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Penned: Zoo Poems
Spanning over a century of captivity, this nostalgic and haunting collection of poems explores the world of animals from inside the cage. Including work by both eminent and emerging poets, this compendium includes verse by Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gerard Manley Hopkins, A. A. Milne, Al Purdy, and Matthew Sweeney. Whimsical, provocative, and haunting, this anthology is as rich and varied as the species it corrals, delving into the concepts of enclosure, exhibition, and the exotic.
- GenresPoetry
154 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 8, 2025
What a clever title! Penned...I loved the double meaning.
I had high expectations for this anthology of zoo themed poems and was initially amazed to discover that so many poets had written about caged animals over the years. The 150-page book includes 79 poems divided into three sections: "The Ingenuity of Chain-Link", "The One That Looks Away", and "Things All Shaped Liked Tigers".
I also give the three editors credit for their hard work in seeking out and compiling the collection. They did an excellent job of presenting a variety of poetic styles from rhyming to free verse; from established to new poets; from past to current writers; from humourous to serious.
Unfortunately, I soon lost interest in the subject matter and felt that the book may have been stronger if there were less poems. Also one of the reasons I enjoy reading poetry anthologies is that they allow me to discover new poets. For that reason, I wish this anthology had included short bios of each of the contributors.
Thankfully, there were a few poetic gems hidden inside the pages. I wish there were more. I picked up and put down the book several times during the four months it took me to finish reading the book.
One of the most powerful poems was "The Sarajevo Zoo" by Glyn Maxwell with the line "winter howled a command and the sorry branches/shed their leaves". (p. 71) I also loved all the symbolism in the poem "Zoo Keeper's Wife" by Sylvia Plath. For example, "Like a dead lake the dark envelops me,/Blueblack, a spectacular plum fruit." (p. 112)
And the last poem of the book "They Loved These Things Too" by Lisa Jarnot was quite fitting. She wrote "they loved things all shaped like tigers and they loved the zoo." (p. 136).
Not everyone likes zoos but it was nice to see a balance between the two sides. As the editors wrote in their introduction, "Penned is a collection meant to be read, pondered, shared." (p. 10)
I will be happy to gift my copy of the book to anyone who would like to read it.
I had high expectations for this anthology of zoo themed poems and was initially amazed to discover that so many poets had written about caged animals over the years. The 150-page book includes 79 poems divided into three sections: "The Ingenuity of Chain-Link", "The One That Looks Away", and "Things All Shaped Liked Tigers".
I also give the three editors credit for their hard work in seeking out and compiling the collection. They did an excellent job of presenting a variety of poetic styles from rhyming to free verse; from established to new poets; from past to current writers; from humourous to serious.
Unfortunately, I soon lost interest in the subject matter and felt that the book may have been stronger if there were less poems. Also one of the reasons I enjoy reading poetry anthologies is that they allow me to discover new poets. For that reason, I wish this anthology had included short bios of each of the contributors.
Thankfully, there were a few poetic gems hidden inside the pages. I wish there were more. I picked up and put down the book several times during the four months it took me to finish reading the book.
One of the most powerful poems was "The Sarajevo Zoo" by Glyn Maxwell with the line "winter howled a command and the sorry branches/shed their leaves". (p. 71) I also loved all the symbolism in the poem "Zoo Keeper's Wife" by Sylvia Plath. For example, "Like a dead lake the dark envelops me,/Blueblack, a spectacular plum fruit." (p. 112)
And the last poem of the book "They Loved These Things Too" by Lisa Jarnot was quite fitting. She wrote "they loved things all shaped like tigers and they loved the zoo." (p. 136).
Not everyone likes zoos but it was nice to see a balance between the two sides. As the editors wrote in their introduction, "Penned is a collection meant to be read, pondered, shared." (p. 10)
I will be happy to gift my copy of the book to anyone who would like to read it.
December 28, 2020
Poems co-edited by the great Stephanie Bolster. What more is there to say?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews