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LYNX BOOK REVIEWS
by Dennis M. Holmes
Nick Virgilio: A Life in Haiku, Edited and Introduced by Raffael de Gruttola, Afterword by Kathleen O’Toole, published by Turtle Light Press, Arlington, Virginia, 2012.
Link: www.turtlelightpress.com
ISBN 978-0-9748147-3-5.
The publisher, Richard Black, of Turtle Light Press, and author of the Preface of the book, sent to me for review this book of a collection of poems, essays, tributes, and photos of an icon, Nick Virgilio, who was part of the haiku scene from the 60s through to the 90s.
In the upper half of the cover of this light yellow colored book is a poem by Nick:
deep in rank grass,
through a bullet-riddled
helmet:
an unknown flower
The poem is placed on a mural (by Linda Delengowski), having a small band of blue sky across the horizon over a small series of brown mountains bordered by a large section of green meadow, of which the poem is broadly centered. A brown colored US Army type infantry helmet positioned upside down is in the right lower corner of the painting. A daisy appears in the painting growing out of a hidden hole in the bowl of the helmet. The painting-poem combination acts as a haiga which I feel sets the mood for the whole collection.
In the Introduction, by Raffael de Gruttola, a famous poem by Nick is mentioned:
lily:
out of the water
out of itself
This gives a touchstone to help place Nick in the mix of poets writing haiku like poems of his day.
The collection of poems covers a large variety of experienced life-moments. Some influenced by his younger brother’s death in war, such as the poem on the front cover of the book. Others, expressing deep bonds with other family members:
my palsied mother,
pressing my forehead on hers
this Ash Wednesday
I am sure there has been over time more words about Nick and his poetry from people that knew him well, than I could even begin to say. I came to learning haiku from more a direct Japanese influence in the late 90s, a bit after Nick’s peak. I can see in Nick’s poetry a 60s charm and the 90s peak. Yet, I think the following interview has a timeless gem embedded:
The Quick In Us: An Interview with Nick Virgilio (conducted by Marty Moss-Coane, on Radio Times, December 22, 1988.)
Nick says… “So what’s it all mean, really? What can you be? A tight little package of humanity. You can explore this provincial you and become the universal. …”
Nick’s words give insight into his poet’s heart.
archipelago, copyright © 2012 by john martone, samuddo / ocean
ISBN 978-1-1-5-79416-2
archipelago is a paperback book of a little over 100 pages. There is no bio on the author. The back cover has in the center of the page a one line poem:
another morning feels like the end of time
It would be an appropriate review for john martone if I were end it here because john is a very prolific minimalist (be that paradox or oxymoron).
Yet to be fair one or two of poems (one on each page, front and back) might be in order:
thin
as
can
be
one
brown
blan
ket
(next page)
it’s no
sourdough
mountain
lookout
look-in
cabin
Hmmm… clever, I give john that.
Surasul Mamei * Mother’s Smile –tanka-, by Oprica Padeanu, publisher, Verus, Bucuresti, 2012, (www.verus.com.ro), edited by Tatiana Barbuceanu, translated to English by Magdelena Dale,
ISBN 978-606-8343-06-8.
This is a paperback book of about one hundred pages printed on pages front and back with a tanka type poem in Romanian followed by the English translation below both on the same page. I would say this is similar to what is called a “vanity” published book, yet, I do not know if this truly the case. The arrangement of the book and back cover introduction for the author was a bit confusing. The choice of English phrases on the back cover by the editor Tatiana Barbuceanu were difficult to understand.
