Sneak peek – Heidi Williamson Alice at The British Library

In the run up to the Ekphrasis/Alice event, Heidi Williamson has kindly agreed to let you see her poem from the anthology.

To book the event click here Ticket price includes a copy of the anthology retailing at £9.99
Heidi Williamson

Disappearance at six o’clock

‘It is the going underground that preserves the body’
Stephanie Bolster, Portrait of Alice with Persephone

Alice, it’s time to step out
of your dream now,

time to come up for air;
rest on the bank like a coin on snow.

The sky’s in the river,
blue and white as an apron;

clouds in the water
like drowned breaths.

The water is soundless:
even your echo has gone.

In the cold blue light
there’s a hole full of girl.

The river is not following anywhere.
Come, Alice, it’s time to go home.

 

Alice/Ekphrasis at The British Library (ed) Gillespie, Morley, Smith; Joy Lane Publishing (2016); £9.99

 

Foreword Ian Duhig
Mona Arshi Alice in Pune, India
Clare Best The Dodo…
Sharon Black The Race
Catherine M Brennan To draw the well
Graham Burchell Those Tears
Ian Duhig I Digging / II Underland
Sasha Dugdale The Ballad of Mabel
Miriam Gamble Wonderland
Vanessa Gebbie After Alice: being sensible
Emer Gillespie Oprah
Paul Griffiths 1865 + 150
Helen Ivory Wunderkammer with Escher Stairs and Cheshire Cat

Anna Kisby The Fallen Alices
Chris McCabe Alice’s Body Turns to Stars
John McCullough Flamingo
Medbh McGuckian The Insomniac Goldfish
Andrew McMillan drink me
Hollie McNish Shrinking
Agnes Marton For Waltz You Don’t Need a Compass

Abegail Morley Daisy Chains and Downers
Helen Mort Looking Glass
Grace Nichols Parallel World
E. E. Nobbs Rabbit Hole
Richard O’Brien Alice Bobs Her Hair
Robert Peake The Conservative Candidate
Rachel Playforth What You Find There
Clare Pollard The Pool of Tears
Amali Rodrigo How to Manage Your Flamingo
Sarah Salway Drink Me
Robert Seatter White Rabbit
Penelope Shuttle Will You Walk a Little Faster
Catherine Smith The Grin
Janet Sutherland ‘O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool?’

Heidi Williamson Disappearance at six o’clock
Luke Wright Alice
Tamar Yoseloff Alice in Hell
Afterword From EKPHRASIS