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William
Soutar, Flowers of Life: A Selection of Cinquains, edited by Brian
Strand. Q.Q.Press, York House, 15 Argyle Terrace, Rothesay, Isle of Butte,
PA20 0BD, Scotland, U.K., ISBN 1-9032030-473, card covers, 32 pp., £5.00.
Title Page:
To those who know Soutar from his scarce
published poems and Joy Hendry’s Gang Doun wi a Sang (diehard drama), this
simple and sensibly produced 32 page booklet is a real surprise. Soutar
wrote cinquains! In pure, beautiful English too! (He has been typecast as a
somewhat whimsical Scots poet). I’m still rather a beginner in haiku related
forms, but these look to me like really good cinquains, each one titled,
readable, sometimes proverblike or prayerlike, often religious. Many contain
similes; the ‘as’ word is frequent. There are about 125 cinquains here,
carefully selected, and published with permission from the National Library
of Scotland, who are the owners of the copyright. . . .Brian Strand has
done a wonderful job. He lives in Buckinghamshire, which one would not think
a convenient place from which to conduct this work. Brian has come to Soutar
from the Cinquain and religious background and has been in contact with the
Cinquain Journal and other American sources of this short form. Highly
recommended.
http://www.zen39641.zen.co.uk/ps/hello.htm
“The
reader, however, should have no trepidation about the pleasant and
entertaining short poems in this book, which are written, have no fear, in
English all the way. The poems in the main text of the pamphlet are well
chosen if printed closely packed, usually five cinquains to a page.
Christopher T. George
http://lochravenreview.net/2005winter/george2.html
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Shorthand
of the Heart: A selection of poetic form, edited by Brian Strand. Q.Q.Press,
York House, 15 Argyle Terrace, Rothesay, Isle of Butte, PA20 0BD, Scotland,
U.K., ISBN 1-903203-422.
"For some
time now Brian Strand has been in the very vanguard of Cinquain writers, his
extensive research leading him to an avowed perpetuation of this style of
writing. A slender but delightfully informative booklet, not only contains
Cinquains...but the Tetractys poetry form...and at a bargain price...and has
to be excellent value." from Quantum Leap, Bernard M. Jackson, reviewer.
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POIEMA: A
selection of Ekphrasis poems, by Brian Strand. Q.Q.Press, York House, 15
Argyle Terrace, Rothesay, Isle of Butte, PA20 0BD, Scotland, U.K., 27 pp.,
£5.00
"Brian has explored short
poetic in his previous booklets and here introduces us to another distinct
form—the Ekphrasis poem and explains in his forward the form reflects works
of art in a poetic form. The ekphrasis Brian has selected seek to capture
the essence of the work of art or the artist's style ...and is an intriguing
look at a form of poetry I had not heard of before." from Quantum Leap, Alan
J Carter, reviewer. All
chapbooks are available from Brian Strand. Apply with an email to
bgstrand@hotmail.co.uk price is a US10$ bill to cover cost and airmail
postage to recipient.
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