The Listening ShellEdited by Gladys Mary Coles, Headland, £7.95
This is one of those books made with good intentions that you just know is going to disappoint. At least the promise of free drinks ensured a good attendance at Cardiff‟s worst “venue”, the corridor space at the WMC.
The foreword for the book, an anthology of poetry by writers connected to Tŷ Newydd, is written by Gillian Clarke, who also introduced the launch. In my view, Gillian Clarke always has good intentions.. Well, anyway, the first sentence of the introduction left my slightly baffled. Apparently “writing is a solitary, secretive art.” Ok, it is mostly
solitary – except when writing in conjunction with others, such as for the “Renga”, the last piece “exhibited” by a group of writers, at the launch, and I also wonder if writing within a workshop, as most poems in the book would‟ve been, counts as solitary writing? And secretive? Really not sure about that. So, unimpressed with the very first words of the book!
My companion on the evening of the launch warned me not to be so cynical. I‟m sure Tŷ Newydd is a lovely place, and I‟m sure it inspires a lot of lovely people to write lots of lovely things. But I would be wary of the quality of the work produced. Anything written under workshop conditions is surely always going to be a little forced – I doubt if any writer will write their most inspired work due to the restrictive conditions. Most pieces will surely be more like “commissioned” work, which is hardly ever successful.
A lot of these poems are fairly dull, narrative jobs, mostly to do with nature, many of which I would be doubtful about including in the magazine. Not a lot of style or form, lacking in imagination, hardly any rhyming at all, as you might expect (Graham Mort‟s “The Fetching” being a good exception; Richard Poole‟s “Cold Blood Sonnets” broke the mould slightly with some humour, although only the first of the two “sonnets” has rhyme). It‟s not that I‟m a massive fan of rhyme, but sometimes it‟s needed, just to demonstrate that it is more than just transcribed narrative!
Carol Ann Duffy contributes a four line poem (why is she the only one who has to have the words Written at Tŷ Newydd beneath her effort? Surely that‟s the idea of the book?!). To be honest, there was not really a lot I liked until I got to Peter Finch‟s poem. Peter read at the launch, and yes, he was possibly the most important person to read, but in contrast to all those who think they‟re important, he stood out as the most eccentric, and definitely the most interesting. It only takes a little bit of extra effort sometimes!
I could also criticise the poor design of the book..but maybe I should shut up. As if my opinion counts? There is quite a lot to read here, and you get the impression there is a lot of affection for Tŷ Newydd. I expect the book will be bought in quite large numbers by many of the people who have visited the place. And I expect each of these people will read the poems by the couple of people they know or have heard of, and the book will then be stored on a shelf full of other books they felt obligated to buy, but didn‟t really have enough interest to read in their entirety.
ENGLEBURT BARTFAST 30
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