Trees, by Ágnes Nemes Nagy

Trees

“Learn. The winter trees.
Hoarfrosted crown to root.
Immovable curtains.
-
And learn too of the zone
where a crystal steams
and trees merge into mists,
as the body in recollection of it.
-
And behind the trees , the river
mute wings of the wild duck
the whiteblind blue night
of hooded objects standing:
it is here we must learn the trees’
inexpressible deeds.”
-
Trees by Ágnes Nemes Nagy, from Between , Selected Poems of Ágnes Nemes Nagy, translated by Hugh Maxton, Corvina Press , Budapest and Dedalus Press , Dublin. 1988. I reviewed the book here for Poetry Ireland. I am adding here a small sample of Nagy’s poetic prose from the Between volume (Corvina and Dedalus, 1988).

‘I have come to ask certain disrespectful questions of the tradition’, Boland on poetry’s ‘lesser-space’

‘ I am an Irish poet. A woman poet. In the first category I enter the tradition of the English language at an angle. In the second, I enter my own tradition at an even more steep angle. I need to be candid about this because, of course, these two identities shape and re-shape what I have to say today. The authority of the poet – that broad and challenging theme – is really, in my case, a series of instincts and hunches. The difference in my case, is that while many poets look to the past for the story of that authority, I no longer do so. I have stopped listening to the story which grants automatic authority to the poet and automatic importance to the poem. Instead, I have come to see a suppressed narrative.’ 

I have often wondered at the angle that Eavan Boland speaks of in this excerpted speech from the PN review . The speech entitled , Gods Make Their Own Importance was delivered  in 1994  under the auspices of the Poetry Book Society. Eavan Boland revisited this theme again in 2007 when she interviewed with the Boston Globe .  I know it’s a bit impertinent to extract a blog post from the two linked pieces, but I thought to examine the idea of  contemporary women poets taking on larger themes, rather than those small and domestic things so indicative of the lesser-space which Eavan Boland discussed.

The Boston Globe article, Exploring Poetry’s Lesser Space (2007) is as relevant now as it was at the time and maybe more so.  Critical review of poetry  is either absent or confined to particular little corners here in Ireland. I can take some recent examples of  this absence  which I have published here on the blog,  the Irish Times Books of 2011 did not allow for a single poetry publication, for instance . I have (to date) not seen a review of Oswald’s Memorial in our  papers of note, or indeed in any of the  Irish newspapers . Lucky then that good reviews are available elsewhere to lovers of poetry and non-fiction, by those who take the idea of a non-fiction readership seriously, and cater then to a less-limited spectrum of reading tastes and experiences. I am linking Michael Lista‘s National Post Review of  Oswald’s Memorial here .

If a male-author of our small writing establishment had stripped down The Iliad and had written a powerful dirge as Oswald  has undoubtedly achieved in Memorial,  would it have made it to the end of year book lists ? I do not think that the issue regarding the provision of  space for readers of non-fiction and poetry is the problem, it appears to be based on the marketing of  books. Oswald’s withdrawal from the T.S Eliot prize was noted in the Irish Times and indeed in the Irish Independent, but there is as far as I can see no review of the actual book on either website. Is it considered unladylike for women poets to take on vast themes that are decidedly not domestic-celebratory, and thus not interesting to reviewers?

In 2010 VIDA  (Women in the Literary Arts) published The Count, which showed a truly abysmal lack in critical review of women literary writers and poets. I feel that 2011 has been better for women in literature, although there are as yet no published figures available.  I have to wonder if lack of critical and intellectual  reviews of poets like Alice  Oswald  are based within the same confined dogmatic parameters that Boland alluded to in the linked lecture and interview . The small poems of the domestic, the novels,  and some genres seem open to review  and discussion but the larger themes are passed over and ignored. There appears to be a lack of balance inherent in how certain genres are presented to readers of literature, which reflects a small coterie of  male-writers and their  special interests.

