Recommendations for Librarians

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LIBRARIANS

new titles recommended in 2014

SINGLE AUTHOR

Cairn
Richie McCaffery

Nine Arches Press, ISBN978-0-9927589-1-2, £8.99, pbk, June

First full-length collection from Stirling-based poet Richie McCaffery.

One Day in the Life of Jimmy Denisovich
Graham Fulton

Smokestack Books, ISBN9780992740917, £7.95, pbk, June

Graham Fulton's widely-published poems may reference Glasgow, but - the title's a giveaway - they've got international roots.

Hoyoot: Collected poems and songs
Tom Pickard

Carcanet, ISBN 978 1 847772 54 1, £19.95, pbk, June

Tom Pickard was born in Newcastle, and founded the legendary Morden Tower readings there in 1963; he's going back to source with this selection from a life of writing.

Terror
Toby Martinez de las Rivas

Faber, ISBN 978-0571296828, £9.99, pbk, June

First collection from this poet whose influences range from archaeology and the landscape of Northumberland to love, sex, betrayal.

The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to ZionKei Miller

Carcanet, ISBN978-1847772671, £9.95, pbk, May

A fourth collection by the blisteringly eloquent poet and novelist Kei Miller, based in Glasgow and Jamaica.

Dry Stone WorkBrian Johnstone

Arc, ISBN978-1908376-05-3, £9.99, pbk (also available hbk), June

Brian Johnstone, based in Fife and a big figure on the Scottish poetry scene, follows up on his 2009 collection from Arc,The Book of Belongings.

Bright TravellersFiona Benson

Jonathan Cape, ISBN 978-0224099493, £10, pbk, May

First full-length collection from Fiona Benson, previously published in the Faber New Poets series.

Eavan Boland: A Poet's Dublined Paula Meehan and Jody Allen Randolph

Carcanet, ISBN 978 1 847774 47 7, £8.95, pbk, May

Renowned Irish poet Eavan Boland's 70th birthday is celebrated with this selection of photographs to accompany her poems about her home city of Dublin.

Merchant in FeathersTanya Shirley

Peepal Tree Press, ISBN 9781845232337, £8.99, pbk, May

Jamaican poet Tanya Shirley is taking part in our Commonwealth Poetry exchange - hear her 'poetry postcard' on BBC Scotland's podcast.

Tom Paulin: New Selected Poems
Faber & Faber,ISBN 978-0571307982, hbk, £14.99, May

The Moon Before Morning
W S Merwin
Bloodaxe, ISBN 1 78037 101 2, pbk, £12, May

P J Kavanagh: New Selected Poems
Carcanet, ISBN 978 1 847772 52 7, pbk, £12.95, May

Elsewhere Or Thereabouts
Alasdair Paterson

Shearsman, ISBN 9781848613270, £8.95, pbk, 15 January

Born in Edinburgh and now living in Exeter, Alasdair Paterson returned to writing after a gap of 20 years. His poem 'In The Library' was selected for the SPL's Best Scottish Poems 2010.

Selected Poems
Paul Farley
Picador, ISBN: 9781447220428 13 February, £16.99 pbk

Manual
Richard Berengarten
Shearsman, ISBN 9781848613256, 15 February, £8.95 pbk

Elder
David Constantine

Bloodaxe, ISBN978-1780370989, £9.95, pbk, March

The tenth collection from this poet and translator informed by European influences.

All One Breath
John Burnside

Jonathan Cape, ISBN978-0224097406, £10, pbk, Feb

John Burnside's new collection, his first since T S Eliot prize-winningBlack Cat Bone, considers shared experience. (A prose memoir,I Put A Spell On You, is out in May, also from Jonathan Cape.)

Taking Mesopotamia
Jenny Lewis

Carcanet, ISBN978 1 906188 11 5, £9.95, pbk, March

Rooted in the author's discovery of her father, a soldier in the Mesopotamian campaign in World War I; but brought up to the present, connecting WWI fragments to war in Iraq. Contains poems translated into Arabic, as well as exploring diary, prose, free verse and formal poems.

Grun-tu-molani
Vidyan Ravinthiran

Bloodaxe, ISBN1 78037 099 7, £9.95, pbk, 27 March

A first full-length collection from Vidyan Ravinthiran, with poems about Sri Lanka, as well as poems in translation.

