Caroline Gill: Poetry and Other Writing: Magazine Moment (20) : The Seventh Quarry

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Magazine Moment (20) : The Seventh Quarry

Laugharne: Dylan Thomas Boat House and Estuary

The Seventh Quarry
Editor: Peter Thabit Jones
Issue: Thirteen / Winter 2011, ISSN 1745-2236, 88 pages

The new issue, as ever, is packed with inviting reading material. There is a good mix of poetry and prose, along with some original artwork. The magazine hails from Swansea and features work from most corners of the globe. This issue alone contains submissions from Wales, England. Ireland, France, India, Serbia, Germany, Belrus and America.

Russian-born poet and photographer, Aleksey Dayen, is remembered and honoured. He died in New York last November. I had the privilege of meeting Aleksey when he was reading at the Dylan Thomas Centre in 2009. I particularly recall his highly individual reading of 'Jailbird Blues', accompanied by singer-songwriter, Terry Clarke. Multi-faceted artist, John Dotson from the USA, provides a fitting tribute to Aleksey in the form of a poem, 'The Full Moon Rose'.

The initial interview with John Dotson concerns his work in the realms of poetry, drama, biography, sculpture, painting and acting. He describes the impact of the environment on his outlook from a place where 'the Pacific tides sound through' his dreams. He speaks of his encounters in the landscapes of Dylan Thomas on both sides of the Atlantic, and of his forthcoming book, Love for Ever Meridian.

The poems in this issue represent an eclectic blend of styles. They range (in shape as much as style) from Alan Perry's Thin Poem, 'Line', to 'A Once Strange Face' by Mike Jenkins, which moves the eye in several directions back and forth across the page as it stalks towards its climax. 'Legend's Source' by Jean Salkilld evokes an enchanted landscape, as we wander in the footsteps of Hiawatha's daughter. The final poem in the issue, 'Song' by Frances Sackett, transports the reader to an area of mountainous terrain in which there are 'things you recognise' followed by the unknown call of a mysterious bird . . .

I was very struck by the winning poems in the (USA-based) Left Coast Eisteddfod Poetry Competition (2010), judged by Peter Thabit Jones. The winning poem, 'Iberia' by Bruce Lader, dares the reader to follow in the hoofprints of Don Quixote, as he canters through the landscape of Spain in a Golden Age. Jolen Whitworth was the runner-up with a modern Sonnet, 'He Paints'.

Other features in this issue include the following:

A fascinating study by Vince Clemente, 'Wakening The Ghosts: The Words We Use, That Use Us', in which Clemente considers Leitmotifs in his own work and also in 'The Boy and the Lion's Head', the new verse drama by Peter Thabit Jones.
Poet to Poet (please scroll down once you have clicked the link): a list of the collaborative anthologies produced by The Seventh Quarry (in Swansea) and Cross Cultural Communications (in New York). Each collection includes the work of two poets from different places. The fourth chapbook in the series, 'Poems East Coast/West Coast' is now available for £3.50/$10 (details on The Seventh Quarry site), and features the work of Stanley H. Barkan and Carolyn Mary Kleefeld.
The second part of 'The Anchored Angel and the Dylan Thomas/José Garcia Villa Connection' by John Edwin Cowen.
An interview with poet, Peter Fulton, on his book (and CD), How to Carve an Angel.
Original artwork by Carolyn Mary Kleefeld.
Profiles: poet, Robin Metz, answers questions asked by Peter Thabit Jones; and Swansea singer-song writer, Terry Clarke, talks to Kate Clarke about his latest album, and its Dylan Thomas influences.