Carcanet Press - John Gallas

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John Gallas is a poet from Aotearoa/NZ, born in Wellington in 1950 and presently living near Markfield, Leicestershire, in the UK. HE has published 31 books of poetry, mainly with Carcanet Press. Others include SLG Press Oxford, Dempsey & Windle, Indigo Dreams, Cerasus Publishing, Cold Hub NZ, Five Leaves Editions (Nottingham), New Walk Editions (Leicester), Gerolstein Press (NZ) and Agraphia. His books include 8 poetry translations and a libretto for David Knotts (Toads on a Tapestry) and Alasdair Nicolson (The Iris Murders). He has been Orkney St Magnus Festival Poet; Fellow of the English Association; Saxonship Resident Poet (www.saxonship.org); John Clare ‘The Visit’ poet; multiple prize and award winner (Wells Festival, Reuben Rose International, Welsh Poetry, Manchester Portico Library Prize, Stiwdio Maelor, Bucks Mills, Slipstream, Parkinsons Art, Corsham Story-Telling etc); and is presently co-editor of ‘Te Pūrere’ with Vaughan Rapatahana. Gallas has appeared on BBC Radios 3 and 4 and given readings at the Commonwealth Games (Manchester), QE Hall, Cheltenham, Goldsmiths, Kirkwall, Stromness, Imperial College, Oxford and more. He contributes sets of world poetry translations to PN Review and is presently working on ‘Fork Flats’ (a secret) and Alfred Lichtenstein. He disappears for a chunk of each week to a caravan/bike in Lincolnshire; careens up and down with Leicester City; and is a ‘Don Quixote’, ‘Tristram Shandy’, ‘Tom Jones’, Pamuk, Hardy, Donne, Icelandic Saga, Schnittke, Fellini, Thorvaldsdottir, Randy Newman, Munch, Nolan, Turkey, Pacific islands kind of bloke. Billy 'Nibs' Buckshot: The Complete Works (2024) is his fourteenth Carcanet edition.

John Gallas was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1950, and was a child in Richmond, Tahunanui, Nelson, Lake Rotoiti, Mount Robert and St Arnaud. He then went to Otago University in New Zealand, and won a Commonwealth Scholarship to Merton College, Oxford to study medieval literature.

He settled in England in 1973, living in York, Liverpool, Shropshire, Rothwell and Leicester, and now lives in Coalville, Leics. He works for the Leicestershire Student Support Service, teaching permanently excluded schoolchildren.

In 1987 he threw away everything he had written, and started again. A prize in the National Poetry Competition led to the publication of his first collection with Carcanet Press, Practical Anarchy. Then followed Flying Carpets Over Filbert Street, Grrrrr, Resistance is Futile, The Song Atlas (ed. - a translation of one poem from each country in the world) and Star City.

His minor obsessions number Central Asia and Mongolia, camels, cycling (with the Complete Coasts of Britain and Ireland done), kinds of anarchism, swimming, Fellini, Beckett, Cormac McCarthy, Schnittke, tramping, T.E.Lawrence, sitting breathless on the tops of mountains, and writing poetry.

Praise for John Gallas 'Gallas's restless imagination and exuberant vocabulary bounce us through a variety of locations, moods, landscapes and seasons, from the bush-clad South Island of New Zealand to some distinctly unpredictable spots in the English Midlands.'

Fleur Adcock
'So many places! John Gallas vagabonds his way through the wide, wide world, and is just about the most audacious poet I know. These are the poems Wordsworth would have written if he'd grown up in New Zealand, been a bit more mischievous, and got around England on a bicycle.'

Bill Manhire
'John Gallas is not merely a lyric master, but a master of meaning... The Extasie is a collection that I feel I will be coming back to frequently, not just to recapture the enjoyment I had when first reading it, but also to fully bathe in the complex understanding of love in all its forms, rendered so skilfully in poems that reward a second reading with subtle epiphanies.'

Ed Bedford, Coffee Time Reviews

'This is a book for contemplative reading to enjoy all its richness and subtleties. Quietly thought provoking and intelligent, these are poems that celebrate the messiness of life.'

