a finger in derek jarman’s mouth

To mark the 30th anniversary of his death, Polari Press are publishing a finger in derek jarman’s mouth. Accompanied by cyanotype impressions, a finger in derek jarman’s mouth is a poetic tribute to Jarman’s inspiring legacy spun from the multi-coloured threads of his extraordinary life – writer, artist, queer and AIDS activist, designer, filmmaker, and gardener.

After his diagnosis Jarman bought Prospect Cottage, facing Dungeness nuclear power station, where he created a beautiful garden in the harshest of environments. Unashamed of his HIV status, Jarman died of AIDS-related illness on the 19 February 1994, aged 52.

Simon Maddrell is a queer Manx poet thriving with HIV in Brighton & Hove. They are published in twenty anthologies and over eighty publications including Acumen, AMBIT, Butcher’s Dog, Poetry Wales, Stand, The Gay & Lesbian Review, The Moth, The Rialto, Under the Radar. In 2020, Simon’s second pamphlet, Queerfella, jointly-won The Rialto Open Pamphlet Competition. In 2023, Isle of Sin (Polari Press) and The Whole Island (Valley Press) were Poetry Book Society Selections.