Something a little different on the Ramblings today, as I share my thoughts on a lovely little indie publication which straddles several genres! “Newcastle, Endless” by Alex Niven was a title I stumbled across on Twitter (such a bad influence for books), and I was intrigued. I reviewed “The Book of Newcastle” back at the beginning of 2020, and related in that post my connection with the city via a visit many moons ago. Being an exiled Scot, I’m always drawn north anyway, and I’ve explored the work of the Morden Tower poets too. I thought Niven’s book sounded like it might be an essential adjuct to these readings, and I wasn’t wrong.
“Newcastle, Endless” is published by Canalside Press, and is a beautiful little edition which as well as containing Niven’s verses, also features colour images of the city by Euan Lynn, a prologue from Adam Sharr, and an afterword by Patrick Lynch, Editor and Publisher at Canalside. The poems explore the architecture and landscape of the city, an every-changing one, with the supporting texts focusing on the effects on the city structure of T. Dan Smith. The latter was an idealistic leader of the Labour Newcastle City Council in the 1960s, and although he was brought down by scandal it’s clear that his intentions for the city were sound ones. So the verse is divided into sections, interspersed with extracts from Smith’s autobiography, and the resulting book is a fascinating mixture of poetry, architecture, politics and history.
Niven is a lecturer in English Literature at Newcastle University, as well as a regular contributor to a variety of publications and author of another very interesting sounding book I may have to track down. His verse is a variation on the sonnet form, but lacking punctuation, which makes it beautiful and hypnotic to read. There’s also one poem which takes a more tradition ballad form and it’s very moving – this is the opening verse:
Once I was a man of light
The day was early in my head
But now my heart is with the night
And all my dreams are of the dead
Other verses explore city locations such as the Civic Centre, Fenwick’s department store, Grainger Town and the Tyne Bridge. As one of the pithy quotes from Smith points out, we love water and mountains and things which appear to exist ‘naturally’ but are often offended by built landscapes – why is that, he wonders, and are we capable of integrating our constructions into a landscape so that they belong there? I think that’s probably something town planners are still trying to work out (if they actually think about what they’re doing nowadays, instead of just allowing anything interesting to be torn down and any old thing to be thrown up…)
I found “Newcastle, Endless” to be one of those unexpected, serendipitous discoveries, where you find a book purely by chance and it turns out to be quite brilliant. As a meditation on the changes in Niven’s city, it’s moving; the poems are lyrically engaging and lovely; and historical elements intriguing. And as well as being fascinating to read, it’s a beautiful object in its own right, with the images complementing the text and the extra material enhancing the whole experience of reading – I shall have to take a look at the rest of Canalside’s books. Anyway, this turned out to be a wonderful and evocative read which really made me think about the landscapes in which we live. Highly recommended and I’m off to see what Niven’s other book is about… ;D
Margot Kinberg
Nov 05, 2021 @ 11:16:27
Oh, those little gems are the best, aren’t they? It’s just extra-special when you find something unexpected that also turns out to be very good. I’ve been to Newcastle a couple of times, too, and I’m really interested to see the sides of it that he portrays. Sounds like a great find!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 05, 2021 @ 14:08:41
They are – I love stumbling across unexpected books and this one was really wonderful. Newcastle is a really atmospheric city, from my memories of it – would love to visit again one day!
peterleyland
Nov 05, 2021 @ 17:58:47
Well that is absolutely fascinating. My acquaintance with Newcastle or at least it’s people began in the 60s with Barry MacSweeney, one of the Morden poets who lived with us in our flat in Finchley, writing The Last Bud. He was at the time a fan of Keats, no architecture for him. I wrote an Authors Electric piece about it.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 06, 2021 @ 12:30:02
Indeed, I think I read your piece, Peter! The Morden Poets are so interesting, and the cultural side of Newcastle is a reminder that civilization doesn’t stop at Watford Gap!!!
heavenali
Nov 05, 2021 @ 20:49:17
What a lovely little book to come across. It’s years since I went North, we used to go to Durham to visit my dad’s family when my sister and I were growing up. Newcastle was an occasional big day out when we were staying up there.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 06, 2021 @ 12:28:37
It was one of thosse serendipitous finds on Twitter – such a bad influence for books – and I was *so* glad I spotted it. I really must get up north again soon – always love being near the north east coast (because of Edinburgh, I suppose!)
Julé Cunningham
Nov 05, 2021 @ 23:40:35
Oh lovely! Another wonderful publisher and writer for you to explore further!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 06, 2021 @ 12:27:24
I know… And I must confess that since reading this, several of the author’s works might have made their way into the Ramblings… 😉
Julé Cunningham
Nov 06, 2021 @ 23:03:42
If they hadn’t I’d be asking if you felt all right…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 07, 2021 @ 14:53:30
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Davida Chazan
Nov 06, 2021 @ 15:54:44
Yes, serendipitous discoveries are the BEST!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 06, 2021 @ 16:06:36
They are, and this was a wonderful treat!
Liz Dexter
Nov 06, 2021 @ 17:10:18
Oh, that sounds rather lovely (and counts for Novellas in November, surely, too). Well done for happening upon it at just the right time!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 06, 2021 @ 18:37:29
It was perfect, just what I needed to read at the time – and I’m afraid it’s sent me off exploring the author’s other works!!
madamebibilophile
Nov 07, 2021 @ 14:20:37
This sounds absolutely lovely! I’ve never been to Newcastle and I’d planned a couple of days there in May 2020 – the best laid plans… But I hope to get there soon and this sounds a real treat of a read once I know the city a wee bit better.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Nov 07, 2021 @ 14:52:52
It’s a real treat – a wonderful mixture of poetry and prose, and so interesting! I do hope to visit Newcastle again one day, and ramble around all the interesting bits!
“Morbid nostalgia is the evil twin of technological modernity.” @Alex_Niven @RepeaterBooks #NonFicNov | Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Nov 24, 2021 @ 14:04:07
“Persian has destroyed what lingering respect I had for grammar…” #basilbunting @Alex_Niven @OxUniPress | Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Sep 09, 2022 @ 07:01:19
A powerful and trenchant look at the fortunes of the North – over @ShinyNewBooks @BloomsburyBooks @Alex_Niven | Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Feb 15, 2023 @ 07:02:02
“…an affirmative statement of possibility…” @Alex_Niven #nonfictionnov | Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
Nov 29, 2023 @ 07:00:54