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Quemar Press' new Modern English translation of Bisclavret (Werewolf), Marie de France's medieval French Romance, is available as a complete free download ebook with an ISBN and an Introduction on the Books page. From Quemar's Preface: Bisclavret is a re-imagining by Marie de France of traditional werewolf legends. This is a work where hierarchy between animals and humans can be demolished, and affection for an individual being (be it in an animal or human state) can be clear and unwavering. |
‘At this sight, the king had great fear,/called all his companions here,/saying: “Lords, come before,/come here to watch this wonder;/how this animal bows to me,/with a man’s sense, calling for mercy./For me, hunt those dogs back./Watch he isn't struck./This beast has understanding and reason./Act now; light us on./To the beast I grant rest,/for I'll hunt no more this forest.”’
In this lai's original text, the 'werewolf' has no monstrous or fearsome characteristics, but sleeps in his wolf form close by the king, who has a building affection for him. Here, the werewolf-knight is identical to an engaging and non-threatening wolf - similar to a wolf-cub. He is suspended in wolf-guise after his spouse had his clothes stolen to prevent him from turning into a knight again, leaving him forced to traverse the forest. There, the king is stunned at encountering this animal with a man’s reason and feels incapable of killing him in a hunt. He takes the wolf into shelter in the castle.
Marie de France, considered to be the earliest female French poet, constructed this lai from ancient Breton lais, originally translating them in the twelfth-century to Anglo-Norman French. While Quemar's Modern English translation is of all the original Anglo-Norman text, Marie de France's original Anglo-Norman is also included, juxtaposed with the translation. To reflect her tone, energy and structure, Quemar’s creative translation tries to preserve her four stresses to a line and suggest the couplet rhyme on the line’s end.
Marie de France also acts as the lai’s narrative voice, indicating levels of humour in the text and witty exaggerations...
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In the original, Marie creates a remarkable level of clarity when the affection between the king and the werewolf-knight is unchanged by his form, affirming an underlying continuity of the self - regardless of state, regardless of situation.
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In this lai's original text, the 'werewolf' has no monstrous or fearsome characteristics, but sleeps in his wolf form close by the king, who has a building affection for him. Here, the werewolf-knight is identical to an engaging and non-threatening wolf - similar to a wolf-cub. He is suspended in wolf-guise after his spouse had his clothes stolen to prevent him from turning into a knight again, leaving him forced to traverse the forest. There, the king is stunned at encountering this animal with a man’s reason and feels incapable of killing him in a hunt. He takes the wolf into shelter in the castle.
Marie de France, considered to be the earliest female French poet, constructed this lai from ancient Breton lais, originally translating them in the twelfth-century to Anglo-Norman French. While Quemar's Modern English translation is of all the original Anglo-Norman text, Marie de France's original Anglo-Norman is also included, juxtaposed with the translation. To reflect her tone, energy and structure, Quemar’s creative translation tries to preserve her four stresses to a line and suggest the couplet rhyme on the line’s end.
Marie de France also acts as the lai’s narrative voice, indicating levels of humour in the text and witty exaggerations...
...
In the original, Marie creates a remarkable level of clarity when the affection between the king and the werewolf-knight is unchanged by his form, affirming an underlying continuity of the self - regardless of state, regardless of situation.
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Early copies of Ox in Metal: New Poems by Jennifer Maiden are available now for purchase on the Books for Purchase page
A 7 poem sampler (including the title poem) from these 28 poems can also be read by clicking on the cover on the Books for Purchase page. From Quemar's Press Release: I woke up and an ox was at the window, gold and silver like the dawn's dapple around it, and I asked it: 'Are you the ox of this Lunar New Year, whose element is metal?' Intrinsic to this collection is the image of an ox with metal as flesh or metal as armour, alive, on watch and casting light on perilous situations, signifying the importance of veracity, labour, perseverance, tactics and endurance. Here, in superb experiment, the poet inhabits this essence and examines it, combining personal poetic themes and continuing her tireless exploration of political guises and the nature of passion and power. |
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Quemar Press' new English translation of Marie de France's twelfth-century Anglo-Norman French Romance, Chevrefoil - Honeysuckle - is now a complete book with a Preface and an ISBN, and is available as a free download on our Books page.
From the Preface: [This work] seems to re-imagine the traditional tragic Romance of Iseult and Tristan, in a chosen catalytic space - deep in a forest where the heroes interlink in communication and affection: just as, Marie writes, the honeysuckle vine of the title entwines with hazel. |
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Devoted to leading a revolution, devoted to each other. Their passion freed a continent.
Meeting Each Other Alive - Quemar's new translations from the letters between Manuela Sáenz and Simón Bolívar, great leaders of the nineteenth-century South American Revolution - is available now. More information and a new Sampler are on the Books for Purchase page. From Quemar's Press Release: Throughout their letters, whether in spontaneous affection, finding solutions to slander and untruths, or defining facets of revolution, their voices never sound disillusioned. Neither of them died in disillusionment. Making plans to travel with Sáenz, Bolívar died in 1830. After Bolívar's death, Sáenz survived exile and went to the North of Peru, where she decided to live in Paita, on the coast. She gave her correspondence with Bolívar to one of his generals, O'Leary, who was writing a biography. With her long career as his archivist, Captain of Hussars and, ultimately, Colonel, she knew the importance of word and action. As a revolutionary, she knew the importance of incorruptible voices in history. |
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Quemar Press' new English translation of Marie de France's twelfth-century Anglo-Norman French Romance, Le Fresne - The Ash Tree - is now a complete book with a Preface and an ISBN, and is available as a free download on our Books page.
