Nouveau's Midnight Sun

A PDF of this poetry anthology recently came my way; it contains a wide spectrum of powerful work all under the umbrella of surrealism but drawing heavily on intertwined themes of redemptive darkness and spiritual despair.

I must admit to thinking surrealism a movement confined to the past, but how mistaken I was is brought home not only in a fascinating lengthy introduction by editor John Thomas Allen, whose own work features in the volume, but also by the overall vitality and quality of the verse therein.

The introduction serves as an inspiration for all those who hold the transformative spirit of surrealism sacred and shows how art can be forged in the face of disease and adversity.

From the ink of runic spiders to the Red Venice, this anthology gives a sense of authenticity dazzling to behold.

A couple of links:

Nouveau's Midnight Sun: Transcriptions from Golgonooza and Beyond by John Thomas Allen — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

Nouveaus Midnight Sun: Transcriptions from Golgonooza and Beyond: John Thomas Allen: 9780990526506: Amazon.com: Books

 

Nouveaus Midnight Sun: Transcriptions from Golgonooza and Beyond: John Thomas Allen: 9780990526506: Amazon.com: Books

Mark S.

[teguififthzeal]

You are too kind, Sir Mark. We can be redemptive here as well--from time to time.

Pax

[Jeff Coleman]

Before I even clicked on this thread, I for some reason immediately thought of David Gascoyne's 'Sun at Midnight' when I saw the thread title.

I suspect teguififthzeal is aware of this book (I think he mentioned Gascoyne here before). I read it years ago (tip for reading obscure and OOP books: interlibrary loan), and I remember it making quite an impression at the time.

I'm thinking I might have somehow intuitively picked up on a nod to Gascoyne and Sun at Midnight in the title of that anthology. Am I correct about that, teguififthzeal?

[teguififthzeal]

Mr. Coleman, you are more perceptive than 79 percent of the readers on Surrealism than I have thus encountered; Gascoyne's "Sun At Midnight" I purchased--after saving quite a bit of money--about four years ago, and his aphorisms inspired a great deal of what you may see in this book and yes, the title itself!

Methamphetamine took Gascoyne into a, well, crystalline state that blended two unlikely worlds--British classicism and the energy of mystical surrealism.

If I had readers as erudite as yourself, the book would be selling like hotcakes.

[teguififthzeal]

Undoubtedly one of the strangest prose poems in the book.

Genome Dice

"The negative halo of Surrealism, a lime green bunson burner flickering in dream’s egoless cubes, is akin to a dark jewel dangled in a drowning mime’s mouth. The splash makes no sound, but we hear it forever. What could be done to reach the chiaroscuro ballerina, black pink grained, spinning in a streamroom domicile? Surrealism is Eros, the woman in sepia gelatin. How could she be reached? She’d been given a blue ring of ochre that rang and sang, he’d spent nights and days with her, but a gelatin freeze remained. How could she be reached? A word fallen like lead thumbs? A scream so horrifying it would render Lucifer deaf? He couldn’t maintain her face, it shifted. Strange is a mathematics of semiotic dislocation now. This is not Arnim, or Achim, or the uncanny. A sense of dislocation related to civilization is not the same as the uncanny.... A cryptographer struggling with a code as some struggle with poppers of sea salt asthma, and the molecules were pleasing him in nostril shock, porcelain worms freezing into small hickory smoked bullets burning. He found the books of August Yellow in the egoless ice of the library’s bowels, peppered with black and white salt and stone of marble marzipan to the touch. This is when the rapid jasmine sobbed from the earmarked monsoons of rain and the missals turned Latin pink between her thighs. Bathing it’s in even deeper basement, he screams with joy in the neon light. This victory is the victory of Surrealism."

[teguififthzeal]

Science Fiction Poetry Association

A fine review of Nouveau's Midnight Sun.

There ARE strong narrative poems in the book, though.

[Jeff Coleman]

teguififthzeal,

I recently received my copy from Amazon.

Looks like a fine volume, indeed.

I ordered it along with a book called "This is NOT an Anthology," which is a collection of surrealist writing from Europe. I like to group book purchases by theme, haha. That one looks good as well.

I appreciate your kind words on this thread, though I don't consider myself particularly erudite, just a fairly well-read guy with an interest in obscure authors. It was mostly just a lucky guess picking up on the nod to Gascoyne.

You might appreciate this...

I recently managed to score a copy of Gascoyne's novel "Opening Day," for... $1.

I read it years ago, and remember it being quite affecting at the time.

[teguififthzeal]

Yes, I definitely appreciate that. I've obsessed over that book for a decade or so now. (Where did you pick it up?)

I think you'll have fun with the anthology, and thank you for ordering it. (I do believe I've met Chris Kelso).

BTW, there is a collection of Gascoyne's poems emerging, all of them supposedly "new", though I can't confirm that-

Amazon.com: New Collected Poems (9781907587375): David Gascoyne: Books

 

Amazon.com: New Collected Poems (9781907587375): David Gascoyne: Books

Best

[Jeff Coleman]

Out of curiosity, I looked it (Opening Day) up on amazon a month or so ago, and there was only one copy available. For $1. So, I snapped it up.

I read it years earlier by getting it through interlibrary loan.

I've heard about the 'New Collected Poems.' I think it might collect much of his previously published work, along with a bunch of never before published texts. I'm hoping it's pretty much a definitive collection, since it would be nice to have one.

Here's a poem by Jeremy Reed, written for the occasion of the new book being published:

http://www.enitharmon.co.uk/pages/ne...asp?NewsID=289

P.S., This just popped into my head, and made me laugh a bit: I recall that David Gascoyne was acquainted with Dylan Thomas, though they weren't close friends, didn't care for each other that much.

Maybe this is a false memory, or I'm getting it wrong, but I remember that David Gascoyne recorded a strange episode with Dylan Thomas in his journals... He was with DT in an elevator, and they were standing behind another person, a stranger. Out of nowhere, DT suddenly bit the back of the stranger's neck, and latched on for the rest of the elevator ride, as everyone present, including the stranger, just stood there in stunned silence.

[teguififthzeal]

Oh yeah, Jeremy Reed. "Delirium" was a good book. "Isidore", too. I was in touch with him as an adolescent, very briefly.

At first, Gascoyne liked Dylan Thomas and was very taken with him. In lots of ways. You get the sense of a larger than life figure in the journals. But he did embarrass him somehow, it had something to do with William Empson, I think, the way Thomas behaved in his presence disturbed Gascoyne. Keep in mind that Thomas had a tremendous amount of energy and Gascoyne, even during his "heroic" period, often suffered from exhausted and irritable moods, sometimes bordering on ahedonic. And for a man of his achievements and stature he suffered from an almost complete lack of self confidence. The guy he got along best with (on a platonic level) was Pierre Jean Jouve.