review of NO/ON Philip Rowland -- by Alan Botsford

NO/ON: journal of the short poem, 7, Spring 2009
edited by Philip Rowland

Philip Rowland, British editor of NO/ON, a journal of English-language short poems published in Tokyo, Japan, has for the seventh issue laid out for readers what one of the poems calls "a fanciful geography." In fact the poem, by Canadian poet/dramatist J.J. Steinfeld (PK 2008), wittily and succinctly brings into focus one of the themes of this issue and is here worth quoting in full:

A FANCIFUL GEOGRAPHY

A location at the intersection

where the world begins and ends

stirs and renounces itself

what a fanciful geography

a writer with a trembling philosophy

devises new routes for escaping

concocts new messages for sending

to geographers of the distracted

devising and concocting

an almost sinister way

of becoming visible

a few words for the beginning of the world

a profusion of images for its end.

NO/ON's 'fanciful geography' is navigated sometimes one-line poem at a time, such as: "peace arrives boots march on without their feet" (Ed Markowski), or "A road crosses a road another road does not." (Mark Terrill). But to call these poems 'short' hardly does justice to the fancifulness and variety the form assumes in the pages of this journal, where can be found a 'shattered sonnet,' an 'anaximandrian,' a meditation, remixes, haiku, neologisms, concrete poems, puzzle poems, and 'mamaist' poems, to name

a few. Endings and beginnings meet and converge and in between "the wars go on & on." NO/ON 7's fanciful aesthetic reminds us, among other things, that fancy does not necessarily end where the real begins: each grows out of the other, forever spawning new geographies, new landscapes, new horizons, underscored by Gloria Frym's contribution 'Please Understand' which begins: "there was no story/ no arc of triumph/ don't be disappointed/ think lyrically"

If NO/ON's 'short-form' poems continue to open horizons for readers, they also refrain from demarcating them. 'CATCH THIS BOY! breathlessly announces the title of Jonathon Greene's poem. Rowland's NO/ON 7, it would seem, calmly offers "new routes for escaping."

-- Alan Botsford

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"NO/ON: journal of the short poem (formerly NOON) usually appears twice a year. However, there will be a hiatus in publication following this issue, and work will not be considered until the next call of submissions is made. To order this issue or check availability of back issues, please contact the editor via email or at the following address: Minami Motomachi 4-49-506, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0012, Japan."

(noonpress@mac.com)

An Evening of Poetry and Fiction at Temple University Japan

An Evening of Poetry and Fiction at TUJ Library

Come enjoy a reading and a cup of coffee with three local authors, Leza Lowitz, Jane Joritz-Nakagawa, and Alan Botsford Saitoh.

Date

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Time

7:00 p.m.

Venue

TUJ Library, Azabu Hall 4th floor (Access)

Admission

This is a free event and is open to public.
Light refreshments will be served.

Contact

cahill@tuj.ac.jp

Leza Lowitz

Leza Lowitz was born in San Francisco and grew up in Berkeley. She has published three books of poems, a book of short stories, and twelve other books about Japan. Among other honors, Lowitz has received the PEN Oakland Poetry Award, the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award, grants from the NEA and NEH, a California Arts Council Fellowship in Poetry, and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature from Columbia University. Her poetry has been translated into five languages. Lowitz first lived in Tokyo from 1989-1994, where she freelanced for "Art in America" and wrote for NHK Radio's "Japan Diary." She was also a lecturer at Tokyo University and an editor at Tokyo University Press. After almost a decade in California, she returned to Tokyo in 2003, when she opened Sun and Moon Yoga. She now lives in Tokyo with her husband and their young son. Her new book of poetry is forthcoming from Stone Bridge Press, and a book of folktales for children is forthcoming from Mandala Publishing in 2010.

Jane Joritz-Nakagawa

Jane Joritz-Nakagawa is a long time resident of Japan originally from the USA. Her most recent poetry book is Exhibit C (Ahadada, 2008). Her previous two books of poetry are Aquiline (2007) and Skin Museum (2006). Jane teaches courses in poetry, pedagogy, gender, and other subjects at Aichi University of Education where she works as Associate Professor. Jane's primary research interest is the relationship of feminism to avant garde poetry by women. Well over a hundred of Jane's poems, as well as numerous essays, academic papers and interviews, have been published in journals and anthologies in Japan, the U.S., the U.K., and Australia. She is currently finalizing her fourth book of poems.

Alan Botsford Saitoh

Alan Botsford Saitoh grew up in Maryland, U.S., earning a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a M.F.A. from Columbia University, and for the past twenty years has lived in Japan where he teaches at Kanto Gakuin Univeristy and edits (since 2003) Poetry Kanto, a poetry journal bridging east, west and beyond. He has published two books of poetry--mamaist: learning a new language (Minato No Hito, 2002) and A Book of Shadows (Katydid Books, 2003), while a book of essays & poems, Walt Whitman of Cosmic Folklore, is forthcoming in 2010 from Sage Hill Press. He lives with his wife and son in Kamakura.