In this lai, spontaneous affection overcomes conceptual rejection. |
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Biological Necessity - a 2021 collection of new poems by Jennifer Maiden - is officially released now and available for purchase on the Books for Purchase page From Quemar's Press Release: This new collection of poems reflects Aneurin Bevan's observation that 'Socialism is a biological necessity'. Here, socialism branches out from being a necessity to being the human condition itself, or survival's impulse... In this space, biological necessity is not only something physical, psychological or spiritual - it is also something empathetic and practical, the elements of a discourse in lyricism and humanity between poet and reader. |
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Quemar Press' new paperback is now available, Jennifer Maiden's The Cuckold and the Vampires: an essay on some aspects of conservative political manipulation of art and literature, including the experimental, and the conservatives' creation of conflict. It can be purchased from the Books for Purchase page.
From Quemar's Press release: ...She has stated that it was created to be discursive and explorative in order to help widen the perspective of both sides of the political spectrum. The work discusses some of the vast history of conservative influences and persuasions in art, from medieval Europe to contemporary America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The essay's warm, enjoyable, astute and witty tone humanises political forces, institutions and players.... This essay acts as a platform to give an artistic overview, to deconstruct microcosmal, interpersonal powerplay and rejection. In spite of any labyrinth or lure, here neither art nor artist are lessened by the impact of political manipulation, and candid respect for art is at one with the artist's survival. |
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All She Resolves to Rescue is now available - a paperback presenting Marie de France's medieval romances Lanval and Guildeluec and Guilliadon (known as Eliduc) in Quemar Press' new Modern English translation, with the original Anglo-Norman French, and a subjective essay on the translations. The paperback can be purchased on the Books for Purchase page.
From Quemar's Press Release: The title All She Resolves to Rescue has two senses. On one level, the female heroes in these texts discern all that needs to be rescued. On another level, the rescues affect all, connecting disparate worlds surrounding them. Here, a sprite-like Lady can tell the Knight Lanval that she could never appear visible before him again if he let anyone know of their affection, but when her existence and her actual presence are the only things that can rescue him from the Court's corruption, she rides openly through the city, having decided to speak unconcealed before Lanval and the Court. In a similar way, with similar emancipatory energy, Guildeluec - the wife of the titular Knight Eliduc - can decide to revive the Lady whom Eliduc loves, who was hidden to her until that day... |
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Jennifer Maiden's new 75-page The Cuckold and the Vampires: an essay on some aspects of conservative political manipulation of art and literature, including the experimental, and the conservatives' creation of conflict is now available on the Books page with an ISBN as a free download.
Maiden has observed: ‘One purpose of the essay is to try to warn against microcosmic unwariness in a situation where overwhelming macrocosmic forces are at play…there are all sorts of twists and turns during the course of my essay. My focus is on the wider causes of damage and the nature of power in art… we will continue to try here to respect what Pinter considered mandatory and to smash the mirror of the microcosm, to try to look at the macrocosm behind it.’ The essay is immense in scope and immensely enjoyable, astute and witty. |
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Quemar Press' new Modern English translation of Marie de France's Guildeluec and Guilliadon ( a romance known as Eliduc) with a new Preface by the translator now has an ISBN, and is available as a free download on the Books page.
From Quemar Press' Preface:
'Near the story's conclusion, the narrator explains '"they all made such effort/...so made their ending beautiful completely". Here, effort belongs to both natural force and protagonist, whether it is a storm forcing necessary truth to be revealed, or someone actively on watch over one she resurrected. Whether in a wave-torn ship, or unfolding and enfolding forest depths, this is a story where humane survival, affection and rescue come from action and deliberation, to surpass societal concepts such as roles in relationships, marriage and rivalry.'
From Quemar Press' Preface:
'Near the story's conclusion, the narrator explains '"they all made such effort/...so made their ending beautiful completely". Here, effort belongs to both natural force and protagonist, whether it is a storm forcing necessary truth to be revealed, or someone actively on watch over one she resurrected. Whether in a wave-torn ship, or unfolding and enfolding forest depths, this is a story where humane survival, affection and rescue come from action and deliberation, to surpass societal concepts such as roles in relationships, marriage and rivalry.'
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Jennifer Maiden's collection The Espionage Act: New Poems (2020) - available now
It can be purchased on the Books for Purchase page. From Quemar's Press Release: The Espionage Act is the new poetry collection by the internationally renowned author, Jennifer Maiden. With her characteristic clear, powerful focus and crisp but sumptuous lyrical style, she analyses espionage in many senses - from the U.S. 1917 Espionage Act to reflections on the Deep State, to tactical levels in conservative espionage, to its sexuality of fear, to covert promotion and funding of experimental art, to espionage as survival, and to espionage's reactions to primal digital technology. Maiden also describes the mind itself in its multifaceted acts of espionage. |
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Quemar Press' new paperback, Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience, by Margaret Bennett and Jennifer Maiden, is now available. It can be purchased on the Books for Purchase page. Workbook Questions: Writing of Torture, Trauma Experience is designed to facilitate survivors of trauma and torture in writing of traumatic experiences, even if complex or untold, by using clinically planned questions to create a space where the survivor's sense of self and identity can remain securely intact. |
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Quemar Press' lively new far-reaching paperback, Once She Had Escaped the Tower, is available now, and can be purchased on the Books for Purchase page.