Oprica Padeanu writes tanka influenced by Christian religious modes though also incorporating aspects of the seasons and the senses. The tanka seem to represent a series of poems to, for, and about her mother. It is a gentle tribute of moments shared by mother and daughter; and, my interpretation is this is from the poet’s perspective after her mother had passed as shown in this tanka:
Ascult Mozart…
stelele-s aprinse in cer
ca ruga-n
poarta mamei deschisa
dar nu mai intra nimeni
*
Listen to Mozart
stars alight on the sky
as altar prayer
mother’s gate is open
but inside nobody comes no more
Some of the English translations are a bit awkward, but, only a few. I can empathize with the translator in that translating/interpreting poetry between languages can be a challenge, indeed. I feel Oprica’s mother, though, would be touched by the tenderness in the poems.
to what none of us knows, by vincent tripi, illustrated by Julia Soyer, published by tribe press, Greenfield, MA, 2012, more ordering information at:http://www.haikucircle.com/vincent-tripi.html
My first impression of this book (not knowing much of vincent tripi) is that the book I received for review includes a touching thank you to Jane Reichhold handwritten on the first page. As I am a book reviewer for LYNX, this “thank you” carries intuitive weight. As happens, I read books for reviews sometimes not knowing much of the author. I try to do a little research on those occasions on the internet and such, just to give me as fair an orientation as time will allow. Most times this expands my poetry horizons, as it were.
The author, vincent tripi, (in small letters as the author prefers) has been involved in the short poetry scene for several years. The Foreword to the book is written by Stanford M. Forrester, founder of bottle rockets press, whom I had met before in Winston-Salem at a HNA 2007 meeting and nearly went to India with in 2008, for the World Haiku Conference in Bangalore. But, alas, I do not know of (other than internet information) or have personally met vincent.
Let me say, I feel the poems mostly Zen-centric. Some having a directness such as one on page 27:
Zillions &
zillions of frog eggs
this celibacy
while others like the one on page 49 are indirect:
Acorns
headstones
more acorns than headstones
There is some minor experimentation with word arrangements such as the poem on page 41. It reads, centered, alone on the page, upside down (which I cannot duplicate here):
without
a
woman
kite
returns
to
me
Although, mostly the poems are three lines indented as in the previous examples.
The illustrations by Julia Soyer are sparse with a good use of space (I would have wanted a few more in that blue-green-greenish-blue brush stroke hinting artfully of water) and support what I called Zen-centricity.
There is a small section, In Memoriam, at the end of the book containing several poems, each dedicated to a poet that has passed. I was touched by this, having known and met a few. One in particular:
Shore for the poet,
shore for the poet’s work,
water lily fragrance
-for Peggy Willis Lyles
Peggy was our mentor for Pinecone, our North Georgia Haiku group near Atlanta, Georgia. Thanks for that vincent.
about time, text & illustrations © Stanley Pelter, 2012, cover design © Izzy Sharpe, published by George Mann Publications, Easton, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 1ES.
ISBN 9781907640100.
about time is a paperback book close to 200 pages. The book has a dedication in memoriam to John Marsh (1936 – 2011). This is the seventh book of “Collections”.
The author, Stanley Pelter, wrote the Introduction, and, opens with a paragraph that I completely agree with and it warrants being foremost in this review:
If intimidated by the unfamiliar packages, images and structures, strange happenings in undutiful night-times only few take for granted, stop now. Wrap up against winter freeze. Hide from a fog so thick only werewolves or dreaded phantasmagoria can live within it. Keep striding straight ahead, along a well-worn path. Play! – this is not for you!
Original is in italics, but, I added the underline.
Stanley has crafted a jig-saw read and pieces of jig-saw waste in a scatter of word associations, mixes of prose, prose-poem, poem and visuals (the visuals in the form of drawings, paintings, and graphics, that the author describes as “extensions” (his quote) of the words.) Occasionally, as you’re piecing and repiecing parts of this puzzle of a read, a stealable phrase/idea will tickle/fry your neurons. I simply could not read without getting a bit lost and bewildered in an oddly intriguing way. To demonstrate, I shall end this review with the words on the last page of the book (a bit out of context, but, you’ll get the idea):
… non-existent horizon. Not even lines of vertical black. Perhaps death is not desire, not any experience other than its absence”.
