Publications from New Hope International

GERALD ENGLAND: LIMBO TIME.
cover

"In almost all of Gerald England's poems it is the human element that is important. FIVE DAYS AFTER THE BOMB describes Manchester after a bomb attack. Motoring through, he notices the office girls in summer dresses, the workers whistling and the policemen smiling. Then he turns a corner and looks up Corporation Street:

 It was like gazing through a window 
 at some scene from Bosnia or Beirut; 
 the now so silent debris hanging.
There is shock; then, in the next stanza, a mounting anger for a
 city that survives and smiles.
It is his sense of humour, though, that gives balance and reason to all he writes. The poems are the work of a man of courage and humour, a man who recognises the quiddity of things and draws his own conclusions. I enjoyed reading them." — Mabel Ferrett

ISBN 0 903610 21 3
Sample poem

extracts from reviews.
The poet has a powerful observation and a power of narration, though they differ from stark prose. In the title poem Limbo Time the poet wants to go back with the time and craves to settle with this. The poems are not always rhymed and have subtle innerside utterance which makes us thoughtful and stand a minute instead of running through the lines. The forms and styles of the poems are carefully drawn to poetic language. Many lines conspicuously connote, but do not clog in the way of understanding. Prakalpana Literature (Vattacharja Chandran).
Gerald England in Limbo Time makes a very different impact, often arriving rather unobtrusively in a city, so that readers are led well into the poem before quite noticing how far they have come. Then the poem ends rather quickly: typically one feels as if some sleight-of-hand has moved one from one place to another. In the title poem the poet uses the familiar ritual of turning the clock back to raise metaphysical issues in a light tone. Pennine Platform (Ken E Smith).
Gerald England shows his ability to make imagery work to create the atmosphere, resonance and feeling and mastery of apt and original language. Weyfarers (Stella Stocker).
subtle and well put together Pulsar (David Pike).
A strong collection from one of the big names of the small press scene. The poems delight and challenge. England never disappoints the reader. This is a fine example of his work and vision. Swagmag (Peter Thabit Jones).
Impressive mix in this 48 page A5 booklet. Humour, haiku, free verse are here. Personal favourites are Senryu on page 39 - neat irony, and the most tear-inducing Viewing the Comet. Glossy, but disturbing cover. Peace and Freedom (Paul Rance).
incredibly variable.... Sometimes his language is quirky and vigorous and he is at his best when seeing as through the eye of a camera. Links (Jill Bamber).
Modern verse with an edge. Target (Bryn Fortey).
From the sales' point of view, books with 'Millennium' in the title or half-title seem to gamble 'topicality' against short 'shelf-life'. LIMBO TIME needs no sales gimmick - yet the half-title has some justification - for the poems do, indeed, relate to those closing years of the twentieth century and the second millennium. The 'Limbo time' of the title is, first and foremost, the hour through which all but night-workers, travellers and insomniacs usually sleep - the hour of 02.00-03.00 repeated when 'the clocks go back' each autumn. Symbolically, however, it becomes an image for the sense of expectancy on the eve of a hoped-for new era. Gerald England's poems address the issues and themes of today's cities - Glasgow, Nottingham, Manchester (particularly fine is his evocation of central Manchester recovering from the bomb outrage) against a history that is often forgotten by the conscious mind (the 'Lost Roman Road'), and the eternal riddles of life and death juxtaposed against the vastness of the cosmos (typified by the Hale-Bopp comet). Fine, insightful poetry which will surely be remembered long after Dome and Wheel are dismantled. Manifold (Vera Rich).
this is a collection of work about passing through — places, years, life, whatever. There's a poem about a visit to the dentists which is worryingly shaped like a road-drill. Fortunately none of the others are as scary. Lots of styles surprisingly manage to hold together as a whole to give the atmosphere of some mental photo album being thumbed-through late one night. An excellent quality selection with few wasted words. Krax (Andy Robson).

|| News & Updates || New Hope International Home Page || NHI Books || NHI Magazines || NHI Review || Pickings ||

Website design by Gerald England
This page last updated: 22nd February 2009.