Tag Archives: dalliance a collection of poetry and prose

We Are All In The Gutter, But Some Of Us Are Looking At The Stars

I will be taking a break from blogging over the UK bank holiday weekend. I will be preparing my new collection of poetry for publication. The title is “We Are All In The Gutter, But Some Of Us Are Looking At The Stars”, which is a quote from the great Oscar Wilde. As the title suggests, the collection will be a compilation of some of my darker poetry.

On first reading, the quote is bleak. The gutter suggests the lowest point in the life of man or what some might label “a low mode of living”! However the fact “some of us are looking at the stars” suggests hope or the possibility of change for the better.

The new collection will join my existing book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” which can be found here, (http://www.amazon.com/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E/ref=cm_cr_pr_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8).

Kevin

The Great Experiment!

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BookCrossing is the practice of leaving books for others to find. Usually a message will be included allowing the person who finds the book to inform the individual who has left it that it has been found. There exist Book Crossing websites to facilitate this process.

I decided to release my baby, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” into the great beyond. It is already available in the Amazon Kindle store, in my local book store (The Bookseller Crow) and direct from me. However I thought it would be fun to put a note in 4 copies of “Dalliance”, saying that I would love to know what people think of my book, and release it into the wild. It may be that I receive no feedback but nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Later today I will leave 2 copies of “Dalliance” in public places while a friend will drop off a further 2.

(for “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E.

For a recent review of “Dalliance” please go to https://bibliomad.wordpress.com/2015/08/19/dalliance-a-collection-of-poetry-and-prose-by-k-morris-book-review/.

You can find information on BookCrossing by visiting this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BookCrossing.

The Bookseller Crow can be found by clicking here http://booksellercrow.co.uk/.

If you are interested in obtaining a print edition of “Dalliance” direct from me please email newauthoronline (at) gmail dot com).

A 5 Star Review Of My Book “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose”

There Is Some Corner Of The British Library Which Is Forever Dalliance

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On returning to London on 13 July, one of the first letters I opened was a document from the British Library’s Legal Deposit archive acknowledging receipt of my book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry and Prose”. As explained in my post of 15 May 2015 (http://newauthoronline.com/2015/05/15/legal-deposit-what-is-it-and-are-you-covered/), since 1662 legislation has required that a copy of every print book published in the UK be deposited in the British Library thereby ensuring the preservation of the written word for future generations. In 2013 this requirement was extended to electronic publications in the UK. Its good to know that in some small way I have contributed to the cultural heritage of these islands (he said smiling modestly)!

Can One Place A Value On Artistic Creations?

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“Cecil Graham: What is a cynic?

Lord Darlington: A man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

Cecil Graham: And a sentimentalist, my dear Darlington, is a man who sees an absurd value in everything and doesn’t know the market price of any single

thing.”

(Oscar Wilde. Lady Windermere’s Fan).

According to the above, I am a sentimentalist for I had no idea what price to attach to my book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose”. Indeed I must confess to finding the attaching of monetary value to artistic creations rather distasteful. For me literature and art more generally possesses a value in and of itself which can not be reduced to a matter of pounds, shillings and pence. Food feeds the stomach while art nourishes the soul. While the former is vital to the survival of the species, once food is eaten that is an end of the matter while, with art exposure to it continues to feed the spirit long after the creation in question has vanished from view. Poems I read as a boy continue to resonate with me today while countless meals are long since forgotten. Of course one may remember a dinner for the excellent companionship of friends but only on rare occasions will the food consumed figure in one’s recollections.

Having said all that, I do, of course accept that man does not exist by consuming fresh air alone. Authors must earn (and deserve to earn) a crust. Consequently it is necessary for me and other authors to attach monetary value to our creations. In the case of “Dalliance” I discussed the matter of price with several colleagues and friends who had read the book. None where of much help. One colleague suggested a price range of between £8 to £20. Given that “Dalliance” runs to 68 pages I felt that £20 was much to high. Eventually I consulted the man who owns my local bookshop, Bookseller Crow. He suggested a price of £7.99 which we agreed upon. This will cover the cost of producing “Dalliance” and, I hope allow both myself and the good purveyor of books to earn a crust.

In conclusion, books do possess an inherent value which can not be translated into purely monetary terms. However in the real world it is necessary (as with other artistic creations) to assign a price to them. However, deep in my soul I feel that it is sacreligious to place a financial value on Keats “Ode to A Nightingale” or Arnold’s “Dover Beach”.

K Morris Featured Poet On Laura A Lord’s Website

Of Books And Fruit

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I had hoped to receive a further stock of my book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” on Friday 19 June. However on telephoning Berforts (the publisher of the print edition) on Thursday 18 June I learned that the little elves who print books are all on strike. Well, to be honest it is a little more prosaic than that. The machine which prints the books has broken down and “Dalliance” will now be printed and shipped in week commencing 22 June.

On Monday I am scheduled to break the camera as my photograph is being taken to accompany the author interview a colleague conducted with me on Monday 15 June. The interview appeared here on 16 June and will be published on my employer’s website in the next couple of weeks. I had hoped to have a copy of “Dalliance” to hold up for the camera, however I have no copies, meaning the picture will be dallianceless (well if Shakespeare can make up words so can I)!

