In The Emma Press Anthology of Love, that familiar four-letter word takes on a world of meanings. Love is written across the sky for the whole world to see, and whispered to a partner at the bus stop in the rain. Love is transcendent and love is every day, found equally in steamy texts and shopping lists, and the only reliable thing about it is that it's never where you expected to find it. Building on the success of 2015's Mildly Erotic Verse, this book explores the diversity of modern romance. Often awkward, never perfect, romantic encounters and relationships are rooted in our own contemporary world of Tinder, Twitter and TV dinners. But they are also part of an enduring tradition: the cornerstone of our common humanity. In this book, thirty fresh, diverse and original voices speak to what love means right here, right now, bridging the gap between Hollywood imagery and modern lived experience.
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[Ascending the water ride / I suddenly remember Leith / the four of us pissed and maudlin NOT QUITE DÉJÀ VU BY CATHERINE AYRES]***
(@TheEmmaPress, 26 October 2018, e-book, 112 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveLibs, edited by @RachelPoet & Emma Wright)
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So, I love poetry (you might have noticed) and I am a sucker for love poetry having written screeds myself. Two things that really stood out about this collection; I'd never heard of any of the poets before so I have lots of new poets to explore and none of the poems actually use the word love even though their subject matter is clear. What impressed me is how diverse the poems on offer are. I didn't expect this for poems that tackle the same theme, but each poem is unique and explores the many different forms love can take. I loved every word.