Textual Appraisals
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I, URSULA, RUTH STACEY
I, Ursula begins with Averse Muse (p.7). A confident poem with a knowing humour, it warns men of the dangers of falling in love with female poets and the reader of what is to come. Here the word ‘suckles’ becomes a weapon, the poet’s honey persona sweet and dangerous as a gingerbread house.
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WITNESS, JONATHAN KINSMAN
The style of the poetry pamphlet witness is reminiscent of Oswald’s Book of Hours by Steve Ely. Ely forges Anglo Saxon legend, medieval English and Biblical language with contemporary characters from West Yorkshire: Kinsman reimagines the stories of the apostles as 21st century people living in Britain. There is a portrait poem here for each […]
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The Lost Art of Sinking, Naomi Booth
How is it possible to make the subject of asphyxiation for the purpose of pleasure so entertaining? In this novella Booth succeeds in bringing a light touch to an obsession that could be fatal yet without trivialising it. Lines like ‘I did well in my A-Levels. I think de-oxygenation made me especially receptive to Romantic […]