On Thursday evening I popped into my local supermarket and purchased a substancial quantity of oranges and apples. I had just reached home when a dull thudding sound reached my ears. “how odd” I said to myself “perhaps I have kicked a large stone”. I bent down to investigate only for several thudding sounds to follow on from one another in quick succession. Putting my hand to the thin plastic bag provided by the supermarket I discovered the cause of the problem – a hole had developed allowing my fruit to cascade with gay abandon all over the car park of the flats in which I live! I did briefly contemplate letting my trusty lab/retriever guide dog Trigger loose in the hope he would follow his retriever instincts and bring the fruit back to his master. I quickly dismissed the idea as Trigger is fond of apples and while I’m sure he would have retrieved them the fruit would have been conveyed to his rapacious stomach rather than my eager grasp. All ended happily as a neighbour kindly retrieved my apples and oranges. The moral of the story is to never trust to those flimsy plastic bags provided free by supermarkets but to bring one’s own carrier or invest in a “bag for life” which many stores now offer.

I wish you all a very fruitful weekend!

(for my author interview please visit http://newauthoronline.com/2015/06/16/interview-with-author-k-morris/).

Update to my ‘About’ and ‘Reviews of my books’ pages.

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I have, at long last, added images of my book covers to my ‘About’ page (http://newauthoronline.com/about/).

I have also updated the ‘Reviews of my books’ page to include the recent reviews of ‘Dalliance’ (http://newauthoronline.com/reviews-of-my-books/).

Interview With Author K Morris

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Conversation with Kevin Morris about ‘Dalliance’

Thank you to Annis for taking the time to interview me. A version of this article appeared on my employer’s website.

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Where did your latest collection of poems and other pieces in ‘Dalliance’ come from? What is your inspiration for writing?

I write poems that I publish on my blog. Then I collect and publish them in book form. I’ve published several collections of self-published short stories. ‘Dalliance’ is a collection of poems, vignettes and short stories about the ‘grittier’ side of life. I get inspiration from internet news reports. The inspiration for the poems comes from imagined conversations in my head which have been going on since I was a child – and from nature.

Poets tend to have better senses than the rest of us but your sense of touch and sound is very sharp. I loved your lines about the ‘eternal’ wind : ‘Eternal force blowing forever on ancient peoples and now on me. You care not for civilisation; your gusts of laughter shake the bending trees. You blew before these buildings came. When all is gone, you will remain’.

I also liked lines about the touch of acorns ‘I have always had an affinity with these great trees. I love the smooth feel of the outer shell of the acorn and how it contrasts with the softer seed within’. What is the background to these lines?

I have always been close to nature. I collected acorns with my grandfather. I loved the natural world from the time that I started stocking the nature table at school. I live overlooking a semi-rural park in south London. Bird song has always been special to me, particularly the song of the thrush. I love Hardy’s poem “The Darkling Thrush” as well as Blake, Ernest Dowson, A E Housman and Charles Causley. In my sitting room I hear the animal noises and calls – and I feel the wind on my face.

How do you feel about the shape of a poem, on the page? Often that matters to those with sight, when they see a poem for the first time.

I think there is no ultimate ‘rule’ for the shape of a poem. I believe it is the feeling and meaning of a poem that really counts.

You surprised me a bit by appreciating beauty, say, in women. Does beauty mean a lot when one has sight impairment?

I meant beauty in the essence of a person. The smell of, say, a flower can be beautiful, also the smell of certain trees.

You work in the environmental field fighting climate change. Is that connected to your love of nature?

I would probably say ‘yes’ – writing is part of my feeling for nature.

You have quite a dark view of the modern world and also write about loneliness. You get inside hard issues, such as someone finding out whether they are HIV positive.

I am quite a serious, introspective person even though I have a lot of friends and thoroughly enjoy the pub and humour. I guess I write poems when I am on my own, meditating. I think the world is quite a dark place judging by reports on the internet. Personally, I am fortunate to have a loving family. I have been well treated in the workplace.

You get good 4 and 5 star reviews for your writing, e.g. on Amazon. What do you plan to do next?

I publish new poems on my blog and I read my own and other poetry on You Tube. I would like to do an ‘open mike session’ at The Poetry Society in Betterton Street. However, these take place during the afternoon on workdays, so it is quite difficult to go.

Further information:

Kevin’s poetry blog newauthoronline.com
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) have published ‘Dalliance: A Collection Of Poetry And Prose’ in braille.
‘Dalliance: A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” by Kevin Morris can be found on Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-.
‘Dalliance’ is also available as an e-book, also with text to speech enabled allowing visually impaired people to read it.

Links

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E

http://poetrysociety.org.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Dowson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._E._Housman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Causley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67lcMKnJHPI

“Dalliance; A Collection of Poetry and Prose” Is Now On Take A Sneak Peek

	K Morris Poet on A Young Lady of Peru
	gipsika on A Young Lady of Peru
	OIKOS™- Art, Books… on A Young Lady of Peru
	V.M.Sang on The Rain Fell
	K Morris Poet on The Rain Fell

K Morris – Poet

Kevin Morris poet

Tag Archives: dalliance a collection of poetry and prose

We Are All In The Gutter, But Some Of Us Are Looking At The Stars

The Great Experiment!

A 5 Star Review Of My Book “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose”

There Is Some Corner Of The British Library Which Is Forever Dalliance

Can One Place A Value On Artistic Creations?

K Morris Featured Poet On Laura A Lord’s Website

Of Books And Fruit

Update to my ‘About’ and ‘Reviews of my books’ pages.

Interview With Author K Morris

“Dalliance; A Collection of Poetry and Prose” Is Now On Take A Sneak Peek