Contrivances by John Wilkinson

Contrivances by John Wilkinson

The Contrivances of this book occupy four sites: `Saccades' gouged out by sexual pain and loss; `Signs of an Intruder' introduces the light of Tuscany to a secure unit; `The Still-Piercing Air' is sited on the banks of the Thames; and `Case in Point' turns about fetish objects often withheld from view.

On `Effigies Against the Light’: “This book by one of the most intellectually demanding and politically engaged of contemporary English poets, suggests that the differences between some versions of modernism and postmodernism might be nilThe political content of Wilkinson’s work distinguishes it from the xenophobic high modernism of the English tradition. The section “Chalone” at the start of the book begins with an examination of the continuing legacy of the plantation system; where some moderns mourn the coming of modernity, Wilkinson (in “Reserved”) admonishes us to “watch things spring apart, &/ know with a blank chill/ they ought to.” Yet Wilkinson also refuses a reactionary postmodernism that simply spits capital’s fetishes back at it: “Here is amber, here is pitch to smear your arms, salve lips,/ tallow to stuff resounding ears. You stand like flypaper./ You hold a trowel & with it you daub every lost saying.” Though bombarded, linguistically and otherwise, Wilkinson’s speaker continues to self-construct, rather than destruct.”

John Wilkinson is an English poet living in Chicago and teaching at the University of Chicago following a career in mental health services in the UK. He has published six collections of poetry with Salt and a collection of critical essays, mainly on recent British poetry. His most recent book of poetry is Reckitt’s Blue from Seagull Books.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781876857608
ISBN 10	1876857609
Title	Contrivances
Author	John Wilkinson
Series	Salt Modern Poets
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Salt Publishing
Year published	2003-07-01
Number of pages	192
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.