From Quemar's Press Release:
The title 'Once She Had Escaped the Tower' has two meanings: once a lady escaped an imprisoning tower resolutely; and the lady continued her actions after escape. In contrast to literature in which a female hero dies captive in a tower, and to works in which her escape signals the end of narrative, Quemar Press’ new volume shows female protagonists’ survival, and casts light on them as they continue. This volume includes two texts encompassing this ability to continue: Medieval French chantefable 'Aucassin and Nicolette' and Marie de France’s Anglo-Norman Romance 'Gugemer'. Quemar's Modern English translations are juxtaposed with the early French texts. This volume also includes a subjective essay by the translator.
From Quemar's Press Release:
The title 'Once She Had Escaped the Tower' has two meanings: once a lady escaped an imprisoning tower resolutely; and the lady continued her actions after escape. In contrast to literature in which a female hero dies captive in a tower, and to works in which her escape signals the end of narrative, Quemar Press’ new volume shows female protagonists’ survival, and casts light on them as they continue. This volume includes two texts encompassing this ability to continue: Medieval French chantefable 'Aucassin and Nicolette' and Marie de France’s Anglo-Norman Romance 'Gugemer'. Quemar's Modern English translations are juxtaposed with the early French texts. This volume also includes a subjective essay by the translator.
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Quemar's complete Modern English translation of Lanval, Marie de France's Medieval French Romance, is now available as a free download on our Books page with an introduction.
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brookings: the noun, Jennifer Maiden's new poetry collection from Quemar Press, is now available in paperback and electronic editions from the Books for Purchase page.
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The final novel in Jennifer Maiden's Play With Knives Quintet, George and Clare, the Malachite and the Diamonds, is available now from Quemar Press.
At the Books for Purchase page, you can find information on how to purchase or obtain it.
From Quemar's Press release:
The last novel in Jennifer Maiden's Play With Knives Quintet, George and Clare, the Malachite and the Diamonds experiments across poetry, prose, style, person, action and sense of self.
Clare was the central character in what the Oxford Companion to Australian Literature calls Maiden's 'impressive' first Play With Knives novel. Set in Sydney's Western Suburbs, it was first published in 1990, and centres on Clare and George's survival as Clare is released from prison. The Quintet outlines the growth of these characters...
Whether in Russian winter light, or the light of a Mount Druitt mall at midnight, this work experiments to create platforms where aspects of reality or experience can integrate, as they move between a sense of self and overview, between action and the ability to transcend it.
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At the Books for Purchase page, you can find information on how to purchase or obtain it.
From Quemar's Press release:
The last novel in Jennifer Maiden's Play With Knives Quintet, George and Clare, the Malachite and the Diamonds experiments across poetry, prose, style, person, action and sense of self.
Clare was the central character in what the Oxford Companion to Australian Literature calls Maiden's 'impressive' first Play With Knives novel. Set in Sydney's Western Suburbs, it was first published in 1990, and centres on Clare and George's survival as Clare is released from prison. The Quintet outlines the growth of these characters...
Whether in Russian winter light, or the light of a Mount Druitt mall at midnight, this work experiments to create platforms where aspects of reality or experience can integrate, as they move between a sense of self and overview, between action and the ability to transcend it.
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Quemar's full Modern English translation of Gugemer, Marie de France's Medieval French Romance, is now available on our Books page with an introduction. It is a free download.
Quemar Press' unique study of the post-war Surrealist artist, Vera Rudner, is now available for purchase on the Books for Purchase page.
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Play With Knives: Three & Play With Knives: Four - Jennifer Maiden's recent, cutting-edge novels in poetry and prose - are available in one paperback volume from Quemar Press.
It is available for purchase on the Books For Purchase page.
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It is available for purchase on the Books For Purchase page.
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Jennifer Maiden's awaited new selected from Quemar Press, Selected Poems 1967-2018 is now available for purchase on the Books for Purchase Page.
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Jennifer Maiden's Play With Knives & Play With Knives: Two: Complicity in one 296 page paperback volume - now released from Quemar Press.
It can be purchased on our Books for Purchase page for $21.00 (Australian) with free postage worldwide.
It can be purchased on our Books for Purchase page for $21.00 (Australian) with free postage worldwide.
The complete novel, Play With Knives: Four: George and Clare, the Baby and the Bikies by Jennifer Maiden is now available as a free download from the Books page.
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The complete Medieval French Chantefable, Aucassin et Nicolette, translated and photo-illustrated by Katharine Margot Toohey, is now available as a free download on the Books page.
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Following support and requests from our readers, complete advance copies of Jennifer Maiden's new 150-page, 40-poem collection, Appalachian Fall: Poems About Poverty in Power, are now available for purchase from Quemar Press in our own exclusive print and electronic editions.
The editions can be purchased from our Books for Purchase page.
We have received several queries about the nature of the purchase. The advance copies are complete ones and the same as they will be in a shop. If in a shop, the Recommended Retail Price will be at least $21.00 and the electronic edition will not be included.
We are offering the book and download for $18.50, and the download by itself for $5.00. We are not charging postage anywhere. We are posting the book through Australia Post mail as soon as the order is placed, and it has always been received very promptly (there have been inquiries as to whether these were only advance orders). If the purchaser does not wish to use PayPal, other arrangements such as cheque can be made via our contact page, and we have already been happy to do so.
