{"id":290,"date":"2011-06-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-17T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=290"},"modified":"2020-12-09T14:39:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T14:39:44","slug":"two-reviews-by-beverly-ellis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/two-reviews-by-beverly-ellis\/","title":{"rendered":"Two reviews by Beverly Ellis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experiments in Poetry<\/span>

The Night Pavilion<\/span> by Naomi Foyle, pub. Waterloo Press, Hove<\/span>
ISBN 978-1-906742-05-8<\/span>

Days of Roses<\/span>, ed. Declan Ryan and Malene Engelund, London<\/span>
ISBN 978-0-9568223-0-7<\/span>



There is a great deal to enjoy in <\/span>The Night Pavilion<\/span>.  The collection is divided into three sections: <\/span>Darkroom Debutantes, Aphrodite\u2019s Answering Machine<\/span> and <\/span>The Night Pavilion<\/span> and \u2013 whilst some of the poems refer to Akhmatova, Plath and Dickinson \u2013 Naomi Foyle\u2019s work is always resolutely original.  Writing in the guise of a persona or not, the poet\u2019s frankness establishes a close connection with the reader and I felt there was a strong, underlying truth about female experience in what I was being told.<\/span>

From the outset, the reader is aware that this is the work of a daring female poet who is prepared to take risks, especially in terms of subject matter.  Some of the poems take you to dangerous places \u2013 often mediated via the physical body \u2013 but the concerns are genuine, the poetry is assured and I never once wanted to turn back.  <\/span>

Her take on myth is impressive and makes familiar stories surprising, producing new insight, as in the work of Vicki Feaver.  The subtle but unmistakable threat contained within the carefully-constructed envelope rhyme of <\/span>Portrait of the Snow Queen as a Young Bitch<\/span> resounds long after the poem ends.<\/span>

But for all the skill of her more formal work, it is when Naomi Foyle cuts loose that the full force of her power is unleashed, for example in the visceral and incandescent prose poems from <\/span>Aphrodite\u2019s Answering Machine.<\/span>  Some of these erotic pieces are superb, but disturbing and definitely not for the faint-hearted, e.g. <\/span>For Achilleas: Because I Wouldn\u2019t Let Him Watch<\/span>.  Once read, never forgotten.  Another edgy treat from elsewhere in the book is <\/span>Cruella Degenerates<\/span>, a spot-on roller-coaster rant about the insidious effects of fashion on female self-esteem.  The boldness and direct engagement with contemporary issues in this poem were reminiscent of certain American poets, e.g. Barbara Hamby and Marie Howe.<\/span>

This collection makes a lasting impact and my only criticism is that the book is based around a number of themes\/projects, when there were certain strands that I just wanted more of \u2013 and would have been quite prepared to sacrifice something (e.g. the riddles) in order to get.  But that\u2019s just a quibble and I\u2019m eagerly anticipating Ms Foyle\u2019s second collection\u2026  Hope it\u2019s due out soon.<\/span>

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* * * * *<\/span><\/font>

<\/div>\n

\fAnother lively book which offers variety is <\/span>Days of Roses<\/span>, an anthology of work by twelve up-and-coming poets who have performed at the \u2018Days of Roses\u2019 reading night, based at a pub in Bloomsbury.  It is edited by the hosts, with a foreword by Polly Clark and preceded by <\/span>The Elements<\/span>, four poems by Jo Shapcott.  The book is intended as a showcase, with each poet contributing three, four or five poems.<\/span>

As might be expected from this format, a wide range of styles and subjects is represented \u2013 each poet offering at least one very memorable poem.  I had already encountered some of them in poetry magazines and was very pleased to be re-acquainted, e.g. with Liz Berry\u2019s extraordinary dramatic monologues.  Of the poems met with for the first time, Gareth Jones\u2019s tender love sonnets formed a very well-integrated series and I was struck by Marianne Burton\u2019s intriguing slant on myth and domestic violence in <\/span>The Singer and the Catch<\/span>.  <\/span>

Come to think of it, I could spend ages talking about the many individual poems I enjoyed in this book \u2013 and agree with the foreword that we will definitely be hearing more from these poets in years to come.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

….reviewed by Beverly Ellis<\/span><\/font>
<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

 <\/span>
<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experiments in PoetryThe Night Pavilion by Naomi Foyle, pub. Waterloo Press, HoveISBN 978-1-906742-05-8Days of Roses, ed. Declan Ryan and Malene Engelund, LondonISBN 978-0-9568223-0-7There is a great deal to enjoy in The Night Pavilion.  The collection is divided into three sections: Darkroom Debutantes, Aphrodite\u2019s Answering Machine and The Night Pavilion and \u2013 whilst some of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23777,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290\/revisions\/23777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}