Monday 18 December 2017

Evergreen Joke and Algernon at Christmas (and Malcolm too)

Here’s a cartoon that I suppose could pass as seasonal (although, to be honest, it’s winter pretty much all year round at Hawker’s Pot):


















And here are Algernon and Mavis (his X) to wish you a very Merry X-mas and remind you that there’s still time to pop The Life and Times of Algernon Swift into somebody’s stocking (but maybe not when they’re walking along).






















And, lastly, Miserable Malcolm hasn’t made a huge number of appearances this year (which is probably a relief for poetry-lovers) but he promises to rectify that in 2018 and bring his unique poetry and performance wherever it is unwelcome. 
In the meantime, if you’re wondering what sort of Christmas he’ll be having, it’ll probably be a bit like this:


Tuesday 12 December 2017

Deep Snow, Puns and Derring-do













Here are Reverend Hawker and Algernon Swift stuck in the recent snowfall. (This is as near to a topical cartoon as I have managed all year.)
Christmas draws ever nigher, and in case you are looking for a present to give someone who loves PUNS, please don’t forget that TheLife and Times of Algernon Swift contains over two hundred of them, and is available from all good shops as well as online.
In other news, my new hand-made book of jokes The Weight on My Mind is now also available in Bristol from the Arnolfini Bookshop and from Sky in Clifton Village. Thank you to both of those shops for stocking it.
(It’s also available in Stroud from Made InStroud. If you don’t happen to be in either of these places please drop me a line.)
And lastly, here’s a tale of American derring-do:

Wednesday 22 November 2017

The Weight on My Mind















Just as the Christmas juggernaut approaches, tinkling with sleighbells and crushing all in its way, I have made a new little book of cartoons.
It is called The Weight on My Mind and features sixteen cartoons of this sort of thing:





If you live in Stroud or nearby, I’ll be at the Museum in the Park’s Festive IllustratorsFair on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd November, sitting there between 11.30am and 4.30pm among suitcases full of books.

If you can’t wait that long, there will also be copies for sale at Deb Roberts’ This and That exhibition on Lower Street, Stroud, this weekend 25th and 26th November and next (2nd and 3rd of December).  Open between 11am and 3pm on both days, it’s a very entertaining exhibition, full of photos of Stroud-based artists, photographs and poets alongside examples of their work, and well worth a visit. 

















If you’re not in Stroud, I’d be very happy to post copies (UK only) for an extra £1.50 p&p for any number of copies (i.e. 5 copies will cost £1.50 p&p in total, as will one copy).

Please contact me via the email address on this website, or direct message me on my Facebook Hawker’s Pot page or on Twitter @hawkerspot if you would like me to send you a book and I will get back to you. Many thanks!

Thursday 16 November 2017

Well, well, well, and a Poetry Reading


The latest Stroud Poets pamphlet (published by Philip Rush’s excellent Yew Tree Press) is being launched tonight, and my poems are featured in it alongside those of Kirsty Pridgeon and Liz Willis. The launch event is at Stroud’s Museum in the Park and starts at 7.30. Entry is free, and along with the three poets featured in the pamphlet there will also be readings by Peter Owen Jones, Tonia Maddison, Kim Baker and Jay Ramsay. 
(Note for the unwary: I will be reading as myself, not as Miserable Malcolm, and some of the poems are even a little bit cheery.)

Friday 3 November 2017

Hairing About
















He seems to be in a terrible hairy.

(And next week, we'll be featuring the must-dash moustache.)

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In other news, I will be at the Meet the Authors event at Stroud Book Festival this Saturday, between 10 and 12 at the Subscription Rooms, and will be signing copies of The Life and Times of Algernon Swift.

Also, here’s advance notice of our November Open Studios at Piccadilly Mill West. Please come up the fire escape and say hello! 


Tuesday 17 October 2017

The Very Polite Flood

This might be classed as a delugional fantasy.





















Meanwhile, as befits an accelerated autumn that seems wholly bent on shaking the leaves off the trees as fast as autumnly possible, here’s a cartoon about running out of time.



Monday 25 September 2017

Robert and Clara Schumann, Joke-Writers (Part 2)


(It’s been a while since the first instalment of “Robert and Clara Schumann, Joke-Writers” so here is a link so you can remind yourself of the story so far.)
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Robert and Clara Schumann wrote some of the greatest jokes of the nineteenth century. However, Clara’s career was often overshadowed by that of her husband. But today Robert and Clara’s jokes are repeated all round the world.



Friday 1 September 2017

Thursday 24 August 2017

Certainly




















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Meanwhile, overheard on a dark and wayward night:

Person A: “She has a very successful career on stage. She’s even been nominated for an Olivier award.”

Person B: “Really? You wouldn’t know it from the way she acts.”

Friday 21 July 2017

Puritan Streak

I sometimes think I’ve got a bit of a Puritan streak, but not like this:

Friday 12 May 2017

Bosky Kids




















And, don’t forget, we’re open for another weekend of Open Studios this weekend at Piccadilly Mill West and all round the Stroud Valleys.  We’re open both days from 11 to 6. (Full brochure here). So pop in, and maybe you’ll get to find out what these people are talking about: