Art of Escape
Art of Escape

Art of Escape

POETRY

72 Pages, 5.5 x 8.5

Formats: Paperback, Mobipocket, ebook: EPUB, ebook: PDF

Paperback, $14.99 (US $14.99) (CA $19.99)

Publication Date: March 2020

ISBN 9781784108823

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Overview

Among Mina Gorji's poems in New Poetries V (2011) was one about Houdini entitled 'The Art of Escape,' which returns here as the title poem. This colourful and vivid first collection continues the course of Mina Gorji's meticulous explorations of 'the strange and sometimes darker side of nature: poisonous plants, fruit-fly mating, weeds, slugs, and wasps' nests. "I am drawn to things that might seem ugly or rebarbative but, on closer inspection, have their own beauty and intricacy. Often a poem begins with information, found in a book or conversation, a fact which has a resonance or a cadence which makes it stand out. Something has to happen to turn this into a poem, something strange and unpredictable, a process of calm and obsessive tinkering, from which sounds and patterns emerge and gather into shape." This book is a wonderful casting off—escape—from that starting point into the complex waters of adult life, in which change has become the constant.

Reviews

"Here are poems of unsparing clarity, unflinching, each one an acute canticle of remembrance... Art of Escape marks the beginning of a splendid new voice in British poetry."—Ishion Hutchinson

"Mina Gorji's poems take small, careful steps over a treacherous terrain, securing their meanings with steady intent. Deceptively straightforward statement mingles with natural lore and observation to create complex, delicate structures." —Jamie McKendrick

"With these luminous, tender, yet tough poems, Mina Gorji is building a place of safety - for herself, her family, her readers, and all those who are wandering and uprooted."—Marina Warner

"Her poems resemble the curious animals they seek to represent - enigmatic, sometimes armour-plated, inviting yet also protective of their inner mysteries." —Jahan Ramazani

Author Biography

Mina Gorji was born in Tehran and grew up in London. She lives in Cambridge where she is a lecturer in the English Faculty, Cambridge and a fellow of Pembroke College. Her published work includes a study of John Clare, and essays on awkwardness, mess, weeds, and rudeness. Her poems have appeared, among other places, in Magma, PN Review, London Magazine, and The International Literary Quarterly.
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