Carcanet Press - The Swerve

Description
Excerpt
Author
Contents

Blue fjords
recede; salmon swim among stalks
of rye. Bronze bells, or their echoes, break on rocks
once lapped by the sea. Did you see them, the quartzcarved
rocks glistening with summer springs?
The old violence, the old songs:
from prows and cliffs, men sound their lurhorns.

from ‘Dommaring’

Julith Jedamus writes with an intensity that is at once passionate and precise. The poems in The Swerve create unforgettable landscapes: the whorls and spires of juniper in falling snow, Dutch skies of iridescent grey and lilac, the fire-scorched mountains of the American West. They are peopled by dancers and prisoners, sacrificial children and murderous wives; they reshape the imagination. We see the Netherlands in Van Gogh’s colours as he walks and works, breathing the twilight, and the Thames in Whistler’s; Lorca and Euripides are living presences. The timeless dramas of sacrifice and mourning, rescue and betrayal are re-enacted, meanings dissolved and remade. Long-vanished children walk home through the dark, ‘ghosting a path of sparks’.

Like the scull she rows on the Thames, Julith Jedamus’s poems skim ‘the fine line / between flying and drowning’, ‘unstable as air’, dangerous, alive.

The White Cliff
Belle Tout
Bob-Mill
The White Horse
Rievaulx I and II
The Lucombe Oak
E.T. in the Isère
The Cull
Henry Moore’s Mother
Whistler at Midnight
On the Fast Train from Cambridge to London, Second Class, No A/C, Nine Tunnels
Epiphany
Fine Boat
Stowing a Single in Furnivall Boathouse on the Chiswick Mall
The Drowning of Drenthe
Van Gogh in Drenthe
Love-Sonnet to a Rock in Bohuslän
Dommaring
Osage Orange
What This Juniper Says About His Mind
The Melvina Fire
Barn Burning, Fall River, Wisconsin, July 1966
Lost Letter to Crane
The Red Tide
Two Ghazals for Aziz, Who Spent Eighteen Years in Darkness in Tazmamart Prison
Romance de la Luna
Romance Sonámbulo
La Monja Gitana
Reyerta
Circumspect
Admetus, Alcestis
Carpe Diem
In Troezen
Sacrifice
The Swerve
Snow Is Not Celibate
Fixed Form
Myth and Muse
A Second Moon
The Best Time to Talk About Neutrinos
Merce Cunningham at Craneway, Last Rehearsals, November 2008
On the Day He Suffered Most, Sycamores
A Glass of Water
In Memory of the Photographer Wilson ‘Snowflake’ Bentley, Who Died of Pneumonia after Walking through a Blizzard Near Jericho, Vermont, December 23, 1931
Directive

Notes

Julith Jedamus grew up in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado. For the past sixteen years she has lived in London. She began writing novels, switched to short stories, and now writes verse, some of which was anthologised in the bestselling New Poetries V . Her first collection, The Swerve , ... read more

