John McCullough's Crowd Voltage reviewed in The Irish Times
'Elegant, curious, and surreal, McCullough’s poetry invades like moss, making everything alive again. A stunning, vibrant collection from one of the UK’s most inventive thinkers. Glorious.' – Joelle Taylor on Crowd Voltage
John McCullough's fifth collection Crowd Voltage was published by Bloodaxe in March 2026. He has published four previous collections, one with Salt and three with Penned in the Margins, most recently, the Costa-shortlisted Reckless Paper Birds (2019), winner of the Hawthornden Prize, and Panic Response (2022), which included his long poem 'Flowers of Sulphur', shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. His first collection of poems, The Frost Fairs, was published by Salt in 2011 and won the Polari First Book Prize. It was a Book of the Year in The Independent as well as a summer read in The Observer.
Crowd Voltage addresses yearnings for community. It probes fragmentation within groups and individuals – disturbances within the body of the crowd and the crowd of the body. Engaging with working-class and queer experiences, the poems move between solitude and togetherness, haunted by ghosts from history as they dream of unity and discover joy in deserted corners. To be common here is to share not only qualities but stories with many others – to be classed alongside people with similar origins and become connected also to what is commonplace in the world of animals and plants, days and tables. Sky and sea dominate as the speakers search for oneness and completion, confronted by vast silences and the shadow of Brighton’s collapsing West Pier.
John McCullough will be giving reading from his fifth collection Crowd Voltage around the UK during Spring 2026. Details on our website events page here.
PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH JOHN McCULLOUGH
The Poems We Made Along The Way, Episode 46: John McCullough, 6 April 2026
An in-depth interview with John McCullough features on Episode 46 of The Poems We Made Along The Way podcast. He was in conversation with host Gregory Kearns about queer joy and neurodivergence as well as speaking in detail about his fifth collection Crowd Voltage. John also talked about the poets who have influenced and energised his work, including Bloodaxe poets Selima Hill and the late poets Ken Smith, WS Merwin, Rosemary Tonks and Roddy Lumsden.
‘On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to John McCullough about queer joy, neurodivergence, and conveying energy in a poem.’
John McCullough was also interviewed about his new collection for Andrew Kay's weekly arts show on Latest TV Brighton on 31 March. This will soon be made available on YouTube.
REVIEW IN THE IRISH TIMES
The Irish Times, New Poetry, Saturday 4 April 2026
Mícheál McCann gave John McCullough’s fifth collection Crowd Voltage a brilliant review at the top of his new poetry round-up in The Irish Times of Saturday 4 April 2026. The feature was illustrated with a photograph of archers relating to a poem from Crowd Voltage, with the caption: ‘In John McCullough's ‘Quiver’, we are presented with a cloud of arrows in mid-air.’
‘The pursuit of a community or crowd is perhaps the central queer origin myth. When you've found said crowd you could become the cool kids, the in crowd - you belong and are finally afforded some plurality. The singular pronoun becomes collective. These concerns are explored in John McCullough's perky and open-hearted Crowd Voltage […] There is a preternatural empathy laced through McCullough's work, […] Poems in this collection put me in mind of a meeting of Mark Doty and Frank O'Hara, but something uniquely McCullough's too in their openness. […] The collection swings delightfully from the surreal – the voice of Brighton's iconic and collapsing West Pier features heavily – to the more straightforward albeit beautiful lyric poems and then back again’ – Mícheál McCann, The Irish Times
In print on 4 April 2026. The review is available online by subscription here.
POETRY PHARMACY BOOK OF THE MONTH
Poetry Pharmacy, Book of the Month, online 28 March 2026
Crowd Voltage was featured as the Poetry Pharmacy's Book of the Month for March 2026. Their newsletter of 28 March featured John McCullough's poem 'Sunfish' from the collection.
'...a collection alive with the tension between solitude and togetherness. The poems explore what it means to belong, to a crowd, to a body, to a shared story. Moving through working-class and queer experience, these poems explore both connection and fracture, the ways we come apart and the ways we find each other again.' – Poetry Pharmacy, on Crowd Voltage (Book of the Month for March 2026)
Read the full feature here.
REVIEW COVERAGE
Poetry Book Society Bulletin, Spring 2026
An excellent brief review of John McCullough’s fifth collection Crowd Voltage was featured in the Spring 2026 issue of the PBS Bulletin.
'Crowd Voltage is a lively, striking exploration of community and connectedness, McCullough paints the body as part of something bigger, whether celestial, architec-tural, or ecological – these poems examine class, queer lineage, and our "non-human family". [...] A bright and thoughtful book.' – Jenny Danes, Poetry Book Society Bulletin
In print only. The Bulletin is sent to members of the Poetry Book Society.
ONLINE LAUNCH EVENT
Tuesday 24 March 2026, 7pm - YouTube
Online launch reading by Lily Blacksell, Rita Ann Higgins and John McCullough
Lily Blacksell, Rita Ann Higgins and John McCullough celebrated the publication of their new books by reading live and discussing their work with the host, Bloodaxe editor Neil Astley.
This free Bloodaxe launch event was streamed on YouTube Live and is now available on this YouTube page: https://youtube.com/live/p_0hOeoZUtE
Brilliant readings from all three poets followed by an excellent discussion. John read last in each set.
[26 March 2026]
