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| Interior and hardcover jacket or paperback cover art by Clive Hicks-Jenkins of Wales * * * Marly Youmans The Book of the Red King Montreal, Canada: Phoenicia Publishing (20 July 2019) * 155 pages |
Phoenicia Publishing hardcover and paperback pre-orders are officially over, though discount links are still up (love, frolics, and thank you to all who ordered!), and the poetry collection is now available via Amazon, bookstores, etc. Please think about supporting my poems and Phoenicia, a stellar small press, brainchild of Elizabeth Adams. We are properly and ecstatically grateful when you do... (And who wouldn't want a piece of Clivean illumination, too?)
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| Montreal: Phoenicia Publishing 155 pages |
"Marly Youmans is brilliant, perhaps a genius. Her poems tell a story, offering us a vision of, well, I would say the Trinity, but that is only one possible interpretation. After a difficult and sometimes dangerous journey, a Red King, a Fool, and Precious Wentletrap converge into one, a resurrection that is heavenly. Is it true, or is it fable or fairytale? "When I want to write a new book," she has said, "I run across the land and leap off the edge of the known world." Her formal poems are impeccable and include sestinas, villanelles, rondels, rhyming schemes she may have invented, and perfect metrical patterns. Every poet can learn from this poet, and the reader—the reader will be spellbound." --Kelly Cherry, poet, novelist, and former Poet Laureate of Virginia
We've both discussed how hard it is to publicise our fictional works but with these sorts of encomia (Legitimate? I think not.) your task is eased. And yet you are an American optimist; just think how much more onerous self-publicising is for a British blushing violet like me. After months of navel-examination, and in an attempt to create more impact in my campaign to become a putative novelist, I chose to wear all black, but only because I reckoned it would come in handy for funerals.There may a short story in that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I read some myth-based fiction (CS Lewis, Mervyn Peak) but having my nosed rubbed into the principles of electronics in the RAF, followed by the need to develop the outward appearance of a savant as editor of a magazine devoted to logistics, I lost some of that willingness. However when it comes to fiction I do support the idea that it is a creative process based on a desire to fashion something new and not simply to polish that which has happened. One would of course expect this with poetry but never mind; I know you belong to that tradition. I will buy The Fool and the Red King, a gesture that becomes even more poignant when you consider what the actions of Fool Donald and Fool Boris have done to the dollar/sterling exchange rate. Greater love...
I've never felt comfortable with promotion. My mother was the ninth baby of parents born in 1869 and 1883, and I was brought up to be a monster of tact and modesty! So I always have a skin-off feeling about marketing.
ReplyDeleteHah, thank you. I'm not wading into that particular kind of foolishness, as I am allergic to politicians of all stripes. Dr. Twain tells me to keep away, or I may go into shock.
Eep. Must run. Eldest son's new car is dead as the proverbial doornail. Pfft! Another adventure in the making, I suppose...
My copy arrived yesterday. First I was surprised by its literal heft—this is not a dainty little collection of poems—and when I sat down to read it I was impressed by its creative and intellectual heft. This is clearly not a collection to be grazed at random. There's a world between those covers, and my sense is that it will reward gradual exploration.
ReplyDeleteHurrah! Glad it arrived--I still haven't gotten my hardcover copy, so am still looking forward to it.
DeleteHope you still think it has heft at the end!