Off the Shelf: A Celebration of Bookshops in Verse

by Carol Ann Duffy (editor)

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 80
Rating:

Synopsis:

In Off the Shelf: A Celebration of Bookshops in Verse, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has commissioned a selection of the UK's most loved and lauded poets to each write a poem in celebration of books and bookshops--the worlds they hold, the freedoms they promise, and the memories they evoke. From a basement of forgotten books to the shelves of a cramped Welsh arcade, from the poetry corner of the local bookstore to the last bookshop standing in a post-apocalyptic world, these are poems that pay tribute to all the places that house the stories we treasure. With poems from Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish Makar Jackie Kay, National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke, as well as Clive James, Michael Longley, Don Paterson, Patience Agbabi, and many more, this beautiful anthology is a heart-warming reminder of how books nourish us, save us, and inspire us.

Off the Shelf is a collection of poems edited by Carol Ann Duffy in celebration of bookshops. I’d note that it isn’t strictly just that: it’s a collection of poetry about bookshops, and sometimes the theme is quite loosely interpreted, meaning it doesn’t just mean a bunch of poems like “bookshops are great, libraries are too, without good books I’d sure be blue” or something like that.

One of my favourites was (predictably) Gillian Clarke’s contribution, which references the Welsh arcades — the poem is set many years before I was visiting the arcades, but I did visit Troutmark Books a lot when I was visiting my family and when I became a student in Cardiff!

The poems weren’t all for me, which is one of the risks and joys of an anthology.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Answering Back: Living Poets Reply to the Poetry of the Past

by Carol Ann Duffy (editor)

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 144
Rating:

Synopsis:

Carol Ann Duffy has asked some of the brightest writers in the poetry world to select a poem that is meaningful—or has meant something—to them, and write a response to it. With up-and-coming poets alongside more established names, and original poems alongside the new works they've inspired, Answering Back promises to be a truly unique and insightful anthology.

Answering Back is a fascinating idea for a poetry collection, edited by Carol Ann Duffy, but shaped by the fact that each poet chosen has selected a poem by another poet to respond to. This gives the collection quite a range, with some of the responses being more like they were inspired by the poem, others being direct refutations, some being answers/echos…

Most of the poems being responded to were ones I knew, but not all, and there’s an interesting range of responding poets. Inevitably, it’s a mixed bag where some speak to me and some don’t, and there are some I didn’t appreciate much at all, but overall it’s an interesting idea with some interesting selections.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)