Of course it could be simply a matter of impatience on my part to see what reviewers make of books by women writers that exist outside of the poetic  lesser-space and its artificial confines. I do not see contemporary women reviewers or women  critics asking the questions that Eavan Boland did in 2007, so my assumption that the issue of how we look at women literary writers and poets in Ireland must have been resolved satisfactorily without my noting it.

Or

It could be entirely  presumed that women reviewers really do not give much of a fuck about Irish  literature unless it exists within a cut-out pattern that they are entirely comfortable with , the same consistent group of books reviewed within the same confining parameters that please their bosses,  and indeed that small group of writers who accept a formulaic critique as a matter of course.

Related Links

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/arts/afterword/blog.html?b=arts.nationalpost.com/2011/12/30/michael-lista-on-poetry-the-iliad-laid-bare

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2007/03/11/exploring_poetrys_lesser_space/

http://www.pnreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/scribe?item_id=1942

2011 poetry news, and online information for poets.

Given that the Irish Times Books of the Year did not make mention of poetry books for 2011 , I thought to add some links to Irish poetry  presses and imprints for those readers of poetry who are not catered for in the list-system. I have to say that I do not think of such ephemera as dates when I approach a book of poetry and my reading included some 2010 volumes (and earlier).  The beauty of poetry is that it is timeless and  poetry books are always relevant. I am going to add links for some poetry publishers, and then some good online resources for readers and writers of poetry. I wonder how many of the books at link will survive the test of time ? (or even taste,  ” So good, so funny, so real, so very, very sad” , is what amounts to review in the article).

Irish presses and poetry journals.

The Gallery Press  have an eminently worthwhile list of poets and writers, I am adding a link  to their online catalogue for this and for previous years. http://www.gallerypress.com/wprs/shop/category/poetry/

Dedalus Press  is a vibrant and industrious publisher of Irish titles , their catalogue can be found here

Salmon Press  has a wonderful list of poets, and this year published Ann le Marquand Hartigan and Nuala Ní Chonchúir amongst other titles,  http://www.salmonpoetry.com/bookshop2.php?c2=2

Cló iar-Chonnacht  has an eclectic  list of Irish Language artists, both musical and poetic , http://www.cic.ie/books.aspx for all ages of readers

I can add to this list Poetry Ireland , The SHOp Magazine , Moth (Little Editions) , Post (DCU) , Crannóg , Burning Bush , The Munster Literature Centre ( and Southword), The Western Writers Centre, Over the Edge, Tigh Filí , and The Irish Writer’s Centre . Online Poetry concerns include Writing.ie , Emerging Writer , Wurm in Apfel , Nuala Ní Chonchúir, and all of the above mentioned presses that use online as a source of income and connection for writers.

2011 bits and pieces.

I reviewed a few books this year and I have blogged these over the past twelve months, I liked Jeet Thayil‘s edition of Contemporary Indian Poetry and told him too, The moth magazine ‘Little Editions’  , Susan Lindsay’s ‘Whispering the Secrets, John Walsh’s ‘Chopping Wood with T.S Eliot, Human Chain by Seamus Heaney. I intend to get Memorial, by Alice Oswald and I  will probably blog that too. AND this year 2011, I published some almost lost Doris Lessing Poems Here , in all a wonderful poetic year for me as a reader and writer.

This year saw the cutting of funds to Poetry Now ! and barely a whisper of protest in the media, and there was some controversy at the T.S Eliot Prize . My  favourite story of the year had to be the restoration of  Sue Hubbard’s ‘Eurydice’.  The fourth annual Turn at Tara occurred, although some newspapers would rather not look at the wound created by rampant planning unbalanced by a single heritage and conservation bill in over a decade!  Poetry happens in the most wonderful places , although these places are generally  not full of  literary- liggers. Two wonderful editors had a spat, although Irish media coverage of same was void ,empty. I really do wonder if poetry loses importance due to the glitter and tinsel of PR management, and souped-up interest in disposable tales (the type that makes it to the charity-shops within  three-four week periods of publication and sells for 1-2 Euros ?).

