JAAM 26 has received a very favourable review by Keith Nunes in the latest issue of the Poetry Society magazine A fine line (March 2009).A begins by saying 'New Zealand is bubbling over with great writers and storytellers – just look at JAAM 26.' And continues, 'The annual publication by the JAAM (Just Another Art Movement) Collective is a triumph for editor Tim Jones and the team. The 164-page journal is an entertaining mix of poetry and prose that challenges and moves the reader.'
He says that he isn't a big fan of speculative writing, of which there is some in JAAM 26, but 'the stories I read in JAAM 26 won me over.' He particularly mentions Tracie McBride's story 'Last Chance to See'.
Among the more traditional prose peices he highlights 'When an Older Brother Dies' by LE Scott, 'Banshee' by Darian Smith, 'Voodoo' by Renee Liang and 'A Body of Land' by Michele Powles. And he gives Michael Botur a 'special mention' for his 'imaginative and amusing' story 'Historic Breakfasts'.
Of the poets, he praises Laurice Gilbert's poems ‘Divided World’ and ‘Island Bay’. 'Both soar and toy with you and leave images lingering.' He continues:
The highlights come thick and fast with a number of poets impressing, including Janis Freegard with ‘he has your eyes’; Dean Ballinger's ‘Antananarivo’; Helen Heath with two poems; Barbara Strang's ‘Fatigues’; Sue Reidy's ‘Bottomless Love’ and Miriam Barr's ‘3 Phases in a Journey (Towards Self)’.
He concludes with the very positive: 'All in all this is a wonderful journal and one which provides the reader with hours of thoughtprovoking and entertaining reading. Well done.'
2 comments:
I'm interested to read your book My Iron Spine- I found you through 'Paintbrush and Trigger' and am a fellow poet. Glad to find you!
Hi Maggie, lovely to 'meet' you, and welcome. I seem to remember seeing comments by you on Paintbrush and Trigger - possibly about Jennifer's two too-cute dogs! She's someone else I 'met' because she just ran across my blog. Random cyberspace connections are very cool. Delighted at your interest in My Iron Spine - I just got a box of reprinted copies today (not that we did a very big initial print run, but it's still nice). It is possible to buy a copy from overseas from New Zealand Books Abroad, but if you emailed me your address I could just send you a copy, so long as you promised to make all your friends read it! You could email me at Helen.RickerbyATparadise.net.nz.
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