Tuesday 17 February 2009

ink sweat & years The Ink Sweat & Tears 2008 Anthology

Editor Charles Christian in compiling this newly released anthology has the advantage over many of his rivals in that the contents, like a famous Irish whiskey, are three times distilled. This means that what goes into the bottle, the finished product, is absolute top quality. It deserves a seal of approval. And Poet-in-Residence is pleased to be able to approve because what is in this chapbook of contemporary poetry is the best that can be gleaned from all points of the bardic compass; it's quite simply the best way forward. Unlike Georg Trekl's drunken men who stagger from woodland taverns and are found dewclad in the morning mists there is here a clear path and a sober judgement by the editor. There is indeed much ink and sweat. Any tears shed will be tears of joy; joy that there is today a source of top-shelf poetry to be found in the world of the small press poets.
The first part of the 3-stage distillation process is that the ink sweat & tears website is designed to attract modern poets who have discovered a way, and often a new way, through the poetic wilderness. This it does. The second stage distilliation, is that the best of their works are selected on a daily basis, and the third, yet another distillation, is that from the 360 or so annual website selections the very best are chosen for the anthology. The end result is something quite special. If this anthology is not at or near the top of the 2009 Small Press Awards for Best Anthology Poet-in-Residence, who has several boxes full of dubious publications masquerading as so-called antholgies, will be most surprised. You can confidently buy this one. It's the real whiskey.

ink sweat & years
ISBN 978-1-907043-00-0
UK price 3.50p (+ 50p p&p)
published and printed by Ink Sweat & Tears
Oak Lodge, Darrow Green Road, Denton
Harleston, Norfolk IP20 0AY, UK
www.ink-sweat-and-tears.com
- alphabetical sidebar LINK....>>>

2 comments:

  1. Shall post my order tonight - sounds good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Weaver, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I've checked on the IS&T website and there's 50p postage to add. I've now shown the p&p on the blog. I think it's also available via Amazon.

    ReplyDelete

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