The Starbeck Orion Issue #9 Showcasing: Alan Parry, Page 10 of 25

A Feast Of Words And Image

Here's a link to Alan’s latest published writing: Peeling Apples:

https://amzn.eu/d/1wcrqRt

Festschrift Interview

Q:8. How did "Belisama" come about?

Belisama started with an invitation, or more accurately, an opportunity I chose to answer on my own terms. Dreich had put out a call for their Alliance Award, a collaborative pamphlet project, and the idea of writing towards something collective, something bound by both purpose and locality, really appealed.

I reached out to three poets I trusted: Paul Robert Mullen, Mary Earnshaw, and David Walshe. Paul and I had already built The Broken Spine from the ground up, and both Mary and David had featured in our publications before. There was already a creative shorthand between us, mutual respect, open ears, no egos. That made it easy to get moving quickly. I said I’d steer it, and they backed me. We wrote, shared, edited, challenged each other. No posturing. Just the work.

The Southport Poets banner came naturally. That was the link. A complicated link, in my case. I’ve never had a simple relationship with my hometown. It’s often at odds with the way I see the world. But that tension gave the collection its edge. My poems in Belisama aren’t nostalgic. They’re watchful, sometimes critical, often conflicted. Mary, as the outlier geographically and the only female voice, offered a perspective that broke things open in necessary ways. David brought a depth of local knowledge that grounded us, not in sentiment, but in substance. And Paul, well, Paul brought that easeful brilliance he always brings. His phrasing lifts the whole pamphlet.

We didn’t write it to win. But we knew it was strong. Real. Messy, sharp, rooted. To win the award with that project, under that name, with that group, it meant something. Still does.