REVIEW – KATHERINE OSBORNE, DESCANSOS

By Laura Potts

There is an obvious mythical essence to a number of the poems in Descansos, the new collection of poetry from Katherine Osborne, published by Salò Press, coupled with a flowing connection of the surreal which makes its way through each of the works, treading lightly on some and firmly on others. Throughout the poems, there is an unexpectedness of themes and figures, from God to Buffalo. This shift is sudden, like a stream of consciousness or a narrative story. Moreover, the pieces throughout this book seem to have been produced in a more automatic manner: repetition in titles, along with numbers and extended use of brackets. These automatic devices are sporadic and run parallel to themes of loss and nostalgia; both of which lead to a noticeable automatic writing style.

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LOVE & LOSS, THEN & NOW: READING OVID’S POETRY OF EXILE

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by Justin Reynolds

Two thousand years ago this winter, a heartbroken Roman nobleman died far from home by the frozen shores of the Black Sea.

The poet Publius Ovidius Naso, known to the world as Ovid, had lived a very different life from the millions of Syrian refugees who today find precarious asylum in nearby Turkey, or the Rohingya, further east, camped in the fields of Bangladesh. But he too knew the pain and bitterness of exile.

In Rome, together with his contemporaries Horace and Virgil, he had been lauded as one of the greats of Latin literature. He was certainly the most fashionable. Born into the Roman aristocracy and enjoying the patronage of the legendary benefactor Maecenas, Ovid had won fame with his sly, knowing love poetry, before writing one of the classics of world literature, the Metamorphoses.Continue Reading

REVIEW – CARMEN GASTROFLAMENCO

by Carmina Masoliver

I’m not usually one for instrumental music, or music where I don’t understand the lyrics. Perhaps as a writer, I cling onto the words to evoke feeling. Perhaps this is also the reason why writing about music proved to be truly ineffable on a ‘Words and Music’ module I took at UEA, leaving me with a respectively low grade. I have been to operas and seen classical orchestras, willing myself not to be bored, trying not to fall asleep.

Often, I pretend to myself that I enjoy these things, or that at least it was “an experience”. I don’t like to reject a whole genre of music, so that is not my point here. I wouldn’t desecrate classical music as a whole, yet believe that we all have particular music tastes. For example, instrumental band 65daysofstatic are able to provoke emotions and excitement without the need for words, to me. Similarly, I was recently able to enjoy a performance of flamenco in Córdoba, and it happened both while instrumental, and without understanding the lyrics.Continue Reading

‘ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER TOURISM’: THE DARK SIDES OF THE CRUISE INDUSTRY

by Zoe Harding

TW: Sexual assault

On the 22nd of May, the Oasis-class cruise ship Harmony of the Seas set sail from Southampton docks on its first commercial voyage. The world’s largest cruise ship, the Harmony is owned by Royal Caribbean and can carry up to 5,400 passengers as well as 2,100 crew. The ship will be sailing on various European cruise routes until October, when it moves to the Caribbean for the winter. The vessel resembles a block of brutalist flats with a pointy bit at the front, and rooms can cost up to £3,000 for a seven-day cruise. The industry boomed in the early 2010s and is still going, with over around 22.5 million passengers carried worldwide in 2015 at a profit of somewhere around $39.6  billion.Continue Reading

AN ORDINARY DAY

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by Alex Valente

Original Italian by Alessandra Racca (1979-), ‘Un giorno qualunque’

In the match
between what we call good
and we despise as evil
today a bomb will make noise
smoke will assault the eyes
scattering shards on screens
and people
a woman’s tears
will stand stillContinue Reading

AND I AM THE SUN OF YOUTH

by Hannah Jerming-Havill.

First inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s Kral Majales.
Originally posted on leonpoetry.

And I am the Sun of Youth round and fat
Buddha sighing
I am the Sun of Youth lean and boned
boy-shaped man suspended in mourning
and I am the Sun of Youth exploding clouded skies
skimming ozoned minds with UV-waves
sweeping radio faces shock-wave burnt
bored and dry
I am the Sun of Youth bursting balloon
stretched with canister thirst
bursting papered borders dividing
families dividing tolerance collecting
heavy guilted green infected
fat green capitalist dam burst
burst like young bodies ferociously fucking
and comingContinue Reading