A gathering of poems representing, in the words of the author, a `mining of a satisfying late seam of my personal development'. Artworks form the jumping off point for a number of the poems, and there is a semi biographical thread to others, as the poet looks back to formative experiences in his childhood and youth. These are counterbalanced by reflections on that experience in older age and, as a retired Church of England priest, on what it has meant to try and live with the expectations of a vocation. Throughout, there are trains and railways, music, birds, stained glass and painting, family and walking the high hills. The `profoundly satisfying volume' is warmly introduced by the poet Alan MacGillivray.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
'The language of these poems is accessible and unpretentious. There is no evident attention to structure or verse patterns. Some of the poems, indeed, read as if they were composed of metrical prose cut into strips. Yet they have an engaging quality that holds the attention and prompts one to reflect that our private experience is surrounded by an atmosphere full of invisible compounds, derived from memory, hope, the influence of natural scenery and the faint possibility of a benevolent end to life. A volume worth sharing.' Graham Parry, University of York, in Ecclesiology Today, Volume 58, June 2020; 'Minay's collection deserves to be read. If one tries to read it 'through' one finds themes recurring and being developed anew in subsequent poems, but one can simply dip into it, and wherever one dips, something valuable is found. Those who encouraged Francis to publish his collection deserve our thanks.' Brian Smith, retired Bishop of Edinburgh, in the Scottish Episcopal Institute Journal, Volume 3.3, Autumn 2019.
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ISBN-13
978-1-905022-39-7 (9781905022397)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Born in Wigan, Francis Minay grew up and was educated in Edinburgh during the 1950s and 60s. He graduated from Edinburgh College of Art, and gained his certificate from Moray House Teacher Training College, before moving to Cambridge to train for ministry in the Church of England at Westcott House. Parochial appointments in Kent and Devon led to Yorkshire, were he combined the pastoral care of a small rural parish with a unique post as part of the Chaplaincy to Arts & Recreation serving the Northern Dioceses of Newcastle, Durham and York. In retirement, Francis lives with his wife Janie in the North-West Highlands of Scotland, and continues to minister to two small congregations of the Episcopal Church of Scotland.
