Regeneration: Red Book / White Book - Couverture souple

Jordan, Meirion

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1854115553 ISBN 13 : 9781854115553

Editeur : Seren, 2012

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Regeneration is Welsh poet Meirion Jordan s take on the medieval manuscripts known today as Llyfr Coch Hergest and Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch (the Red Book of Hergest and the White Book of Rhydderch). This collection is not a reinterpretation but a re-imagining, inspired by the source material that include the stories of the Mabinogi (first made famous by the Victorian translations of Lady Charlotte Guest) as well as by Malory s version of King Arthur s tales.

In 'Red Book' we meet characters drawn from the eleven stories of the Mabinogi, like Arawn, lord of Annwn ; Rhiannon s gossips and Blodauwedd (the woman made of flowers) . These poems evoke what Meirion Jordan calls in his insightful preface half-recalled heroic landscapes ; they capture the elusive essence of these characters, their mysterious passions and their sometimes violent and often strange adventures in Jordan s distinctive poetic style. His pared-down pure lyricism and tightly enjambed free-verse lines bring brevity and clarity to these tales without subtracting their unsettling power to move us.

'White Book' gives us a cast of kings, queens, knights and companions of the round table. This long poem treats themes of love, betrayal, friendship, kinship, and the vexed question of leadership, in poems that revolve around the contentious figure of King Arthur. The footnotes provide for scale, casting the great themes of Arthur s story against a backdrop of real lives, lived in the landscapes that inspired the original myths.

The inventive format of the printed book (both sections back to back with separate covers) echoes the division of the original manuscripts into red and white books.

Biographie de l'auteur :

Meirion Jordan was born in 1985 in Swansea, Wales, read Mathematics at Sommerville College, Oxford, where he won the Newdigate Prize in 2007. He holds an MA in creative writing from UEA, where he is finishing his doctoral degree. His début Moonrise was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and his pamphlet, 'Strangers Hall' was shortlisted for an East Anglia Book of the Year award. Meirion has been published in Poetry Wales, the TLS, and Gallous, amongst other places. He is influenced by poets David Constantine, Andrew Waterhouse, Gillian Clarke, Geoffrey Hill, Byzantine & mediaeval art, music and science fiction. Meirion's second collection of poetry is out now, Regeneration.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Seren
• Date d'édition: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1854115553
• ISBN 13: 9781854115553
• Reliure: Paperback
• Nombre de pages: 100