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The New American:
contemporary Americana by a mature artist.
(Published by Gilford Press, New Jersey, USA, and printed by Cyberwit.net, 2006, 99 pages, paperback, US$17.95)
The New American: Selected Poems is an intelligent work by Mary Barnet-Schiff, with illustrations by Richard E. Schiff (www.RichardSchiff.com). The title of this collection of poetry describes the book quite aptly. In my view, it represents the tradition of Americana – both re-visited and updated. The poetry varies in style and form, including nature romantic, inspirational, social anthropological and socio-political commentary, and both free-style prose poetry and some rhyme. The writing is somewhat deceptive in that M. Barnet-Schiff has quietly worked hidden layers into many of the poems, that are first revealed after several readings.
This work is full of reflection and description, and without poetic ostentation. Although the author has achieved extraordinary visual imagery and music without requiring the reader to consult a dictionary or thesaurus, many of these poems are carefully tailored pearls that could only have been written by a mature artist. While reading this book I was often reminded of the poetry of Walt Whitman and the music of Charles Ives. While Barnet-Schiff has her own particular literary accent and signature, her adeptness in regards to bringing out the music and imagery of America through varied eyes and voices qualifies her (in my opinion) as a commentator and visionary of contemporary Americana.
I have one minor criticism: the usage of initial caps at the beginning of each line in many of her poems is (for me) somewhat disruptive of the imagery and musicality – forcing me away from the natural flow of the words.
Overall, I would commend the author for a well-written and well-conceived work of art, which especially lends itself to being performed or read out loud to oneself.
I would like to conclude this review with one example from The New American:
The Quiet Time
when you’ve gone to sleep
is mine like a moon-lit glen
midst the dark forest at night
which steps lightly
all about me in dreams
adjusting our covers
in a rustling of imaginings
open to the darkling hours
that create the lives of my dreams
leaving my eyes full
of sparkling misty sight
bright in the lost minutes
of many an interrupted dream
now mine.
Literary criticism (2008) by Adam Donaldson Powell (based upon “The New American”, published by Gilford Press, New Jersey, USA, and printed by Cyberwit.net, 2006, 99 pages, paperback).
MARY BARNET-SCHIFF (USA) is the founder and editor of PoetryMagazine.com. Her chapbooks include: “Orchidia”, “My Father’s Shoes” and “Landscape”. She has been performing poetry her entire life.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (Norway) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published six books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
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ALL THAT COMES, GOES: A MIND-BLOWING WORK OF GENIUS.
(Published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-088-1, 48 pages, paperback, US$10)
All That Comes, Goes is (in my opinion) a mind-blowing work of genius. Robert P. Craig has possibly created an entirely new genre in short literature. Through a succession of narratives, which can be experienced as either being connected or disconnected, the narrator (the observer) and the protagonist (“she”) dispassionately recount the more or less mundane circumstances and surroundings in a way that both tells a story ... and does not. Every observation and – dare I say – “non-eventful event” seems to have equal weight. And yet, the passivity of the texts creates an engaging and somewhat existential sense of floating in the reader ... a space where both being and not being are purely a question of personal experience and where the individual creates his/her own reality. After a short while, I began to experience confluence in regards to who was actually “she”, and who was (in fact) the narrator.
I find the work rather disarming, and reading it brought back associations to passions from my early adulthood years: theatre productions by Robert Wilson, performances by Meredith Monk, reading Jean Paul-Sartre ... and psychedelic drug trips where the utmost attention was given to minute details, slowing down time and exaggerating the significance of each observation. However, the real fun of reading this book is when the reader stops looking for stories, and discovers how well crafted the individual lines are.
This is a book that must certainly have many a reader offering his/her interpretations and speculations about the author’s intent. All are possibly equally correct and incorrect. This is not an intelligence test, but it is a mind-twister.
I would like to present two passages from All That Comes, Goes as an illustration:
THE HOTEL
was a very quiet place, considering
its position, and perfectly suited to
her needs. It lay several hundred
yards from the small train station,
near a terrace of elderly mansions
cut off from the main avenue by a
line of plane trees and a parking
patch. The traffic roared past all
night. But the inside, though it
was a fire-bowl of clashing
wallpapers and copper lampshades,
was a place of extraordinary calm.
Not only was there nothing going on
there, but there was nothing going
on in the world, either.
THE TOWN
It was afternoon.
One of winter’s periodic downpours
had begun.
It turned the city’s cobbled alleys
into minor watercourses,
its flat roofs into miniature lakes.
The sky and the sea, both usually
the color of blazing blue,
assumed a dull and uniform grey.
Even the lofty city walls had lost
their proud, golden hue.
Melancholy, as well as clouds,
had settled upon the town.
I rarely say this in a book review, but I will say it now: ‘Buy this book! Especially if you have been telling yourself that you really do not like poetry.’
Literary criticism (2008) by Adam Donaldson Powell (based upon “All That Comes, Goes”, published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-088-1, 48 pages, paperback, US$10)
ROBERT P. CRAIG (USA) has written two books of poetry, and has authored and edited several non-fiction books and articles. He is a Professor of Philosophy (Ph.D) at San Jacinto College.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (Norway) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published six books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
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Impassioned Soul: a courageous first book.
(Published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-083-6, 96 pages, paperback, US$15)
Impassioned Soul is a courageous first book by a talented author. Shirley Bolstok boldly takes up many aspects of life, personal development and human evolution without preaching ... and without cynicism or bitterness. Particularly moving are her poems about personal relationships and tragic historic events (eg. 9/11, the Holocaust). Bolstok consistently shows both sensitivity and vision in her writing, and much of what she writes about is easy to relate to ... primarily because she writes with such honesty, and about emotions, thoughts and life processes that we all have but perhaps seldom talk about in public. There is great healing in such.
I do have one criticism regarding her usage of rhyme: in the poems in which the rhyming words conclude every line or every other line, I sometimes felt that the inevitability of the rhyme interfered with my ability to take in all of the supporting words leading up to the rhyming word. Simply speaking, the rhyming process took over too much of my concentration. However, the poems where Bolstok surprised me by breaking up the rhyming patterns worked rather well for me. Although, rhyming poetry is a valid and age-old classical form with many possibilities, I would personally love to see a second book by Shirley Bolstok that breaks a bit more from tightly-worked rhyming patterns.
That being said, Bolstok has written several fine poems worth mentioning: “Cardboard Cut-outs”, “The Invisible Storm”, “The Longing”, “Collective Motion” and “Ventilator” to name just a few. I would like to conclude this review with two of her poems:
THE INVISIBLE STORM
Outside my window the sunshine seems darker
I sit in my living room reading about this or that
Somehow the shadows look deeper and starker
Creating strange contours with lint on the floor-mat
An odd anxiety clashes with the monotonous TV
The radio singing with the reminiscence of the heart
All this noise but I can’t hear a thing
I see lives devastated and torn apart
We’re looking over our shoulders for the unseen
While the adversary sits in our television and radio
Speaking of war, while we wonder what they mean
While threats of biological warfare continue to grow
We still don’t know the face of our enemy
Because voices inside speakers continue to bellow
Screaming, how we must take care but live our lives
But our imaginations will never let us be free
All the things we fear are spinning into beehives
While we look for safety and renounce autonomy
Quickly the beehives are developing into a swarm
Now a fierce, invisible tornado called the, “Media Storm.”
COLLECTIVE MOTION
These are days
With no beginning and no end
A collective motion
Of events that pass me by
An empty stream of thoughts
Ride my emotions
Stranding me in the stillness
Leaving no cry
I am lost in the sea
That is known as myself
Existing
To re-emerge
After a lonely retreat
I’m blinded
To my own vision
Now a cloud of dreams
Wandering in desperate silence
Outside of myself
Vacillating
In beat
I look forward to seeing Shirley Bolstok’s next book, and her continuing development as a poet.
Literary criticism (2008) by Adam Donaldson Powell (based upon “Impassioned Soul”, published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-083-6, 96 pages, paperback, US$15)
SHIRLEY BOLSTOK (USA) has written several individual poems which have been widely published in newspapers, anthologies and online magazines. “Impassioned Soul” is her first poetry book.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (Norway) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published six books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
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VIJAIGANGA
Where the Horizons Converge: Poems on Peace.