To clarify further, the collection has 22 more poems than the sampler, which can still be downloaded through the cover image on the Books for Purchase page. In the collection, but not in the sampler, are new poems such as those on Brigitte Bardot, Nora Barnacle, Bruce Beaver, Christopher Brennan, Vera Rudner, polar bears, carbon credits, Twin Peaks, May Holman, Carols at Kings, the poem as essay, Appalachian terrors, mountaintop mining and extraordinary autobiographical pieces.
The editions can be purchased from our Books for Purchase page.
We have received several queries about the nature of the purchase. The advance copies are complete ones and the same as they will be in a shop. If in a shop, the Recommended Retail Price will be at least $21.00 and the electronic edition will not be included.
We are offering the book and download for $18.50, and the download by itself for $5.00. We are not charging postage anywhere. We are posting the book through Australia Post mail as soon as the order is placed, and it has always been received very promptly (there have been inquiries as to whether these were only advance orders). If the purchaser does not wish to use PayPal, other arrangements such as cheque can be made via our contact page, and we have already been happy to do so.
To clarify further, the collection has 22 more poems than the sampler, which can still be downloaded through the cover image on the Books for Purchase page. In the collection, but not in the sampler, are new poems such as those on Brigitte Bardot, Nora Barnacle, Bruce Beaver, Christopher Brennan, Vera Rudner, polar bears, carbon credits, Twin Peaks, May Holman, Carols at Kings, the poem as essay, Appalachian terrors, mountaintop mining and extraordinary autobiographical pieces.
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In 2022, Quemar will publish a new English translation of Bernat Metge's late fourteenth century Catalan masterpiece, Lo Sompni (known as 'Lo Somni' in modern Catalan). This story about official persecution is a precursor to works such as Orwell's 1984.
A 42nd preview, now comprising Books One and Two and beginning the Third and final Book of Lo Sompni (The Dream), is available by clicking on the cover picture below.
Imprisoned in a dangerous setting for the murder of King John the First, Metge described spectral conversations with the dead King so that the text would persuade society of Metge's innocence. The intricate metaphysical debate in the dialogue reinforced the recognition that Metge was not regarded as guilty by the late King. There was also deliberate contextual irony in that the Metge persona continued to debate the existence of the spiritual afterlife with the vibrant spirit of the King, Metge then having moved on to the subject of the survival of animals' souls, for which survival he argued against the King, if still needing to display deference. There was a new facet of irony here, as the reader already knew that the King is accompanied by spectral birds and hounds. Whilst Metge at last appeared to accept the King's more orthodox position, the work allowed him to present his own broader humane perceptions in a safe context. The scene was set for their dialogue to continue, although the King warned Metge to be succinct, as the King could not stay long. In Book Two, the concept becomes even more direct and daring, as Metge begins to question the King about the circumstances of the King's death, and the nature of death and fear. The King then recounts his experience in trying to justify his position in the medieval Papal Schism to the Devil, before being assigned to Purgatory. The Humanist Metge continues to use traditional medieval theology to give verisimilitude to the King's situation in persuading the audience of the work's supposedly orthodox nature, and Metge's innocence of killing the King, whilst Metge's own persona remains courteously questioning about the theology. The King is given more verisimilitude by his recounting of his own debate with the Prince of Evil Spirits about Papal conflict between Rome and Avignon. In this, the King describes learning that his own involvement and lack of impartiality in that factional Schism encouraged it for selfish reasons, when the conflict should have been democratically controlled. The intricate narrative continues as Metge recounts the King's story of how the Virgin Mary argued against the Prince of Evil Spirits so that the King's soul was saved for Purgatory, although all the souls of earthly Princes, including the King's father, must remain there until the Schism ends. As Metge creates this narrative, a driving purpose of it is to build verisimilitude and a sense Metge's innocence through the dialogue with the authoritative but affectionate voice of the King. The dialogue then convincingly develops the strength of Metge's relationship with the King, who asks Metge to construct this narrative and to reassure the surviving Queen Violant and Princess Yolande (who was later to be known as the 'Queen of Four Kingdoms' and sponsor of Joan of Arc) about the King's circumstances in purgatory. Book Two concludes as Metge is introduced to to the mysterious men who accompany the King: the old man, Tiresias, and the young man, Orpheus. At the beginning of the Third and final Book, Orpheus tells his story to Metge, describing his loss but then his lesser known reunion with Eurydice and his continuing existence with her - resolving the traditionally tragic narrative of Orpheus and Eurydice.
A 42nd preview, now comprising Books One and Two and beginning the Third and final Book of Lo Sompni (The Dream), is available by clicking on the cover picture below.
