The Emma Press Anthology of the Sea

Description

The poems in The Emma Press Anthology of the Sea ask how the human mind can fathom the ocean’s depths. Poets explore the environmental implications of our actions on the waters which nourish us, and embark on voyages of self-discovery.

With poems from Natalya Anderson, Yvonne Baker, Claire Booker, Kaddy Benyon, Nancy Campbell, Geraldine Clarkson, Holly Corfield Carr, Ellie Danak, Katherine Gallagher, Rebecca Goss, Brian Grant, Kit Healy, Jan Heritage, Paul Howarth, Sarah Howe, Kavita A. Jindal, Angela Kirby, Joan Lennon, Julie Maclean, Amy McCauley, Simon McCormack, Joseph Minden, Sara Nesbitt Gibbons, Genevieve Osborne, Megan Pattie, Susan Richardson, Jacqueline Saphra, Claire Trévien, Anna Vaught and Diana Whitney.

“The sea is powerful, raging, angry, delightful, destructive, calming… it is all these things at once and that is something which is explored in these poems. In a world where issues of climate change and ocean power are discussed as second nature, the skilful poets contained within this fascinating book give the sea its voice back. […] These poems explore the ways in which our relationship with the sea changes as we grow older and certainly provoke thought on the subject, long after the final poem has been read and the raging storm of the sea has calmed. Thoroughly recommended.” – LiteratureWorks

“Eve Lacey’s selection carries us through a multitude of emotional landscapes with confidence and ease, thanks to the distinct voices and compelling points of view of the chosen poets. […] The poems in this anthology stand alone, but also spark off each other in interesting ways; the whole satisfyingly adds up to more than the sum of it’s parts.” – James O’Leary, Sabotage Reviews

“The Emma Press Anthology of the Sea is a captivating, diverse and perceptive collection that expertly plumbs the complex depths of our relationships with the sea. […]” – Aoife Lyall

“I landed belatedly on this collection and I’m kicking myself for not exploring it earlier. As a non-swimmer with a sensible wariness of water, I do enjoy the sea – from a distance. Some of these well-chosen poems plunge you right in and under the water and are gripping but somewhat scary. Others skirt the edges of the sea or bob about on its surface, leaving me feeling slightly safer if a bit queasy. But what a collection it is.” – Judy Gordon, Write Out Loud

“The Emma Press Anthology of the Sea is an amphibious little book as much concerned with internal states of mind as physical realities; a stance which frames this heavily anthologized topic in a fresh and modern way. From Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner to The Seafarer, literature is awash with compelling stories and poems about the oceans but so much of our relationship with the sea has been concerned with conquest, of harnessing its power to our own ends, mastering territory, and of over-riding currents and (trade) winds. This little book is not concerned with such matters.” – Sarah Westcott, Poetry School