The Sparkling Jewel of Naturism
Selima Hill
Bloodaxe, ISBN1 78037 103 9, pbk, £9.95, March

Northern Soul
Ron Silliman
Shearsman, ISBN 9781848613195,pbk, £8.95,15 March

Openings: A European Journal
Jeremy Hooker
Shearsman, ISBN 9781848613041,pbk, £13.95,15 March 2014

Reassembling Still — Collected Poems
David Miller
Shearsman, ISBN 9781848613317, pbk,£14.95,15 March

The Dustbowl

Jim Goar

Shearsman, ISBN 978-1848613218, pbk, £8.95, April

ANTHOLOGIES

Ten Poems from Scotland
ed Don Paterson

Candlestick Press, ISBN 978 1 907598 25 8, pbk, £4.95, April

A lovely micro-selection of Scotland in 10 poems from the excellent Candlestick Press, containing some unexpecteds and some favourites - see the full listhere.

The Emma Press Anthology of Fatherhood
ed Rachel Piercey, Emma Wright

The Emma Press, ISBN 978-1910139004, pbk, £10, April

This small press is establishing itself with attractively designed poem cards and thematic anthologies. Their 'motherhood' anthology came out earlier in the year; 'fatherhood' is nicely in time for Fathers' Day in June.

Poems from the First World War
ed Gaby Morgan

Macmillan Children's Books & Imperial War Museum, ISBN 978-1447248644, pbk, £5.99, May (hbk available from Sep 2013)

Poetry of WWI by not only the servicemen, but many more affected by the conflict, from nursing staff to families.

Passionfood: 100 Love Poems
ed Neil Astley

Bloodaxe, ISBN 978-1852248697, hbk, £9.95, 30 January

A new hardback gift edition of this particularly luscious selection of love poems.

The Poetry of Sex
ed Sophie Hannah

Viking, ISBN 978-0670921836, hbk, £14.99, 30 January

This new anthology, edited by Sophie Hannah who is herself no slouch on the concise skewering of love and lovers in verse, promises a wide range of poems all about a perfectly sensible topic your web browser isn't going to like. Order the printed book.

From the Line: Scottish War Poetry 1914-1945
ed David Goldie and Roderick Watson

ASLS Annual Volumes, ISBN978-1906841164, £12.50, hbk, 3 February

From the Linebrings together the best of Scotland's poetry from the two World Wars: 138 poems, from fifty-six poets, both men and women, from battlefields across the world and from the Home Front.

Paris: Poetry of place
ed Hetty Meyric Hughes

Eland, ISBN 978-1906011314, pbk, £6.99, Feb

Another in Eland's lovely pocket-sized anthologies of poetry about particular places (the one about Scotland a few years back is also excellent).

The Emma Press Anthology of Motherhood
ed Rachel Piercey, Emma Wright

Emma Press, ISBN 978-0-9574596-7-0, pbk, £10, Feb

With good time for Mother's Day, an anthology of 32 poems about motherhood's complexity and immediacy.

CLASSICS & ESSENTIALS

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
T S Eliot, illus Rebecca Ashdown

Faber, ISBN 978-0571311866, pbk, £5.99, 6 February

Here it is - the one, the only, in a newly illustrated edition for its 75th anniversary year.

TRANSLATION

This Room Is Waiting: poems from Iraq
edLauren Pyott and Ryan Van Winkle

Freight Books, ISBN 978-1-908754-49-3, £9.99, pbk, April

Four award-winning UK poets come together with four Iraqi poets to create a truly unforgettable anthology that sheds new light on real lives in contemporary post-war Iraq. Scotland-based Jen Hadfield, Billy Letford, Krystelle Bamford and John Glenday collaborate with four contemporary Iraqi poets, including acclaimed Zahir Mousa, Sabreen Kadhim, Ghareeb Iskander and Kurdish Iraqi, Awezan Nouri. Working with literal translations of the Arabic and Kurdish poems, the English language poets have created new ‘versions’, startling works that channel the anger, fear, hurt, hope, joy and fragile optimism of the originals, reconnecting readers with the realities of real life in post-invasion Iraq.

Louis de Paor: The Brindled Cat and the Nightingale’s Tongue
trans Kevin Anderson, Biddy Jenkinson and Mary O'Donoghue

Bloodaxe, ISBN 1 78037 109 8, £12, pbk, June (bilingual)

Leading Irish poet Louis de Paor's Irish language poems are closely translated here into English, and published in both languages.

