No Light / Might Escape by Joe Hakim Published by Night Publishing

Joe Hakim is a performance poet and a writer. He is also involved in Hull Truck theatre with the Write to Speak sessions with Mike Watts, another excellent Hull-based poet. I have read some of his work on thisisUll.com, and he has a couple of poems in the excellent new poetry collection, Hull Connection, edited by the always superb Peter Knaggs (get hold of copies of his The Slab series - where he calls himself Wilton Carhoot - if you can), but this is the first time I have read Joe's work as a choreographed piece where it is profoundly bleak yet aspiring, down-to-earth yet evocative. Hull in the UK is an old industrialised fishing town ('city', actually, but it always modestly describes itself as a town in the same way as its ships are always 'boats').

It has been a place without hope for so long - even for those working all hours against impossibly dangerous odds - that it has become somewhere which tolerates what would be considered as a failed life anywhere else. It must be fast becoming one of the most extraordinarily artistic places in Britain, nurturing well over fifty published writers, poets, playwrights and other beer-swilling ne'er-do-wells who are insistently encouraged and supported by Cilla Wykes of thisisUll.com and John Godber of Hull Truck. Joe Hakim's No Light / Might Escape (a reference to the essence of a black hole) shows exactly why.

Nobody tells you in school that poetry can be funny, but Joe's writing is hilarious, a genuine jig on the end of life's rope. The stories and the verse merge to give an intense account of one life lived largely in the dark, where every chink of light is either sunshine or the flash of some random disinterested sniper's bullet.

The short stories and poems dance together perfectly. The short stories also tell one progressive narrative throughout the book, although they may not mark progress in any conventional sense. Absolutely gripping. Treat yourself. Out of great hardship great art mostly emerges. Light does escape. Here is the proof. Special Offer - for a limited period only you can buy Buy No Light / Might Escape for £6.99 from thisisUll.com.

Available from Amazon Here Available from Kindle Here Available from Smashwords Here Links: Night Publishing Profile Joe Hakim Featured Writer Page Apples and Snakes Profile

See and Hear Joe Hakim's poetry on the Apple ™ iPhone, iTouch and iPad. iPoetry on iTunes App Store Larkin25 on iTunes App Store

PRESS RELEASE - Larkin25 (iPad/iPhone/iTouch ) Application on Apple iTunes AppStore Version 1.0 On Sale Now
	Made in Hull - thisisUll.com announces the release of it's latest development - Larkin25 is a living anthology of poetry collected to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the death of Philip Larkin, poet, who made his home in Kingston Upon Hull in the UK. Introducing poetry written by local poets from Hull and its surrounding areas in celebration of Philip Larkin's life and featuring works performed at 'They f*** you up' live performances at Hull Truck Theatre in July 2010. Read more...

News, Arts Mapping The City
	During the month of May, Leeds based arts company Slung Low will be inviting Hull audiences to a night of groundbreaking immersive theatre. The show called Mapping the City will run for four consecutive nights 4th-8th of May 2011. It has been written especially for Hull, using Hull as its inspiration, by celebrated playwrights, James Phillips, Mathew David Scott and Jenny Worton . Mapping the City is described in Read more...

News, Arts Hull Truck Theatre Responds to ACE Funding Announcement
	Hull Truck Theatre has been boosted by news that it has retained full Arts Council England (ACE) funding until 2015, with inflationary increases year-on-year. The ACE report which recommends Hull Truck for funding provides a ringing endorsement of both artistic vision and the company's business model. It praises the theatre's partnerships and focus on new writing and explicitly recognises the need to sustainably fund change Read more...

News, Arts The Momentous Launch of The Hull Connection at The History Centre, Hull - Saturday 12th February
	The Hull Connection The History Centre Saturday 12th February 2011 2.15pm Admission Free. A collection of at least a dozen of the brightest stars in the firmament of English poetry will be reading at the launch of a groundbreaking poetry book at The History Centre on 12th February 2011 at 2.15pm. All of the poets have a Hull Connection, Read more...

News, Arts Hull's Latest Poetry Anthology - The Hull Connection; Extracting Poetry
	New from Muesli Jellyfish, creators of Purple Patch Small Press Publication of the Year - Slab of Fun. A stonewall 100% thoroughbred book of Hullite poetry, quintessentially Hulldonian in outlook and perspective, brimful of loquacious Hullnes: Wilton Carhoot. This book maps the poetic activity that has taken place in Hull since the publication of the 1982 book book A Rumoured City, which was forwarded by Philip Larkin, Read more...

News, Arts Heritage Lottery Fund awards £50k to architecture centre to explore Hull's 'spirit of place'
	Arc, the architecture and built environment centre for Hull and the Humber region, has secured £49,700 of Heritage Lottery Fund money to deliver a project exploring the notion of Hullness. The centre, which is part of a national network of centres across the UK, will be asking - 'Is there such a thing as Hullness? Read more...

News, Arts Hull Poet, Mike Watts' Debut Collection Available Now By Tim Roux
	Coming from a street near Mike Watts, I happen to know quite a lot about Hull and the extraordinary artistic flare up that has happened there over the last 40 years since the arrival of Philip Larkin of Hull University, John Godber of Hull Truck, and Cilla Wykes of ThisisUll, all of whom have had a major effect on the area (and if those sound like honorary titles they've got there, they should be). Read more...