“I’ve lost you. Don’t know anything. Who in this emptiness does – or can? Perhaps no answer is the answer.”
thick slab of black notes
interpretive collisions
give nothing away
NEPOKOSENO NEBO, An Unknown Sky, 1996 – 2007 Antologija hrvtskoga haiku-pjesnistva, An Anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry, publisher, Haiku Association Three Rivers, Ivanic Grad, Croatia, edited by Durda Vukelic-Rozic, Croatian corrections: Boris Nazansky, English corrections: Elizabeth Harison-Paj. Cinjena: 230,000 HRK, ISBN 978-953-56564-0-1
This is a hardcover book of 390 pages, an anthology of over 200 Croatian poets who write haiku-style poetry in their native language. The book has a picture of each poet (although there are some entries without), a bio, and examples of their poetry along with footnotes and references of publications. All Croatian text is accompanied by a translation in English. The title of the book, in part, comes from a poem by Dubravko Ivancan (1931-1982):
Lezim
u travi. Nepokoseno
nebo.
Lying
on the grass. An unknown
sky.
For those lovers of Croatian poetry written in the three line style of Japanese haiku, this book is a valuable resource. Most of the poets listed are living poets.
Upon mentioning the book to an older Croatian couple I’ve met, they expressed complete surprise at the interest their fellow countrymen had in such poetry. Of course, they have lived in the USA for several years, but, travel to Croatia yearly.
The book is what I would call a “tome” in size and content. If ever “scanned” by Google as part of their long term mission of converting all written word to electronic media, this book would be a Wikipedia of Croatian short poetry!
To be consistent as with my other reviews, I will give an example:
Ana Kusic (a condensed version from the book) Born … 1935, in Hum Bistricki, by Marija Bistrica, a retired librarian. She writes in standard Croatian, Kajkavian dialect and Esperanto. …
Smetnje na ekranu – Spotinness(sic) on the TV screen
Grlice na anteni turtle-doves on the antenna
Vole se javno. In love publicly.
This poem was published by Vladimir Devide: Hrvatski haiku ’96 Knijizevna smotra (Literary Review), godina XXVII/1996, br. 100 (2).
I noted that the bio had an interesting phrase, “... Born … in Hum Bistricki by Marija Bistrica, …” I am not sure if this is not an insight into the turmoil of the past considering the history of Croatia. Be that as it may, I found the book a fascinating insight into the many poets of Croatia.
old light, memento mori, by ai li, copyright 2012, an e-book in Kindle format on Amazon.
The author, ai li, lives in north London and writes in a Rousseau inspired yard watched over by three old stone Buddha statues. (I could not find much more than this about the author in this book.) This book is in a Kindle format of which you can download both the book and the reader application through links available on Amazon. At least, that is the way I was able to access the book through my Amazon account. I am not familiar with ai li’s poetry or publications although those mentioned in the acknowledgements can be found in online journals published by ai li. This ebook contains 90 contemporary poems of the haiku and tanka styles as she defines in her words…
haiku : a poem of one to four lines about a moment in time allowing us a glimpse of the eternal
tanka : a poem of five lines about a journey into life, love & loss touching memory at its deepest level
She explains the she has edited, “ … this book to be experienced in two ways, as a storybook and as an anthology of individual poems.” Perhaps, this is the best way to approach reading the book. The format is very straight forward with a poem per page written in plain black print.
I found most of the poems glimpses into personal experiences, plain and simple, and a few that I would complement with the notion that some phrases “stealable” (my quotes). An example:
small town
dusk
in a dogbark (sic)
“dusk in a dog bark” is stealable
I wish ai li, good luck with her ebook.
NOTES on my Kindle experience:
The Kindle experience was not new to me and seeing a book of poetry in simple and direct format was similar to reading online journals. I have read on my iPhone through the Kindle apps classics of sci/fi from H. G. Wells and fantasy from a contemporary author, Naomi Novik. The availability of an ebook as opposed to a traditional book is INSTANT. I was able to find, acquire, and read “old light” in less than an hour. This review took a tad longer.
