Revision 1029174649 of "Graham Fulton" on enwiki

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'''Graham Fulton''' is a Scottish poet.

==Life and career==
'''Graham Fulton''' (born 8 January 1959) has been writing and performing [[poetry]] since 1987 when he first attended a writers' group run by poet [[Tom Leonard (poet)|Tom Leonard]]  in Paisley, which also included [[Jeff Torrington]], [[Brian Whittingham]] and [[Suhayl Saadi]], and was a founder member of the influential Itinerant Poets performance and publishing group, which featured Jim Ferguson, Ronald McNeil and Bobby Christie. They produced
the ''Tower of Babble'' pamphlet in 1987.

His first major collection of poems ''Humouring the Iron Bar Man'', was published by Polygon in 1990. Further collections include ''This'' (Rebel Inc, 1993), ''Knights of the Lower Floors'' (Polygon, 1994) and ''Ritual Soup and other liquids'' (Mariscat Press, 2002). He was joint winner of the prestigious Scotia Bar First of May Poetry Prize in the 1990s, and was an editorial board member of the ''[[West Coast Magazine]]''  which featured up and coming writers of the time including [[Irvine Welsh]] (short fiction). His work has appeared in numerous literary publications in both the UK and US, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and Scottish Television. He has been the recipient of three Scottish Arts Council bursaries.

Later publications include a sequence about the Glasgow underground called ''Inner Circle'' (2008), ''Found Objects: a CD of photographs'' (2008), ''Suspect Novelties: order, chaos, the whole etc.'' (2009), ''Pocket Fugues'' (2009) and ''twenty three umbrellas'' (2009) which have all been produced by his own imprint Controlled Explosion Press which he established in 2008. These limited editions are often handmade and experimental in nature and combine poetry, photography and illustration.

Publications in 2010 were ''Unsaved Messages'' and ''twenty three buildings'' (both from Controlled Explosion Press) and ''Black Motel/The Man who Forgot How to'' which was launched by award-winning Roncadora Press in October 2010 and features monotype illustrations by artist Hugh Bryden. A full-length collection called ''Open Plan'' about working in an office was published in February 2011 by Smokestack Books. He also found a publisher for his father's World War 2 diaries, ''A Waggoner's War'' by Fergus Fulton, which was produced by Woodfield Publishing in May 2011. ''The Ruin of Poltalloch'', a  chapbook about the Mid Argyll seat of the Malcolm family combining poetry and photographs, was published in June 2011.
''The Zombie Poem'', about attending the casting for zombie movie epic World War Z which was partly filmed
in Glasgow, was published in October 2011. A major full-length collection ''Full Scottish Breakfast'' was published in November 2011 by Red Squirrel Press and ''Upside Down Heart'' (featuring illustrations by artist Becky Bolton) was published in February 2012. A new pamphlet collection ''Speed of Dark'' was published in September 2012, and ''The Universe is a Silly Place'' was published in 2013.

''Reclaimed Land : A Sixties Childhood'', a storypoem history, was published by The Grimsay Press in 2013. ''Photographing Ghosts'' with illustrations by Hugh Bryden was published in 2014 by Roncadora Press, ''One Day in the Life of Jimmy Denisovich'' was published by Smokestack Books in 2014, and ''Continue'' was published by Penniless Press in 2015. A selected poems collection called ''Edible Transmitters'' has been translated into Romanian, Italian and Spanish. He was also a contributor to an anthology of translated Palestinian poetry ''A Bird is not a Stone'' which was published by Freight Books in 2014.

He is also co-author of ''Pub Dogs of Glasgow'', ''Pub Dogs of London'' and ''Pub Dogs of Manchester'' published by Freight Books in 2014 and 2015.

''Brian Wilson in Swansea Bus Station'' was published by Red Squirrel Press in 2015. ''Paragraphs at the End of the World'' was published by Penniless Press in 2016. ''Equal Night'' was published by Irish publisher Salmon Poetry in 2017. Another new work ''Something Good Will Always Happen'' was published by Penniless Press in 2018. ''Circulation'' was published by new Paisley-based publisher Clochoderick Press in 2018. 

A long poem containing illustrations called ''Flesh and Stone'', about the Kilmartin Glen and Loch Craignish area of Argyll, was published by Controlled Explosion Press in 2018. A history ''The Paisley Civil War'' about the town of Paisley's connections to the American Civil War was published by Controlled Explosion Press in 2018.

