Wordstrokes

This book’s brightly coloured cover image by André Derain offers an attractive entrée to this Anthology of ekphrastic poems by a range of well-known contemporary poets such as Mimi Khalvati, Linda France, and Ian Duhig. As far as I can tell, none of the work reprinted here was specially commissioned, although since the book lacks an Introduction or even a Preface, the selection process remains opaque. Nevertheless, it showcases a range of mainstream work (nothing ‘linguistically innovative‘ here) on a common theme with enough variety to sustain the reader’s interest. In addition to making a fine gift, this book should prove useful to teachers of creative writing. (And of course, many of the poets featured teach Literature or Creative Writing; on their Reading List? Why not.)