My Voice: A Decade of Poems from the Poetry Translation Centre
ed Sarah Maguire

Bloodaxe, ISBN 1 78037 107 1, £12, pbk, June (multilingual)

111 poems translated from 23 different languages (ranging from Arabic to Zapotec: all the original scripts are included) and representing 26 countries, translated by 45 of the world’s leading poets, including Jo Shapcott, Sean O’Brien, Lavinia Greenlaw, W N Herbert, Mimi Khalvati and Nick Laird. Founded by Sarah Maguire, the Poetry Translation Centre aims to transform English verse through engaging with the rich poetic traditions of the UK’s recent immigrant communities including Somalian, Afghan, Sudanese and Kurdish for whom poetry is of overwhelming importance.

Ana Blandiana: My Native Land A4
trans Paul Scott Derrick and Viorica Patea

Bloodaxe, ISBN 978-1780371054, £9.95, pbk, May

Ana Blandiana is a leading Romanian poet, a dissident during the Communist regime and an opponent of Ceausescu. This is a translation of her latest collection.

Ice Roses: Selected Poems
Sarah Kirsch, trans Anne Stokes

Carcanet, ISBN978-1847771513, pbk, £14.95, 27 February

Sarah Kirsch (1935 - 2013) was an important voice in German poetry, living first in East then West Germany. These new English translations make her work freshly accessible to readers.

Fernando de Herrera: Selected Poems
trans Luis Ingelmo, Michael Smith

Shearsman, ISBN978-1848613348, pbk, £9.95, 15 February

English translations of the Spanish Renaissance poet, Fernando de Herrera (1534-97).

Euripides: Bacchae
Robin Robertson

Vintage, ISBN 978-0099577379, hbk, £12, Feb

Robin Robertson's new translation of Euripides' play of bacchanalian excess.

A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde
Lavinia Greenlaw

Faber, ISBN 978-0571284542, hbk & ebook, £16.99, 6 March

Lavinia Greenlaw's precision and clarity offers not exactly a translation of Chaucer's poem, but more a new way of thinking about the poem and its tragic lovers.

SMALL PRESS

Murder Bear
W N Herbert

Donut Press, ISBN 9780956644572, £10, November 2013

We'll keep claiming W N Herbert as a Dundonian, despite a number of years' residence in Newcastle. This pamphlet not only has the lovely design values of Donut Press, but promises to be viciously funny and witty. (Not a cuddly teddy to share with younger readers, though.)

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE

Five Nonsense Poems
Five Poems About Teachers
Five Creepy Crawly Poems
Ogden Nash, The Tale of Custard the Dragon

Candlestick Press, £4.95, pbk, March

The wonderfulCandlestick Pressproduce pamphlets of poems that cost about the same as a posh birthday card but ensure a better read for the recipient. These five are all suitable for those up to 11, as well as their teachers and anybody else who likes a good read.

Hog in the Fog: A Harry and Lil story
Julia Copus, Illustrated by Eunyoung Seo

Faber, ISBN978-0571307210, £6.99, pbk, 6 March

A first children's book by poet Julia Copus, and the first new picture book on Faber's children's list. 'This is the story of Candy Stripe Lil / and Harry the Hog who lived over the hill ... and a foggy March day, roundabout three, / when Lil had invited Harry for tea.'

Stars in Jars
Chrissie Gittins

Bloomsbury, ISBN 9781408196939, £6.99, pbk, 13 February

New and selected poems from this experienced and popular poet for children.

ABOUT

The Symbolist Movement in Literature
Arthur Symons, ed Matthew Creasy

Fyfield Books, ISBN 978 1 847771 25 4, £14.95, pbk, June

First published in 1899,The Symbolist Movement in Literaturewas a highly influential work of criticism on French symbolism, and a formative influence on modernist writers such as Joyce, Eliot, Pound and Yeats. This new critical edition makes available a key text that has been out of print for over 50 years, and includes the essays that Symons added to the expanded edition of his book in 1919.

Some Desperate Glory: The First World War the Poets Knew
Max Egremont

Picador, ISBN 9781447241997, hbk, £20, May

By the biographer of Siegried Sassoon, this is the history and a chronological anthology of the poetry of WWI: the poetry of Owen, Graves, Brooke, Gurney, Nichols, Thomas, Sassoon in historical and biographical context.

Recommended new & forthcoming poetry titles