Poetry collections from former Harper-Wood students published

New poetry collections from three former Harper-Wood Students have been released.

Examining the effect of taboos on behaviour, exploring self, place and inheritance, and celebrating the wonder of the banal, are the themes of three critically-acclaimed poetry collections from former Harper-Wood Students of St John’s College.

The collections, which were released in April and May, were written by Caitríona O’Reilly, Sarah Howe, and Christopher Simons, who held the Harper-Wood Studentship in 2002, 2012, and 2003 respectively. The one-year Studentship provides a graduate of any British university with the chance to pursue a creative writing project in a country of their choice outside the UK, where they have to carry out their own research and produce a piece of fiction, poetry, or drama.

Geis, by Caitríona O’Reilly. Credit - Bloodaxe BooksCaitríona O’Reilly’s new collection, Geis, was published on 21 May by Bloodaxe Books. This is the Irish poet and critic’s third collection, and follows her two other critically-acclaimed books The Nowhere Birds, winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, and The Sea Cabinet, shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award. Geis means taboo or curse in Irish mythology, and in her new collection – a Poetry Society Book Recommendation – Caitríona explores the prohibitions and compulsions under which we are sometimes placed. The poet questions our links with the world and other people, but the collection ultimately celebrates our experiences through the power of language. Caitríona’s poems range from personal accounts to more philosophical and abstract subject matter.

Caitríona, who was a Harper-Wood student in 2002, said: “My year as a Harper-Wood Student opened up avenues for me in my life and work that have proved to be long-lasting sources of inspiration and friendship. I spent my time in Spain, and the indelible impressions of that country's intoxicating light and landscape made their way into the two books I have published since." Caitríona will be reading some of her poems at the Elizabeth Bishop conference in Sheffield on 26 June.

Loop of Jade, by Sarah Howe. Credit - Chatto & WindusLoop of Jade, released by Chatto & Windus on 7 May, is Sarah Howe’s debut poetry collection. The Research Fellow and teacher of Renaissance Literature at Gonville and Caius was born in Hong Kong to a Chinese mother and an English father and moved to England as a child, and the poems in her collection explore her dual heritage as she journeys back to her country of birth in search of her roots. This exploration of self, place and inheritance gives the reader a mesmerising glimpse into a different culture, and the collection has been described by poet Ruth Padel as “a wonderful first collection – it isn’t often you can say exquisite, original, erudite and adventurous all in one breath”, and by artist and author Edmund de Waal as “a magnificent collection, surprising and moving in equal measure – I loved it”.

“The Harper-Wood Studentship changed the course of my writing, thanks to its sustained opportunity to observe and inhabit another culture from the inside,” Sarah said. “In Questions of Travel, Elizabeth Bishop asks, ‘Is it lack of imagination that makes us come to imagined places, not just stay at home?’ The year I spent journeying back to China was crucial to me as I completed Loop of Jade, a book preoccupied with what it means to travel ‘home’ to a place I haven’t lived for most of my life.” 

Next year, Sarah will be taking up a year’s writing Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard. For more information about Sarah Howe, visit her website http://www.sarahhowepoetry.com.

One More Civil Gesture, by C.E.J Simons. Credit - Isobar PressC.E.J. (Christopher) Simons’ first poetry collection to be published is entitled One More Civil Gesture, and was released on 1 April by Isobar Press. Christopher’s poems seek to demonstrate that even the most banal subjects deserve wonder, and cover subjects such as nature, art, and the family. His evocative poems also deal with the devastation of losses of the past and present. The book has been described by poet and writer Mariko Nagai as “a work of beauty”, and as “an impressive first volume” by author Michael O’Neill. Christopher, currently Senior Associate Professor of British Literature at International Christian University (ICU), Tokyo, wrote much of the book in Japan, where he has been living since 2006, as well as during his frequent travels around Burma, China, and Mongolia, and many poems were also influenced by the literature and landscapes of Britain and his native Canada. Several of the poems featured in the collection were originally written and published in journals during the period when Christopher held the Harper-Wood Studentship in 2003-4.

“The Harper-Wood Studentship made me actually consider poetry as a profession,” Christopher said. “I’d been studying Chinese language and backpacking every year in China since 2000; the Studentship gave me the opportunity to properly live in China, where I wrote both poetry and fiction, and began translating Chinese poetry. The Harper-Wood’s insistence on writers living in other countries is a magnificent idea, since cultural and linguistic immersion, exchange, and indeed, alienation, has always worked as a dependable engine of artistic production.”

On 25 June, Christopher will be reading from One More Civil Gesture at the book launch at Japan House, Regent’s Park, London; tickets can be booked here. There is also an informal Isobar Press reading and launch event in London on 3 July where Christopher and two other poets will be giving readings. The event takes place in the Rugby Tavern in Holborn at 6.30pm, and everyone is welcome to attend; booking is not necessary.

The current holder of the Harper-Wood Studentship, Erin Soros, Canadian writer and winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, will also be giving a reading from her novel-in-progress, Hook Tender. The novel is set in a British Columbia logging camp in the early to mid-20th century, and tells of a lone woman living in a camp of 100 men and her cross-cultural relationship with a newcomer. Erin will also talk about her travels across Canada. The reading will take place in the Lightfoot Room, Old Divinity School, St John’s College, at 5.30pm on Monday 8 June.

To read more about the Harper-Wood Studentship, visit this webpage.

Credits - Geis: Bloodaxe Books; Loop of Jade: Chatto & Windus; One More Civil Gesture: Isobar Press.