Carcanet Press - Selected Poems

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Humming your Nocturne on the Circle Line,
unlike the piano, running out of breath
I've been writing you out of my life
my loves (one out, one in).
I've pushed you out of the way to see
what the gaps in my life might look like,
how large they are,
how quickly I could write them in;
and not (at least till I've lost you both)
rewriting you only means
that the spaces I'm not writing in are where I live.

'Apology'

Mimi Khalvati's Selected Poems draws on her three Carcanet collections, In White Ink (1991), Mirrorwork (1995) and Entries on Light (1997). It provides us with the essential Khalvati, from the ambitiously wrought early formal poems, full of Persian and personal shadows, through to the meditations in the long sequence Entries on Light. She brings into English poetry distinct formal and tonal elements of Persian and Islamic provenance. A mature eroticism marks her poems; also, a feeling for nature in all its varieties. She is partial to the long poem built out of distinct parts, the sequence or series, from Plant Care in her first book to Entries on Light itself.

Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran and grew up on the Isle of Wight. She attended Drama Centre London and worked as a theatre director in London and in Tehran. She is the founder of The Poetry School where she now teaches. Carcanet publish her six previous collections, including In White ... read more

Praise for Mimi Khalvati This open and generous readiness to engage with all realities and see their worth gives Khalvati her power... graceful accomplishment is always in the service of a fundamental seriousness.
Bernard O'Donoghue, Poetry London
A lovely book, so accomplished, various, comprehensive and abundant. The poems are quick and touching, joyfully and sorrowfully open to the phenomena of the real world, they say what it feels like being human, the good and the ill of it, with passion, tact and lightness. David Constantine Khalvati's writing draws on diverse worlds and poetic traditions, and enriches the dominant culture of British poetry...Intricate, sensuous and vulnerable...Mimi Khalvati's work will endure.
Moniza Alvi, Poetry Wales
Mimi Khalvati is one of the most poignant and graceful poets writing in England currently. The Meanest Flower speaks often of grief and loss but also of great pleasure in the world, in gardens, in loves, in other people. Under the lyricism there is an iron control that achieves its grace through subtlety. There reader is aware one is in the presence of a mind, a heart and an ear that has been schooled in depth, that finds it as naturally as do the flowers of the title.
George Szirtes
Khalvati writes exquisitely nuanced lyrics of love and loss, which draw on childhood, motherhood and the natural world. These [The Meanest Flower] are tender poems in the English Romantic tradition.
No. 3 in 'The Ten Best New poetry collections' - Independent, 2007

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Selected Poems Mimi Khalvati RRP: GBP£ 9.95 Available from: Buy now from Amazon eBook (Kindle) ISBN: 978 1 847777 98 0 Categories: 21st Century, Women Imprint: Carcanet Poetry Published: August 2011 128 pages (print version) Publisher: Carcanet Press Also available in: Paperback, eBook (EPUB) Description Excerpt Author Reviews Humming your Nocturne on the Circle Line, unlike the piano, running out of breath I've been writing you out of my life my loves (one out, one in). I've pushed you out of the way to see what the gaps in my life might look like, how large they are, how quickly I could write them in; and not (at least till I've lost you both) rewriting you only means that the spaces I'm not writing in are where I live. 'Apology' Mimi Khalvati's Selected Poems draws on her three Carcanet collections, In White Ink (1991), Mirrorwork (1995) and Entries on Light (1997). It provides us with the essential Khalvati, from the ambitiously wrought early formal poems, full of Persian and personal shadows, through to the meditations in the long sequence Entries on Light. She brings into English poetry distinct formal and tonal elements of Persian and Islamic provenance. A mature eroticism marks her poems; also, a feeling for nature in all its varieties. She is partial to the long poem built out of distinct parts, the sequence or series, from Plant Care in her first book to Entries on Light itself. Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran and grew up on the Isle of Wight. She attended Drama Centre London and worked as a theatre director in London and in Tehran. She is the founder of The Poetry School where she now teaches. Carcanet publish her six previous collections, including In White ... read more Praise for Mimi Khalvati This open and generous readiness to engage with all realities and see their worth gives Khalvati her power... graceful accomplishment is always in the service of a fundamental seriousness. Bernard O'Donoghue, Poetry London A lovely book, so accomplished, various, comprehensive and abundant. The poems are quick and touching, joyfully and sorrowfully open to the phenomena of the real world, they say what it feels like being human, the good and the ill of it, with passion, tact and lightness. David Constantine Khalvati's writing draws on diverse worlds and poetic traditions, and enriches the dominant culture of British poetry...Intricate, sensuous and vulnerable...Mimi Khalvati's work will endure. Moniza Alvi, Poetry Wales Mimi Khalvati is one of the most poignant and graceful poets writing in England currently. The Meanest Flower speaks often of grief and loss but also of great pleasure in the world, in gardens, in loves, in other people. Under the lyricism there is an iron control that achieves its grace through subtlety. There reader is aware one is in the presence of a mind, a heart and an ear that has been schooled in depth, that finds it as naturally as do the flowers of the title. George Szirtes Khalvati writes exquisitely nuanced lyrics of love and loss, which draw on childhood, motherhood and the natural world. These [The Meanest Flower] are tender poems in the English Romantic tradition. *No. 3 in 'The Ten Best New poetry collections' - Independent, 2007*	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 Book Launch: Distance and Memory by Peter Davidson read more Sam Ruddock: Bibliodiversity read more Lucy Burnett: An Eco-poetic Sensibility read more Chris Beckett: Looking for Abebe, the cook's son read more Richard Price: A Month in Portugal read more Let's Gimbal! read more
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