Imprisoned in a dangerous setting for the murder of King John the First, Metge described spectral conversations with the dead King so that the text would persuade society of Metge's innocence. The intricate metaphysical debate in the dialogue reinforced the recognition that Metge was not regarded as guilty by the late King. There was also deliberate contextual irony in that the Metge persona continued to debate the existence of the spiritual afterlife with the vibrant spirit of the King, Metge then having moved on to the subject of the survival of animals' souls, for which survival he argued against the King, if still needing to display deference. There was a new facet of irony here, as the reader already knew that the King is accompanied by spectral birds and hounds. Whilst Metge at last appeared to accept the King's more orthodox position, the work allowed him to present his own broader humane perceptions in a safe context. The scene was set for their dialogue to continue, although the King warned Metge to be succinct, as the King could not stay long. In Book Two, the concept becomes even more direct and daring, as Metge begins to question the King about the circumstances of the King's death, and the nature of death and fear. The King then recounts his experience in trying to justify his position in the medieval Papal Schism to the Devil, before being assigned to Purgatory. The Humanist Metge continues to use traditional medieval theology to give verisimilitude to the King's situation in persuading the audience of the work's supposedly orthodox nature, and Metge's innocence of killing the King, whilst Metge's own persona remains courteously questioning about the theology. The King is given more verisimilitude by his recounting of his own debate with the Prince of Evil Spirits about Papal conflict between Rome and Avignon. In this, the King describes learning that his own involvement and lack of impartiality in that factional Schism encouraged it for selfish reasons, when the conflict should have been democratically controlled. The intricate narrative continues as Metge recounts the King's story of how the Virgin Mary argued against the Prince of Evil Spirits so that the King's soul was saved for Purgatory, although all the souls of earthly Princes, including the King's father, must remain there until the Schism ends. As Metge creates this narrative, a driving purpose of it is to build verisimilitude and a sense Metge's innocence through the dialogue with the authoritative but affectionate voice of the King. The dialogue then convincingly develops the strength of Metge's relationship with the King, who asks Metge to construct this narrative and to reassure the surviving Queen Violant and Princess Yolande (who was later to be known as the 'Queen of Four Kingdoms' and sponsor of Joan of Arc) about the King's circumstances in purgatory. Book Two concludes as Metge is introduced to to the mysterious men who accompany the King: the old man, Tiresias, and the young man, Orpheus. At the beginning of the Third and final Book, Orpheus tells his story to Metge, describing his loss but then his lesser known reunion with Eurydice and his continuing existence with her - resolving the traditionally tragic narrative of Orpheus and Eurydice.
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One of Quemar's goals is to help make vibrant and vital literature accessible, and with that in mind, we are grateful for the enthusiasm for Quemar's Modern English translations. We can confirm that we will continue translating the work of Marie de France, Bernat Metge, Manuela Saenz and Simon Bolivar, and we're continuing our book-length work, Shining Moon, with translations of some medieval Asian Women's Literature, including Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Kashmir and India.
The 21st preview of the work can be read by clicking on the cover image above.
The 1st preview includes Modern English translation of an early Korean Sijo (a descriptive poem with theme and resolution) written by Hwang Jini - a poet and Kisaeng - with a description of the Sijo structure and translator's observations on the poem and the poet.
The 2nd preview includes Modern English translation of a poem written in Chinese verse by the Korean poet Heo Nanseolheon (protesting a seamstress' inhumane working conditions) and translator's observations. The 3rd preview includes translation of a poem about missing home by the Korean poet Shin Saimdang and a discussion of her work. The 4th preview features a translation of a poem by the great Chinese Song Dynasty poet Li Qingzhao. The 5th preview includes a translation of a work by Bao Junhui, a Chinese Tang Dynasty Court poet who powerfully describes the hardships of soldiers defending the northern border. The 6th preview begins a translation of Liu Rushi's long late Chinese Ming Dynasty story poem, Swordsmanship. Liu Rushi uses surreal and symbolic images and techniques based on her transgender personae (in real life, too, she enjoyed dressing as a man) to convey the metaphors and physicality of battle. The 7th, 8th and 9th previews continue and conclude the poem, as its world, progress and persona intensify.
The 10th preview casts light on fluid hierarchical roles of Chinese literature in the Heian period of Japan, and focuses on the work of the renowned writer Murasaki (c. 973 or 978 - c.1014 or 1031) and her Tale of Genji. The 11th preview looks further at the work of Murasaki, including her connection of physical place with spirituality. The 12th preview turns to the work of Sei Shonagon (Murasaki's contemporary), and its enjoyment of list-making and the expressions of incarnation and memory this involves. The 13th preview translates and discusses a multi-dimensional Tanka poem by Murasaki's daughter, Daini no Sanmi. The 14th preview turns to India and translates a vachana (spontaneous, spiritual and free form) poem by Akka Mahadevi (c. 1130-1160) from the Kannada language, in which the poet addresses Shiva, logically balancing images of intimate opposites. The 15th preview looks at the 8th or 9th century Indian classic Sanskrit poet Vijja and translates her poem in which she explains that the goddess Sarasvati is not just associated with whiteness but with skin tones like the blue lotus, as this is Vijja's own colouring. The 16th preview looks at the Kashmiri poet Lalleshwari (1320–1392), who also created a space for poetry to emphasise the life of the spirit. In this process, she founded the Vatsun poetic style. Her work is regarded as the earliest composition in the Kashmiri language. Her style was focused, observing the self, with words keeping pace like a chant, but without deliberate metre, perhaps to affirm spiritual timelessness. The 17th preview turns now to Vietnam and translates the poet Nguyễn Thị Duệ (1574-1654), who also acted as a spiritual and educational guide for women. In the guise of a man, she sat for exams and achieved the highest place, becoming the first woman doctoral laureate in Vietnam’s history. Later, the King, suspicious about her gender, realised her disguise and asked her to tutor his wives and concubines. She also became his consort. Respect for her continued when the dynasty fell, and the Lê Kings and Trịnh Lords placed her in charge of education for the palace women. She returned to her hometown later, to become a monk, something reflected in the translated poem. The 18th preview reflects on the 10th-century Tamil poet Avvaiyar, who created verse accessible to her society, to offer new levels of education in spirituality, humanity and shrewdness. One of her most famous works, Vinayagar Agaval, is at once a hymn for Ganesh (the Hindu deity with a human’s body and the head of an elephant) and an explanation of spiritual process. Preview 19 shifts to West Bengal to translate and look at one of the earliest works of Bengali literature written by the poet, advisor and astrologer, Khana (c. 8th-12th century CE). Her writing is known for its common sense and its advice on how best to live, help agriculture thrive and learn about concepts of fortune. The 20th preview reflects on Rabia Balkhi, considered the first female poet writing in modern Persian. She wrote in tenth-century Khorāsān (now northern Afghanistan), in the Samanid Empire, where she worked as a court poet descended from a royal family. Her work perceives the intricacies of endurance in adversity and in romantic affection. The 21st preview continues to focus on Iran and looks at Mahsati Ganjavi (born c. 1089, died after 1159) who was born in Ganja in Azerbaijan (then part of Iran, and later part of the Russian Empire and then Soviet Union before becoming an Independent republic in 1991). Her birth name was Manija and her pseudonym Mahsati is two compounded Persian words 'Mah' (Moon) and 'Sati' (Lady, from Arabic sayyidati, 'My Lady'). Her themes counter strictness in religion, express free existence and emotion. She wrote skilled Rubaiyat.