As is usual , I have to say that good poetry discussion occurs at  Jacket2, UBUWEB, The Poetry Foundation , Salt , Anon. Pierre Joris’  Nomadics is an interesting site for those interested in translation and outsider poetics.

Other newspapers have published poetry lists for 2011.

Boston Globe list http://bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2011/12/18/best-poetry-books/EMwDBZdDcYcbfbVNhLyh6L/story.html

Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/poetry-songs-of-elegance-and-of-experience-6278591.html

Guardian List  http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/poetry

And some New Yorker choices from 2011: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/

The Harriet Blog, 2011 list http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2011/12/the-poetry-foundation-staffs-favorite-books-of-2011/ (Poetry Foundation)

and then there was this…..http://zito.biz/fuckyou/?p=2533 (Fuck You Blog)

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2011/12/the-year-in-reading-poetry.html (New Yorker 2011 Poetry List)

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/29/144197310/truth-and-beauty-2011s-best-american-poetry?sc=tw&cc=share David Orr’s Selection of 2011 Poetry books

‘Geasa’, le Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill.

Geasa/The Bond

Má chuirim aon lámh ar an dtearmann beannaithe,
má thógaim droichead thar an abhainn,
gach a mbíonn tógtha isló ages na ceardaithe
bíonn sé leagtha ar maidin romham.

Tagann  aníos an abhainn istoíche bád
is bean ina seasamh  inti.
Tá coinneal ar lasadh ina súil is ina lámha.
Tá dhá mhaide rámha  aici.

Tairrigíonn sí amach paca cartaí,
‘An imréofá brieth?’  a deireann sí.
Imrímid is buann sí orm de shíor
is cuireann sí de cheist, de bhreith is de mhórualach orm

Gan an tarna béile a ithe in aon tigh,
ná an tarna oíche a chaitheamh faoi aon díon,
gan dhá shraic chodlata a dhéanamh ar aon leaba
go bhfaighead í.  Nuair a fhiafraím di cá mbíonn sí,

‘Dá mba siar é soir, ‘ a deireann sí, ‘dá mba soir é sior.’
Imíonn sí léi agus splancacha tintrí léi
is fágtar ansan mé ar an bport.
Tá an dá choinneal fós ar lasadh le mo thaobh.

D’fhág sí na maidi rámha agam.’

Geasa,  le Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill,  as Pharaoh’s Daughter.  Gallery Press. 1990. This poem is from Pharaoh’s Daughter by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, 1990, Gallery Press (Editor Peter Fallon).  With thanks to Gallery Press for permission to reproduce here. I have added poet Medbh McGuckian‘s translation at link http://poethead.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/the-bond-by-nuala-ni-dhomhnaill/

‘The Pharaoh’s Daughter ‘, Gallery Press,1990.

The Bond, by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, translated by Medbh McGuckian.

‘The Bond’, by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

The Bond/Geasa

If I use my forbidden hand
To raise a bridge across the river,
All the work of the builders
Has been blown up by sunrise.

A boat comes up the river by night
With a woman standing in it,
Twin candles lit in her eyes
And  two oars in her hands.

She unsheathes a pack of cards,
‘Will you play forfeits?’She says.
We play and she beats me hands down,
And she puts three banns upon me :

Not to have two meals in one house,
Not to pass two nights under one roof,
Not to sleep twice with the same man
Until I find her. When I ask her address,

‘If it were north I’d tell you south,
If it were east, west.’ She hooks
Off in a flash of lightning, leaving me
Stranded on the bank,

My eyes full of candles,
And the two dead oars. “

This is a translation of  Geasa , by Nuala Ni  Dhomhnaill. The poem is from Pharaoh’s Daughter by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, 1990, Gallery Press (Editor Peter Fallon).  With thanks to Gallery Press for permission to reproduce here. The translation of Geasa is by poet, Medbh McGuckian. I have featured the poem here, http://poethead.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/geasa-le-nuala-ni-dhomhnaill/