Other new books since 2018 are ''Glitches of Mortality'' from Pindrop Press in 2018 and ''Consumption: Selected Pamphlets 2008-2019'' from Penniless Press in 2020. ''Coronaworld'', the first major collection of poems about the Coronavirus pandemic by a British poet, was published in August 2020 by Penniless Press. ''Chips, Paracetamol and Wine'' was published by Smokestack Books at the end of 2020. In 2021 ''Replacement Service: Collected Bus Poems'' was published by Seahorse Publications, and ''The Stanley Kubrick Shop'', a pamphlet collection about an exhibition in London in 2019, was produced by Controlled Explosion Press.

In 2003 [[Edwin Morgan (poet)|Edwin Morgan]] was asked to make a list of what he considered to be the best eleven poems written by Scottish poets between the years 1978-2002. Graham Fulton's ''Cream of Scottish Youth'' was included on the list. The full list, and Edwin's letter to Ken Cockburn, can be seen in the book ''Edwin Morgan: The Midnight Letterbox'' which was published by Carcanet in 2015. In 2018 he wasn't awarded a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. Fulton has always been an individualist, working outside the self-appointed back-slapping elite of the Scottish poetry establishment.

He's read his poems live from Los Angeles in the US to [[Barlinnie Prison]] in Glasgow to the [[Morden Tower]] in Newcastle.

==Personal Life and Early Career==

Graham Fulton was born in Hampton, England. He moved to [[Paisley, Renfrewshire|Paisley]] with
his mother and father, Jessie and Fergus, and older brother Gordon
in 1963. He attended Ralston Primary School and Camphill High School, which later became [[Gleniffer High School]],
in Paisley. After school he studied Art and Design at Cardonald College
in Glasgow. He was also one of the writers with punk Fanzine ''Stagnant Pool of Disease''
whose main editor Tommy Cherry went on to form cult Scottish rock band The Bachelor
Pad. Graham Fulton got a job as a Technician with Renfrew District Council in 1981.
A job which lasted 30 years. He used to run marathons. He used to play the drums. He is the great-grandson of [[Alexander McLardie]] who played professional football with Abercorn, St. Mirren and Burnley, and was capped once for the Scottish League in 1893. He married the painter Helen Nathaniel, originally from Swansea, in 2006. In 2014 they co-produced a pamphlet of poems and stories called ''The Dts'' commemorating the birth of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. They live in Paisley.