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The 21st preview of the work can be read by clicking on the cover image above.
The 1st preview includes Modern English translation of an early Korean Sijo (a descriptive poem with theme and resolution) written by Hwang Jini - a poet and Kisaeng - with a description of the Sijo structure and translator's observations on the poem and the poet.
The 2nd preview includes Modern English translation of a poem written in Chinese verse by the Korean poet Heo Nanseolheon (protesting a seamstress' inhumane working conditions) and translator's observations. The 3rd preview includes translation of a poem about missing home by the Korean poet Shin Saimdang and a discussion of her work. The 4th preview features a translation of a poem by the great Chinese Song Dynasty poet Li Qingzhao. The 5th preview includes a translation of a work by Bao Junhui, a Chinese Tang Dynasty Court poet who powerfully describes the hardships of soldiers defending the northern border. The 6th preview begins a translation of Liu Rushi's long late Chinese Ming Dynasty story poem, Swordsmanship. Liu Rushi uses surreal and symbolic images and techniques based on her transgender personae (in real life, too, she enjoyed dressing as a man) to convey the metaphors and physicality of battle. The 7th, 8th and 9th previews continue and conclude the poem, as its world, progress and persona intensify.
The 10th preview casts light on fluid hierarchical roles of Chinese literature in the Heian period of Japan, and focuses on the work of the renowned writer Murasaki (c. 973 or 978 - c.1014 or 1031) and her Tale of Genji. The 11th preview looks further at the work of Murasaki, including her connection of physical place with spirituality. The 12th preview turns to the work of Sei Shonagon (Murasaki's contemporary), and its enjoyment of list-making and the expressions of incarnation and memory this involves. The 13th preview translates and discusses a multi-dimensional Tanka poem by Murasaki's daughter, Daini no Sanmi. The 14th preview turns to India and translates a vachana (spontaneous, spiritual and free form) poem by Akka Mahadevi (c. 1130-1160) from the Kannada language, in which the poet addresses Shiva, logically balancing images of intimate opposites. The 15th preview looks at the 8th or 9th century Indian classic Sanskrit poet Vijja and translates her poem in which she explains that the goddess Sarasvati is not just associated with whiteness but with skin tones like the blue lotus, as this is Vijja's own colouring. The 16th preview looks at the Kashmiri poet Lalleshwari (1320–1392), who also created a space for poetry to emphasise the life of the spirit. In this process, she founded the Vatsun poetic style. Her work is regarded as the earliest composition in the Kashmiri language. Her style was focused, observing the self, with words keeping pace like a chant, but without deliberate metre, perhaps to affirm spiritual timelessness. The 17th preview turns now to Vietnam and translates the poet Nguyễn Thị Duệ (1574-1654), who also acted as a spiritual and educational guide for women. In the guise of a man, she sat for exams and achieved the highest place, becoming the first woman doctoral laureate in Vietnam’s history. Later, the King, suspicious about her gender, realised her disguise and asked her to tutor his wives and concubines. She also became his consort. Respect for her continued when the dynasty fell, and the Lê Kings and Trịnh Lords placed her in charge of education for the palace women. She returned to her hometown later, to become a monk, something reflected in the translated poem. The 18th preview reflects on the 10th-century Tamil poet Avvaiyar, who created verse accessible to her society, to offer new levels of education in spirituality, humanity and shrewdness. One of her most famous works, Vinayagar Agaval, is at once a hymn for Ganesh (the Hindu deity with a human’s body and the head of an elephant) and an explanation of spiritual process. Preview 19 shifts to West Bengal to translate and look at one of the earliest works of Bengali literature written by the poet, advisor and astrologer, Khana (c. 8th-12th century CE). Her writing is known for its common sense and its advice on how best to live, help agriculture thrive and learn about concepts of fortune. The 20th preview reflects on Rabia Balkhi, considered the first female poet writing in modern Persian. She wrote in tenth-century Khorāsān (now northern Afghanistan), in the Samanid Empire, where she worked as a court poet descended from a royal family. Her work perceives the intricacies of endurance in adversity and in romantic affection. The 21st preview continues to focus on Iran and looks at Mahsati Ganjavi (born c. 1089, died after 1159) who was born in Ganja in Azerbaijan (then part of Iran, and later part of the Russian Empire and then Soviet Union before becoming an Independent republic in 1991). Her birth name was Manija and her pseudonym Mahsati is two compounded Persian words 'Mah' (Moon) and 'Sati' (Lady, from Arabic sayyidati, 'My Lady'). Her themes counter strictness in religion, express free existence and emotion. She wrote skilled Rubaiyat.
