Oli Spleen

Hastings: a Town of Words, History and Myth

Posted on 24 July 202525 July 2025 by Oli Spleen

Oli Spleen On September 10, Moth Light Press will publish a book to commemorate two hundred years of Hastings poetry. Poet Town: The Poetry of Hastings & Thereabouts will be released in two paperback editions, featuring images of the contemporary poets in their chosen locations, brilliantly captured by photographer Maxine Silver. The first section of…

Hastings Examiner (Hex for short) is a community news source for Hastings, East Sussex.

We aim to take a deeper look at issues affecting the town, and are more than happy to support community-led initiatives trying to make Hastings a better place.

Have a look around. If you like what you read, check out our mission statement or get in touch via info@hastings-examiner.uk. We’re a voluntary organisation and welcome anyone who wants to get involved.

Everything still under development.

We’re a largely text-based outfit here, so you’re going to find a few poets lurking.

Beginnings

Out of the primordial gooo
A beginning
Birth red and writhe like maggot
On the untrod surface of its earth
Gasp the first untainted breath
Flush lung from liquid’s grasp
And writhe toward your unknown future
All was written from scratched beginnings
Fragments scraped from disparate corners
No truths true but paradox
All logic mere invention
All walls built with nothing but
Bricks and mortar / sand and water
And all sand slips away in time
Structures crumble
Empires fall
And life begins again
Of a new primordial rubble

Oli Spleen, 2000

This section is meant for local poets. Submit your poems to info@hastings-examiner.uk. They’ll be added to our archive and eventually featured here.