Creatures in an Alphabet

by Djuna Barnes

First edition. Pages of poetry accompanied by drawings of animals. Not paginated. cloth-backed boards, dust jacket.. 8vo..

Genres: Poetry

64 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1982

About the author

Djuna Barnes was an artist, illustrator, journalist, playwright, and poet associated with the early 20th-century Greenwich Village bohemians and the Modernist literary movement.

Barnes has been cited as an influence by writers as diverse as Truman Capote, William Goyen, Isak Dinesen, John Hawkes, and Anaïs Nin. Bertha Harris described her work as "practically the only available expression of lesbian culture we have in the modern western world" since Sappho.

Barnes played an important part in the development of 20th century English language modernist writing and was one of the key figures in 1920s and 30s bohemian Paris after filling a similar role in the Greenwich Village of the teens. Her novel Nightwood became a cult work of modern fiction, helped by an introduction by T. S. Eliot. It stands out today for its portrayal of lesbian themes and its distinctive writing style. Since Barnes's death, interest in her work has grown and many of her books are back in print.

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strange and short book of poems. They don't go in alphabetical order, which one would expect given the title. Some poems are funny and some are strange. I like the peacock one the best:

If among itself it go,
(As the Peacock's said to do),
With all its thousand eyes ajar,
Is it itself it's looking for?

The illustrations are wild, too. It seems as though Barnes drew them herself, as no illustrator is listed, but...some bear little resemblance to the creature being discussed.

[Jon Macy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as dark and strange as Saki or Dahl. I wish she had been able to do the drawings herself that would have greatly added to it. The whole, every animal is a chimera, thing comes across in the images more than the text, but nothing is what you expect with Djuna.

[Elias · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming.

I'm usually confused with what Barnes is trying to get across with a piece, but somehow a childrens' book of animal drawings is the peak of that sensation lol

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable. rhythmic, strange, and sweet.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice drawings. poems were eh.