NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

NHI independent review
NORMAN BISSETT: THE MAKIN'S GREEN
Poetry Monthly Press
39 Cavendish Road,
Long Eaton
Nottingham
NG10 4HY
UK
ISBN 978 1 905126 99 6
£6.50

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NORMAN BISSETT: THE MAKIN'S GREEN

The collection, spanning many poems over 116 pages loses in not providing an index or copyright page. The title poem THE MAKIN' GREEN (p.56)cannot be interpreted as a subject pointer to the rest of the work. The preceding comments do not of course change the perceived worth of any particular poem but they do adversely condition overall appraisal.

The contents are mixed in quality and it does not seem a good thing that some of the better work (often the longer poems) rubs shoulders with the shorter, sometimes comical, efforts. For example I admired the reminder of the rheumatic troubles of Renoir in the 32-line THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS and the 50-line sketch about Van Gogh IN AUVERS CEMETERY, but not the CARTHAGINIANS, ENGLYN, ICARUS and many other short poems including the limerick-like MUSIC OF THE SPHERES.

The collection is worth getting but the cartload of mixed genres will be troublesome. Have patience in sorting it all out.

reviewer: Eric Ratcliffe.