"Nature’s first green is gold"
new poetry by Sarah Barr and Anne Graue
(Photo by Blossom Hibbert)
Dear Anthropocene readers,
Pryvit! How are you today? This has been another busy week of poetry readings. On Tuesday I went to see the Ukrainian poet Ostap Slyvynsky at the University of Nottingham, then I caught a tram to the city centre and saw Alan Baker and Tuesday Shannon read at the Organ Grinder. I performed my strange new poem ‘the sundial as lucrative locomotive’ in the open-mic section. On Wednesday I went to see Andrew Taylor and Kelvin Corcoran read at Nottingham’s finest bookshop, Five Leaves. Finally, last night, newsletter mascot HLR and I attended the Nine Pens online launch of Family Name, a collaborative collection by Jenny Mitchell, Roy McFarlane and Zoë Brigley. When not poeting, we watched Planet Earth III and went to Attenborough Nature Reserve, home to 250 species of birds.
This week on Anthropocene
Wednesday: Sarah Barr
Sunday: Anne Graue
Book recommendations from JP Seabright
JP:
I’ve been reading a lot of poetry this year, over 130 titles - thanks to the Poetry Library’s eBooks. So these five books (three wasn’t enough!) are a mere snapshot of all the brilliant work I’ve read recently.
MORE SKY – Joe Carrick-Varty
A searing and tender exploration of a father’s alcoholism and suicide, encompassing masculinity, identity, family and poverty. What grabbed me most about this debut collection is the variation of form, often experimental and playful at times. Shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize.
(Like this, try this: Hard Drive by Paul Stephenson)
CANE, CORN & GULLY – Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa
This collection blew me away in its ambition and scope, as well the skilful observation of people and place, specifically Barbados. SKK combines this with rhythm and dance using labanotation of Caribbean dance and ritualistic movement, adding further meaning to poems that explore the ongoing impacts of slavery and structural racism.
(Like this, try this: fetch your mother’s heart by lisa luxx)
HYENA! JACKAL! DOG! – Fran Lock
I’m a big Fran fan, and this is the first of her Hyena trilogy, less a poetry collection than a queeristential howl of pushing against the pricks. Violet Visceral Visionary.
(Like this, try this: Letters Against the Firmament by Sean Bonney)
YOU DON’T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE MY NEMESIS – CA Conrad
I was lucky to see CA read in the summer and meet him in person, a character and creator quite like any other. This is a book of somatic rituals rather than ‘poems’ and reading it bestows an almost trancelike oneness and wonder with the natural world, wounds and their healing, and creativity itself.
(Like this, try this: Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency by Chen Chen)
THINGS YOU MAY FIND HIDDEN IN MY EAR: POEMS FROM GAZA – Mosab Abu Toha
I read this most recently, as the eBook was made freely available by the publisher City Light Books. Written by the Palestinian writer Abu Toha whilst in Gaza, this is a heartbreaking testimony to the persistent trauma, destruction and violence wrought on the Palestinian people by the Israeli government. An essential read.
(Like this, try this: Unfortunately, It Was Paradise by Mahmoud Darwish)
Yeah, so I cheated and got 10 books in there. Shhh, don’t tell Charlie!
TL;DR VERSION
Searing, tender, experimental, playful, mind-blowing, rhythmic, violet, visceral, visionary, ritualistic, trancelike, healing, heartbreaking, traumatic, essential.
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That’s all folks.
Enjoy your (non) sunny Sunday,
Charlie xo