Poetry
Category: Individual Collections, Poetry
Number of pages: 72
ISBN: 9781854114372
Publication date: July 5, 2007
Price: £7.99
Tony Curtis’s wide-ranging interests in visual art, the impact of war and the nature of friendship coalesce in his latest collection, Crossing Over. A number of the poems take their inspiration from great artists, from early religious icons to expressionist canvasses, from a ‘buttery girl’ in a Flemish Landscape to the chainsaw sculptures of David Nash. There is also a series of sumptuous poems about travelling, including ‘Postcards from Tuscany’ where the lush beauty of the landscape contrasts with the poet’s mood, saddened by the death of a friend. There are several poems about America, from Yosemite on the West Coast to Jones Beach on the Eastern seaboard. The sonnet about his granddaughter opens this varied and striking collection, which shows the work of a poet writing with power, honesty and sensitivity.
“Crossing Over is Tony Curtis at his very best: forceful, eloquent and rich in artistry.” Helen Dunmore
“It is when he engages directly with the world around him, whether via a granddaughter´s first snow; or the god-governed, paper-torn clouds; of his own country, that his poems sing.”Sarah Crown, The Guardian, 2007
“There is a confidence and charm about Curtis´ writing: a blend of subtle sparkle-eyed wit and joy at what life holds, or might hold around the next bend of the next poem, that is attractive. He is an accomplished writer and an engaging one.” Bob Mee, Iota, October 07
Listen to Tony Curtis read his poem, ‘Megan’s First Snow’:
Tony Curtis
Poet, critic, essayist, expert on Welsh Art, Tony Curtis was born in Carmarthen in West Wales in 1946. He studied at Swansea University and Goddard College, Vermont. He is the author of numerous collections of poetry, including his latest: From the Fortunate Isles: New and Selected Poems. He has also written volumes of critical work on poets and artists and edited popular anthologies of poetry. He is Emeritus Professor of Poetry at the University of South Wales, where he established and was Director of the MPhil in Writing for many years. He has been elected to the Royal Society of Literature and has toured widely reading his poetry to international audiences.
