About the Book
Writing poetry took over from painting as the creative force for Mary Wood nine years ago. A teacher of GCSE and A-level art for many years and a successful exhibitor in three Dorset Art Weeks, the lure of a computer keyboard to work with words was hard to resist when painful joints meant holding a paintbrush was more chore than pleasure. Her early years of teaching, when her two sons had started school, involved English, Maths and Art, so she has always been at ease with words and the use of the language. The switch to poetry has brought her great pleasure and now, thanks to the publication of a compilation of some of her best work, she hopes others will find equal enjoyment from her efforts. Mary, who lives with her retired schoolmaster husband, Richard, in Blandford, has been based in Dorset for much of the past 35 years.She says: "People are what interest me and inspire me in what I write, but it's inevitable that the Dorset countryside does have some part to play. I can see Blandford's beautiful watermeadows from the window of the room where I write, and I walk my dogs there twice a day, so I am very fortunate.
"The 49 poems in the book represent Mary's output since she swapped one muse for another. "It's a very careful selection giving it a logical read-through as a book in its right," she says. Her poems are pleasingly accessible and immensely rewarding. Each one benefits from reading several times over - there is always something new to be found, a fresh little nugget lying in wait to be exposed. There are touches of humour, plenty of pathos and much to haunt the reader long after closing the book.The poem "Day Return", from which the book takes its title, is a poignant evocation of the final illness of a close friend. There are other references within the pages, too, to Mary's many years as devoted carer of their younger son which, at their sad conclusion, left her, as she writes, " ...not knowing how to walk free,/ though doors were opening,/ not knowing how to greet a world/ where I was almost a stranger." Humour comes through Mary's acute observations and wry take on life. "I like to write about the odd and bizarre," she says. "I like things that are out of the ordinary.
"Her poetry, so often drawn from casual observation of life around her, whether it's in a supermarket, on the Tube or in a cafe in Prague, is, she says, "all about communication, just another way of writing about people."She adds: "A poem has the advantage of being short, which is useful if you don't have much time." Mary says she has benefited from being a member of two groups, the East Street Poets in Blandford and Poetry Dorchester. "Writing is a lonely business and I like to have people who know about poetry to bounce things off," she says.
About the Author :
M.C. Wood was born in Surrey in 1938 and has worked as a schoolmistress in a wide range of schools. Before retirement she was teaching 'A' level Art to girls, but she has taught English to boys and girls, and worked with some students from a remand home. She is married, has had two sons, the younger of whom died aged 31, and has lived for many years in Dorset.
Review :
Anthology of life is revealed in poet's new volume by Rosie StaalWRITING poetry took over from painting as the creative force for Mary Wood nine years ago. A teacher of GCSE and A-level art for many years and a successful exhibitor in three Dorset Art Weeks, the lure of a computer keyboard to work with words was hard to resist when painful joints meant holding a paintbrush was more chore than pleasure.Her early years of teaching, when her two sons had started school, involved English, Maths and Art, so she has always been at ease with words and the use of the language.The switch to poetry has brought her great pleasure and now, thanks to the publication of a compilation of some of her best work, she hopes others will find equal enjoyment from her efforts.Mary, who lives with her retired schoolmaster husband, Richard, in Blandford, has been based in Dorset for much of the past 35 years. She says: "People are what interest me and inspire me in what I write, but it's inevitable that the Dorset countryside does have some part to play. I can see Blandford's beautiful watermeadows from the window of the room where I write, and I walk my dogs there twice a day, so I am very fortunate."The 49 poems in the book represent Mary's output since she swapped one muse for another. "It's a very careful selection giving it a logical read-through as a book in its right," she says.Her poems are pleasingly accessible and immensely rewarding. Each one benefits from reading several times over - there is always something new to be found, a fresh little nugget lying in wait to be exposed. There are touches of humour, plenty of pathos and much to haunt the reader long after closing the book.The poem Day Return, from which the book takes its title, is a poignant evocation of the final illness of a close friend. There are other references within the pages, too, to Mary's many years as devoted carer of their younger son which, at their sad conclusion, left her, as she writes, " ... not knowing how to walk free,/ though doors were opening,/ not knowing how to greet a world/ where I was almost a stranger."Humour comes through Mary's acute observations and wry take on life. "I like to write about the odd and bizarre," she says. "I like things that are out of the ordinary."Her poetry, so often drawn from casual observation of life around her, whether it's in a supermarket, on the Tube or in a cafe in Prague, is, she says, "all about communication, just another way of writing about people."She adds: "A poem has the advantage of being short, which is useful if you don't have much time."Mary says she has benefited from being a member of two groups, the East Street Poets in Blandford and Poetry Dorchester. "Writing is a lonely business and I like to have people who know about poetry to bounce things off," she says.The cover photograph of Day Return was taken by Blandford Camera Club member Brian Winkle. It shows his wife, Angie, walking down the long, deserted platform of Swanage station.Review by Rosie Staal which appeared in the Blackmore Vale Magazine 27th July 2007"Mary Wood is a real treasure who has encountered the vagaries of a life confined and the joys of release. Her soul is grounded and she writes from a broad hinterland of experience; indeed she is a multi-talented all-rounder, cultured, artistic and poetic. I heartily recommend her poetry."David Caddy Poet and Co-Editor of the Literary Magazine, Tears in the Fence"These are very impressive poems: often the product of complex and difficult experiences, they are nevertheless witty in language, quirky in perception, various in form, and skilful in execution. Depth of feeling never spills over into sentimentality, but is contained in art and artfulness."Jonty Driver Poet, Novelist,Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Literature and Creative Writingof the University of East Anglia in Norwich"She understands that, to succeed, the transforming power of art has to transform something, take the strain. In these poems gravity pulls us down, and relationships imprison us, which makes it wonderful when doors open and we fly free, if on clipped wings. One poem counterpoints bread-making with anger, until the inner and outer worlds blend in beating hell out of the dough. In another, there's a passport-photo, 'the gargoyle, sticky new-born / in triplicate, (which) dives from the slot, ready to haunt me for a decade.' A common vexation nailed, mocked, transformed."John Freeman Poet and Literary Critic"These poems are more cunning than they purport to be. Their domesticity is of a strange kind: it appears subdued, ordinary, largely recognisable to any adult: but like the water lilies in Struggling, this domesticity 'seethes' within."Dan Jacobson Winner of several major literary prizes,incl the John Llewelyn Rhys Award and the Somerset Maugham Award;also now retired from a Professorship in English Literatureat University College, London.
