Open, by Sarah St Vincent Welch was reviewed by Les Wicks in the on-line jounal Plumwood Mountain along with Anne Casey’s second collection out of emptied cups. Wicks says of Open:
We the readers should approach a new title looking for some if not all of the following: unity of concept, consistency of poetic exploration, innate veracity and the processes to surprise / enrich / illuminate.
Open meets all these criteria. I love the imagery – have you ever wondered if it was possible for someone to craft a new image from that most observed of phenomena, the moon? St Vincent Welch does it three times: ‘moon lead / bruise’ (5), ‘the new moon follows / like an excited dog’ (9) and the brilliant ‘porthole moon’ (7). Image is not used promiscuously but rather carefully placed like the methodical gardener. Delight in the ‘powder of age’ (2), ‘my breasts are empty sails’ (7), and ‘kneeling bus’ (16), interspersed with a crisp, clear even occasionally vernacular language.
He concludes:
Open, is an enriching book with a reach far beyond its limited number of pages.
You can read the full review at https://plumwoodmountain.com/les-wicks-reviews-open-by-sarah-st-vincent-welch-out-of-emptied-cups-by-anne-casey/
You can oder Open from the Rochford Press Bookshop https://rochfordpress.com/rochford-press-bookshop/
Rochford Press 