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1A_musing
Help!
As someone who has fits of OCD, my 888 challenge is driving me batty right now. I have a category I've fallen down flat in - English language poetry from around the world. I thought it would be great - Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, the US, India, and all the other places where English is spoken as a native or adopted language. BUT, my poetry shopping this year has mostly been in the big stores, and they all have reams of American poetry, a smattering of British (mostly pre-20th century), and lack the likes of Les Murray (Australia) and Wole Soyinka (Nigeria).
So - my nudge request. Poetry by someone outside the U.S. or U.K. written in English (other than "collected" volumes) - that's readily available. I have a few, but let's see what you can come up with. I'm probably just missing them on the shelves. And I'm assuming I may need a trip to the library before my Christmas vacation.
BTW, I'm particularly fond of longer narrative poems - I love Walcott's Omeros, for example, and have never recovered from Lewis Carroll's Snark. But, please, no need to limit yourself. Anything good will do.
As someone who has fits of OCD, my 888 challenge is driving me batty right now. I have a category I've fallen down flat in - English language poetry from around the world. I thought it would be great - Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, the US, India, and all the other places where English is spoken as a native or adopted language. BUT, my poetry shopping this year has mostly been in the big stores, and they all have reams of American poetry, a smattering of British (mostly pre-20th century), and lack the likes of Les Murray (Australia) and Wole Soyinka (Nigeria).
So - my nudge request. Poetry by someone outside the U.S. or U.K. written in English (other than "collected" volumes) - that's readily available. I have a few, but let's see what you can come up with. I'm probably just missing them on the shelves. And I'm assuming I may need a trip to the library before my Christmas vacation.
BTW, I'm particularly fond of longer narrative poems - I love Walcott's Omeros, for example, and have never recovered from Lewis Carroll's Snark. But, please, no need to limit yourself. Anything good will do.
2avaland
Living poets:
Breyten Breytenback of South Africa has a relatively new collection out in the states called Windcatcher. It might be translated from the Afrikkans though (I'll check my shelf).
Michael Crummey of Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador) has a great collection called Salvage. Also Jane Urquhart, also Canadian, has a collection, Some Other Garden.
Chitra Divakaruni has an older collection called Leaving Yuba City. Half of the poems are set in India, the other half in what was called Yuba City (California).
American poet Paul Violi has a nice collection called Overnight.
Excuse me, do you not live in near enough to Grolier's in Cambridge?(one of only two exclusive poetry bookstores in the country). I believe the proprietor is himself a Nigerian poet, is he not?
Breyten Breytenback of South Africa has a relatively new collection out in the states called Windcatcher. It might be translated from the Afrikkans though (I'll check my shelf).
Michael Crummey of Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador) has a great collection called Salvage. Also Jane Urquhart, also Canadian, has a collection, Some Other Garden.
Chitra Divakaruni has an older collection called Leaving Yuba City. Half of the poems are set in India, the other half in what was called Yuba City (California).
American poet Paul Violi has a nice collection called Overnight.
Excuse me, do you not live in near enough to Grolier's in Cambridge?(one of only two exclusive poetry bookstores in the country). I believe the proprietor is himself a Nigerian poet, is he not?
3A_musing
Yeh, getting to Groliers happens every two or three years. Family consensus on an outing to a poetry bookstore is hard to achieve. The Afrikkans looks interesting, but this challenge is only supposed to be in English originals - not translations.
thanks - this is a good start.
thanks - this is a good start.
4sqdancer
The Door is Margaret Atwood's most recent collection (it was published in late 2007). She has several other poetry collections, including Morning in the Burned House and The Journals of Susanna Moodie. Margaret Atwood is Canadian.
5urania1
Margaret Atwood – an excellent suggestion. One of my favorite Atwood poems is printed below – so economical and to the point . . . the barbed point.
You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
A fish hook
An open eye
---Margaret Atwood
Although he’s English, you might consider Ezra Pound’s translations of the poetry of Li Po. Li Po was Chinese. Pound translated the Japanese versions, apparently so loosely as to constitute altogether new poetry. In choosing these poems, you would get a bit of everything. I've included one of my favorite "The River Merchant's Wife" below
The River-Merchant's Wife
While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums.
And we went on living in the village of Chokan:
Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.
At fourteen I married My Lord you.
I never laughed, being bashful.
Lowering my head, I looked at the wall.
Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.
At fifteen I stopped scowling,
I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever and forever.
Why should I climb the look out?
At sixteen you departed,
You went into far Ku-to-en, by the river of swirling eddies,
And you have been gone five months.
The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.
You dragged your feet when you went out.
