Monday, March 31, 2014

poetry snapshots: shanta everington

Debut poetry chapbook from Shanta Everington
Shanta Everington’s debut poetry chapbook, Drowning in Cherryade, is published this month by US-based independent publisher, bedouin books, after winning their annual poetry chapbook competition.
 


Editor Michael D'Alessandro says, ‘Drowning in Cherryade conjures candy-colored scenes of youth mirrored in an examination of memories. Overwhelmed by first experiences, the poems are at once told with a resignedness to their outcomes, while maintaining a perspective of awkward fumbling for an anchor. This parallax affect helps complete the pictures presented here with a quick wit, a rooted voice and a few playful surprises.’
Excerpt:
 
To Die For
 
Half a packet of raindrops and
as much ice cold water as
you can drink for your body
to warm up and burn. He
 
pinches half a millimetre
of flesh on my ribs and says,
You need to take better care
of yourself, my dear. I peer
 
through the veil of my fringe and
nod my head three millimetres,
picturing my picture in the papers.
I can be ready in a week. I peek
 
at the tick next to my name.
Next. My smiling eyes roll
down over the twigs of my toes
and all the way to the park where
 
I will perform a hundred star jumps
and remember how your skin
used to shine when you laughed.
For you understood it was important.
 
***
 
Shanta has an MA in Creative Writing with Distinction from MMU and teaches Creative Writing with The Open University in London. In addition to Drowning in Cherryade, she has published three novels and two non-fiction books. Visit http://www.shantaeverington.co.uk

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