
Lines of Sight
Frances Presley(Author)
Shearsman Books (Publisher)
Published on 15. October 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
116 pages
978-1-84861-039-2 (ISBN)
Description
Frances Presley's "Lines of Sight" brings together all her poems from 'Stone settings and longstones', a sequence framed by the Neolithic stone monuments on Exmoor. The poems reflect the fragile, elusive and even disputed existence of these sites, as well as the enduring landscape which surrounds them. They reveal, too, more recent layers of history, and the creation of new stone settings. The writings of a local woman archaeologist are also a source of rediscovery and radical realignment. This sequence is part of a collaboration and performance with Tilla Brading. Other monuments are engaged with in 'Female figures'. These are the rare statues of women in public spaces. The figures chosen are Queen Anne, Margaret Thatcher and Julian of Norwich, along with the spaces they overlook. The final poetic sequence 'The first book of her life', includes a meditation on the war experiences of Frances Presley's mother, and creatively rereads an old Dutch dictionary and primer, in a search for origins of identity and language.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Exeter
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
black & white illustrations; black & white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 7 mm
Weight
181 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84861-039-2 (9781848610392)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Frances Presley was born in Derbyshire, grew up in Lincolnshire and Somerset, and lives in north London. She studied at the universities of East Anglia and Sussex, and later worked on community development and anti-racism projects, as well as at the Poetry Library. She has pursued collaborations with artists and other poets, such as Irma Irsara, Elizabeth James, Peterjon Skelt and Tilla Brading. She has written various essays and reviews, especially on innovative British women poets. Her work is included in many anthologies, including Infinite Difference: Other Poetries by UK Women Poets (edited Carrie Etter, Shearsman, 2010), and A Ground Aslant - Radical Landscape Poetry (edited Harriet Tarlo, Shearsman, 2011). Shearsman Books publish her Collected Poems in two volumes in 2022 to mark her birthday.