[ THE ILLUSTRATION WORK OF DILLY ]

Australian based illustrator Thomas Littleson, also known as Dilly is another of our illustrators who graced the pages of Issue 6's Love issue. With his hyper real, tea bag stained style, he was the perfect choice to illustrate Hayden Westfield-Bell's poem 'Full House' - a beautiful short poem that looked at lesbianism in old age. All of Dilly's work is utterly beautiful and although there's only a limited amount of it on his super clean website, go take a look around and tell him you popped by.

[ I AM NOBODY'S NIGGER ]

If you hadn't heard of him before, you may have heard of Dean Atta within the last month or so as a result of his poem 'I Am Nobody's Nigger'. The poem was written in response to the new developments in the infamous Stephen Lawrence murder trial and went 'viral', as well as receiving coverage in the national newspapers. Not bad for a poem written in 30 minutes. It's now been picked up by SBTV who have given the poem a visual accompaniment with Dean Atta taking centre stage. Video views so far after just 3 days on the interweb: over 17,000. The poem is available to download on iTunes with all proceeds going to the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.

[ THE END OF POWER SUBMISSIONS ]

The birth of today marks the end of poetry submissions for our 7th issue on the theme of 'Power'. Over the past 55 days or so we've read literally thousands of poems that have approached the theme from almost every angle imaginable. Every time we throw open the doors for poetry submissions we're blown away by the great number of you that are writing inventive and original poetry, and this time was no different. If anyone ever doubts the strength of contemporary poetry, we may well have the evidence for it. So a huge thank you to every single one of you that submitted. We now have the mammoth task of editing down the huge pile of works into a very compact 20 poems, and will be notifying everyone as to whether they've been successful or not within the next week or so.

[ POETRY IS 100 YEARS OLD ]

Magazines are not renowned for lasting for great periods of time, particularly not independent ones that are centred around poetry. However, this year, the very aptly named Poetry Magazine hits its centenary, celebrating 100 years of publishing the magazine - an impressive feat by anyones standards. In 2003, Ruth Lilly, an American philanthropist, secured the future of the magazine and of the Poetry Foundation (who now publish the magazine) by famously donating much of her fortune to them...we're looking forward to securing the same fate in the near future. If you're not already aware of their work, go find out more about the Poetry Foundation and Poetry Magazine by heading to their website.

[ MEMORIES ]

A couple of years ago we were contacted by the people behind a project called Memories, run by four creatives who wanted to do something to help people who have been affected by cancer. Their idea was to create a book that would tackle the subject of cancer, with the proceeds going to a cancer support charity called Maggies. We were asked if we would judge a shortlist of some of the poetry submissions that had been sent in on the theme of cancer, which we did with great enthusiasm. Since then, the Memories team have been busy commissioning and putting together the book, featuring 12 touching stories, along with 12 illustrations per story. On the off-chance that your maths isn't superb, that makes for 144 commissioned pieces which is quite a feat by anyones standards.

Although we haven't seen a copy in the flesh yet, the book looks absolutely beautiful and we're looking forward to getting our hands on one. So, if you like the combination of short stories, poetry and illustration, as well as the feel-good buzz of donating to a worthy cause - this might just be up your street. To find out more about the project and get hold of a copy of the book, check out the Memories website.

[ 9 DAYS LEFT ]

There are just 9 days left to submit to the seventh issue of Popshot Magazine, on the theme of 'Power'. Submissions have been open since December 1st and will come to an end on January 25th. So, if you have a few poems that you think might work with the theme and haven't sent them in yet - now is probably the time! Head to our submit page to find out how to send in your scribblings and to make sure that they're 'Popshot material'. To everyone who has already submitted to this issue, thank you so much for sending your poems in and you'll hear from us a few days after submissions finish on January 25th, via our submissions mailing list.

[ ILLUSTRATION - BEN BROOKS ]

It may be Friday 13th but fear not - we've got the illustration work of one of Popshot's 'Love' issue illustrators for you to look through and from what we've heard, viewing it will safely dispel any bad luck you may have otherwise encountered. This illustrative good fortune is brought to you by the very talented Ben Brooks who we commissioned to create the image above in response to Sean Chard's poem 'Making Tracks'. His recent work has been littered with newsprint/text references which creates an interesting extra dimension to both the illustration and the poem. Flick through more of Ben's work by heading to his website.

