The Department of Stuff & Things
My life is enriched by experiencing the world through Jo Gilbert’s utterly unique, gritty perspective and voice. In Doric Scots and English, she sets the ‘Stuff and Things’ of life e.g. clothes, crockery, shopping, nature, our militant pursuit of ‘so-called’ novelty life-enhancing experiences, at a jaunty angle. In poems such as Lingerie, which begins ‘Surely sadists inventit the thong?’ and You were right about Mars ‘we arrived on the Moon, fucked it up, moved to Mars, then FUBARed her, history repeating’ she cleverly weaves tear-streaming laughter with sugar-punches of pathos that begs us question the world we have made and the existential threats we’re now facing. A compelling and byordinar collection!
(Lesley Benzie, poet)
£10.00
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Wanderlust Women: Extra BaggageThe three poets in this collection have a lot in common. They’re gritty, tough, their observation is born of personal experience, not all of it pleasant. That is recommendation enough but there are many moments too of pure revelation. Donna Campbell’s pearls brimming with moonlight that are the bi-product of pain, the stark beauty of Lesley Benzie’s poem about a father’s death ‘Fan she an her sester met their faither’s unbent gaze…’ and Linda Jackson picking up ‘petals of words from smart-dressed lovers’. Such simple beauty is not easily achieved. At its best poetry can be both empathetic and transformative. This is it, at its best.
(Hugh McMillan, poet)
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Clota
Linda Devlin’s Clota is a bold rush at the world, like the collection’s namesake: goddess of the River Clyde. A mirrored ball reflecting numerous versions of ourselves and the spaces we occupy, this collection invites the reader to look closer, question ‘laundered thoughts’ and admit the dark truths of damage received or delivered. There is an undeniable fragility but, like the river, currents of strength run deep and fast. Renewal’s All I can do is add my fragment to the whole lingers long after reading. (Morag Anderson, poet)
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Glasgow: Historical City
Glasgow: Historical City. A vibrant anthology of the dear green place.
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Songs for Lara
Jim Ferguson has ten books of poetry already under his belt and this latest collection is a most welcome addition to his vast repertoire. A particular favourite is Domestic Day, a slow meandering through house-hold chores that Ferguson turns into pleasures, whilst the making of soup becomes a meditation in nourishment, soup wae wine, a Vikings shield against the snowfall.
Songs for Lara is more than just a love story, it’s a story of love found between the lines, or in the secret places where we sometimes fear to venture.
(Donna Campbell, poet)
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