By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,
Too deep to clear them away!
The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.
The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the West garden;
They hurt me. I grow older.
If you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang,
Please let me know beforehand,
And I will come out to meet you
As far as Cho-fu-Sa.
What about the children of immigrants? Li-Young Lee’s latest collection Behind My Eyes is gorgeous. If you get the new version, it comes with a cd of Li-Young Lee reading his poetry. Li-Young Lee was born in Indonesia to Chinese parents. They immigrated to the US when he was a child, so perhaps he may also meet criteria you have set for yourself.
You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
A fish hook
An open eye
---Margaret Atwood
Although he’s English, you might consider Ezra Pound’s translations of the poetry of Li Po. Li Po was Chinese. Pound translated the Japanese versions, apparently so loosely as to constitute altogether new poetry. In choosing these poems, you would get a bit of everything. I've included one of my favorite "The River Merchant's Wife" below
The River-Merchant's Wife
While my hair was still cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums.
And we went on living in the village of Chokan:
Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.
At fourteen I married My Lord you.
I never laughed, being bashful.
Lowering my head, I looked at the wall.
Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.
At fifteen I stopped scowling,
I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever and forever.
Why should I climb the look out?
At sixteen you departed,
You went into far Ku-to-en, by the river of swirling eddies,
And you have been gone five months.
The monkeys make sorrowful noise overhead.
You dragged your feet when you went out.
By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,
Too deep to clear them away!
The leaves fall early this autumn, in wind.
The paired butterflies are already yellow with August
Over the grass in the West garden;
They hurt me. I grow older.
If you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang,
Please let me know beforehand,
And I will come out to meet you
As far as Cho-fu-Sa.
What about the children of immigrants? Li-Young Lee’s latest collection Behind My Eyes is gorgeous. If you get the new version, it comes with a cd of Li-Young Lee reading his poetry. Li-Young Lee was born in Indonesia to Chinese parents. They immigrated to the US when he was a child, so perhaps he may also meet criteria you have set for yourself.
6avaland
As an Atwood fan, I can be a little over the top, so I sometimes leave the obvious recommendation of her work to someone else:-) Mary, I love that poem also.
Sam, send the kids around the corner to the Harvard Book Store or better yet, surely there must be something else there to distract them while you slip into Grolier's.
Sam, send the kids around the corner to the Harvard Book Store or better yet, surely there must be something else there to distract them while you slip into Grolier's.
7polutropos
I fell in love with Michael Ondaatje's The Collected Works of Billy the Kid in about 1971. I have reread it several times, including recently. It has weathered well. Even though he has received much acclaim for other works, especially The English Patient I would argue that Billy the Kid is his best work.
Although he is of Sri Lankan origin, he has been Canadian almost all his life and Billy the Kid IS written in English. It should not be too difficult to get a hold of.
Although he is of Sri Lankan origin, he has been Canadian almost all his life and Billy the Kid IS written in English. It should not be too difficult to get a hold of.
8kiwidoc
Canadian poet Anne Carson has a wonderful way with words. The poetry book I have delved into is reviewed here
9cocoafiend
A_musing,
I agree with polutropos - The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is still, decades later, a revelation!
My poetry collection is largely Canadian, so my other three suggestions are as well: The T.E. Lawrence Poems by Gwendolyn MacEwan, a wonderful collection about Lawrence of Arabia, long recognized as her masterpiece; Nerve Squall by Sylvia Legris, a Griffin Prize -winning collection about language, storms and neurology, gorgeously written and wildly creative, though challenging; and blert by Jordan Scott, the most experimental of my suggestions, a collection about the poetics of the stutter that revels in the virtually unsayable.
If you like narrative poetry, The T.E. Lawrence Poems will be the most recognizable, but all four are terrific.
I agree with polutropos - The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is still, decades later, a revelation!
My poetry collection is largely Canadian, so my other three suggestions are as well: The T.E. Lawrence Poems by Gwendolyn MacEwan, a wonderful collection about Lawrence of Arabia, long recognized as her masterpiece; Nerve Squall by Sylvia Legris, a Griffin Prize -winning collection about language, storms and neurology, gorgeously written and wildly creative, though challenging; and blert by Jordan Scott, the most experimental of my suggestions, a collection about the poetics of the stutter that revels in the virtually unsayable.
If you like narrative poetry, The T.E. Lawrence Poems will be the most recognizable, but all four are terrific.
10A_musing
Thanks all!
I'm definitely going to be looking up Li-Young Lee, and Breytenback, and am now on the prowl for Billy the Kid. It looks like the latest Breytenback is a collection, and that he writes in both Afrikaans and English; I may try to find an earlier English work instead of the collection, but we'll see what is out there.