[ WHO TO INTERVIEW? ]

For the last few issues of Popshot, we've interviewed some of the poets, spoken word artists and writers who we think are doing good things for the world of new writing. Past interviewees have included Paul Farley, Luke Wright, Murray Lachlan Young, Polarbear, Salena Godden, Joe Dunthorne and Tom Chivers. We have our ideas about who to interview for the forthcoming issue of Popshot (due out in April), but we wanted to open it up to you to find out who you want to hear from. So...who do you think we should interview for the next issue of Popshot?

To let us know your ideas, head to our Facebook page and comment on the relevant post.

[ POETRY + FILM ON THE LONDON UNDERGROUND ]

We don't know an awful lot about this but from what we've picked up on, the people behind Smile for London are planning to reinvigorate an interest in poetry and writing by splashing it all over the film screens on the London Underground. It's not the first time that the London Underground has engaged with poetry, but as far as we know, it's not been done in this way before. Here's some press-releasable material to help explain it better:

Smile for London invited London’s budding and established poets to uplift and inspire commuters during the bleakest month of the year with poems or prose of up to 40 words. The pieces are being transformed by leading motion artists into 20-second-typographic-films, to be screened on the Underground platform screens for two weeks from 16th January 2012. Taking it’s cue from the seeming indifference to literature and the written word during the London riots, Word in Motion aims to reinvigorate an interest in poetry and writing as well as amuse and visually inspire. Word in Motion specifically set an open brief to uplift and inspire and will feature collaborative pieces guaranteed to intrigue and excite.

The illustrators, typographers, animators and filmmakers picked their poems blind with no knowledge of which writers’ work they chose to animate. This selection process was done to encourage a spirit of democracy and ensure the artists have an emotional engagement with their chosen poem.

To find out more about the initiative, click here.

[ TONGUE FU ]

So this is 2012! Welcome back to the Popshot blog activity and we hope you had a splendid Christmas break. It's time to fire back into action and thus, it's with a fistful of enthusiasm that we present to you the first blog post of 2012:

East London seems to sit at the heart of the British poetry scene with many a spoken word/poetry event taking place on its shores. In fact, this very blog is splattered with mentions of various nights in that vicinity so it's of little surprise that yet another fine looking event graces its postcode. So, with some favourable press behind it and an eclectic looking line-up, the forthcoming Tongue Fu looks to be a bit of a cracker. If the flyer above stimulates intrigue, head over to their Facebook event page to find out more about the poets, and how to obtain tickets.

[ A 2011 RETROSPECTIVE ]

As the year draws to an end and we slip into the last 12 days of 2011, now seems like a good time for reflection and evaluation.

2011 has been kind to Popshot and whilst many independent magazines have fallen by the wayside in the last 12 months (or are currently at risk of doing so), we've somehow managed to grow even stronger. We still remain entirely self funded with no outside backers, no advertisers and not even a sniff of Arts Council funding - something we're thoroughly proud of and can only attribute to the support of our wonderful readers and subscribers. This year saw the launch of the Popshot Print Shop, some favourable press in the design and fashion worlds, further distribution into bookshops around the world (Hong Kong and Croatia were added this year) and of course, the release of The Childhood Issue and The Love Issue. It's a giant cliche but we genuinely feel that every issue that comes out is an improvement on the last, and hopefully this trend will continue in 2012.

Speaking of 2012, we have some exciting plans that we've been cooking up that we think will make Popshot bigger and even better next year. Before we roll these plans out, we'll definitely want to run them by our readers and subscribers first, so expect a few questions being fired your way sometime during the early months of 2012. Until then, have an amazing Christmas, eat like a champion, and we'll see you in the new year!

PS. Although the blog will not be updated during the Christmas period, we'll still be checking emails, sending out orders and taking poetry submissions as usual.

