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PRESS RELEASE
Words on the table, Jim Potts, Colenso Books,
PRESS RELEASE
Words on the table, Jim Potts, Colenso Books,
Words on the table, Jim Potts’ new collection of over 200 poems
has just been published by Colenso Books. Alongside his previous Colenso Books
collection, Reading the signs, the
two books represent the author’s selections from six decades of poetry written
in the many countries where he has lived and worked.
The author writes
of revolutions, both ‘velvet’ and violent, military coups, Cold War encounters
and unfolding historical events to which he was an eye-witness. He lays his
cards on the table and “faces off” the Thought Police. He responds to the
activities of the Secret Police who hovered in the background throughout the
time he worked and travelled in Central and
To what extent
the author “lays bare his soul” in Words
on the table (which another reviewer believes he does) is left to the
reader to decide.
A lover of the
Blues, Jazz, Folk and ‘World Music’, Jim Potts’ poems and songs reveal his
passions and diverse interests. Some poems may remind readers of the Beats and
their celebrations of life on the road. A Greek poet and translator has
compared him to a semi-nomadic “modern-day transhumant, a wry participant and
observer of life and a bearer of memory”.
His years in
Greece, Czechoslovakia, Central Europe and the Balkans have left their mark, as
have his experiences in Sweden, the USA, Ethiopia and Australia, Aboriginal art
clearly means a lot to him, as much as rock ‘n’ roll, William Barnes’ Dorset
dialect poems, modern Greek literature and rebetiko
songs.
As Michael Rosen
has written, Words on the table is “a
rich ride”. Many of the poems reflect a strong sense of ironic observation and humour.
When in
Words on the table is arranged in four sections, after the
Introduction:
1. "Birth,
life, death" (largely autobiographical and family-related);
2. Songs and
singers (the author's songs, and poems about singers and other musicians from
many cultures);
3. The written
word (reflections on authors and writing);
4. Facing off the
Thought Police (poems on censorship, political repression, assassination),
followed by a "Postscript on
Three books by Jim
Potts have been published by Colenso Books:
Words on the table
Reading the signs
This spinning world, 43 stories from far
and wide
All these books
are available on amazon.co.uk, including Words
on the table:
In case of
difficulty, contact colensobooks@gmail.com
Anthony Hirst, Colenso Books
Author page, Jim Potts:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jim-Potts/e/B003N1JW2U%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
