Books!

Ahh it's all over!!!

I've had a lovely Christmas, played lots of lego - highly addictive you should know! Barely been on the computer, not even facebook though I did finally join twitter but I've yet to get into tweeting.

First book on the list is The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth. Reading this book has been pure joy and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone! 

Did you know that the term SPAM, in reference to unwanted emails, originates from a Monty Python sketch? Now you see why you must get this book!!!

I also bought a couple of Calderwood press titles - The Heavy Bag by Ross Wilson and Out of the Cave by Alistair Noon, both of which I know I'm really going to enjoy. I also finally ordered By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart and Jim was lovely enough to send me a copy of his third novel, Milligan and Murphy. I wrote a little about his first novel, Living with the Truth, way back here.  I'm still waiting on African Folktales by Paul Radin to come in. I'm really looking forward to reading it, it's a book that very much influenced Plath's poetry for a period.

Birthdays, anniversaries, shopping, wrapping, baking, nativity plays, parties... it sure is a busy time!
So here's a wee Merry Christmas to you all and a seasonal excerpt from my favourite poetry collection purchase of 2011, Ashes for Breakfast by Durs Grünbein.

From 'Greetings From Oblivion City' -

"My friends, it is winter here, a pleasant 70 in the shade.
A wind blows off the coastal hills, ruffling
The hair dryer that sits atop the city like a yellow smog.
Sometimes you can see miles into the distance, which

Diminishes the belief in an otherworld. If the hereafter is here,
Then everyone can melt away into thin air.
You encounter the one season spread over four quarters.
Scanning the horizon, you are surprised to see no rainbow.

By January, at the latest, the least observant of observers
Will have noticed that the trees are evergreen here in Eden. Turn
over:
Show your best side, among all these hot grilles.
You won't escape it, life in a solarium."

Thanks to Andrew McCallum Crawford for showcasing my poem 'The Rest and Be Thankful' on his Wee Fictions blog here. It was one of the first poems I ever had published so even though it's not in my pamphlet it has a special place in my heart!

The Rest, as it's known locally, was originally an old Drover road and an old military road through the Arrochar Alps. When the ferries are off it's our long route round to Glasgow. On a nice day it's a beautiful drive, on a day like yesterday you can see what it's like here, sixth picture down.

'So we found the end of our journey, So we stood alive in the river of light, Among the creatures of light, creatures of light.' - Ted Hughes

The ceremony to memorialise Ted Hughes in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey took place on Tuesday. His plaque lies below T.S. Eliot's and alongsideTennyson's. In celebration I've started re-reading 'Epic Poise: A Celebration of Ted Hughes', edited by Nick Gammage, a wonderful collection of essays on the life and work of Hughes by a variety of contributors including Seamus Heaney, Blake Morrison, Andrew Motion, W.S. Mervin, Peter Redgrove and Kathleen Raine. You can see some news coverage of the ceremony here.

I guess reviews are like buses...! Yes! Another Vintage Sea review!

"Marion can write simple lines very well...on the other hand she has a kind of mystical side that stops the work being too mundane"

"Marion has the voice that some poets look for and never find or hear"

Thanks to Rachel for the lovely review on her blog alongside reviews of the very talented JoAnne McKay's Grave with Lights and fellow Calder Wood Press poet, Ross Wilson's, recently published collection The Heavy Bag. Rachel's market research reviewing style is a little bit different to the usual which makes it all the more interesting to read, which you can do - here!

Other good news this week - six poems accepted for the next issue of Shadowtrain!