- Mary Mulholland, The Alchemy Spoon
'The greatest New Zealand poet no one has ever heard of.'
- Spinoff 'One of the UK's most fascinating poets ... hilarious.'
- Yorkmix 'An enticing and timely collection of translations.'
- The Guardian

Gallas xmas carol - The Darkling Road

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John Gallas Books by this author: Billy 'Nibs' Buckshot: The Complete Works Rhapsodies 1831 (Tr.) The Extasie The Little Sublime Comedy 52 Euros Fresh Air and The Story of Molecule Forty Lies The Book with Twelve Tales Star City The Song Atlas Resistance Is Futile Grrrrr Flying Carpets Over Filbert Street Practical Anarchy About Biography Reviews Audio John Gallas is a poet from Aotearoa/NZ, born in Wellington in 1950 and presently living near Markfield, Leicestershire, in the UK. HE has published 31 books of poetry, mainly with Carcanet Press. Others include SLG Press Oxford, Dempsey & Windle, Indigo Dreams, Cerasus Publishing, Cold Hub NZ, Five Leaves Editions (Nottingham), New Walk Editions (Leicester), Gerolstein Press (NZ) and Agraphia. His books include 8 poetry translations and a libretto for David Knotts (Toads on a Tapestry) and Alasdair Nicolson (The Iris Murders). He has been Orkney St Magnus Festival Poet; Fellow of the English Association; Saxonship Resident Poet (www.saxonship.org); John Clare ‘The Visit’ poet; multiple prize and award winner (Wells Festival, Reuben Rose International, Welsh Poetry, Manchester Portico Library Prize, Stiwdio Maelor, Bucks Mills, Slipstream, Parkinsons Art, Corsham Story-Telling etc); and is presently co-editor of ‘Te Pūrere’ with Vaughan Rapatahana. Gallas has appeared on BBC Radios 3 and 4 and given readings at the Commonwealth Games (Manchester), QE Hall, Cheltenham, Goldsmiths, Kirkwall, Stromness, Imperial College, Oxford and more. He contributes sets of world poetry translations to PN Review and is presently working on ‘Fork Flats’ (a secret) and Alfred Lichtenstein. He disappears for a chunk of each week to a caravan/bike in Lincolnshire; careens up and down with Leicester City; and is a ‘Don Quixote’, ‘Tristram Shandy’, ‘Tom Jones’, Pamuk, Hardy, Donne, Icelandic Saga, Schnittke, Fellini, Thorvaldsdottir, Randy Newman, Munch, Nolan, Turkey, Pacific islands kind of bloke. Billy 'Nibs' Buckshot: The Complete Works (2024) is his fourteenth Carcanet edition. John Gallas was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1950, and was a child in Richmond, Tahunanui, Nelson, Lake Rotoiti, Mount Robert and St Arnaud. He then went to Otago University in New Zealand, and won a Commonwealth Scholarship to Merton College, Oxford to study medieval literature. He settled in England in 1973, living in York, Liverpool, Shropshire, Rothwell and Leicester, and now lives in Coalville, Leics. He works for the Leicestershire Student Support Service, teaching permanently excluded schoolchildren. In 1987 he threw away everything he had written, and started again. A prize in the National Poetry Competition led to the publication of his first collection with Carcanet Press, Practical Anarchy. Then followed Flying Carpets Over Filbert Street, Grrrrr, Resistance is Futile, The Song Atlas (ed. - a translation of one poem from each country in the world) and Star City. His minor obsessions number Central Asia and Mongolia, camels, cycling (with the Complete Coasts of Britain and Ireland done), kinds of anarchism, swimming, Fellini, Beckett, Cormac McCarthy, Schnittke, tramping, T.E.Lawrence, sitting breathless on the tops of mountains, and writing poetry. Praise for John Gallas 'Gallas's restless imagination and exuberant vocabulary bounce us through a variety of locations, moods, landscapes and seasons, from the bush-clad South Island of New Zealand to some distinctly unpredictable spots in the English Midlands.' Fleur Adcock 'So many places! John Gallas vagabonds his way through the wide, wide world, and is just about the most audacious poet I know. These are the poems Wordsworth would have written if he'd grown up in New Zealand, been a bit more mischievous, and got around England on a bicycle.' Bill Manhire 'John Gallas is not merely a lyric master, but a master of meaning... The Extasie is a collection that I feel I will be coming back to frequently, not just to recapture the enjoyment I had when first reading it, but also to fully bathe in the complex understanding of love in all its forms, rendered so skilfully in poems that reward a second reading with subtle epiphanies.' Ed Bedford, Coffee Time Reviews 'This is a book for contemplative reading to enjoy all its richness and subtleties. Quietly thought provoking and intelligent, these are poems that celebrate the messiness of life.' - Mary Mulholland, The Alchemy Spoon 'The greatest New Zealand poet no one has ever heard of.' - Spinoff 'One of the UK's most fascinating poets ... hilarious.' - Yorkmix 'An enticing and timely collection of translations.' - The Guardian Gallas xmas carol - The Darkling Road	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog One Little Room: Peter McDonald read more Collected Poems: Mimi Khalvati read more Invisible Dog: Fabio Morbito, translated by Richard Gwyn read more Dante's Purgatorio: Philip Terry read more Billy 'Nibs' Buckshot: John Gallas read more Emotional Support Horse: Claudine Toutoungi read more
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