Driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, you come to a road sign: Entering Sappho. Nothing remains of the town, just trash at the side of the highway and thick, wet bush. Can Sappho's breathless eroticism tell us anything about settlement - about why we're here in front of this sign? Mixing historical documents, oral histories, and experimental translations of the original lesbian poet's works, this book combines documentary and speculation, surveying a century in reverse. This town is one of many with a classical name. Take it as a symbol: perhaps in a place that no longer exists, another kind of future might be possible.
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Monday, May 15, Sappho wa- a logging chapter is closed. Those CLIP
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(@coachhousebooks, 10 November 2020, ebook, 112 pages, #ARC from the publisher via @edelweiss_squad and voluntarily reviewed)
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This is my first exposure to the poet's work. I liked the concept behind the poetry collection, the idea of this abandoned town with such an interesting name. I was looking forward to exploring it with the poet. This collection isn't what I expected at all. I wish there had been some insight into the sources and background of the town before the note at the end of the collection as this would have given more context to the poems and I'd have enjoyed them more. As far as poems go, they were well written and enjoyable but I wasn't able to become immersed in them as much as I'd have liked. The most enjoyable poems were Oral History, US and White Columns.
