The Aftershock Review (Max Wallis)

Click on ‘reviews’ on the Seren to see the endorsements (not reviews as none yet 😝) - with massive thanks to Mary Jean, @clareshawpoet.bsky.social, Daniel Sluman, Bethany Handley, Sarah Howe, @alycia.bsky.social and @maxwallis.bsky.social for reading at short notice. You’re all amazing.

I’m very pleased indeed to have some of my poetry in the new issue of The Aftershock Review - available to preorder now!

@maxwallis.bsky.social

It's time for renewal - a neon-tinged hope. Issue Three is not finalised yet but here's your chance to pre-order now. www.aftershockreview.com/product-page...

Not sure I told you here but we have funding again for six months of 2026 - five figures and oh my god we are going to be doing some incredible things!

Woman with pink hair flower against a wall of art, smiling

3 poetry books against a wooden floor

Hello. I've just sent my monthly poetry news 'short & sweet' to my subscribers. If you'd like to receive my poetry newsletter too, you can sign up here mailchi.mp/14f20fcd4451... It contains reviews, opportunities for poets & forthcoming events. To read this issue mailchi.mp/d036ac0a0f16... #poetry

What a brilliant poem, Troubleshooting by @rachaelclyne.bsky.social in Issue 2 of Aftershock Review @maxwallis.bsky.social

Let's talk about wallpaper - and poetry I’m not going to say that publishing a magazine is easier than wallpapering at 8.30 in the morning. But I am going to say they come from the same place.

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Now announcing the winners of our 2025 Literature Matters Awards!

Find out more about this year's winning projects, selected by judges Hannah Khalil, Kristen Vida Alfaro, and Steve Cook: https://rsliterature.org/rsl-literature-matters-awards/

It tears apart the polite machinery of the question, exposing how each “Define…” and “In which world…” is already compromised by the frame it assumes. The poem does not simplify; it destabilises, its logic folding inward, spiralling outward, refusing any form of ease at every turn.

Fuck / The Incalculable Unknown by Inua Ellams 'Whomsoever asks if Black folk can be racist / I will now answer / One / Define racism / Two / Define Black / Three / In which world are these Black folk Black / Four / To whom is the racism aimed'

I feel almost shy writing an editorial letter about this incredible poem. Some poems do not arrive; they detonate, and Inua Ellams’ Fuck / The Incalculable Unknown blasts everything open from its first line.

cc @rsliterature.bsky.social

aftershockpoetry.substack.com/p/fuck-the-i...

I'm still unwell - how is everyone else?

I'm ill in bed, which I hate being and reminds me of being ill in bed in other ways. If you want a 2 for £20 christmas bundle we have one up now, just add two issues and it will do the rest: www.aftershockreview.com

Congratulations Beth 🎉🎉🎉Fabulous poem in the fabulous ‘Aftershock Review’ @maxwallis.bsky.social - this small but mighty poem more than holds its space! I love it like a prayer … polished and buffed like the taps you turn and off with your elbows 🥰😘❤️

I didn’t realise you were in Chorley Brian!

My frenetic London party lifestyle drove me to a nervous breakdown Max Wallis was at the epicentre of the style set. Then he crashed, was sectioned — and changed his life

“My life of excess was replaced with illness, then slowly with hope. My mantra remains simple: choose life, over and over again. And on the hardest mornings, the only words I can still say to myself: well done, you didn’t die.”

www.thetimes.com/article/f38a...

Just devoured this today @maxwallis.bsky.social. Thanks for sending. Fantastic write, so real. @vervepoetrypress.bsky.social

STORE UPDATE - we now have a sidecart and it's easier to add things to your basket and still select more. Blackfriday discount automatically applied.

www.aftershockreview.com

there were nights / I couldn't tell the difference / between touch and vanishing

❤️

Current reading material

@maxwallis.bsky.social

Well Done, You Didn't Die (SIGNED) | Aftershock Review This is a signed copy of Max Wallis's book Well Done, You Didn't Die. 'One of the most memorable titles of the year' - The Bookseller In Well Done, You Didn’t Die, Max Wallis returns with a searingly ...

or with our backs against the wall.”

You can buy a signed copy direct from me here: www.aftershockreview.com/product-page...

of public spaces, the poem stops itself mid judgmental-thought to remind the poet and reader that their judgement is also their behaviour. This poem calls out shame and owns its need to feel alive with touch, and in so doing, elevates life and a love for life - choosing to live loudly on our knees

Two poems from my new book. The first one won @vervepoetryfest.bsky.social June’s POTM

“Our winning poem for Poem of the Month is Thinking of how many elevators by Max Wallis which was the most loud and unapologetic entry. Beginning with thinking about intimate opportunities in private spaces

35% off for Black Friday - just use the code! www.aftershockreview.com/category/all...

Am sitting on the rug, deep in the new issue of The Aftershock Review. I’m honoured to have three poems in exceptional company in an edition which explores ‘the anatomy of aftermath,’ all thanks to @maxwallis.bsky.social Anna Percy and Suzi Feay.

I'm delighted to be part of this anthology of groundbreaking poetry on trauma. Congratulations @maxwallis.bsky.social
www.aftershockreview.com

Front covers in varying shades of orange, pink, grey, white and black of 4 poetry pamphlets: Rue Collinge’s ‘How to train your Dragon’, Glyn Edwards’s ‘How to Make a Paper Grenade’, Katrina Naomi’s ‘dance as if’ and Max Wallis’s ‘Well Done, You Didn’t Die’

Truly inspiring poetry tonight courtesy of the @vervepoetrypress.bsky.social brilliant ‘four pamphleteers’ - @maxwallis.bsky.social, @thewordtinker.bsky.social, @glynedwards.bsky.social & @katrinanaomipoet.bsky.social 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

Getting ready to read The Aftershock Review. Look at those names. Oh my! Many thanks @maxwallis.bsky.social🌟

Lmao! Maybe we should do an in conversation thing, series of posts. Shall we do a thread on Facebook? Or Substack! Or a big fax machine if you have one xxx big love

So much this @betarish.bsky.social. I think it is soft hope & breath made paper. It is part unpeeling part armour part wish part prayer. A mosaic that appears only when the pieces of us settle. Sometimes the poem asks; sometimes the reader answers; often the answer is simply the act of making.