and is taken from the heart voice, soul compilation, released by Mongrel Press

The Hard Press podcast is a common word culture. Word production recorded in Manchester. It's supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.