The theme for Magma 44 is the vertical dimension of our lives: that which is above or below our frame of reference, particularly in relation to our roots and aspirations.
We were looking for responses that spanned the vertical dimension emotionally and in the imagination. We use satellite navigation to take us from here to there on the flat earth and forget that it also measures altitude – how far up do we want to climb or low do we want to descend? What do we risk on our way and what will we view from there?
The brief we set our poets posed questions that removed them from the horizontal confinement of rooms, streets and paths. We asked if they considered themselves earth-bound, or headed into the sky; how would they feel looking down from a mountain? Would a roof garden be more comfortable? Did they fly? Dive? Burrow?
We were not disappointed. The volume of submissions demonstrates how deeply our poets consider the emotional and intellectual journey. Headed upwards, the highest point referenced is the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.5 light years away. On the way are trees, attics, telephone wires, the Moon, Sun and Saturn. Some poets point in simple tenderness and others descend as they dig or dive into the earth, or are placed there. We read poems that suggest a search for roots or a gaze at something higher, poems on falling and flying, on diving or hiding. At sea-level we linger by compelling waters in Williamstown and Venice, and sail the China seas.
The late J.G. Ballard described his writing as “fiction for the present day”, however other-worldly or futuristic the setting. Magma 44 contains poetry that is set in the context of vast heights and strange depths and yet it is poetry for the human scale of growing, learning and loss. Alone among our poets, William Blake looks upwards with grand aspiration, to a transcendent “sweet golden clime”. And this is today’s vertical challenge: to repair what we have done to our skies and thus the planet.
The human spirit to be inspired by the past is here as Jackie Kay and Michael Rosen each discuss the imaginative effects of their origins and upbringing on their work. Imtiaz Dharker takes us to the Sangam poets of Tamil Nadu and shows us how they used dialogue to give character and emotion to their images. We take a fresh look at Sharon Olds and her quest for emotional truth, expressing powerful images of sexual, domestic and political violence.
We thank all who submitted, whether on-theme or not. This is a wonderful collection of poems and prose. It has been a been a privilege to read them and we hope you enjoy them.
Tim Kindberg and Rosie Shepperd
