Once again Hard Rain by Tony Hoagland graces the number 1 position on the UK Chapbook Chart. Hard Rain is consistently the most popular of chapbooks in the UK and remains a favourite amongst readers throughout the world.

Tony Hoagland is still little known in Europe and yet he made his way into the prestigious British encyclopaedia Contemporary Poets at a very early stage. Since then he has also published Donkey Gospel and What Narcissism Means to Me, books that have won him a swathe of awards in North America. As these titles suggest, Hoagland’s characteristic tone is marked by a deep devotion to hedonism in all its manifestations, humour being one of its mainstays.

New entries this week are Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde at No.4,  The Copper Cascade by Kneel Downe at No.8 and Claret Consulting 2016 Chapbook: Musings on Economics, Politics & Infrastructure by Brian Desilets at No.10.

The top UK chapbook publisher is CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform who have 3 entries in the top ten. The top author is shared between Oscar Wilde and Kneel Downe who both have 2 entries in the top ten.

TOP TEN UK CHAPBOOKS

1 (2) Hard Rain – Tony Hoagland (Hollyridge Press, 20 Oct. 2005)

2 (1) Chapbook 2011 – Gary Maxwell (Kindle, 7 Aug 2015)

3 (3) On The Kitchen Table From Which Everything Has Been Hastily Removed – Olena Kalytiak Davis (Hollyridge Press, 1 July 2009)

4 (-) Ballad of Reading Gaol – Oscar Wilde (Pluto Press, 29 Jun 1978)

5 (4) Over The Skin – Carole Bulewski  (Sampson Low Ltd, 17 Nov 2015)

6 (10) Out of Phaze – Kneel Downe & Steve Taylor-Bryant (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 31 Dec. 2016)

7 (9) Soul of Man Under Socialism – Oscar Wilde (Pluto Press, 1 Jan 1987)

8 (-) The Copper Cascade – Kneel Downe & Steve Taylor-Bryant (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 18 Nov 2016)

9 (5) Murmurations – Stella Tripp (Sampson Low Ltd, 21 Dec 2015)

10 (-) Claret Consulting 2016 Chapbook: Musings on Economics, Politics & Infrastructure – Brian Desilets (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 1 July 2016)