Being the end of the month, this is a good opportunity to look back at the targets I set myself on the 31st March and see how well I accomplished them:

1. Get an audiobook version of “Born Anew” made. This didn’t quite happen, as a few things got in the way. I’m tempted to hold off on this one for now unless there is specific demand for an audiobook version to be made.
2. Launch a YouTube channel. I have indeed launched a YouTube channel. Go check it out!
3. Run some sort of live-streamed event. Quite a few things got in the way of me being able to do this, but I’m seeing an opportunity to do a livestream to celebrate the 3-month release of “Born Anew”. Stay tuned on this.
4. Collaborate with another writer or an artist. I had a great time collaborating with Words in Bloom on “Nazca Lines”, which was out this week.
5. Share some exciting non-poetic work. I was very happy to announce “Metropolis Re-translated” this week! More on that later in the newsletter.

I won’t be setting goals relating to doing anything too different in the following month, but I do have some ongoing bits I want to turn my attention to. Firstly, I have a bunch of poems that are half-finished that I want to get tidied up and out to you all. Secondly, I have a big launch and a lot of work coming up with Over to the Youth, which will be drawing a lot of my time. And finally, I’ll be continuing to release new chapters for the aforementioned Metropolis re-translation.

From Poets Past

I’m sharing another one of Dr Iain McGilchrist’s poem readings this week, being “Cleator Moor” by Norman Nicholson. It paints a harrowing picture of how ordinary people can be exploited for the purposes of war, which is unintentionally becoming a common theme of this section of the newsletter. Perhaps that’s not surprising given the state of the world currently.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFrom one shaft at Cleator Moor
They mined for coal and iron ore.
This harvest below ground could show
Black and red currants on one tree.

In furnaces they burnt the coal,
The ore was smelted into steel,
And railway lines from end to end
Corseted the bulging land.

Pylons sprouted on the fells,
Stakes were driven in like nails,
And the ploughed fields of Devonshire
Were sliced with the steel of Cleator Moor.

The land waxed fat and greedy too,
It would not share the fruits it grew,
And coal and ore, as sloe and plum,
Lay black and red for jamming time.

The pylons rusted on the fells,
The gutters leaked beside the walls,
And women searched the ebb-tide tracks
For knobs of coal or broken sticks.

But now the pits are wick with men,
Digging like dogs dig for a bone:
For food and life we dig the earth -
In Cleator Moor they dig for death.

Every wagon of cold steel
Is fire to drive a turbine wheel;
Every knuckle of soft ore
A bullet in a soldier's ear.

The miner at the rockface stands,
With his segged and bleeding hands
Heaps on his head the fiery coal,
And feels the iron in his soul.

Cleator Moor - by Norman Nicholson

From Poets Present

Whilst Poetic Outlaws often shares some excellent poems from poets past, one of which I shared in last week’s newsletter, this week I read one of Erik Rittenberry’s own pieces, “The Ultimate Return”. For anyone who has struggled to come to terms with both a failing society in the West, and our own place and personal struggles within it, it’s a poignant and moving piece that I resonated with deeply. You can read it in full below:

The Ultimate Return

In the early dark before dawn I awake with a dreary feeling of death dripping from my eyelids. I sit up in bed and listen to the echoes of oblivion haunt my room. The emptiness of 4am streetlights stream into my dreams. The euphoric caress of madness. A poignant premonition of the inevitable. All my yesterdays converge into the no…

Poetic Outlaws

From Me

New Poems

I had the pleasure of releasing my first poetic collaboration this week with the wonderful Words in Bloom. I’ve wanted to do a collaboration for a while now, and had a poem whose premise I really liked but whose execution I was struggling with. I knew Carolyn would be the perfect person to work with on this, and I couldn’t be more grateful for her agreeing to do so. And, it couldn’t be more fitting, considering the poem is all about working with others rather than against them. You can read the poem, “Nazca Lines”, below:

Nazca Lines

This poem is currently available in early access as a thank-you to my Tribe members (paid subscribers). If you’d like to access this poem early, as well as gaining a load of other great goodies, consider becoming a Tribe member today, or

Tom ShawTom Shaw

Metropolis: The Novel - New Translation

This week, I was very pleased to announce a new project, “Metropolis: The Novel - New Translation”. Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou’s 1927 sci-fi dystopian film, “Metropolis”, is regarded as one of the most influential films ever made, and has some interesting moral and philosophical implications on how parasitical societies arise that are still pertinent today. The book adaptation - also by Thea von Harbou - explores this even further, and I’m excited to be working on a new translation to do full justice to the original story. You can read more about why I’m taking on this project on the article below, and you can also read the first chapter for free!

Why I'm Re-Translating Metropolis

Some of the most important personal revelations for my understanding of the events of the past few years has come from literature. Just after the beginning of the first Covid lockdown, I began readin…

Metropolis: The Novel - New Translation

Chapter 1

This book is not a picture of the present. This book is not a picture of the future. This book is not set anywhere we know. This book serves no political leaning, no class, no party. This book tells o…

Metropolis: The Novel - New Translation

And Finally

Thank you for continuing to follow my progress. If you enjoy my works, consider checking out my poetry book, “Born Anew”, which you can find out more about below:

Born Anew

“Born Anew” is a collection of over 20 poems reflective of my inner and outer journey of the past few years. Some poems are more light-hearted and optimistic. Some explore the bleakness of realising …

Tom ShawTom Shaw

It's incredibly heartwarming to know you are here and believe in the work I'm doing, and I can't wait to be able to share more with you and the rest of the world soon.

With gratitude,
Tom