Tuesday Poem: Editorial Statement - Kathleen Jones
‘If [what] we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head,
what are we reading it for?’ Franz Kafka
I detest polite English poetry – poems you could show
to an elderly evangelical who favours censorship or
the ones you wrote about cute animals
in a workshop on Nature Poetry.
I want it with all its guts and gore
a metaphorical spectacular.
Give me fiction, faction, fireworks, ferocity, –
fierce, feminist, flamboyant – anything, but make it FEISTY.
I want commitment. Nail my brain
to the paper/ipad – or whatever I’m reading it on.
I want blood, I want extra
sensory perception.
Offend me – suspend me,
challenge my preconceived ideas to a cage fight.
I don’t care about good manners
or punctuation.
I want POETRY.
[No more than 40 lines, previously unpublished,
no simultaneous submissions]
Copyright Kathleen Jones, 2018
I don't know if anyone is following the Eyewear furore [search @eyewearbooks] but it set me thinking about poetry presses and what they're looking for. Todd Swift certainly published some innovative stuff - I either hated it or was knocked out by it - but never bored. Last week I reviewed Esther Morgan's collection 'Grace', and it made me analyse what it is I'm looking for in a poem or a novel. What would I be asking for if I was editing an anthology? I'm currently reading Kirsty Gunn's new book 'Caroline's Bikini' and it is a startling piece of fiction that defies every convention by turning them inside out without losing any kind of readability. It's mesmerising.
So I think I'm in the Kafka camp. I want enjoyment, but I also want that blow on the head - what Katherine Mansfield called the 'knock on the heart', of passion and authenticity, when I read the words.
But it's all very well asking for that as a reader, as a writer it's another struggle altogether!
Poets may be interested in an Australian magazine called 'Not Very Quiet '. Some interesting stuff and they're currently open for submissions.
what are we reading it for?’ Franz Kafka
I detest polite English poetry – poems you could show
to an elderly evangelical who favours censorship or
the ones you wrote about cute animals
in a workshop on Nature Poetry.
I want it with all its guts and gore
a metaphorical spectacular.
Give me fiction, faction, fireworks, ferocity, –
fierce, feminist, flamboyant – anything, but make it FEISTY.
I want commitment. Nail my brain
to the paper/ipad – or whatever I’m reading it on.
I want blood, I want extra
sensory perception.
Offend me – suspend me,
challenge my preconceived ideas to a cage fight.
I don’t care about good manners
or punctuation.
I want POETRY.
[No more than 40 lines, previously unpublished,
no simultaneous submissions]
Copyright Kathleen Jones, 2018
I don't know if anyone is following the Eyewear furore [search @eyewearbooks] but it set me thinking about poetry presses and what they're looking for. Todd Swift certainly published some innovative stuff - I either hated it or was knocked out by it - but never bored. Last week I reviewed Esther Morgan's collection 'Grace', and it made me analyse what it is I'm looking for in a poem or a novel. What would I be asking for if I was editing an anthology? I'm currently reading Kirsty Gunn's new book 'Caroline's Bikini' and it is a startling piece of fiction that defies every convention by turning them inside out without losing any kind of readability. It's mesmerising.
So I think I'm in the Kafka camp. I want enjoyment, but I also want that blow on the head - what Katherine Mansfield called the 'knock on the heart', of passion and authenticity, when I read the words.
But it's all very well asking for that as a reader, as a writer it's another struggle altogether!
Poets may be interested in an Australian magazine called 'Not Very Quiet '. Some interesting stuff and they're currently open for submissions.
Great post! Knock em out Kathleen.
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