[ SHAN JIANG ]

Without blowing our own cacophonic trumpet, we get the chance to work with some ruddy marvellous illustrators during the process of putting together Popshot. Just one example of this is Shan Jiang, the man behind the iconic Ride Journal covers and the owner of one seriously strong illustration portfolio. Pictured above was his response to David Pointer's poem 'Beyond The Postmodern Mounds' - the eerily penned piece that spoke of 'the world's lost love archeological dig site'. To check out more of Shan Jiang's work, head to his website.

[ PENNED IN THE MARGINS POETRY SALON ]

With Christmas drawing ever closer, and the London events calender starting to slow down, here's a good way to celebrate entry into the festive season: Penned in the Margins are putting on their last poetry salon of the year with readings from Luke Wright, Tamar Yoseloff, James Brookes and Claire Trévien...all wrapped up in the swish surroundings of Aubin & Wills in Notting Hill, West London. Get the full details and reader bios by heading to the event page at their website.

[ THE POPSHOT STOCKING FILLER ]

To coincide with the gift buying frenzy of the festive season, we've dropped the price of our subscriptions to a frankly embarassing £19, meaning that you get 5 finely curated issues of Popshot across the next two years for just £19 starting with our current issue. Alternatively, if you want to pop a copy of Popshot into one of your loved one's stockings this Christmas, you can get hold of all or any of our current and previous editions by heading to our online shop. To make sure that your copies arrive in time for December 25th, please order as soon as possible to account for slow moving postal services.

[ BANG SAID THE GUN ]

We mention Bang Said The Gun pretty regularly on this blog, thanks largely to their trademark of injecting phenomenal amounts of energy into every night they hold. This time, not only can you expect the usual Bang antics, but they've also managed to recruit a stellar line up in the form of Kate Tempest, Polarbear and Tim Clare. These elements combined ensure that this event is going to be big. To find out how not to miss it, head to the Bang website to find out more.

[ MAGCULTURE POP-UP SHOP ]

Ever since the beginning of Popshot, we've had some great support from the magazine guru and the man behind magCulture - Jeremy Leslie. magCulture is one of the finest websites covering editorial design and independent magazines, so it's about time that it transfers to a physical space. Thus, for the month of December, magCulture will take the form of a pop-up shop in the entrance to The Church of London's offices. The best part of it all: Popshot is one of the selected magazines to be sold there so if you're in East London during December, there's little excuse not to pop in. More details can be found here.

[ POPSHOT ISSUE 7: POETRY SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN ]

It's official - Popshot Magazine is now open for poetry submissions for Issue 7. After having opened up suggestions for theme ideas a few weeks ago, there was one recurring theme that kept on popping up time and time again that we couldn't ignore. Thus, it's with great excitement that we unveil the theme for Issue 7: Power.

The issue of power is a constantly fascinating subject. Its presence is both aspirational and demoralising at the same time, and our relationship with it has been a major catalyst for change since time began. For this issue we want to explore power in its many forms, whether on a wider scale or looking at it in its most minute existence. As always, we're looking for original, succinct, and thought provoking poetry - the kind that will allow our readers to see the subject in a way that they may not have otherwise considered.

So, if you would like the chance to have your poetry published, illustrated, and subsequently consumed by thousands of readers across the globe - pop over to the submit page to read the complete submissions guidelines. Every submission we receive is read by at least one of us and we aim to respond within a matter of days. Take your time, consider the theme, and we look forward to reading your poems.

www.popshotpopshot.com/submit.html

[ LIMITED COPIES LEFT ]

After Issue 4 (The Modern Living Issue) spectacularly sold out a few months ago, it's now the turn of our first and second issue to get dangerously close to selling out as well. Following a pre-Christmas stock count, we have just 31 copies of Issue 1 (The Wonder of the Ordinary) and 35 copies of Issue 2 (Us & Them) left. Both issues were printed in limited runs of 1000 back in the early days of Popshot and have since been approaching dwindling numbers. So, if you're missing these two issues in your Popshot collection and want to get hold of them before they disappear altogether - head to our online shop and bag yourself a slice of Popshot history. They might even make for a rather fetching Christmas present...

