FRAS 42

To supercede the pamphlet and in an imitation of both history and nature, or reversing the historical succesion of events in publishing, almost detached from the historical order of publishing with none of the false air or certainty of social media, a pamphlet that is printed and given, with no Facebook page, and no Instagram page, a demotic, popular translation of poetry into print alone, and this by an accident of temperament and circumstances, is quite timeless. Essential and unessential, and at the same time the hobby of a lifelong bookman and publisher.

Water Perrie was born in 1949 in the village of Quarter, Lanarkshire. Educated at Hamilton Academy and at the Universities of Edinburgh and Stirling; he is the author of over ten collections of poetry, including Decagon: Selected Poems 1995-2005, selected and introduced by John Herdman, and Caravanserai, from which 'Lament' is taken. He has also written a book about his travels in eastern Europe, Roads that Move, and has edited several literary magazines, including Chapman, Lines Review, and, most recently, Fras. He has been Writer in Residence at the Universities of Stirling and British Columbia and has taught courses in philosophy. He is a freelance editor, publisher and critic. 

Getting hold of FRAS is one of the more delightful experiences in contemporary letters. You can't buy it. You can't order it. It can only arrive your way like the scattering it purports to be. You may ask for it to be scattered in your direction, I am led to understand, by writing to FRAS at 10 Croft Place, Dunning, PH2 0SB.

There is little else you can do but scroll through the doom-laden hairstyles, the poetry-styles, the boring opinions, daft cats and cakes and walks by the lakes that the very thousands of poets across the country destroy promise with, on Instagram and other platforms, terrified of this concept, and wonder what you think poetry is, and publishing, and why you think it makes you such a better person.

There is a magazine and a collection so anti-thetical to the day and age that you cannot and will not be able to help but look down on it, because you have not viewed it though the semi-conductive gorilla glass of your handheld. You might never kn ow FRAS, although these more than memorable totems of artistry - - Sheena Blackhall  - - Willie Hershaw - -  Tom Hubbard - - and others. They are content to be scattered and don't need you to like, nor subscribe, nor share.