154

by Live Canon, Mab Jones, Helen Eastman (Editor)

154 new poems, by 154 contemporary poets... in response to Shakespeare's 154 sonnets. Published in celebration of Shakespeare's 400th anniversary. Contributing poets Mark Hill, Antony Dunn, Doreen Hinchliffe, Michael Kelleher, Sean Hewitt, Lorraine Mariner, NJ Hynes, Miriam Nash, Mel Pryor, Becky Cullen, Alastair Lewis, Christopher North, Andrew Rudd, Miranda Peake, Andrew George, Maeve Henry, Tim Richardson, Abigail Parry, Peter Kenny, Dino Mahoney, Jon Stone, Rosie Shepperd, Marcus Smith, Conrad Kemp, Mark Cooper, William Wyld, Pat Borthwick, Anita Pati, Oliver Mantell, Mike di Placido, Eoghan Walls, Becky Edwards, Matthew Barnard, Marilyn Daish, Charles Evans, Sue Wrinch, Nick Mackinnon, Sophie Reynolds, Arjunan Manuelpillai, Iain bachelor, Gordon Fudge, Oh Standfast, Liane Strauss, Bill Haugse, David Bowe, Francesco Aresco, Mark Leech, Anthony Fisher, Edwina Attlee, David Underdown, Matthias Ruegger, Anthony Mair, Mark Fiddes, Stephen Sharkey, Jennifer Williams, Rachel Barnett, Sarah Diamond, Henry Stead, Paul Helliwell, Tim O Leary, Jane McCarthy, Rachel Plummer, Robbie Burton, Robin Houghton Kate Venables, Hilary Watson, Aileen La Tourette, Geraldine Clarkson, Mark Huband, Helena Johnson, David Attwool, James Peake, Stav Poleg, Lesley Saunders, Matt Bryden, Van Badham, Natalya Anderson, Valerie Darville, Mab Jones, Nick Eisen, Gillie Robic, James Trevelyan, Josephine Corcoran, Tessa Foley, Suzannah Evans, Barney Norris, John Challis, Ros Taylor, Emma Simon, James Penn, Isobel Dixon

328 pages, Paperback

Published April 22, 2016

Reviews

[Amy GB · Rating 5 out of 5]

154 21st-century poets respond to Shakespeare's 154 sonnets. A whole gamut of themes emerge: parenting, grief, relationships. After having seen Emilia, I cannot read the 'dark lady' sonnets as anything else but SUPER RACIST. E.g.: 'now is black beauty's successive heir / and beauty slandered with a bastard shame'. Nona Charles is the modern poet who responds to that particular sonnet beautifully in her poem 'My Face Comes Into Fashion'. Other favourites include 'Shall I compare thee to the Milky Way' by Abigail Parry, 'Flowers' by Charlie May (in response to 'The forward violet thus did I chide'), and 'What use is the eye to the one who loves?' by Isobel Dixon. I'm a Shakespeare-lover, and it was such a gorgeous way to reread the sonnets. The newer poems help pick out and interrogate the sonnets, while also being lovely in their own right. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading a few pairs of poems before bed each night over the last couple of months.