Zen Cymru is the new collection of poems by that master of modern angst, Peter Finch. Not one for quiet meditations, this voice is: loud, bewildered, satirical, furious, sad, fearful and funny.
This is a Wales that missed its revolution in 'I Chew Gum and Think of Rifles'. This is a Wales beset by: rain, the ghosts of hard-drinking poets, of holy wells guarded by heifers, of sports crowds, Ikea, sheep, 'enormous storm clouds', and the 'Entry of Christ Into Cardiff, 2005'. A health scare merits a mini-epic in 'The Clinic'. Elvis is seen in Asda, Merthyr. Travel brings little respite, only access to foreign anxieties and temptations. We visit 'The Miró Minibar' in Barcelona, look for Bélla Bartók in Hungary, take a road trip to Ireland, find more rain and that 'The land gives out in an emerald flail.' America offers defunct bluesmen, a murderous Phil Spector, and over-zealous security personnel near the Chelsea Hotel, NYC.
Finch is a well known performance poet and his poems have the immediacy and the dramatic impact of pieces conceived for the stage. Formal innovation is allied with themes that are resonant and deeply humane. Zen Cymru will win yet more fans to the Finch cult.
Peter Finch is a poet, author and critic who lives in Cardiff. He is author of the hugely popular Seren titles Real Cardiff and Real Cardiff Two. His numerous poetry titles include Useful, Poems for Ghosts and Food from Seren. A former publisher and bookseller, he is now Chief Executive of the Welsh Academy, the Welsh Literature Promotion Agency and Society of Writers.
This is a Wales that missed its revolution in 'I Chew Gum and Think of Rifles'. This is a Wales beset by: rain, the ghosts of hard-drinking poets, of holy wells guarded by heifers, of sports crowds, Ikea, sheep, 'enormous storm clouds', and the 'Entry of Christ Into Cardiff, 2005'. A health scare merits a mini-epic in 'The Clinic'. Elvis is seen in Asda, Merthyr. Travel brings little respite, only access to foreign anxieties and temptations. We visit 'The Miró Minibar' in Barcelona, look for Bélla Bartók in Hungary, take a road trip to Ireland, find more rain and that 'The land gives out in an emerald flail.' America offers defunct bluesmen, a murderous Phil Spector, and over-zealous security personnel near the Chelsea Hotel, NYC.
Finch is a well known performance poet and his poems have the immediacy and the dramatic impact of pieces conceived for the stage. Formal innovation is allied with themes that are resonant and deeply humane. Zen Cymru will win yet more fans to the Finch cult.
Peter Finch is a poet, author and critic who lives in Cardiff. He is author of the hugely popular Seren titles Real Cardiff and Real Cardiff Two. His numerous poetry titles include Useful, Poems for Ghosts and Food from Seren. A former publisher and bookseller, he is now Chief Executive of the Welsh Academy, the Welsh Literature Promotion Agency and Society of Writers.