National Poetry Day 2018...

 On National Poetry Day I am delighted to bring another fabulous set of poems from Candlestick Press

Ten Poems about Rivers

Candlestick Press
August 2018

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this poetry pamphlet

Poems that travel from source to sea

Rivers carve a passage through our landscapes with elemental force. At the same time, they can be and signify many different things. In Ian Duhig’s fascinating selection we encounter the scope and drama of rivers, from the complexity of Eavan Boland’s Liffe to Kayo Chingonyi’s turbid Tyne which prompts lovers to reflect on what brought them together.

This rich and varied mini-anthology captures rivers in all their beauty and grandeur, taking us on a compelling journey from source to sea and encapsulating the shape-shifting nature of water on the move. As Philip Gross says in his beautiful poem ‘Severn Song’:

“The Severn was brown and the Severn was blue –

not this-then-that, not either-or,

no mixture. Two things can be true.”

Ian Duhig is an award-winning poet who also works with artists and musicians, and on projects for the socially excluded.

Poems by Eavan Boland, Kayo Chingonyi, Ian Duhig, Philip Gross, Kathleen Jamie, Zaffar Kunial, Beth McDonough, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Pascale Petit and Julian Turner.

Cover illustration by Ian Phillips.

Donation to The Rivers Trust.

My thoughts about it...

There's something rather splendid about a river. Be it ambling through the countryside gently touching banks of wild flowers, or tumbling noisily like a giant through rocks and crags, the impression of wild water as it disappears into an unknown distance lives on in the memory.

In this collection of fine verse every aspect of rivers and their effect is explored, from the dramatic, in The Scar by Eamon Boland, to the enigmatic, Empty Words by Zaffar Kunial there is a wealth of emotion expressed in the beauty of their words and every succinct observation makes reading the poems such a joy.

It is from my favourite, the beautiful, Appletreewick by Julian Turner that these words are taken:

" Everywhere the water's great height

surprises, a great smooth swelling 

over weirs, a sheer glass welling

above the banks as skeins of light 

wind around themselves in mauves 

and greys..."

If you like rivers, enjoy nature in all its glory, or simply like to meander along the banks of fast flowing water then I am sure that Ten Poems about Rivers will appeal and what better way to celebrate National Poetry Day than by ordering one of these lovely poetry pamphlets from Candlestick Press.

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Clouds, Sheep, Birds, Home and Kindness. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

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