Koo Press Poetry
19 Lochinch Park
Aberdeen, AB12 3RF
Email : koopoetry@btinternet.com
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Taking it in by C. P. StewartAdd to Basket |
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ISBN 978-0-8340-9-7
Price £5
Some poems, it may be said, dwell on their length for an overall impact, albeit have a tendency to ‘wander’. Not so here, where C.P. Stewart makes each word earn its place, with a brevity that is lucid, clean and precise. On reading these poems the message therein is akin to a laser beam carving letters into rock. Indeed, these forty-three poems become little jewels, polished and compact as bullets. Here is a poet imbued with love – love of life, love for his family and wife, whose work has previously been quoted: ‘these poems are the goods’ and ‘short, taut snapshots’. Moreover, it’s their sheer gravity that holds the most impact, and especially in that last killer line. Yes, be it pastoral, ethereal or simply flesh and blood, each brief sojourn is a whisky and ice. So why not open these pages, and swallow?
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Skald by Ian CrockattAdd to Basket |
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ISBN 978-0-9558340-6-6
Price £5
It has already been stated that Ian Crockatt should be merited a gold star for his use of language. And few who read this stunning work will think otherwise. The Skalds were professional poets employed by the kings of the Viking courts between the 9th and 13th centuries, in essence recording glorious victories and fallen heroes that would in turn become legends. However, from such a ragged existence uniformity is the name of the game here, and in these octets with their six syllable lines, the lively narrative, be it brutal or tender, lifts these words from the page. Disturbing. Vivid. Tender. For the full impact of these poems, though, pick up this book, pace the floor and read it out aloud!
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Part-Truths by Michael PedersenAdd to Basket |
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ISBN 978-0-9558340-8-0
Price £5
Begins with a foray into the physique, and harkens to the illustration on the cover; indeed, resembling a sexual ballet of ‘capricious mammals’. Overall, though, the reader is subject to diverse locales, including Michael Pedersen’s Edinburgh — its haunts and taunts and Leith, a journey into its soul through his pulsing observations. In addition, though, he’ll take a stroll through Smithfield Market and end up having an affair in a sun-splattered, sweat-streaked Cambodia. Albeit a strand of humour permeates these poems, the pages are beset by post-relationship machinations, and that of a drug-raddled friend, lying prone in a hospital ward. Moreover, one might say that Part-Truths amounts to a cosmopolitan romp, and at times may stray into a socio-political venture. But amid the homages, where darker moments are exposed, it is the voice on the page — plangent, acute and brazen, even, piercing like stars in the clearest of summer nights. Take a read. You won’t forget it.
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My Father’s Pot and Other Poems by Harriet TorrAdd to Basket |
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ISBN 978-0-9558340-7-3
Price £5
Opens with the visual impact of the death of the poet's father, in which reflections of both recent and childhood memories are brought sharply into focus. And as the time scales shift from the present into the past, the reader is subject to powerful, yet dark, or even idiosyncratic, imagery of 'home'. Of course, no home is complete without the voice of a mother, which here indeed, figures prominently: Touch his forehead and you'll never be afraid; or her having to 'patch up the pains of the day'. Here, Harriet Torr presents to us a sequence of mainly bittersweet reminiscence, of a harsh, yet loving existence, the irony of which is wryly summed up in the concluding poem. However, let's not forget the 'Other Poems', brilliantly opened by the highly commendable 'Tsunami Girl', and augmented by the brio of her no-nonsense, and variable, relationship narratives. Yes, this is the fabric of family stuff - and emotionally resilient...
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