I recently picked up an early volume of Atwood (The Circle Game), but admit to a like/hate relationship with her that makes me wary of approaching her work too often. Still, outside of anthologies and journals, I've never approached her poetry. I've got some unred Anne Carson on the shelf as well, and may need to pick that up.
I've heard good things about Legris before, but may be getting Canadian-heavy here. The real goal of the challenge is to get a peak at the broader cultural diversity of the English language and peek out from the sides of our natural Anglo-American blinders - I'll reinterpret any rules I make up both to meet those goals and to ensure that I get the big prize at the end of the year for accomplishing my challenge.
I'm definitely going to be looking up Li-Young Lee, and Breytenback, and am now on the prowl for Billy the Kid. It looks like the latest Breytenback is a collection, and that he writes in both Afrikaans and English; I may try to find an earlier English work instead of the collection, but we'll see what is out there.
I recently picked up an early volume of Atwood (The Circle Game), but admit to a like/hate relationship with her that makes me wary of approaching her work too often. Still, outside of anthologies and journals, I've never approached her poetry. I've got some unred Anne Carson on the shelf as well, and may need to pick that up.
I've heard good things about Legris before, but may be getting Canadian-heavy here. The real goal of the challenge is to get a peak at the broader cultural diversity of the English language and peek out from the sides of our natural Anglo-American blinders - I'll reinterpret any rules I make up both to meet those goals and to ensure that I get the big prize at the end of the year for accomplishing my challenge.
11urania1
And do not forget the Scottish poets: Robbie Burns and Joanna Baillie (1762-1851). Both are on Project Gutenberg and a few other places if you do not have time to order their books in time to finish your 888 challenge.
13A_musing
I picked up Li-Young Lee's Behind My Eyes - the included CD is great, since I have some long holiday drives before the year is out and may do this one by audio. Looks great.
As to my quick stop at the local Borders: No Billy the Kid or Breytenback, no Legris or Urquhart. I've got Heaney's last, but haven't yet cracked it.
The list is slowly picking up here, but even with all these great suggestions I'm having a low batting average. And I will get some Scots in - any good idea for more recent Scots? Or more Africans? Thanks, all. My OCD is coming under control.
As to my quick stop at the local Borders: No Billy the Kid or Breytenback, no Legris or Urquhart. I've got Heaney's last, but haven't yet cracked it.
The list is slowly picking up here, but even with all these great suggestions I'm having a low batting average. And I will get some Scots in - any good idea for more recent Scots? Or more Africans? Thanks, all. My OCD is coming under control.
14urania1
Don't forget the South African poets. Wikipedia has a whole page devoted to them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_South_African_poets
I didn't have time to go through it extensively, but one writer did catch my attention: Mafika Gwala. He writes in Zulu and does his own translations into English, so I think he might qualify. I couldn't find a complete poem, but here is an extract that might give you a feel for his work:
Extract from “Getting off the Ride”
My boots jar me
as I take the corner off Grey Street
Into Victoria’s busy, buzzy Victoria
Beesy Victoria’s market area.
Some black mamas kneeling
their hands on the sidewalk
their second-hand clothes before them,
They kneel as if in prayer.
A white hippie bums towards them
with what shapes into a pair of
fawn corduroy jeans:
‘They are fishbottomed’, the aunt tilts
the deal. The seller hooks a feigned smile
with his cagey chin,
Looks like they both have no choice
So the limp deal is sealed.
With unease the hippie moves off
You’d swear he’s left a bomb to detonate;
I radar his moves
whilst yarning my eyes onto the mama,
the mama still on that solemn kneel
that’s accompanied by somber looks
from close range.
Where’s that hippish fixer?
Into the market lanes for a blow-up;
And the black mama to scrounge a sale
after a wash of these sweaty pants
that can only be bought by some black brother
whose boss won’t give him enough to afford
a pair of decent trousers.
And again I know I’m being taken for a ride.
I didn't have time to go through it extensively, but one writer did catch my attention: Mafika Gwala. He writes in Zulu and does his own translations into English, so I think he might qualify. I couldn't find a complete poem, but here is an extract that might give you a feel for his work:
Extract from “Getting off the Ride”
My boots jar me
as I take the corner off Grey Street
Into Victoria’s busy, buzzy Victoria
Beesy Victoria’s market area.
Some black mamas kneeling
their hands on the sidewalk
their second-hand clothes before them,
They kneel as if in prayer.
