Both Theatre and Music have long experimented with interculturalism but, until very recently, Poetry has lagged behind. Now, however, the enterprising publishers, Proverse of Hong Kong, have produced two very significant contributions to an important aspect of the current Arts scene. These two attractive volumes are the work of poets who spent their formative years in Britain and Canada respectively and who later have developed insight into Chinese culture through their new lives in Hong Kong.
Gillian Bickley’s verse is often remarkable for its economy and breath-taking delicacy. It ranges from reactions to the interface of technology and nature to the simple facts of being a student, teacher or writer .The forms are daring and varied, the images potent and memorable yet, through all the verse there is a sense of deep interest in and compassion for humanity. Illustrations and an insightful essay on the communication of poetry enhance this volume and make it much more than a collection of poems. Rather, it is a celebration and investigation of what poetry can, and in this case, does do supremely well.
Kate Rogers’s poems conduct the reader on an exploration of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This review is being written on the day that British Newspapers reported the commencement of flights between Taiwan and China and this gives added potency to this realisation that, however hard the world may try to deny need for greater tolerance and communication, the more it will happen through the medium of the Arts. Kate’s poems have a flowing and meditative quality that delves into personal landscapes as well as describing and evoking places and experiences. At times, however, there is a vibrancy about the verse that allows the thrusting modern world, with its HSBC logos and air-conditioned environment to clash with ancient temples and tofu.
Both these beautifully-produced volumes are a rich pleasure to own and peruse. They demonstrate that the publication of poetry is, in itself, an art form that Proverse has uniquely mastered. — Ken Pickering. Professor: The Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education: London. (13 June 2008.)