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We're happy to announce one of our forthcoming titles: My Existence - from Autobiographical Works by the great nineteenth-century French revolutionary Louise Michel. This work will bring together some of her memoirs and her poetry in a new translation, to convey the insight and freshness of her voice. The tenth preview of the book can be read by clicking on the cover picture above.
Louise Michel's goals were all connected and inter-woven. She was revolutionary in all senses - as a Feminist, Writer, Teacher and Communard.
A square in Montmartre is now named after her, and a metro station. As a teacher, She founded schools for the Paris working class, saying In her Mémoires (1886) 'the role of schoolteachers [...] is to give people the intellectual means to rebel'. Her free schools sang the banned La Marseillaise and did not pledge allegiance to Emperor Napoleon III.
When France surrendered to Prussia in 1870, she joined workers opposing the pro-monarchist government. As part of the 61st battallion of Montmartre, she had a major role in the Paris Commune, driving ambulances and rallying workers to take up arms. The writer Victor Hugo called her 'Viro Major'- greater than a man.
In 'Bloody Week' (21 to 28 May) at least 20,000 Communards died on the barricades, or by firing squads. She survived but surrendered for her mother's release. The war council found her guilty of trying to overthrow the government. Exiled to a penal colony in New Caledonia for seven years, she continued activism, supporting the 1878 Kanak rebellion and teaching.
After Communards were offered a general amnesty, she returned to France and began defending her ideal of Anarchism until her death in 1905, when more than 100,000 attended her funeral.
The second preview describes her childhood in an atmospheric old manor in the countryside, surrounded by cats, dogs, deer, hares, horses, cows, birds, boars, bats, wolves and tortoises, where she and her older women relatives take turns reading aloud and sewing. Her descriptions of her childhood are as perceptive, detailed and sensual as Colette's autobiographical writing in the following century.The third preview describes her growth as a young poet, educator and scientific experimenter as she establishes a workroom for herself in a tower in the old manor, and nurtures many animals, including bats and an owl. The fourth preview turns to her lyrics and verses. There is a humorous song involving her dismantling the family grain winnowing basket to provide a home for the pet bats in her turret room, and a profound lyric about her leaving the tower room and the old family house after the death of her grandparents. The fifth preview returns to her affectionate description of her childhood and family and quotes two remaining poems by her grandparents. In the sixth preview, she expresses her belief that progress is constant and continuing and remembers her childhood reading and discussions with friends and family, including improvising the works of Hugo as she climbed apple trees with her cousin.
The seventh preview includes a hilarious account of her childhood experiments with Satanism, her arguments with her young male cousin in favour of Feminism and her song about children guarding but then devouring the pear crop. In the eighth preview, she writes
cheerfully and vividly of her childhood theatre productions and play with animals, includes a fine remembered poem that wonders about her future, and describes her mourned mother and grandmother talking in the rose garden at evening. In the ninth preview, she begins work as a teacher in Paris, again includes finely written memoirs of her life in Lorraine, and outlines her philosophy of future human learning. The tenth preview focuses on the folklore of her Haute-Marne countryside, including the Devilry Pageant and the legend of the three phantom washerwomen.
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Louise Michel's goals were all connected and inter-woven. She was revolutionary in all senses - as a Feminist, Writer, Teacher and Communard.
A square in Montmartre is now named after her, and a metro station. As a teacher, She founded schools for the Paris working class, saying In her Mémoires (1886) 'the role of schoolteachers [...] is to give people the intellectual means to rebel'. Her free schools sang the banned La Marseillaise and did not pledge allegiance to Emperor Napoleon III.
When France surrendered to Prussia in 1870, she joined workers opposing the pro-monarchist government. As part of the 61st battallion of Montmartre, she had a major role in the Paris Commune, driving ambulances and rallying workers to take up arms. The writer Victor Hugo called her 'Viro Major'- greater than a man.
In 'Bloody Week' (21 to 28 May) at least 20,000 Communards died on the barricades, or by firing squads. She survived but surrendered for her mother's release. The war council found her guilty of trying to overthrow the government. Exiled to a penal colony in New Caledonia for seven years, she continued activism, supporting the 1878 Kanak rebellion and teaching.
After Communards were offered a general amnesty, she returned to France and began defending her ideal of Anarchism until her death in 1905, when more than 100,000 attended her funeral.
The second preview describes her childhood in an atmospheric old manor in the countryside, surrounded by cats, dogs, deer, hares, horses, cows, birds, boars, bats, wolves and tortoises, where she and her older women relatives take turns reading aloud and sewing. Her descriptions of her childhood are as perceptive, detailed and sensual as Colette's autobiographical writing in the following century.The third preview describes her growth as a young poet, educator and scientific experimenter as she establishes a workroom for herself in a tower in the old manor, and nurtures many animals, including bats and an owl. The fourth preview turns to her lyrics and verses. There is a humorous song involving her dismantling the family grain winnowing basket to provide a home for the pet bats in her turret room, and a profound lyric about her leaving the tower room and the old family house after the death of her grandparents. The fifth preview returns to her affectionate description of her childhood and family and quotes two remaining poems by her grandparents. In the sixth preview, she expresses her belief that progress is constant and continuing and remembers her childhood reading and discussions with friends and family, including improvising the works of Hugo as she climbed apple trees with her cousin.
The seventh preview includes a hilarious account of her childhood experiments with Satanism, her arguments with her young male cousin in favour of Feminism and her song about children guarding but then devouring the pear crop. In the eighth preview, she writes
cheerfully and vividly of her childhood theatre productions and play with animals, includes a fine remembered poem that wonders about her future, and describes her mourned mother and grandmother talking in the rose garden at evening. In the ninth preview, she begins work as a teacher in Paris, again includes finely written memoirs of her life in Lorraine, and outlines her philosophy of future human learning. The tenth preview focuses on the folklore of her Haute-Marne countryside, including the Devilry Pageant and the legend of the three phantom washerwomen.
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We're pleased to start work on a new book-length title: The Laps of the Gods: Power, Sexuality, Publishing and Literature: an exploratory essay by Quemar's Jennifer Maiden.
The late, brilliant poet Tim Thorne wrote of her earlier book-length essay from Quemar Press:
'insightful essay. I am glad you weren't afraid to include your own work among the references that buttress your arguments. Too many essayists err on the side of being coldly impersonal. It is wonderful to have so many aspects of our culture and so many of those individuals who have contributed to it put in a meaningful political context. Well done! For example, I had never thought of the 'Poetry Wars' as anything more than a mild joke dreamed up..., but of course, as you point out, the concept was used to stifle or ignore real poetic/political and potentially creative conflict... This work stands as not only a slightly removed commentary on and adjunct to your recent poetry but, much more than that, a tour de force in its own right. Congratulations'
A seventh preview of The Laps of the Gods can be read by clicking on the cover image above.
The late, brilliant poet Tim Thorne wrote of her earlier book-length essay from Quemar Press:
'insightful essay. I am glad you weren't afraid to include your own work among the references that buttress your arguments. Too many essayists err on the side of being coldly impersonal. It is wonderful to have so many aspects of our culture and so many of those individuals who have contributed to it put in a meaningful political context. Well done! For example, I had never thought of the 'Poetry Wars' as anything more than a mild joke dreamed up..., but of course, as you point out, the concept was used to stifle or ignore real poetic/political and potentially creative conflict... This work stands as not only a slightly removed commentary on and adjunct to your recent poetry but, much more than that, a tour de force in its own right. Congratulations'
A seventh preview of The Laps of the Gods can be read by clicking on the cover image above.
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With our readers' encouragement, we have begun work on Golden Bridge, a forthcoming 2023 Quemar Press book of new poems by Jennifer Maiden.
In keeping with the collection's title, the first early preview poem Kutuzov's Bridge looks at the Russian General Kutuzov's concept of a 'Golden Bridge' necessary for retreating French soldiers in the Napoleonic War, the construction of a Golden Bridge supported by giant hands in a Vietnamese themepark featuring a French village and Lao Tze's recommendation that prisoners of war should be spared so as to take away their motivation to fight to the death. It also considers the nature of sanctions and Madeleine Albright.
The second preview Here it was the year's coldest night yet develops some of the themes of the collection, including intelligent strategies of preserving life in conflict and survival, and discusses current topics such as the persecution of Julian Assange, the arrest of Gonzalo Lira, the Solomon Islands, the Coup against Imran Khan, and Putin's decision not to bombard the Mariupol Steelworks tunnels.
Click on the cover image above to read the poem.
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In keeping with the collection's title, the first early preview poem Kutuzov's Bridge looks at the Russian General Kutuzov's concept of a 'Golden Bridge' necessary for retreating French soldiers in the Napoleonic War, the construction of a Golden Bridge supported by giant hands in a Vietnamese themepark featuring a French village and Lao Tze's recommendation that prisoners of war should be spared so as to take away their motivation to fight to the death. It also considers the nature of sanctions and Madeleine Albright.
The second preview Here it was the year's coldest night yet develops some of the themes of the collection, including intelligent strategies of preserving life in conflict and survival, and discusses current topics such as the persecution of Julian Assange, the arrest of Gonzalo Lira, the Solomon Islands, the Coup against Imran Khan, and Putin's decision not to bombard the Mariupol Steelworks tunnels.
Click on the cover image above to read the poem.
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The original The Beauty and the Beast by the18th-century author Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve is an upcoming book in new translation from Quemar Press. Villeneuve's original story was published in France in 1740, and is complex, detailed and profound. She intended it for an adult audience, to be read in salons. This work invented the characters known as Belle and the Beast, and was perhaps inspired by the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche. It is an incomparable novel about resolve, tolerance and transcendence.
In Quemar's edition, the artwork depicts the Beast as he is originally described in Villeneuve's work, with a trunk like an elephant and scales large enough to clink when he walks.
The first three previews can be read by clicking on the cover image above. The long second preview describes The Beauty's character and continues the story's complex and elegant prose to the point where the Beast appears. The third long preview recounts the conflict and dialogue between The Beauty's father and the Beast, and the process by which The Beauty resolutely decides to substitute herself for her father, travelling with him to the formidable Castle on a horse sent by the Beast.
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In Quemar's edition, the artwork depicts the Beast as he is originally described in Villeneuve's work, with a trunk like an elephant and scales large enough to clink when he walks.
The first three previews can be read by clicking on the cover image above. The long second preview describes The Beauty's character and continues the story's complex and elegant prose to the point where the Beast appears. The third long preview recounts the conflict and dialogue between The Beauty's father and the Beast, and the process by which The Beauty resolutely decides to substitute herself for her father, travelling with him to the formidable Castle on a horse sent by the Beast.
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