In these twenty-two interviews with verse novelists from the UK, USA, Australia and Canada, Linda Weste explores the uniqueness of storytelling through poetry and the genre of the verse novel. Her subjects are notable representatives of countries where the genre thrives; among them is Bernardine Evaristo, joint winner of the Booker Prize in 2019; and what they have to say enriches our understanding of the many ways poetry and narratives can meld to create a unique reading experience.
In these thirty-five interviews with verse novelists from Australia and Aotearoa–New Zealand, Linda Weste explores the uniqueness of storytelling through poetry and the genre of the verse novel. Her subjects are notable representatives of a region where verse novels for Adults, Children and Young Adults thrive; among them is Steven Herrick, winner of the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 2019; and what they have to say enriches our understanding of the verse novel across each of its publishing categories.
Coda for Shirley follows the problems that ensue after the 90 year-old protagonist Shirley leaves her money to her two grandsons as opposed to her pair of problematic daughters.
Like water spilling over stones, these poems seem to bubble up from the depths. These are luminous reflections on the complex and sometimes fraught relationships between society and the natural world.
One man's definition of his gender manifests itself against a backdrop of relationships, family, and society. Satirically challenges the illusions and fantasies of contemporary culture with smart, playful, and surprisingly intimate verse. A blunt and honest account about all the things men never discuss, including taboo subjects.
In the aftermath of an apocalypse which wiped out nearly all magic from a once-wondrous fantasy world, an antisocial former bard named Hum seeks a way to save the soul of his wife with nothing but a foul-tempered mutant unicorn and his wits to protect him. But in the process, he is unwillingly drawn into a brutal power struggle which will decide forever who rules the weird wasteland... Written by Eisner Award-nominated author Simon Spurrier (The Spire, Godshaper) and lavishly illustrated by artist Matías Bergara (Supergirl, Cannibal), Coda is a relentless kaleidoscope of visual wonders, exploring high fantasy and the post-apocalypse through the lens of a curmudgeonly loner in search of his lost love.
"Frank Wetta and Martin Novelli's "Abraham Lincoln and Women on Film" examines how depictions of women in Hollywood movies helped create the myth of Lincoln. They specifically explore D. W. Griffith's Abraham Lincoln (1930); John Ford and Larmar Trotti's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939); Robert Sherwood's Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940); Shirley Temple's The Littlest Rebel (1933) and The Blue Bird (1940); and Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln (2012). In addition, they analyze four television productions: James Agee's Abraham Lincoln (1955); Carl Sandburg's Lincoln (1974); James Prideaux's The Last of Mrs. Lincoln (1976); and Gore Vidal's Lincoln (1988). In studying these depictions, Wetta and Novelli focus on the female characters. They are especially interested in female characters' backstories, the political and cultural climate in which the films appeared, and the contest between the moviemakers' imaginations and the varieties of historical truth. The women of Lincoln's life are the center of the study-his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln; his stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln; his lost loves, Ann Rutledge and Mary Owens; and his wife and widow, Mary Todd Lincoln. Later, while exploring Lincoln's legacy, Wetta and Novelli focus on the 1930s child star Shirley Temple and the 1950s movie star Marilyn Monroe, the latter of whom had a well-publicized fascination with the sixteenth president. Wetta and Novelli's work is the first to deal extensively with the women in Lincoln's life on screen. They are also among the first to examine how scholarly and popular biography influenced films about Lincoln and added to the creation of popular depictions of him. "Abraham Lincoln and Women on Film" will find a wide readership among Lincoln scholars and academics who study film and popular culture"--
An American Rastafarian “offers a vibrant examination of American and African history with an anti-colonial patina . . . engaging” (Kirkus Reviews). Revolutionary Threads offers an American Rasta’s retelling of episodes in American history with an anticolonial thrust, accented by Bobby Sullivan’s own personal experiences. The book ties together various subjects while returning each time to the culture of Rastafari, social justice movements, and cooperative economics. From how we perceive history in general, America's precolonial past, and global capitalism’s early development and the resistance to it, to political prisoners and a celebration of religious tolerance, the book approaches North America with an African-centric perspective. Sullivan dispels the oversimplification of our perceptions of Rastafari, as well as other cultures, in the age of the Internet, where the loudest voices are often the most extreme and divisive. Revolutionary Threads aims to serve as a unifying agent for our all-too-connected global village, and for the resistance to the consolidation of global capital and all its excesses. “A post-hardcore rock star, community activist, and social justice intellectual offers an alternative look at countercolonial history through the lens of the Rastafari movement.” —Kirkus Reviews “Outlining his philosophical influences and backpacking through history and criss-crossing continental borders, Sullivan puts his enlightenment journey and way of life, which includes activism for social justice, prison outreach, and cooperative economics, on paper.” —The Gleaner (Jamaica) “[Sullivan] meticulously sources his work throughout, whether providing a Howard Zinn-like take on the settlement of America by Africans predating Columbus, or in discussing political prisoners like Marilyn Buck . . . an engaging, lively, well-thought book which provides a picture of Rastafarianism in action, for punks and beyond.” —Razorcake
