Blue Diode readings at Saul Hay Gallery

This special one-off features readings from four writers, and includes launches on Blue Diode Press by Olga Stehlíková and Christopher Crawford, with two special guests David Gaffney and Lydia Unsworth. It also gives you the chance to check out Saul Hay Gallery, who you’ll also find on Stand 306 at the Manchester Art Fair.

Olga Stehlíková is a Czech poet. Her debut book of poetry, Týdny (Weeks, Dauphin 2014), won the Magnesia Litera Book Prize for poetry, the premier Czech poetry prize. She has published three further collections in Czech and several award-winning books for children. Though the Sky Is Embroidered by a Zigzagging Bat is published by Blue Diode Press in 2024, and is the first comprehensive selection of Olga Stehlíková’s poems to be published as a book in English translation.

Christopher Crawford’s poems have appeared in magazines like Agenda, The Rumpus Online, Plume, Puerto del Sol, Rattle and The Cortland Review. Born and raised in Scotland, he’s an ex-offshore oil worker but now lives in Prague where he edits the online literary journal, B O D Y (bodyliterature.com) and works in the digital tech industry. Divorcee Disco Music (Blue Diode Press, 2024) is his first poetry collection.

David Gaffney lives in Manchester. He is the author of three novels, six short story collections, and two graphic novels with Dan Berry. His short story collection Concrete Fields (Salt Publishing, 2023) is longlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize and his latest collection, Whale, was published by Osmosis in 2024.

Lydia Unsworth is a poet based in Greater Manchester, whose recent collections include Mortar (Osmosis), These Steady Bulbs (above/ground) and cement, terraces (Red Ceilings). Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies including Abridged, Banshee, bath magg, Berlin Lit, Oxford Poetry, Pamenar, Perverse, Salzburg Review and Shearsman Magazine. She has just completed a new collection with the help of Arts Council funding and is studying for a PhD at MMU exploring kinship with disappearing post-industrial architecture. Her latest book is called Arthropod and is published by Death of Workers Whilst Building Skyscrapers.

Blue Diode is a Scottish book publishing press specialising in poetry, based in Leith, Edinburgh. This date kicks off a mini tour for Olga Stehlíková and Christopher Crawford, so if you’re in Glasgow, head to Biggleston Bookshop on the Sunday afternoon, with support from Nuala Watt and Niall O’Gallagher, and on Monday evening, trip on over to the fabulous Typewronger, where you’ll also encounter Alycia Pirmohamed and James Appleby.