Reviews
Books
One Man Queue by Adrian Buckner ISBN 0 9535401 3 8
Adrian Buckner displays a deceptively sharp wit in these mostly quiet poems; he reflects, among other things, on literary societies, reading the papers, expenses, libraries and cricket - not, perhaps, the most scintillating and original of subject matter, but he's s a deft, confident wordsmith with an eye for an engaging image, and he never over-states his case. In ‘After Rain’ he writes: ‘I taste in my tea/the just turned milk,//stare and savour/the wound in the turf -/how it will mend,/is mending already.’ (CS)
Leafe Press, 1 Leafe Close, Chilwell, Nottingham, NG9 6NR £3.50
The Sugar Factory by Ann O'Neill ISBN 0 9539196 6 8
This is a very engaging, warm and funny short collection, in which the poet's voice, and the voices of the people she writes about, interweave seamlessly. Although often rooted in the domestic, Ann O'Neill's poems are seldom cosy or complacent, and she explores the conflicts and divisions of family and society with keen humour and wit. In ‘Found Lonely Hearts’ she writes: ‘Gent, homely, articulate,/likes nights in/out, Bruce/Springstein.’ (CS)
Diamond Twig, 5 Bentinck Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 6UT £5.00
Comrade Laughter by Andy Croft ISBN 1 873226 66 7
The blurb described this as ‘a book for humourless old lefties everywhere. It only hurts when you laugh.’ I was glad to come across a book that dealt with subjects beyond the self - there seems to be so much self-reflective musing in much of what's published at the moment - and I was impressed at many of the poems: at their best, they're tough, muscular and accessible, they are a confident and adroit balance of ideas and technical skill. Mostly, his rhyme schemes work, and where they don't, they're still quite funny. Buy this for your favourite humourless leftie. In ‘Sunlight and Heat’ he writes: ‘A season without rain: the Teesrecedes,/ Revealing its accumulated slimes -/A muddy archaeology of needs.’ (CS)
Flambard Poetry, Stable Cottage, East Fourstones, Hexham NE47 5DX £7.50
A Place Apart by Stuart Henson ISBN 1 899549 91 9
This is an impressive, assured collection, despite the rather limp title. It’s a narrative sequence tracing the relationship between the poet’s great-grandparents - which could have been ordinary and cosy, but isn't, because the story itself is filled with tensions, conflict and separation, and the poet knows his stuff where powerfully restrained language is concerned. I really liked ‘Her secret’: ‘Her secret is small and hard/and green and invisible.//After the raggy white/musk of the blossom,/each tiny receptacle/swelling to fruit.’ An ambitious undertaking which works very well. Highly recommended. (CS)
Shoestring Press, 19 Devonshire Avenue, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 1BS £7.95
A Wasp on the Stair by David Perman ISBN 1 873468 97 0
These are largely earnest, friendly, accessible poems, not particularly subtle in their intent or execution, but as a whole I enjoyed this collection. There's evidence of the poet’s compassion, humour and humanity here, and at their best they hit the spot; at times, though, I felt I was being lectured. A poem which worked well for me was ‘Corked’: ‘They work in pairs moving methodically/among the chocolate trunks, choosing/which to incise with their curved axes.’ (CS)
Rockingham Press, 11 Musley Lane, Ware, Herts, SG12 7EN £7.95
Of Birds and Men - Poems from a Persian Divan by Mahmud Kianush
ISBN 1 904851 00 2
‘With my English poems, I want to greet the people of my second home in a simple language and let them know I am a Persian poet,’ says Mahmud Kianush. These are poems that don't shy away from embracing the spiritual as well as the physical, and there's a tender, precise sensuality I found really beguiling and engaging. In ‘Flamenco’ he writes: ‘And in his veins flow/The blood and milk/Of Anahita,/The goddess of Water.’ (CS)
Rockingham Press £7.95
Just after Midnight by Judith Kazantzis ISBN 1 904634 02 8
This new collection demonstrates the formidable range within which Judith Kazantzis is capable of writing. There are elegies here for her parents, but the collection also contains her highly praised rendering of Homer (an extract of which has appeared in these pages). This poet’s first collection appeared nearly thirty years ago, but there is ample evidence here that she has found a significant number of new avenues to explore. (JP)
Enitharmon Press, 26B Caversham Road, London NW5 2DU £8.95
The Paradise Construction Company by J. G. Nichols
ISBN 1 84391 778-5
In J. G. Nichols’ poem ‘The Honours of a Feast’ we find the lines ‘mostly, I talk in myth. It is my taste, / and it would not become you as a guest / To say I really ought to make it new / Dine elsewhere if you wish...’, which to me neatly sums up his attitude to writing and reading poetry. We are guests at the poet’s table and he serves us a blend of poetic cuisine that unashamedly combines Greek gods and goddesses with King Arthur’s knights, German expressionism with biblical characters and is peppered with the likes of Satan and God, and should this be too rich a meal to stomach we can go and read something else instead. I certainly didn’t want to. His poems are well-crafted and his poetic references are never self-indulgent, since he spices his work with humour and cheerfulness. Outstanding in this collection is ‘A Tuscan Year’, a calendar poem comprising 14 highly introspective sonnets: ‘I settle with my books beside the ocean; / The usual wind from Ireland whips it white; / I notice ships on the horizon / Pause in the mind when they’ve dropped from sight ..’ (AL)
Herla (an imprint of Hesperus Press) £8.99 (hardback)
The Last Picking by Norman Wallis ISBN 0 9549403 0 X
Norman Wallis’s evocation of rural Kent in the 1930s in a country on the brink of war is both subtle and compelling. This first novel reads almost like an elegy for a long lost England. (SH)
The Ashley Press (available from the Frogmore Press) £4.99
Reviews by Simon Harker, Alexandra Loske, Jeremy Page, Rachel Playforth and Catherine Smith.
Page(s) 36-38
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