Kay Green

wormwood, earth and honey

selected poems by Catherine Edmunds

Catherine Edmunds, known around the web as delph_ambi, has appeared in a wide range of publications both electronic and paper. Her reputation is on the up, and Circaidy Gregory are very lucky to be presenting her first solo collection. Here are some of the review comments we have received…

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Although Catherine and I have gender, painting and writing in common, we approach the latter from completely different viewpoints, and I’ve always been tremendously grateful for her unbiased, concise and helpful remarks when commenting on my writing when posted on the forum.

I can now return the compliment, with interest. Catherine – you have a convert. I thoroughly enjoyed your poetry. Vivid pictures in brilliant colour sing through the book: ‘lake of jade’, ‘skies boil grey and grim’, white horses dancing’ and
‘tangerine dreams
of sunlit skies
cerulean blue
mediterranean climes’.

This is poetry for a rainy day; to cheer you with colour, make you realise ‘clouds dropped lumps of water’ on everybody at some time, or giggle at the wry humour. A lovely selection of poems and highly recommended reading.

Pam Eaves

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Catherine is no superficial poet awash with jolly statements that cannot possibly be misinterpreted. She is a thinker’s poet, a writer whose words very often conceal and beguile, and whose meanings frequently wear the camouflage of allegory and metaphor. If you want the most from her poetry, you will have to think about it. This is not a book for skimming during a free moment in the lavatory. Even her humour requires careful attention.

She is a compelling storyteller, weaving complex and sometimes lyrical tales with surprisingly few words. There’s no waste with this poet. Every word, every line break, every nuance is calculated for maximum effect. The lady handles drama, sentiment, nonsense and humour with equal aplomb. Catherine is what every seriously talented poet must be: a gimlet-eyed observer.

She is also versatile. Not content with just the contemporary style of free verse, she is equally at home with the sonnet (a particular favourite of mine,) haiku/senryu and a plethora of other styles and fancies.

Pernickety paragons of punctuation will be disappointed. There isn’t a lot of it. For me, though, the lack of it gives Catherine’s work a sense of immediacy and sometimes restlessness that I like very much indeed.

So… if stolen hedgehogs, unrequited love, heroic prunes, things called Eric, romantic mittens, unhappy penguins, myth and legend and assorted other unforgettable characters are your meat and spuds, then this book is for you. But make no mistake: this book is not just about fun and games. There is a very serious underbelly throughout this book. Sometimes angry, sometimes hopeless, sometimes just plain glorious. It’s all in there:

Anger:
his foot’s kicked a twelve inch monkey wrench
he picks it up, nods once to the car
then goes to look for his mother

Hopelessness:
it’s not a police matter
they’re just bruises
they’ll heal

Glory:
as clouds gather

walk with me in colour

John Irvine

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John Irvine is the author of two illustrated collections of poetry: Man of Stone’ published by Zenith Publishing in 2005 (ISBN: 1-877365-34-3) Rat atouille for the rindless’ published by Preshrunk Press in 2007 (ISBN: 978-0-473-125448-. You can read his review in its entirety, and much more on the subject of small press and indie books on the Circaidy Gregory review forum at www.booksy.co.uk

Pam Eaves runs a U3A Writing Group in Essex. Her work has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her first solo collection is now available from www.circaidygregory.co.uk She is also an artist. Her gallery is at www.pameaves.co.uk