the Moth – arts & literature, Issue 5, Summer 2011

Posted: Wednesday, 7 August 2013 by Unknown in Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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This is a collection of poems, short stories, artwork and interviews with writers, along with a ‘whatnot’ section at the back listing all upcoming local workshops, poetry readings, arts festivals and music classes – all of which I found myself staring wistfully at, wishing I’d been there. It is based in Ireland.

I found this collection at the bottom of the bookshelf in my shared house, having presumably belonged to an old housemate or couch surfer and either forgotten about or mistakenly left behind. I wonder if someone is looking for it now? It’s beautiful.

There are poems about love – not your standard love poems, but explorative, hopeful, wistful, dangerous and breathtaking. One such piece is Like Ships, by Elizabeth Barrett, where she uses a ship in the sea as a metaphor for the man she loves, and the all the feelings and emotions are described daringly and gaspingly with references and analogies to the air, birds, smells, wind and views. Another beautiful piece, which threw me into an unexpected flurry of existential angst but in a dangerously welcome sort of way, was On Returning, by Paul Adrian.

A short story piece, which actually made me cry at the delicacy and humility with which a bullied boys internal pain and indifference to himself is described, was I Am Not Here, by Mark Hanks, in which the boy in question brutalises his own hand by slamming it into a desk, saying quietly, ‘if I were here, I would feel that, would I not?’ A beautifully written piece on discrimination and bonding between classmates and tutors.

And my favourite interview in this collection has to be that with Colette Bryce, in which she discusses the beginnings of her writing career and the course she enrolled on which was tutored by Carol Ann Duffy & John Harvey (I had a ‘Ross from Friends’ moment when I read this part – you know the episode where Rachel tells him she’s not wearing any underwear, and he emits that guttural, desirous sound? Yeah – that moment). She discusses her approach to writing, her habits and routines, her career trajectory – and her slight scepticism towards creative writings courses and poetry being taught at universities – which I found particularly interesting, seeing as all of us in the PEN society learn poetry at UEL.

My favourite part of this interview is as follows, and resonated with me for the reason that I felt – and still feel, to some extent, the same way;

“I had a huge need to write, but also a great fear of it, and I didn't know how to begin.”


Peace and love, Sam

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