Woodland

by Knox Gardner, Aaron Otheim (Composer)

Poetry. LGBTQIA Studies. Music. Ecopoetics. California Interest. Started during the early season fires of 2017 in British Columbia, written that burning year, and finished as the Camp Fire obliterated Paradise, California, the poems and music of WOODLAND blaze with anger. Broken and obsessive, lathing logging terminology and archaisms, the poems ricochet around the new reality of endless fires as the Climate Catastrophe unfolds and "lover & spruce/ rise up the mountain / contorted / for cooling / air-."

The book includes a new "score" by keyboardist Aaron Otheim. Burning the 19th-century parlor music of Edward MacDowell's Woodland Sketches , Otheim fractures the recognizable melodies of this arch-romantic work with both studio and post-recording manipulation to create a startling and darkly timbred composition.

WOODLAND presents two West Coast artists grappling with their personal complicity, "It's who we are / loose // (?& with matches," and the larger societal structures profiting off the unraveling. It is both an indictment of and testimony to the coming disaster.

Genres: Poetry

106 pages, Paperback

Published June 4, 2019

Reviews

[Seras23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book fascinated me because of the blend of poetry and music within. The burned scores accompanying the middle section of poetry are beautiful, I think. In the very back of the book, there is information on how to download and listen to the audio version of this book, including both the music and the poems. It is, I believe, essential to the experience for the reader to hear the music. It perfectly complements the poetry.

There is a short essay of sorts near the end of the book. Read it. It drastically enhances the depth of the poetry preceding it. In all honesty, I think that this essay should have been placed at the beginning before any of the poetry.

Overall, this book is quite excellent, and I highly recommend listening to the audio while holding the print version in your hand if you take an interest in this work of art.

[Stu Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, this is a beautifully put together book.
Full of great imagery and clearly a labour of love, the bizarre double act I had running through my head when I read it was the PC game Firewatch and the apocalyptic blast of the Canadian band Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

The poetry contained inside, although slight, is well written and evokes both E.E. Cummings and other, more classic poets. It is, however, decidedly contemporary.

The books central theme is wildfire, both literal and metaphorical, and this passage highlights perfectly the style of the book;

the crown alight, how
it jumps & pegs
how it rears against the sky—

it roars two mouths
bladed

there is an accompanying playlist to this book which compliments the words well and the middle section, a series of fire damaged sheet music, is cleverly put together.

Honestly I am surprised there are not more reviews of this book, as it is extremely entertaining, topical and powerful.

Recommended.

[Lauren Grosskopf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Knox's book compelling, the artful design, imagery and printing, the instrumental music paired with it, the stunningly affective few pages listing in small fonts the fires of 2017, titled 'Some Burning'—the poetry is artful and borders on the musical. This is a striking call to action to heal the environment, for the destruction reeked by climate change needs voices. If only policymakers would read books like these to stop procrastinating... it's time to enforce stronger laws that would help reverse, rather than continue the way the earth is headed... Hope this book takes off with readers to remind us to do our part.

[Christina Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is electric! I loved Knox’s poetry, and was delighted that their writing is as impactful as their work as a publisher. As a collection, these poems are cohesive and build off each other very nicely. The narrative arc and pacing are perfect. Individually, each poem has just the right amount of tension, while the imagery is stark and leaves you contemplating our environment and impact. This is a hell of a book.