(Published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-073-7, 81 pages, paperback, US$12)
Where the Horizons Converge: Poems on Peace is a visual work of literature, quite evocative and descriptive in its nature romanticism – at times a bit reminiscent of Walt Whitman. Vijaiganga wields the paintbrush with a combination of mental control and intuitive abandon. (Yes, if you are wondering ... that is good.) The poems give the reader a sense of oneness with nature, and have the pleasant effect of offering a respite from the illusion of spiritual separation.
However, I would make two critical comments. Firstly, in a few of the poems the author uses some archaic formulations that can seem unnatural (if not stilted). This has nothing to do with differences between Indian English, and Western forms of English. The temptation to use archaic words does not necessarily add to a sense of the “poetic” or artistic, but rather should be used to signal a different voice, a different time period, another (perhaps “higher”) authority etc. – thus giving their usage functional poetic legitimacy. A couple of examples follow:
from “Voice of the Crustacean: On First Escaping to Land” –
Coddled betwixt a country farm and a hurrying town,
and
from “Bemoan Not Our Terrestrial Triumphs” –
‘Twas for the love of combat –
Secondly, Vijaiganga’s verse (though beautiful in its natural simplicity combined with engineered reflection) would perhaps be better suited as continuous free verse in paragraph form – with one sentence flowing into the next, without forced line breaks and extra line spaces. When one reads this poetry aloud in a continuous free style, the interconnectedness that has been so ingeniously crafted comes much better to light than when read on the printed page in its present form. These critical comments are minor, but it is the small touches that make a poem a masterpiece in its own right. And Vijaiganga has nearly mastered this unique form of writing.
Literary criticism (2008) by Adam Donaldson Powell (based upon “Where the Horizons Converge: Poems on Peace”, published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-073-7, 81 pages, paperback, US$12)
VIJAIGANGA (India) has been published in e-zines, anthologies and here in a new collection of poems.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (Norway) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published six books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
LINDA A. PETERS
Of Water and Petals: a finely crafted work of art.
(Published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-076-8, 159 pages, paperback, US$15)
Of Water and Petals is a finely crafted work of fine literature, presenting highly visual narratives, short short stories in poetic format, character studies and portraits with the astute observance of a photographer or a painter. Peters does not seem to let much escape her, and is very proficient at retelling these “stories” in ways that are entertaining, insightful and personally recognisable, but never standing on a soap box. She uses many elements of contemporary poetry that she easily moulds into various shapes, forms and experiences, in her own strong literary style.
This is not only intelligent poetry, but also fun reading. It is not every poet who succeeds in achieving both throughout a collection of poems. It seems appropriate to give the author herself the last word in this piece of literary criticism. There are all too many fine examples of her artistry to include several, but I feel that the title poem (“Of Water and Petals”) is highly representative:
Of Water and Petals
He sat down at his easel
at the edge of a garden
.
Graceful women
holding parasols
glided past his elbow
to watch him
guide oil onto canvas
at Giverny,
a place of equilibrium
in a life of earthly struggles
.
Paint was his elixir
and water lilies
won his heart
with his favorite element,
water.
His friends Renoir and Sargent
became subjects in enamel,
Renoir reading a paper,
Sargent painting a wood
and impressing a woman.
But to know Monet
you must stand at the entrance
of his garden at Giverny,
become enraptured
with the reflections
of blues and greens
In the water,
and listen to the soft echoes
of generations of water lilies
that murmur his name
fondly.
Literary criticism (2008) by Adam Donaldson Powell (based upon “Of Water and Petals”, published by Cyberwit.net, 2007, ISBN 978-81-8253-076-8, 159 pages, paperback, US$15)
LINDA A. PETERS (USA) makes her debut as a poetry book author with this collection of poems.
ADAM DONALDSON POWELL (Norway) is a literary critic and a multilingual author, writing in English, Spanish, French and Norwegian; and a professional visual artist. He has published six books (including collections of poetry, short stories and literary criticism) in the USA, Norway and India, as well as several short and longer works in international literary publications on several continents. He has previously authored theatrical works performed onstage, and he has (to-date) read his poetry at venues in New York City, Oslo (Norway), Buenos Aires and Kathmandu (Nepal).
(photo at top of page by Adam Donaldson Powell.)
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