Reviews
Reviews
A Moment of Disbelief: Poems on War, Terrorism and Refugees
William Alderson is a poet of skill and intensity. His poems often display deep feeling about war and migration. Like Shelley, clearly a poetic hero for him, he reacts with eloquent dismay to the horrors of combat and suffering. And like Shelley he is not content with a rhetoric of protest; he also examines, in poems such as ‘The Mask’, the theme of complicity in political wrong. This is a compelling collection, at once forceful and subtle. Reworked nursery rhymes, the sonnet and the villanelle, plus adroitly handled stanza forms and adapted songs, all appear in a volume that, through its fusion of art and controlled anger, serves as ‘an open door, inviting [us] to live’.”
Michael O’Neill
“A Moment of Disbelief is a convincing and unequivocal condemnation of war and its exploitative and inhumane consequences. At the beginning of this collection, the poem ‘The Weeping Woman (by Pablo Picasso)’ stands out as an apt signifier for the grief and suffering as a result of war prevalent in our world today. A subtle evocation of humanity is present throughout this collection; and there is hope too, as expressed in the poem ‘The Lost Fen Ragwort’, which ends with “one lost flower recovered, / one waking to friends and joy, / one open door inviting me to live.” This justifiably, politically-charged collection could be enjoyed for the expressive sharpness of its poetry while giving a significant pause for thought.”
John Lyons
Below are the endorsements of A Moment of Disbelief from the poet and Shelley scholar, Michael O'Neill, and the Caribbean poet and artist, John Lyons.
A Moment of Disbelief is published as part of the Poetry Salzburg Pamphlet Series.
The 43-page pamphlet costs:
£7.00 (+ 1.50 p&p)
€7.00 (+ 1.50 p&p)
US$ 10.00 (+ 2.50 p&p).
You can email Poetry Salzburg here, or order via the website.
You can also buy a copy at any of my performances and get a free copy of 'The Military Solution', hand-printed at Chandler Press (while stocks last).
Counterfire
Counterfire.org published the first review of A Moment of Disbelief. Dominic Alexander commented:
"William Alderson’s poems have exactly this quality of gathering the fragments of feeling, of our unifying humanity, that are systematically banished by mainstream coverage
of war and its rationales."
He went on to say that:
"It is not simply the congenial political message of these
poems that make them so appealing, but the great skill
that lies unobtrusively beneath their meanings and impact. The forms draw from the Romantic poetry of the nineteenth century and more modern styles with equal deftness."
He also took the opportunity to review May Days*, the first poem published by Counterfire, commenting that
"This long poem was no burden at all to read, rather
the reader is swept along by its controlled passion. It is
a remarkable stimulus to appreciate the great possibilities
in this kind of writing, of which so little is produced today."
I have always thought that poetry was one of the greatest of art-forms, and it is wonderful to be regarded as having realised some of that greatness.
* May Days is now available as a pamphlet from chandlerpress@me.com.
The Reviews Editor, Tanya Parker Nightingale, has reviewed my collection in glowing terms, saying that
"These are pieces that should be read to leaders, and heeded by them."
In doing so she has recognised my belief that poetry has a power it is not often permitted to have:
"For Alderson poetry can and should be a vehicle for change."
She seems to have been particularly struck by the formality of many of the poems, but adds that
"Accomplished as the metered poems are, the most emotionally engaging poems are those that show one life, close up. One face can stand for a nation, as in ‘Telling Stories’ ..."
One last point which fascinates me was when she remarks that
"Shelley was an underground radical; Alderson is a ‘desert’ poet."
I am not sure what she means by "desert poet", but I hope that reviews like this will help bring me out of any wilderness I may be in!
Dream Catcher
Write Out Loud
"Poems to carry with you on an anti-war demonstration"
That was the conclusion of Greg Chamberlain in the online journal writeoutloud.net, which has published the second review of A Moment of Disbelief.
Chamberlain has focussed on the more formal poems and praised their clarity:
"These words are heartfelt, angry and passionate. They’re not subtle or nuanced, or written at a slant."
As a journalist himself, he has also commented on the journalistic background, remarking that
"William Alderson worked in TV news for 25 years, and yet retains a sense of conviction, and a lack of cynicism – which is some achievement."
This is certainly an early Christmas present I am very pleased to get!
Poems on this site:
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The Accident
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Future Floodlands at Peterborough Cathedral
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i.m. Neil Faulkner
As poem cards: