Liz Bassett poems at wordhappening

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Poem titles are difficult to decide on. You want something that sums up the poem, or better still, adds something to it. Sat there at the top of the poem the title leads the reader in and sets their mind running a particular way seconds before the poem begins. If you get the title right you can influence how the reader approaches your poem. It's a bit like stage lighting - you are effecting what light the poem plays out in. Titles are tricky though, you don't want to give too much away, or use them like labels. This week I've been finding the title for my pamphlet of poems. I met up with Jane McKie, editor of Knucker Press and we ran through possible lines and phrases from the poems looking for something that feels right for the group of poems together. It wasn't easy but we've settled on How to Wire a Life for Love, which is a line from the poem The Consultation. Angelica Kroeger has almost finished the illustrations and they are lovely. I'm working on the final edits with Jane now and we should be ready for publication by May.

: Name: Liz Bassett; Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom

Liz Bassett writes poems about skies and elephants and the occasional ship. In her poems people fall asleep under their duvet and wake up under lines of migrating geese, and in love. Her poems have been placed in the Bridport competition, short listed for the Plough Prize, and been published by The Red Wheelbarrow, Agenda Broadsheet, White Leaf Review, The Guardian Poetry Workshop, and in the anthologies My Mother Threw Knives (Second Light Publications), Solitaire (Templar Poetry)and New Poets from Britain and America (White Leaf Press). She is a reviewer for Sphinx (HappenStance Press). Her pamphlet 'How to Wire a Life for Love' is available from Knucker Press.

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