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When I started Zoland Books in 1987 my
mission was to publish lively writing by the most intriguing
voices I could locate. My reading taste is eclectic so my
list at Zoland was no different. Zoland Books brought into
print a wide range of poets including Ange Mlinko, Bill Berkson,
Kevin Young, William Corbett, Lisa Jarnot, Patricia Smith
and Anne Porter. Then several years ago Steerforth Press acquired Zoland Books. During my fifteen years running Zoland,
I published not only poetry but also literary fiction and
arts-related memoirs. A number of these books are still available
as part of Steerforth's backlist.
In assembling this collection I had one main goal: present
poems from many countries and aesthetics, having as large
a range of excellence as possible. In this day and age of
constant conflict around the world it seems to me language
is our greatest resource, maybe our only salvation. My hope
is that you the reader finds much to linger over, digest,
enjoy, react for or against, poems to reread and share with
friends.
My mission for Zoland Poetry
is the same as it was for Zoland Books; bring into print
work that I believe matters, work by new as well as veteran
writers, writers that take me by storm. I see a political
side in everything around me, political in the sense of
humanism, a viewing of the world through a host of languages
and literary styles. As a young reader, Emile Zola’s Germinal opened my eyes to the political
relevancy of writing from a different culture. I look to
Zola’s work as a guide to my own, and so have incorporated
his name into Zoland, as emblematic of a political awareness
that exists within all the literature I publish. All things
are political, especially words, and literature can help
us see and feel and think more than before, more than ever.
Listening and learning will never go out of style, so that
even as technology changes the culture and form of books,
general readers will continue to turn to poetry at critical
moments in their lives.
General queries: info@zolandpoetry.com
Translation: translation@zolandpoetry.com
Reviews:
reviews@zolandpoetry.com
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