The whole world has fallen out of love with itself.
It is the end of the millennium, after Thatcher, Waco and the fall of Communism. On behalf of Love, the poet addresses various candidates for the post of lover. All refuse the Apple, but a daemon/demon figure flits through the scene: is it that original dissenting rebel, Lucifer? S.J. Litherland draws on myths and legends, pagan and Christian, in her quest for love in a landscape of the mind, travelling through space and time. But is the price too high on the Apple Exchange? Challenging, erotic, ironic and despairing by turns, these are poems after the Fall from an independent Eve.
'These poems are alive with the rhythm of life, dancing in defiance of death and stagnation.' Dave Ward
'Litherland writes a verse which is poised, formal but not withheld... The poise is somewhere between the inner and outer world... Perhaps a poetry which works
traces the shapes of what in religious parlance is called Life Everlasting
within everyday experience.' Michael Standen
'These poems suggest both the utter implacability of time and the opposing forces at work in our own brief lives.' Maggie Mountford
The Apple Exchange costs £6.95 and was published in 1999.
ISBN: 978-1-873226-34-9
Photo: Diane Cockburn
S.J. Litherland's work encompasses love, politics, loss, and philosophy. She has six published collections of poetry, The Long Interval (Bloodaxe 1986), Flowers of Fever (Iron Press 1992), The Apple Exchange (Flambard 1999), The Work of the Wind (Flambard 2006), The Homage (Iron Press 2006) and The Absolute Bonus of Rain (Flambard 2010).
Her highly praised The Work of the Wind is a four-part book about her years with the poet Barry MacSweeney and The Homage is a sequence of poems about cricket and former England captain Nasser Hussain which was nominated for Cricket Book of the Year. Her work has appeared in various anthologies, most notably in New Women Poets (Bloodaxe 1993), Forward Book of Poetry 2001 and North by North East (Iron 2006). She was co-editor of The Poetry of Perestroika (Iron) and has edited many books. She has received two Northern Writers' Awards, 1994, 2000. Originally from Warwickshire, she has lived in Durham City since 1965, bringing up a son and daughter and working as a journalist (as Jackie Levitas). Now a part-time tutor and mentor in creative writing, she is also a founding member of Vane Women writers collective and press. She has four grandsons.
You can read some of S.J. Litherland's poems online via her entry on the Vane Women website.
 |
 |
 |
Web site design by Cornwell Internet. Page last updated on 9th December 2009.
Flambard Press Ltd is a non-commercial, not-for-profit limited company registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 05983763.
Registered office: Holy Jesus Hospital, City Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 2AS.