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Threads
If Alice landed in London not Wonderland this book might be the result. Threads is the first collection from Nathan Evans, each poem complemented by a bespoke photograph from Justin David and, like Tenniel’s illustrations for Carroll, picture and word weft and warp to create an alchemic (rabbit) whole. On one page, the image of an alien costume, hanging surreally beside a school uniform on a washing line, accompanies a poem about fleeing suburbia. On another, a poem about seeking asylum accompanies the image of another displaced alien on an urban train. Spun from heartfelt emotion and embroidered with humour, Threads will leave you aching with longing and laughter. Nathan is a writer and director of theatre and film. Justin is a photographer and writer living and working in East London. Threads is the debut publication from Inkandescent. ‘A winning blend of words and images, woven with passion and wit’ PAUL BURSTON ‘Two boldly transgressive poetic voices’ MARISA CARNESKY ‘In this bright and beautiful collaboration, poetry and photography join hands, creating sharp new ways to picture our lives and loves. Every page delighted me.’ NEIL BARTLETT
72 pages, Paperback
Published September 22, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 9, 2020
Some poetry sits lightly on the page, subtly infusing your mind with its imagery. Other poems are forged from sterner stuff, written with bold intent and carry a sense of urgency and drama within the carefully chosen words. Rarely do you get poetry that is created in conjunction with photographs. With Threads though, you get that, and it makes something greater than the two individual parts.
We’re on a rollercoaster
with no safety bar except each other
This collection is as flamboyant as it is surreal. There are pictures of mundane household objects alongside poetry about longing, images of aliens with a verse on being an outsider. There are poems of the suffocating embrace of love, photos of tattoos and street scenes. Each poem is coupled with bold and original images that challenge you. I really liked this book, the combination of words and photos have been lavishly put together and it really does work. I found the poems really accessible, but it is the subjects that Evans is writing about that challenge your perspectives. It did remind me of a book that I read last year called Take Me To The Edge by Katya Boirand which also combined poetry with strong images. Can recommend this if you want to take your poetry explorations in a different direction.
Three Favourite Poems
Bloody Valentine
Freakosphere
At the Serpentine
We’re on a rollercoaster
with no safety bar except each other
This collection is as flamboyant as it is surreal. There are pictures of mundane household objects alongside poetry about longing, images of aliens with a verse on being an outsider. There are poems of the suffocating embrace of love, photos of tattoos and street scenes. Each poem is coupled with bold and original images that challenge you. I really liked this book, the combination of words and photos have been lavishly put together and it really does work. I found the poems really accessible, but it is the subjects that Evans is writing about that challenge your perspectives. It did remind me of a book that I read last year called Take Me To The Edge by Katya Boirand which also combined poetry with strong images. Can recommend this if you want to take your poetry explorations in a different direction.
Three Favourite Poems
Bloody Valentine
Freakosphere
At the Serpentine
September 13, 2019
Threads is a beautiful collection. The images and poetry complement each other perfectly.
The threads of the title are the threads that bind us, the threads that knot us together in the tapestry of life. As such, personally I think the best poems are the ones about love. My favourites are:
Tokens of Affection - the push-me-pull-you of one man expressing his emotions through elaborately prepared food while his lover simply wants a hug.
The Fall - perfectly captures the beginnings of love in its brevity & simplicity.
Bloody Valentine - "Love is more bindweed than roses" - devastating.
The threads of the title are the threads that bind us, the threads that knot us together in the tapestry of life. As such, personally I think the best poems are the ones about love. My favourites are:
Tokens of Affection - the push-me-pull-you of one man expressing his emotions through elaborately prepared food while his lover simply wants a hug.
The Fall - perfectly captures the beginnings of love in its brevity & simplicity.
Bloody Valentine - "Love is more bindweed than roses" - devastating.
October 2, 2019
I entered the world of Threads by Nathan Evans and Justin David with no preconceptions. It’s a sumptuous looking book whose attraction is immediate. However, it became clear as I got past the first couple of pages that keeping an open mind was in fact the best way to approach this breath-taking meld of poetry and visual composition.
To say the poetry within Threads is eclectic would be an understatement. There are simple rhymes and complex; topics range from careless childhood to finite mortality, from the plight of jumpers to the deterioration of the mind. This is not to say the work is heavy going. All the poems are accessible. Even though there are brave and dark moments there is a constant playfulness and a sense of humble reflection on show.
The images that accompany the words add unexpected context to each poem. In fact, I often found myself subconsciously absorbing the photography and art as part of the poem. The effect is dazzling.
The overall impression I was left with, having eked out the reading as long as I could, rationing the poems out like sweets, was a collection about the journey of life and death, of youth and ageing, of being in love and out of it and the experience of living in London.
I very much looking forward to reading his second collection for Inkandescent, Cnut, hopefully due out this November.
To say the poetry within Threads is eclectic would be an understatement. There are simple rhymes and complex; topics range from careless childhood to finite mortality, from the plight of jumpers to the deterioration of the mind. This is not to say the work is heavy going. All the poems are accessible. Even though there are brave and dark moments there is a constant playfulness and a sense of humble reflection on show.
The images that accompany the words add unexpected context to each poem. In fact, I often found myself subconsciously absorbing the photography and art as part of the poem. The effect is dazzling.
The overall impression I was left with, having eked out the reading as long as I could, rationing the poems out like sweets, was a collection about the journey of life and death, of youth and ageing, of being in love and out of it and the experience of living in London.
I very much looking forward to reading his second collection for Inkandescent, Cnut, hopefully due out this November.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews