Review of Callanan’s New Collection At The Afterword
November 26th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Flicking through the RSS feeds on my Blackberry Reader this morning, I noticed a piece in the Afterword written by Michael Lista that reviews Mark Callanan’s new book Gift Horse. I’ve heard some interesting things about this collection and the focus Mark’s work has taken lately, and will certainly be reading this one as soon as I get a copy (I’m in St. John’s this weekend, so may have to take a run to the bookstore to get it). I’d do so even without the love shown to it and the author by Lista, who writes an interest-raising review.
While you’re at it, if you haven’t read it yet, see if you can get your hands on Mark’s first book, Scarecrow. You should probably drop by his blog to get the latest from him as well.
Milosz in the Times Literary Supplement
November 24th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
There’s an article in the Times Literary Supplement this week that focuses on Czeslaw Milosz and his legacy as one of the twentieth centuries great poetic voices. Well worth a read if you’re interested. It’s unusual to have a poet hold such a position of importance in the cultural world as Milosz has, with his work becoming more and more widely read around the world; to quote the article, “Few poets have been feted with such rock-star exuberance as Milosz.”
I was first introduced to his poetry by my wife, who had been an admirer of his work for quite some time. She bought me an edition of his poems, selected by Robert Hass, and once I picked it up I could not put it down. Just this evening I had to pick it up once more to read “A Song On The End Of The World” and “Café”, two poems I particularly love that happen to be on facing pages in the volume. I’m still haunted by the beauty in the image of a bumblebee visiting flower after flower juxtaposed against a backdrop of ending and loss Milosz employs in the former of these two poems. There’s an honesty and precision in his words, something that tells you what you need to know, that you must read.
A SONG ON THE END OF THE WORLD
On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover,
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea,
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.
On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.
And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels’ trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now.
Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he’s much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
No other end of the world will there be,
No other end of the world will there be.
Phil Hall takes 2011 Governor General’s Award for Poetry
November 15th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
The Governor General’s Awards for literature were announced this morning at 11:30 Newfoundland time. Of course, I’d miss the live announcement as I was in school at the time, but I’d later see that Phil Hall won the poetry category. I saw him read a few years back when he came to St. John’s and I was impressed. Quite an accomplishment and a congratulations to him for this latest achievement. The book’s title is Killdeer and I’ve yet to read it, but it’ll certainly be on my radar now. Here’s a video of Hall reading from the book earlier this year at BookThug’s Spring launch:
He beat out some good competition in Susan Musgrave and Michael Boughn, both authors who have been highly tagged as possible winners. Perhaps the greatest success this year is that of BookThug, the company that published Hall’s book. Not only did they publish the winner, but three of the five finalists, making it a banner year for them. This will no doubt garner greater interest in BookThug and well deserved, I say. Check out their website and see what interests you.
