Funded by Arts Council England, Faber New Poets set out with the aim to identify and support emerging talents at an early stage in their careers. As Faber Poetry Editor Matthew Hollis puts it, it’s a traditional, three-pronged publishing package, comprising:

1. Mentorship
2. A Bursary
3. First publication in pamphlet form

The Tour Begins

The first four Faber New Poets are Fiona Benson, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, Heather Phillipson and Jack Underwood (with another four being published in May).

For publication and to launch the scheme back in October last year, the four poets – with Faber Editor, chauffeur and part-time pizza chef Hollis at the wheel of their blue minibus – embarked on a UK tour: 1000-plus miles taking in Norwich, Cambridge, Oxford, then north to Hull, Durham, Lumb Bank, Ilkley and across to Manchester, armed with four Flip cameras to document life on the road.

What Goes On Tour Stays On Tour

Except when everyone’s armed with digital cameras … So here, in eight instalments for seven days, we see the poets as they visit the hillside cottage of Ted Hughes and the hometown of Philip Larkin, trespass on university lawns, perform at sold-out events, appear in a BBC ‘Culture Show’ film, bond over beer and Italian food, get lost on the Moors and master rock-star poses.

Day One: Norwich (12th October 2009)

Day One of the Faber New Poets tour sees the poets arriving in Norwich, ‘capital of mutants and mustard’. They’re to be joined by George Szirtes for their evening event at Norwich’s Writers’ Centre & Cafe.

Next stop: Cambridge.

‘I am constantly amazed at how much stranger science is than science fiction.’ - Marcus Chown

Marcus Chown’s books include The Never-Ending Days of Being Dead, Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You (which the Guardian called a ‘limousine among popular science vehicles’ (!)), and now We Need to Talk about Kelvin. He has the great knack of being able to make science both popular and fun – which is probably why he’s recently been appearing on the BBC4 show ‘It’s Only a Theory’:

His new book We Need to Talk about Kelvin is in shops now, and to mark publication he’s embarked on what we think is a first for a Faber author – a guest-blogging tour. Here’s where you can find him:

22 November: Chez Aspie – D J Kirkby’s Blog

1 December: Top 4 Bonkers things about the universe | physics.org

2 December: David Maybury | Blog » Marcus Chown | making your head hurt with logic

6 December: Sue Guiney: Writing Life

7 December: » Interview with Marcus Chown ~ We’re talking about Kelvin

9 December: Gaskella

11 December: The Book of Lost Nights

15 December: teen librarian

15 January: Super Collider Weekly

[Many more legs in pipeline ...]

And when he’s not ‘on tour’, you can always find Marcus on Twitter.