== Bibliography ==

* ''Tower of Babble''  (with Jim Ferguson, Ronald McNeil and Bobby Christie)  (Itinerant), 1987 {{ISBN|0-9512440-0-0}}
* ''The Eighth Dwarf''   (Itinerant), 1989 {{ISBN|0-9512440-5-1}}
* ''Humouring the Iron Bar Man''   [[Birlinn Limited|Polygon]], 1990 {{ISBN|0-7486-6039-9}}
* ''This''   (Rebel Inc), 1993
* ''Knights of the Lower Floors''   (Polygon), 1994 {{ISBN|0-7486-6154-9}}
* ''Blissed-out for 5: New Writing''   (with David Crystal, [[Des Dillon (writer)|Des Dillon]], Ally May and Shug Hanlan) (Neruda Press), 1997 {{Listed Invalid ISBN|1-900111-10-0 |OCLC=40052450}}
* ''Ritual Soup and Other Liquids''   (Mariscat Press), 2002 {{ISBN|0-946588-32-5}}
* ''Inner Circle''   (Controlled Explosion Press), 2008 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-0-7}}
* ''Found Objects: a CD of photographs''   (Controlled Explosion Press), 2008 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-1-4}}
* ''Suspect Novelties: order, chaos, the whole etc.''   (Controlled Explosion Press), 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-2-1}}
* ''Pocket Fugues''   (Controlled Explosion Press), 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-3-8}}
* ''twenty three umbrellas''   (Controlled Explosion Press), 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-4-5}}
* ''Unsaved Messages''   (Controlled Explosion Press), 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-5-2}}
* ''Black Motel/The Man who Forgot How to''   (Roncadora Press), 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-9535804-3-9}}
* ''twenty three buildings''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-6-9}}
* (scrollpoem) ''The Story of Mulder and Scully Without Having to Watch the Entire Nine Seasons''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2010
* ''Open Plan''  (Smokestack Books), 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-9564175-6-5}}
* ''five coffee stains done on yellow stickies at work''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2011
* ''The Ruin of Poltalloch''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-7-6}}
* ''Waiting for the Clouds'' ( a poem for zombies)  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2011
* ''The Zombie Poem''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2011 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-8-3}}
* ''TV89: Graham Fulton on STV's Inverse'' (DVD) (Controlled Explosion Press), 2011
* ''Full Scottish Breakfast''  (Red Squirrel Press), 2011 {{ISBN|978-1-906700-51-5}}
* ''Upside Down Heart''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-9558996-9-0}}
* ''Speed of Dark''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-0-3}}
* ''The Military Graves of Cockett Cemetery''  (The Lippiatt Press), 2013
* ''Reclaimed Land''  (The Grimsay Press), 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-84530-138-5}}
* ''The Universe is a Silly Place''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2013 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-1-0}}
* ''Return to the Ruin of Poltalloch''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-2-7}}
* ''One Day in the Life of Jimmy Denisovich'' (Smokestack Books), 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-9927409-1-7}}
* ''11 Poems About the First World War'' (Controlled Explosion Press), 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-3-4}}
* ''Photographing Ghosts'' (Roncadora Press), 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-9571994-5-3}}
* ''Pub Dogs of Glasgow''  (with Reuben Paris)  (Freight Books), 2014 {{ISBN|978-1-908754-81-3}}
* ''The DTs''  (with Helen Nathaniel-Fulton)  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2014 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-4-1}}
* ''Newscotland Man''  (Tin Pants Press), 2015 
* ''Continue''  (Penniless Press Publications), 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-326-18276-2}}
* ''Edible Transmitters''  (Bibliotheca Universalis(Romania)), 2015 {{ISBN|978-606-13-2608-2}}
* ''Pub Dogs of London'' (with Fiona Freund)  (Freight Books), 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-910449-41-7}}
* ''Pub Dogs of Manchester''  (with Georgie Glass)  (Freight Books), 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-910449-55-4}}
* ''Brian Wilson in Swansea Bus Station''  (Red Squirrel Press), 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-910437-09-4}}
* ''Paragraphs at the End of the World''  (Penniless Press Publications), 2016 {{ISBN|978-1-326-53275-8}}
* ''twenty three telephones''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2016 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-6-5}}
* ''Equal Night''   (Salmon Poetry), 2017 {{ISBN|978-1-910669-88-4}}
* ''Circulation''   (Clochoderick Press), 2018 {{ISBN|978-1-912345-02-1}}
* ''Something Good Will Always Happen''   (Penniless Press Publications), 2018 {{ISBN|978-0-244-96088-9}}
* ''Flesh and Stone''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2018 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-7-2}}
* ''The Paisley Civil War''  (Controlled Explosion Press), 2018 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-8-9}}
* ''Glitches of Mortality''  (Pindrop Press), 2018 {{ISBN|978-1-9993559-0-6}}
* ''The Ingress Pictures''  (Urban Free Press), 2019 {{ISBN|978-1-9995921-3-4}}
* ''Consumption: Selected Pamphlets 2008-2019''  (Penniless Press Publications), 2020 {{ISBN|978-1-913144-14-2}}
* ''Coronaworld''  (Penniless Press Publications), 2020 {{ISBN|978-1-913144-19-7}}
* ''Chips, Paracetamol and Wine'' (Smokestack Books), 2020 {{ISBN|978-1-9163121-3-5}}
* ''Replacement Service: Collected Bus Poems'' (Seahorse Publications), 2021 {{ISBN|978-1-9162145-6-9}}
* ''The Stanley Kubrick Shop'' (Controlled Explosion Press), 2021 {{ISBN|978-0-9573474-9-6}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
http://www.paisley.org.uk/famous-people/graham-fulton/

==External links==
*Graham Fulton, Poem: [http://www.grahamfulton-poetry.com/poems-past-publications.html#Poem-Humouring-The-Iron-Bar-Man Humouring the Iron Bar Man]
*Graham Fulton website  [http://www.grahamfulton-poetry.com www.grahamfulton-poetry.com]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, Graham}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Poets from Paisley, Renfrewshire]]