#IBuyYourPamphlet: WEEK 10

‘thirty-one small acts of love and resistance’
by Steve Pottinger

I shouted ‘Oi! Fella! You’ve dropped your hat!’ / and he said ‘Thanks, mate. I’d have lost that.’

Steve Pottinger is a poet, author, and workshop facilitator, and a founding member of the Wolverhampton arts collective known as ‘Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists’. He has performed at Ledbury and StAnza poetry festivals and the Edinburgh Free Fringe. He has also written three punk autobiographies, including ‘City Baby’ (the story of Ross Lomas, the bassist with Birmingham punk band GBH).

Steve’s work came into my orbit as a result of watching him perform live late last year, and this pamphlet was originally published in May of 2022. It is, quite simply, one of the most impressively considered and politically powerful pieces of work I have ever read. I LOVE this pamphlet. Let me now explain exactly why.

What’s in it for Me?

Many people will claim to have no political bias in their work, that poetry should not consider such contentious subjects. Once I even believed this myself. People like Steve have made me think long and hard about why my work needs to be MORE political, that challenging the injustice and flat-out selfish greed that seems to have become part of the landscape in certain spheres of the modern world is now not just necessary, but is becoming a vital means by which to preserve artistic integrity.

This entire pamphlet tells it like it is: with exquisite care, a searingly-intelligent aspect and outlook, but most crucially with a humour that I really wish more poets would consider introducing into their work. Whether it’s the sheer brilliance of on that day or the quiet reflection of Desaparecida, the historical relevance of trainspotting, 1832 or the running joke that begins with a bloke dropping his hat in Wolverhampton Swimming Baths… literally, there IS something for everyone. However. it’s what’s stitched between the stanzas that pleases me most of all.

Steve doesn’t compromise. He’s honest and clever and crucially understands EXACTLY how the World works, good and bad. Every single poem perfectly complements the whole to create the most authentic, most honest and satisfying sequence of observations. If the poet’s job is to accurately present to the reader what it is like to exist in their head? Steve’s world is a more accessible version of reality than you’ll ever see on the news, in the papers or on TV. For a tenner, you get what I’m confident is a quintessential Black Country Snapshot. Seriously, value and depth does not come around like this very often.

Personal Favourites

top deck for the imagery
parkour for the inference
you do not listen for the impact

Any Other Business

We’ve been at this now for nearly twelve weeks, and it is becoming apparent how many absolutely fucking brilliant poets are out in the world, many of them destined never to make it past the Indy press or self-publishing ‘tier’ of established output. It is also very obvious how much talent exists if you take the time and energy to seek out work away from the established avenues of publication and mainstream performance.

Steve’s work is an object lesson in self-ownership, self-promotion and understated delivery, and deserves so much more exposure than it currently has. He is the reminder that if you are capable of taking destiny into your own hands, a lot can and will come from hard work and persistence. Most importantly however, this work is achingly authentic and, as a result, is a testament to the man who had the nerve to let us into his brain before sticking it onto the page.

This is his sixth book and fuck me did I enjoy it. Roll on the seventh.