Morocco Rococo

Reviews / Votes

This collection by the award-winning Edinburgh poet falls into two parts. The first Moroccan section, 'A game of Four Winds and Sand', comprises ten short poems drawn from that exotic source. They generally each contain one striking phrase or image. One is a haiku and several might tighten to that or a similar short form. In 'Fancy Gate Posts', for instance, "not a fence there / a pair of wealthy, out-of-work viziers" is enough, the absurdity and the shape are perfectly captured.

The second part, 'What lies Between', contains a much more varied selection which ranges widely through history, geography and myth. Beginning with the perceptive 'Borderer', it contains original takes on classical powers (such as Vulcan, Venus and Prometheus) and explores folktales of spells, hags and selkies. Some of the most successful contain the private magic of childhood or the emotional borderland of adolescence as in 'Fourteen'. 'Crabwise' is a well-extended image of awkward passion, 'The problem with sea-horses' a lovely evocation of vulnerability. In 'Staffa' she displays another of her striking conceits - the hexagonal stones suggest "a giant's/ concertina frozen mid-play."

The final group of haiku, 'Stars, Loch Tay', again suggest that this is a form for which McKie has a particular gift.

I am not sure that the collection encompasses the sensuous range suggested by the blurb but Jane McKie's talent for the striking visual image is indeed delightful. -- Caroline Clark @ www.gwales.com Debut poetry collection from award winning author Jane McKie, who visited the Sahara to complete the collection. With previous publications in magazines and anthologies, including New Writing Scotland, the collection takes the reader on journeys from Africa to rural Britain and into the pages of mythology.


Delicate, layered images distilled to their visceral essentials characterise Jane McKie's award winning poetry. She takes her readers on journeys - to the desert in the footsteps of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, to magical places from Scotland to Sussex or to the heart of the myth. Whatever the landscape we are let into a world where the senses are alive, where the same vivid acuity pulses on the page delivering sounds, smells, tastes and sights. -- Publisher: Cinnamon Press