This poetry anthology, intriguingly titled “Petrichor Rising”, presents the flowering and ‘first fruits’ of a diverse international group of poets, interacting largely through social networks, who decided to call themselves the “Grass Roots Poetry Gang” (GRPG for short). It is a wonderfully eclectic collection of their work produced separately or collaboratively over the last few years. No one in the GRPG can say exactly how their name arose or even how the ‘gang’ came to include all its current participants, but the name is an attempt to capture and represent something of the essence of the fundamental manner in which the members of the GRPG act and interact to produce and share their creative work.
The GRPG spans almost the whole globe:
Marsha Berry teaches media and communication at RMIT University in Melbourne; Quirina Roode-Gutzmer translates English-German texts from Saxony, Germany; Louise Hastings is a full-time poet living in Somerset in the UK; Abigail Baker is a poet from rural Mid Sussex, now living in South Gloucestershire; Shân Ellis-Williams, a free-lance writer and journalist originally from Wales, lives in and works from Norfolk; John Anstie is a retired metallurgist (and active grandfather) from Sheffield. Hailing from Lancashire, but now living in West Yorkshire, is Peter Wilkin, a retired nurse psychotherapist; while, in the USA, Jacqueline Dick facilitates and teaches American and English literature courses, and Joe Hesch, a former journalist, works in the government communication field. And they all write poetry whenever and wherever they can. Some GRPG members have had a collection of their work published while many have had poems published in respected poetry journals.
And the GRPG yearns for petrichor even more than it craves lemon-drizzle cake.
Craig Morris, Grassland Ecologist
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
[back cover morphology: Anu]
Petrichor Rising takes you on a journey that exposes you to the full spectrum of emotions, from barely concealed despair to hope, from love to sorrow, with a clear appreciation of nature’s value and humanity’s shortcomings. It rides a roller-coaster that moves you to consider many of life’s challenges from a different perspective, as all good poetry should. Haunting yet shocking, aching nostalgia and enchanting stories about dragons. Optimism and hope tinged with shadows of doubt. Places never seen and humanity’s uncaring nature, prosodic social commentaries and observations of the minutest details of life. Mood, atmosphere and romance. Clever writing that brings you close to the edge of society, still capable of moving you and not pulling any punches. Poetry with a universal appeal covering subjects as varied as the loss of a cat or a harrowing account of the 7/7 London bombings, poetry that focuses on the roots of all that makes us respond to life and long for something better.
Paper book: ISBN 978-1-304-25975-2
eBook: ISBN 978-1-304-26908-9
http://www.aquillrelle.com/authorgrass.htm
