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Poems engaged absolutely

29/6/2015

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Otherwise
by John Dennison

    I was annoyed when a tutor on my degree course described T.S. Eliot’s poetry as ‘dry and unfeeling.’ I always felt that for Eliot, emotion was so strong and potent that it had to be repressed and controlled.
    As psychologists tell us, however, what we resist persists; and I like in Dennison’s poems what I like in Eliot’s, a sense that the poet has deliberately chosen to explore with intellectual honesty what his feelings are and where they come from. I believe the control thus exercised allows us, as readers, a generous margin of space to respond both intellectually and emotionally.
    I think I’m talking about what I value most in any writing: the invitation to engage with it. Many of Dennison’s poems, carefully read and re-read – poetry is a slow thing with me, both writing my own, and readings others’ – engaged me absolutely.
    The thing I value second-most is readability – writing that is set down without condescension or deliberate shying away from anything too difficult, challenging and obtuse. There’s that honesty I respond to and Dennison has it.
    Writers, and especially poets must also, to please me, be well-equipped with a diverse and extensive vocabulary, yet free of any compulsion to flood me with all that they know. That seems to demand of them a trust that their chosen words, carefully and exactly deployed, will beguile and illumine the reader even when occasional words are unknown or not immediately understood.
    Yes, it’s a fine line, isn’t it? A balancing act. Again, Dennison manages it well. We know when he uses plain or fancy, it’s a conscious choice, at his own discretion.
    Some lyricism, another preference of mine, if only as an occasional indulgence, is there, too. Lines to murmur aloud, such as:
                  ‘…does Orion,
             his blue diamonds worn long over cool indigo
             slip into the wings?’
I can imagine the poet, thoughtful and alone:
                  ‘…sitting to write, dream, seek
those things that bear repeating.’
     There are many such things in Otherwise.
     Academia often insists we understand everything that’s in a poem; I’m not entirely sure that matters. I do like the process of reading and re-reading to tease out what lies between the lines on the page. Yet, potentially, I like to be reassured that all of it is, ultimately understandable. This, in my opinion, Dennison constantly achieves, leading us to find:
              ‘at the unclosed door,
                  the seam of light.
     Accurate description is another must for me, as in Tawa and Watermarks; and that immediate welcome to The Garden. Yet overall what I got from Dennison’s Otherwise was a sense of moving on through the Mobius strip of being human, of living and breathing and relating closely each with the other – finding for ourselves ‘love’s bare answer.’
     Dennison’s is a true voice, speaking its philosophies, with clarity in his style of expression and a wide range of topics.


Review by Jenny Argante
Title: Otherwise
Author: John Dennison
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN: 9781869 408282
Available: Bookshops


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Invitation to lace up a pair of boots

19/6/2015

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The Smallest Continent – Journeys Through New Zealand Landscapes
by Derek Grzelewski


  The author takes us on a series of seductive discoveries that linger in South Island’s wild and remote landscapes long enough for us to believe we can smell the wood-smoke on the characters that have shaped and been shaped by this un-subdued country.
    In a kaleidoscope of colour the book guides us through underwater chasms where cetaceans edge close enough for our worlds to merge, and while we can still feel the salt water on our skin we are whisked away to experience Otago gold fever and move on through ever changing landscapes. The book is an open invitation to lace up a pair of boots and head for the hills. It is an experience that ought to be compulsory for all pasty faced youths trapped inside the virtual world of touch screens, keypads and video games.
    On a technical note I feel the book could look more professional if the text had been justified and a wider gutter had been provided. Although the cover design is adequate it may not inspire the compulsive purchase of the book and I am still uncertain who are the book’s target readers.


Review by Peter Thomas

Title: The Smallest Continent
Author: Derek Grzelewski
Publisher: Bateman
ISBN: 978-1-86953-889-7
Available: Bookshops
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