BOOK NOTES
Dear friends, My winning collection of tanka has been published by Snapshot Press in the UK as an e-chapbook. It's an easy read of 16 poems carefully chosen to reflect the title.I hope you enjoy "The Tang of Nasturtiums". It's available to read free at the link below either as flash, of PDF. The former has the option of magazine two page presentation if your prefer.
The latter one can read as full screen if desired.
http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/ebooks.htm
With warm regards,
Carole MacRury
. . .I'm so pleased that my prize-winning e-chapbook of haibun, One Bowl, has just been posted on-line by Snapshot Press in England---along with four other of the eight prizewinning collections of short poetry. You can see the winning titles, as well as access information about the press and its contests, here: http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/contests/echapbook_awards/results.htm
And here's a link to the chapbooks just posted: http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/ebooks.htm
Next to each book cover, you can select either the Flash or PDF version. Hope you enjoy my work, and take a look at the other collections as well. The Flash version gives you a double-paged spread and looks like a book. For the PDF version, you need to scroll down. You may want to make it less than full screen, since on my computer full screen was too big to read comfortably.)
Thanks for taking a look at my first "e-book". Please let me know any of your news you'd like to share. For some of you, it's been a while since we've been in touch, and I'd love to hear from you. All best,
Penny Harter
web site: www.2hweb.net/penhart
blog: http://penhart.wordpress.com
book: http://www.wordtechweb.com/harter.html
book: http://www.shenaniganbooks.com/beastiebook.html
newest print book: http://mountainsandriverspress.org/BookInfo.aspx
new e-chapbook: http://www.snapshotpress.col.uk/ebooks.htm
Bilingual edition (Spanish/English) of a book of haikus published by Joaquín Iborra Mateo at Amazon.
The link to get the book is:
http://www.amazon.es/HAIKUS_1-0-ebook/dp/B008BFCMVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339866370&sr=8-1
HAIKUS 1.0 is an e-book, which can be read on kindle reader, on a tablet, computer or telephone.
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BOOK REVIEWS
Nick Virgilio: A Life in Haiku, Edited and Introduced by Raffael de Gruttola, Afterword by Kathleen O’Toole, published by Turtle Light Press, Arlington, Virginia, 2012.
Link: www.turtlelightpress.com
ISBN 978-0-9748147-3-5.
archipelago, copyright © 2012 by john martone, samuddo / ocean
ISBN 978-1-1-5-79416-2
Surasul Mamei * Mother’s Smile –tanka-, by Oprica Padeanu, publisher, Verus, Bucuresti, 2012, (www.verus.com.ro), edited by Tatiana Barbuceanu, translated to English by Magdelena Dale,
ISBN 978-606-8343-06-8.
to what none of us knows, by vincent tripi, illustrated by Julia Soyer, published by tribe press, Greenfield, MA, 2012, more ordering information at:http://www.haikucircle.com/vincent-tripi.html
about time, text & illustrations © Stanley Pelter, 2012, cover design © Izzy Sharpe, published by George Mann Publications, Easton, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 1ES.
ISBN 9781907640100.
NEPOKOSENO NEBO, An Unknown Sky, 1996 – 2007 Antologija hrvtskoga haiku-pjesnistva, An Anthology of Croatian Haiku Poetry, publisher, Haiku Association Three Rivers, Ivanic Grad, Croatia, edited by Durda Vukelic-Rozic, Croatian corrections: Boris Nazansky, English corrections: Elizabeth Harison-Paj. Cinjena: 230,000 HRK, ISBN 978-953-56564-0-1
old light, memento mori, by ai li, copyright 2012, an e-book in Kindle format on Amazon.
BOOK NOTES
from Carole MacRury,
Penny Harter and Joaquín Iborra Mateo
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