Quote of the Day British publishing always needs the supplement of such enterprises as Carcanet -- beautifully independent, skilfully managed, and by people with exceptional literary taste. It gives one heart that there are such people and such a press, and that they are too resourceful to succumb to the climate. Sir Frank Kermode Home Authors Titles Paperback Hardback Limited Edition Journal CD eBook Imprints Aspects of Portugal Audio Books Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Carcanet Poetry Comma Press FyfieldBooks Lintott Press Lives and Letters Northern House OxfordPoets PN Review Sheep Meadow Press Information About Us Academic Enquiries Authors For Events Catalogue Contact Us Copyright and Permissions Join Our Mailing List Opportunities at Carcanet Press Enquiries PN Review Shopping Guide Stocklist Submission Guidelines Trade Information Resources Audio Interviews Gallery Reviews Video
Book Search Search > advanced search Subscribe to our mailing list Submit
The Swerve Julith Jedamus RRP: GBP£ 9.95 Discount: 35% You Save: GBP£ 3.48 Price: GBP£ 6.47 Available Paperback ISBN: 978 1 847771 34 6 Categories: 21st Century, American, British, First Collections, Women Imprint: Carcanet Poetry Published: May 2012 Publisher: Carcanet Press Also available in: eBook (EPUB), eBook (Kindle) Description Excerpt Author Contents Blue fjords recede; salmon swim among stalks of rye. Bronze bells, or their echoes, break on rocks once lapped by the sea. Did you see them, the quartzcarved rocks glistening with summer springs? The old violence, the old songs: from prows and cliffs, men sound their lurhorns. from ‘Dommaring’ Julith Jedamus writes with an intensity that is at once passionate and precise. The poems in The Swerve create unforgettable landscapes: the whorls and spires of juniper in falling snow, Dutch skies of iridescent grey and lilac, the fire-scorched mountains of the American West. They are peopled by dancers and prisoners, sacrificial children and murderous wives; they reshape the imagination. We see the Netherlands in Van Gogh’s colours as he walks and works, breathing the twilight, and the Thames in Whistler’s; Lorca and Euripides are living presences. The timeless dramas of sacrifice and mourning, rescue and betrayal are re-enacted, meanings dissolved and remade. Long-vanished children walk home through the dark, ‘ghosting a path of sparks’. Like the scull she rows on the Thames, Julith Jedamus’s poems skim ‘the fine line / between flying and drowning’, ‘unstable as air’, dangerous, alive. The White Cliff Belle Tout Bob-Mill The White Horse Rievaulx I and II The Lucombe Oak E.T. in the Isère The Cull Henry Moore’s Mother Whistler at Midnight On the Fast Train from Cambridge to London, Second Class, No A/C, Nine Tunnels Epiphany Fine Boat Stowing a Single in Furnivall Boathouse on the Chiswick Mall The Drowning of Drenthe Van Gogh in Drenthe Love-Sonnet to a Rock in Bohuslän Dommaring Osage Orange What This Juniper Says About His Mind The Melvina Fire Barn Burning, Fall River, Wisconsin, July 1966 Lost Letter to Crane The Red Tide Two Ghazals for Aziz, Who Spent Eighteen Years in Darkness in Tazmamart Prison Romance de la Luna Romance Sonámbulo La Monja Gitana Reyerta Circumspect Admetus, Alcestis Carpe Diem In Troezen Sacrifice The Swerve Snow Is Not Celibate Fixed Form Myth and Muse A Second Moon The Best Time to Talk About Neutrinos Merce Cunningham at Craneway, Last Rehearsals, November 2008 On the Day He Suffered Most, Sycamores A Glass of Water In Memory of the Photographer Wilson ‘Snowflake’ Bentley, Who Died of Pneumonia after Walking through a Blizzard Near Jericho, Vermont, December 23, 1931 Directive Notes Julith Jedamus grew up in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado. For the past sixteen years she has lived in London. She began writing novels, switched to short stories, and now writes verse, some of which was anthologised in the bestselling New Poetries V . Her first collection, The Swerve , ... read more You might also be interested in: New Poetries V Edited by Michael Schmidt with Eleanor Crawforth Marabou Jane Yeh	Share this... Quick Links Aspects of Portugal Audio Books Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Carcanet Poetry Comma Press FyfieldBooks Lintott Press Lives and Letters OxfordPoets PN Review Sheep Meadow Press The Carcanet Blog Richard Price: A Month in Portugal read more Let's Gimbal! read more Carcanet New Poetry Showcase: The Audience Writes Back read more John Gallas: A Little Andaluciad read more Carcanet Poetry Showcase: 30th April read more The Manchester Writing Competition 2013 read more
We thank the Arts Council England for their support and assistance in this interactive Project.
Privacy Statement Sitemap RSS Feeds Home Authors Titles Imprints Information Resources This website ©2000-2013 Carcanet Press Ltd