Alan Halsey (22 September 1949 – October 2022) was a British poet. He managed The Poetry Bookshop in

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye, or simply Hay (; or simply ), is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as a book town, "town of books"; it is both the National Book Town of Wales and the s ...

from 1979 to 1997. From 1997, Halsey lived in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, working as a specialist bookseller and publishing West House Books. Halsey was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

on 22 September 1949. He founded West House Books in 1994 to publish contemporary

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and poetry-related work. In later years, he managed it in partnership with his wife, the British poet Geraldine Monk. His death was announced by his publisher, Shearsman Books, in October 2022.

Career

Alan Halsey's collection of poems include ''Five Years Out'' (1989), ''Wittgenstein's Devil'' (2000), ''Marginalien'' (2005) and ''Not Everything Remotely'' (2006). In addition, his prose works include ''The Text of Shelley's Death'' (1995) and ''A Robin Hood Book'' (1996). Among his collaborative works are ''Fit to Print'' with

Karen Mac Cormack Karen Mac Cormack (born Luanshya, Zambia, 1956) is a contemporary experimental poet. She holds dual British/Canadian citizenship, and lived for many years in Toronto; more recently, she moved to Buffalo, New York, when her husband, the poet Steve Mc ...

(1998), ''Days of '49'' with Gavin Selerie (1999) and ''Quaoar'' with Ralph Hawkins and Kelvin Corcoran (2006). He was the author of several essays on

Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes (30 June 1803 – 26 January 1849) was an English poet, dramatist and physician. Biography Born in Clifton, Bristol, England, he was the son of Dr. Thomas Beddoes, a friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Anna, sister ...

and the editor of the later version of Beddoes' ''Death's Jest-Book'' (2003). His graphics have been widely published and he was the illustrator of several books including Kelvin Corcoran's ''Your Thinking Tracts or Nations'' (2001) and Gavin Selerie's ''Le Fanu's Ghost'' (2006). Halsey's text-graphic work ''Memory Screen'' was shown at the Bury Text Festival in 2005.

Bibliography

*''Yearspace'' (Galloping Dog 1979) *''Present State'' (Spectacular Diseases 1981) *''Perspectives on the Reach'' (Galloping Dog 1981) *''Auto Dada Cafe'' (Five Seasons 1987) *''Five Years Out'' (Galloping Dog 1989) *''Reasonable Distance'' (Equipage 1992) *''Spells Against Green Field Development'' (West House Books 1994) *''The Text of Shelley's Death'' (Five Seasons 1995; West House 2001) *''A Robin Hood Book'' (West House 1996) *''Wittgenstein's Devil: Selected Writing 1978–1998'' (Stride 2000; 2nd edn 2002) *''Sonatas & Preliminary Sketches'' (Oasis 2000) *''Dante’s Barber Shop'' (West House 2001) *''In Addition: Seventeen Lives of the Poets'' (La Perruque 2004) *''Marginalien'' (Five Seasons 2005) *''A Looking-Glass for Logoclasts'' (Free Poetry 2005) *''Not Everything Remotely: Selected Poems 1978–2005'' (Salt 2006)

References

External links

West House Books
1949 births 2022 deaths English male poets 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English poets 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English poets People from Croydon Poets from London {{UK-poet-stub