A white hippie bums towards them
with what shapes into a pair of
fawn corduroy jeans:
‘They are fishbottomed’, the aunt tilts
the deal. The seller hooks a feigned smile
with his cagey chin,
Looks like they both have no choice
So the limp deal is sealed.
With unease the hippie moves off
You’d swear he’s left a bomb to detonate;
I radar his moves
whilst yarning my eyes onto the mama,
the mama still on that solemn kneel
that’s accompanied by somber looks
from close range.
Where’s that hippish fixer?
Into the market lanes for a blow-up;
And the black mama to scrounge a sale
after a wash of these sweaty pants
that can only be bought by some black brother
whose boss won’t give him enough to afford
a pair of decent trousers.
And again I know I’m being taken for a ride.
15cocoafiend
I don't know much about her poetry, but Afrikaans poet Antjie Krog has published a collection or two in English, and has been described as the Pablo Neruda of South Africa. Her journalism is both lyric and searingly political: Country of my Skull is a harrowing account / memoir of the TRC hearings in South Africa. Not sure even her English works would be particularly available though. Might be a special order item...
16klarusu
I'd also recommend The Sound of Water, I love Basho's haiku.
Edited to add that it occurs to me these are translated ... don't know if that counts!
Edited to add that it occurs to me these are translated ... don't know if that counts!
17dylanwolf
Born a New Zealander, now more of a Brit, Fleur Adcock is one of my favourite poets. As you don't want to be recommended collected works, I would suggest Below Loughrigg published by Bloodaxe in 1979, if it is still in print.
18timjones
I haven't commented on this because it's hard for me to know what New Zealand poetry is readily available in the US. But I second dylanwolf's advocacy of Fleur Adcock; incidentally, Fleur Adcock's sister, Marilyn Duckworth, who lives about five minutes' walk from me, is best known as a novelist, but is also an accomplished poet - I heard her read a couple of months ago.
Of recent NZ poets, I recommend Emma Neale, Sue Wootton, and for those who like their poetry more difficult to unravel, Richard Reeve. My friends Helen Rickerby and Harvey Molloy are also excellent poets; both have had collections published recently.
Of the major New Zealand poets, in addition to Fleur Adcock, I think Allen Curnow is the best, and he has been widely published. James K. Baxter, Bill Manhire and Jenny Bornholdt are also well worth your time. For an indigenous perspective, try Hinemoana Baker and Tusiata Avia.
Of recent NZ poets, I recommend Emma Neale, Sue Wootton, and for those who like their poetry more difficult to unravel, Richard Reeve. My friends Helen Rickerby and Harvey Molloy are also excellent poets; both have had collections published recently.
Of the major New Zealand poets, in addition to Fleur Adcock, I think Allen Curnow is the best, and he has been widely published. James K. Baxter, Bill Manhire and Jenny Bornholdt are also well worth your time. For an indigenous perspective, try Hinemoana Baker and Tusiata Avia.
19kiwidoc
...and of course we must not forget the superlative Tim Jones and his sublime poetry collection All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens, the author being altogether too modest to self-promote......
21A_musing
Well, armed with this list courtesy of the two of you, I'll let you know what New Zealand poets are readily available.
And I really am going to need to get by Groliers in Cambridge - Tim, do you know if they carry your books? They are generally the place in the US with the best international selection.
And I really am going to need to get by Groliers in Cambridge - Tim, do you know if they carry your books? They are generally the place in the US with the best international selection.
22aluvalibri
Tim, is your poetry available in the US?
23timjones
#s 21 and 22: I don't think my poetry is carried in the US. The two best ways of getting it outside NZ are:
(1) Via New Zealand Books Abroad: see http://www.nzbooksabroad.com/shopdetail.php?%20a=9781869419844
(2) Order directly from me. That way, All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens will cost NZ $20 plus postage & packaging - the NZ dollar is currently worth about 55 US cents, so we are probably looking at about $13-15 US all including p&p. If you're interested, I can let you know an exact price.
(I also have copies of my first collection, Boat People (2002), for sale. They are going cheap - NZ $5 per copy plus p&p.)
Regards
Tim
(1) Via New Zealand Books Abroad: see http://www.nzbooksabroad.com/shopdetail.php?%20a=9781869419844
(2) Order directly from me. That way, All Blacks' Kitchen Gardens will cost NZ $20 plus postage & packaging - the NZ dollar is currently worth about 55 US cents, so we are probably looking at about $13-15 US all including p&p. If you're interested, I can let you know an exact price.
(I also have copies of my first collection, Boat People (2002), for sale. They are going cheap - NZ $5 per copy plus p&p.)
Regards
Tim
