From the natural world to war and politics, from memories of childhood to bittersweet snapshots of everyday life, from wry asides to fantastical flights of narrative fantasy - Kona Macphee applies her versatile and polished technique to a characteristic diversity of themes in her second book of poems. Her eclecticism is never more apparent than in the Book of Diseases sequence, which launches from its simple premise into a delirious medley of forms and subjects. The meticulously crafted lyrical poems of Perfect Blue reflect the growing power of a distinctively original, musical and compassionate voice that laments the transience and fragility of life while celebrating the joy of truly living it.
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'Kona Macphee's poetry has a genuine lyricism and mystery, together with a bold experimental diction.' --John Greening, Poetry Review
'Kona Macphee's finest work presents a perspective whose detachment is rooted in genuine care for what it sees, as though the refusal to centre the poems in personal subjectivity will provide the most intimate connection to the world. Add to this meticulous attention a lyricism based on compressed syntax and skilful consonance - an impressive range.' --Carrie Etter, Poetry Review
'Poems of elegant gravitas, terse yet lyrical.' --Independent on Sunday
'Kona Macphee's finest work presents a perspective whose detachment is rooted in genuine care for what it sees, as though the refusal to centre the poems in personal subjectivity will provide the most intimate connection to the world. Add to this meticulous attention a lyricism based on compressed syntax and skilful consonance - an impressive range.' --Carrie Etter, Poetry Review
'Poems of elegant gravitas, terse yet lyrical.' --Independent on Sunday
About the Author
Kona Macphee was born in London and grew up in Australia, where she worked as a waitress, shop assistant and apprentice motorbike mechanic. She studied musical composition at the Sydney Conservatorium, violin at the University of Sydney, and computer science and robotics at Monash University, later taking an M.Sc. at Cambridge as a Commonwealth Scholar. She received an Eric Gregory Award for her poetry in 1998, and has published two collections with Bloodaxe, Tails (2004) and Perfect Blue (2010). She is a freelance writer and software developer, and lives in Crieff, Perthshire.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By John
Format:Paperback
I've a modest couple of shelves of poetry at home. It would be difficult to choose which volume(s) to rescue if I ever became homeless and wanted to take one or two with me as a travelling companion. But Perfect Blue would certainly be one. Such a brilliant title for one thing! The phrase perfect blue is taken from the first poem in the collection, about a suicide. It is also about angels. Anyone who has seen the Wilton Diptych in the National Gallery will have a hint of the imagery being hinted at here.
The last poem in the collection is another stunner. Inspired by a funeral this time. You would think there was something morbid going on - but not a bit of it. The tone is mercurial and vibrant.
Maybe the standard slips a bit in the long middle section of the book - a series of poems each inspired by a different disease. But the one called Typhoid makes up for everything.
It is subtitled 'for the women of Long Grove'. I downloaded an e-book The Perfect Blue Companion from the poet's website. There I learned that Long Grove was a psychiatric hospital where a number of women were detained for life, until well into the second half of the last century, apparently for absolutely no reason other than that they were carriers of typhoid and it was treated as a matter of national security.
The poem is written as though from within a kind of daze. The poet has felt herself completely into the shoes of what it must be like to spend one's life, reach old age and die in an institution. The daze of the inmate is also a kind of daze of grief belonging to the poet.
I am going to be utterly pretentious and compare this expression of grief to a piece of music - James MacMillan's Tuireadh. Few people will have much idea what I am talking about - but hey - I happen to love James MacMillan.
The last poem in the collection is another stunner. Inspired by a funeral this time. You would think there was something morbid going on - but not a bit of it. The tone is mercurial and vibrant.
Maybe the standard slips a bit in the long middle section of the book - a series of poems each inspired by a different disease. But the one called Typhoid makes up for everything.
It is subtitled 'for the women of Long Grove'. I downloaded an e-book The Perfect Blue Companion from the poet's website. There I learned that Long Grove was a psychiatric hospital where a number of women were detained for life, until well into the second half of the last century, apparently for absolutely no reason other than that they were carriers of typhoid and it was treated as a matter of national security.
The poem is written as though from within a kind of daze. The poet has felt herself completely into the shoes of what it must be like to spend one's life, reach old age and die in an institution. The daze of the inmate is also a kind of daze of grief belonging to the poet.
I am going to be utterly pretentious and compare this expression of grief to a piece of music - James MacMillan's Tuireadh. Few people will have much idea what I am talking about - but hey - I happen to love James MacMillan.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Would have given it 5 but there's obviously some kind of Kona clique out there - what's so special about the title, exactly? - but this is indeed an accomplished volume and a considerable advance over her first (which I reread just to make sure). Moving away from the personal has enabled Macphee to be more ambitious and essay other voices; for me the disease sequence was the highlight, but Newsbites also stands out. Keep at it Kona. (And in any reprints amend the 2nd I on p52 to me!)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I say 'near' perfect because any poet needs to keep hammering away at their words, striving to reach ideal expression, and 'perfect' leaves no room for improvement. However the review could equally be called 'near-as-dammit perfect collection' as Kona offers us poems that are lyrical yet modern (take these lines in 'The Short Answer': At fourteen miles per second, a simple fleck of paint/ could punch a hole in you the likes of which/ Jet Li would hardly credit...); the poems are reflective and, at times, shot though with a wicked sense of humour; and the poems also manage to be complex yet deliciously accessible, this latter aspect enhanced by the free-to-download companion guide. I think the final sequence on diseases is a triumph! I love each of these linked poems and keep coming back to them, getting more from them with every reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended !
I loved this second book of poetry by Kona Macphee . I have also read her first book "Tails" and could not choose between them . Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2010 by Robert Picthall
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect but not Blue
In spite of the fact that some of the material, referred to by another reviewer, is apparently morbid, this could not be farther from the truth. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2010 by PoetJanstie
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