Tuesday, May 06, 2008
:more on the book:
(Today’s image from a 1930s Wallpaper, from a book about Wallpaper in the C 20th.)
My copy of ‘Swings and Roundabouts’ (see yesterday’s post) arrived in the mail. I’m very excited about this book. The production values are high, it has a lovely matte cover, black end papers, a black ribbon bookmark, the photos are great. Hell, I even like the fonts. (Yes, fonts are important to me.)
As well as not knowing about the photos, I also didn’t realise it is an international (though largely NZ) anthology. Consequently, I found my poem hanging out with the poems of Sylvia Plath, Seamus Heaney, Sharon Olds, and Louise Gluck. I know it is totally not cool to show that you are impressed/intimidated by things like this - but when have I ever been cool?? I’m not cool - I’m earnest, and geeky and find it hard to hide my emotions.
I am in an anthology with Sylvia Plath. Holy c**p.
To those of you who aren’t huge on poetry, this is the equivalent of being a big music fan for much of your adult life and then one day finding one of your own songs on a compilation CD with Elvis, John Lennon, Morrissey and PJ Harvey. Yeah, cue quiet freak out.
There are dozens of wonderful local poets in here, also: Lauris Edmond, Bill Manhire, Anna Jackson, Anne Kennedy and many many more.
It’s Mother’s day this weekend - this would make a lovely Mother’s day gift for any woman who enjoys poetry.
Thanks for sitting through my two days of rabbiting on about the book. And one more thing - there is an interview with Emma Neale about the book on the National Radio archives here.
