Artist Chris McCabe on psychogeography and the poetics of cities

Artist Chris McCabe's work spans artforms and genres including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama and visual art. His work has been shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and the Republic of Consciousness Prize. Chris's most recent poetry collection, The Triumph of Cancer, is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, and he is the editor of several anthologies including Poems from the Edge of Extinction: An Anthology of Poetry in Endangered Languages and The New Concrete: Visual Poetry in the 21st Century (with Victoria Bean). 

Artist Chris McCabe

His novels are Dedalus and Mud. He is working on an epic series of psychogeographical prose books documenting the lost poets buried in London's Victorian cemeteries, the most recent of which is Buried Garden, which was chosen as a White Review Book of the Year in 2022. His latest books are Dreamt by Ghosts, published by Tenement Press and Hedonism, published by Nine Arches Press. Chris was born in Liverpool in 1977 on the site of a Victorian workhouse. Here is Artist Chris McCabe on psychogeography, influences that have shaped his writing style, and common themes in this writing.

From Liverpool roots to experimental poetry movements

OCW: What life experiences have shaped your writing style?

CM: A childhood enjoyment of Loony Tunes cartoons, enjoying the feeling that anything can happen next. Growing up in working-class Liverpool and later realising that the slang, accents, and spoken vitality all around me could be used as material for poetry. A teenage obsession with the music of Pink Floyd when I absorbed the idea that creative works can contain entire worlds. Moving to London in my early 20s and experiencing the mystery and depth of a city so large it had to be held in the imagination rather than on a map. This was at the time I discovered the great experimental poetry movements of the 20th Century; both this, and the speed of life in London, led to a quicker style of writing.

Artist Chris McCabe on psychogeography and poest-Brexit's influence on his writing

OCW: Can you trace any common themes across your writing?

CM: Cities are a constant theme. My first four collections are focussed on London while my new collection, Hedonism, is a Liverpool book, documenting days and encounters in my home city during the time since I returned to live here. The collection also captures experiences of travelling around other European cities, and there are poems in response to Greece, Slovakia, France and Germany. There’s a tone, or outlook, that gives a kind of post-Brexit lustre to these places – I hadn’t realised this when writing the poems, but when they were gathered together, I was really pleased with how they cohered and spoke to each other.

OCW: Which authors and/or types of books do you like to read?

CM: I read widely across poetry, fiction and non-fiction. In poetry I read from past centuries as well as the present and read work in translation so I can try to learn different approaches to poem-making and thinking. I’m currently reading Alice Notley’s posthumous book On Being Reflected, and revisiting Roy Fisher’s Birmingham poems alongside the apocalyptic visions of Tuareg-poet Hawad. In fiction I read a lot of New Weird stories and novels, interspersed with classics; I’m currently reading Ballard’s dystopian, post-Conrad, post-Herzog The Day of Creation. For non-fiction I’m also drawn to strange ideas and knowledge and am currently reading Erich Von Däniken’s In Search of Ancient Gods which argues that winged Gods from ancient cultures are literal descriptions of aliens that visited from other planets.

OCW: Do you use social media to engage readers, writers, or publishers and, if so, which platforms?

CM: My Instagram page at mccabio1977 is a virtual gallery space where I share my visual artwork across drawing, collage and visual poetry.

Advice for creators: writing as a garden space

OCW: What advice/guidence would you give to writers?

CM: See writing as your garden space, somewhere to retreat to for energy, rather than some kind of launch pad that’s going to alter your reality through success. Build your writing time and space into your life and look forward to being there as regularly as you can. I like to have my notebook with me when I’m reading and move between writing and reading depending on mood; it’s incredible how much you find you’ve written even in moments you weren’t setting about to write anything. This is probably to do with demystifying the writing process – normalising the extraordinary act of creation removes any fear of the blank page.