Politics and literature. I feel like I am a child born of these two parents. And like all children I am ambivalent to my parents, I both love and hate them at times. They each pulse through my veins. I love stories, so I tend to think of literature as my life's blood. Politics, for me, is more like a drug. I sometimes feel, literally, like a political junkie. For different reasons, I need to have both. I have to have both. For life. And for a fix.
In Pamela Uschuk's "Wild In The Plaze of Memory" I get the best of both worlds.
Politics is personal. And it becomes even more personal when you write yourself and your politics into a story and put it out into the public sphere for everyone to see. Pamela Uschuk fearlessly and skillfully does this, whether she is writing about meeting Vietnam vets on the anniversary of the TET offensive or she is addressing contemporary issues such as immigration laws or the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
She also passes what I like to call my "Ooooh and Ahhh" test. Almost immediately I found myself making these sounds as I came across a beautiful word or line. I have my favorites like: "Wind's so crazy in love with dust" or "Sweet Babel of birdsong syncopates dawn's light." Her poems are like clever matrixes, layered with nature, landscapes, people and events. They are her own stories, but not so specific that the reader can't identify with them and reflect on similar instances or occurrences in their lives as well.
I can't say I have any major critique. She might get a little too clever at points with techniques like alliteration ("flensed finches", comes to mind) but I have no problem with it. I think that any time a poet, or any writer for that matter, takes a risk some people will like it and others won't. It comes with the territory, but at least they are trying something a little different. And I like different. I'd rather read a writer trying something different even if it doesn't quite work than one who is wholly unoriginal.
All in all, I enjoyed "Wild In The Plaza of Memory." Uschuk is a poet who has something important to say, about politics, poetry, the world and, ultimately, herself. And she isn't afraid to express any of it. I recommend that you take a look, well worth reading.
Pamela Uschuk will be reading on Saturday at the Tucson Festival of books. Here is the info:
Poetry Reading - Pamela Uschuk
When: Saturday 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Where: Student Union - Kiva Room
Genre: Poetry
WingsPress page for "Wild In The Plaza of Memory"
http://www.wingspress.com/book.cfm/141/Wild-in-the-Plaza-of-Memory/Pam-Uschuk
Pamela Uschuk's Wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Uschuk
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