Books vs. Wizards

Much has been written about how the book trade won't make much out of the new Harry Potter book; well today it lost a few sales, I'm sure. I couldn't be bothered queueing behind a load of people clutching their Deathly Hallows.And that was after I'd managed to find 3 for 2 in the Waterstones holiday reads. Oh well, it's not like I'm short of reading matter. Interested to see Salt publishing so well represented on this years' Forward list, much being made of the youth of Luke Kennard, shortlisted for The Harbour Beyond the Movie at a callow 26; though on a 2nd collection, with various prizes behind him and a PhD in motion he's clearly an experienced hand in many ways. Liking the poems I read on the Salt site, I went to buy it from their online shop - but after several frustrated attempts, (e.g. it insists I gave a county, but doesn't list Greater Manchester as an option), I bought it from Amazon instead, where it was cheaper anyway. Oh well. Kennard's poems seem to be sparky and surreal, like a more playful Mark Ford. I look forward to reading the book. It seems to have come from a different direction than other heralded young poets - his work championed by more experimental magazines such as Succour, for which he's an editor.