Friday, 9 March 2012

Peter Norman reviews The Reinvention of the Human Hand

Poet Peter Norman (author of At the Gates of the Theme Park) has reviewed my last book for The Mansfield Review. Here's a sample:
The poems in Reinvention demonstrate a keen sympathetic imagination. Whether assuming the voice of the glass eye, or of Laika the orbiting dog, or of another human, such as Joseph Merrick (widely and mistakenly known as John Merrick, a.k.a. the Elephant Man), Vermeersch infuses his verse with compassion. But cheap sentiment is nowhere in sight—these poems do not indulge in hocus pocus; they are grounded in scientific awareness. Some of them function almost as secular hymns, leavening awe with pragmatism.
This delicate balance relies largely on technique—the tone and the music must be very finely calibrated. Fortunately, in that regard we are in excellent hands. Vermeersch makes terrific use of musical effects. His handle on structure and pacing is very strong too—he’s particularly good at the sinister final twist or surprising last-second lift-off. “Ode to Amoeba proteus” is a good example of these strengths.
Read the entire review here.