Saturday, February 18, 2012

Review and reading of UNGLOBED FRUIT

The March issue of Friends Journal contains a review of Unglobed Fruit by Catherine Wald, the former poetry editor. Here is the conclusion:

I enjoyed this book as an adventurous foray into language and form that is heavier on wit than emotional impact. For this reason, I suspect the book will be of more interest to poets than the general public. I was also surprised that someone so keen on form chose to order her poems alphabetically rather than in terms of thematic or narrative thrust. However there's much to admire and amuse here— so help yourself!

I laughed at her comment on the alphabetical order. I daresay the book would have come out a year earlier if I hadn't been hung up on the arrangement. I read and reread Ordering the Storm, a collection of essays on how to put together a book of poetry; each and every contributor recommended crawling around on the floor, which at my age I'm physically unable to do. So in the end I decided that what was good enough for W H Auden was good enough for me.

Coincidentally, I've been asked to do a book signing and reading at the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting library next Sunday, Feb 26. (1515 Cherry St., Philadelphia, 12:30-2 PM. Meeting for worship starts at 11:00.)

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