[ TOM BAGSHAW ]

We had been trying to get the ethereally brilliant Tom Bagshaw to work with us on an issue of Popshot for a long time but due to work commitments and ill-timing, it never really came off. For our most recent issue though, we finally managed to pin him down and this is the haunting masterpiece that he ended up producing in response to Vesper Hughes' beautiful poem - Black Oil. It's an incredible image that blurs between the lines of illustration and art, and it comes in highly recommended to check out some more of his work over at his website. What with Christmas a mere month away, you might even want to buy one of his prints...

[ IDEAS TAP ]

We've long thought that IdeasTap is a superb resource, especially when they briefly mentioned us in a small article about the online literary scene back in May of this year…not that we're biased. They do some great things for the young arts scene and their mini interview with Polarbear (who we interviewed in Issue 5 of Popshot Magazine) reminded us of the wealth of content that is available on their website. Go have a read of some of their interviews and articles, and take in the abundant number of ideas and opportunities that are on there. Good work IdeasTap.

[ V&A ILLUSTRATION AWARDS 2012 ]

One of London's greatest museums of art and design, The V&A, is now open for submissions for its annual illustration awards. The V&A Illustration Awards celebrate the best illustration published over the last year. Original artwork from the best illustrated book, book cover, editorial illustration and student illustrator of the year will be recognised...and it's completely free to enter. It's always great to see institutions of this size recognising the importance of illustration and with £2000 potentially up for grabs, it's worth taking the time to select a few relevant pieces to send in. The deadline for submissions is December 15th so to find out more, head to the V&A Illustration Awards 2012 page at their website.

[ PHRASED, CONFUSED & ANGRY ]

Slightly following on from our previous post about Penned in the Margin's 'Riot Acts', comes another spoken word event that deals with the theme of protest called Phrased, Confused & Angry. The event will take place in Manchester on November 23rd and features four commissioned artists: Laura Dockrill, Shane Solanki, Ben Mellor and Yusra Warsama who will deliver their personal takes on the theme of protest, from a girl's battles with her male alter-ego 'Sebastian' to a poem that goes on strike. To find out more about the show and what it's all about, click on this link and do some reading.

[ LAUREN CROW ]

The more eagle-eyed Popshot readers will have noticed a slight change in the interview format for our most recent issue. This time we decided to interview three literary figures that included Salena Godden, Joe Dunthorne and Tom Chivers. The illustrator responsible for capturing their likenesses was the exceedingly talented Lauren Crow who has something of a gift for portraiture. Check out more of her work over at her website and keep an eye out for more portraits from her in future issues of Popshot.

[ RIOT ACTS ]

After the rather shocking events of the riots that bizarrely swept across Britain back in August, comes a response from the independent publisher and live literature producer, Penned in the Margins. Titled 'Riot Acts', the event will take place at Richmix in East London and features stand up poet Luke Wright, performance artist and theatre maker Greg McLaren, writer and actor Sophie Woolley, and theatre collectives - The Hurly Burly & Circus Kinetica. To find out more about it all, take a trip to the Penned in the Margins website.

[ WHAT DO YOU WANT TO WRITE ABOUT? ]

We'll soon be starting work on our 7th edition of Popshot but before deciding on a theme for this one, we wanted to open it up to our readers and writers to suggest what you want to write about. Each issue of Popshot to date has been fascinating to compose and eye-opening to discover how we view the world through poetry. Previous themes have looked at the wonder of the ordinary, us and them, liberation, modern living, childhood and the huge subject of love. We appreciate that one theme can't stimulate everyone but we want to know what subjects grab your attention. To let us know your ideas, head to our Facebook page and comment on the post concerning our next theme. Naturally we can only pick one theme but every single suggestion will be considered, however obscure it may be!

[ THE HUFFINGTON POST ]

Popshot's Editor speaks to The Huffington Post about his desert island books, Charles Bukowski and the importance of 'The Illustrated Guide to Edible Wild Plants'. It's a real page turner...

[ CAROL ANN DUFFY IN STYLIST ]

We meant to mention this absolutely ages ago when we first saw the article in London's 'freemium' paper, Stylist, but as is becoming somewhat routine - we forgot. Regardless of the date, it's great to see a magazine like Stylist covering poetry in such depth and the article makes for a really interesting read with some pretty insightful questions put forward by Stylist's writer Amy Grier. Check out the full article here.