duggireads's review against another edition
4.0
I would actually give this 4.5 stars if I could. I found it slightly impenetrable which is the only reason it doesn't get the full 5 stars, because this was an incredible collection. The writing made me feel so much emotion and conveyed so much. There was a violence, regret and an anger captured in a way I haven't seen before and which I loved. It felt very visceral. It also had sweet tasters of East London as the centre of where home is, which is how I feel. I had to just sit for 20 minutes after I'd finished to just take a minute to calm myself from all of the feelings that arose. I will definitely be going back to this collection repeatedly in future. I think it's total genius.
lokster71's review against another edition
4.0
As I have said many times I find reviewing poetry difficult. I am not equipped with the technical vocabulary for in-depth analysis. All I can do judge by how it makes me feel.
Sometimes a whole poem can draw me in, like ‘Sympathy for Rain’ does in this collection. Sometimes I can struggle with a poem but a single phrase or a couple of lines will stand out. Sometimes - I’m thinking of the Boris Pasternak collection I read recently - I struggle with the poems like they are a cryptic crossword or a work of abstract art. What, I ask, are you trying to say?
Reading this also reminded me that I used to think of poetry as separate lines and rhymes. Patterns to be replicated: haikus and sonnets. It has taken me some time to realise that something that looks like a block of prose can be poetry. How and why I still can’t exactly say. Perhaps just because that is what I am told it is. But poets use language differently, even as they write what looks like prose. It’s why ‘In Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept’ by Elizabeth Smart will also be a long poem to me, even though it looks like a novel.
All this preamble is a way for me to avoid outlining my detailed feelings about this collection. I enjoyed it, even though there is violence here and grief. There’s politics too. Can the modern poet write anything without touching on politics and identity? This collection fits in neatly between Jay Bernard’s ‘Surge’ and Roger Robinson’s ‘Portable Paradise’ to make a kind of unofficial trilogy. Or perhaps that is how I feel because I have read all three so closely together?
Anaxagorou’s work is razor sharp, smart and affecting. He twists the personal and the historical together intelligently.
“I am your father & the only person keeping you alive”
There’s poems about what it means to be both a parent and a child.
A fine collection. I just wish I had the words to do it justice.
Sometimes a whole poem can draw me in, like ‘Sympathy for Rain’ does in this collection. Sometimes I can struggle with a poem but a single phrase or a couple of lines will stand out. Sometimes - I’m thinking of the Boris Pasternak collection I read recently - I struggle with the poems like they are a cryptic crossword or a work of abstract art. What, I ask, are you trying to say?
Reading this also reminded me that I used to think of poetry as separate lines and rhymes. Patterns to be replicated: haikus and sonnets. It has taken me some time to realise that something that looks like a block of prose can be poetry. How and why I still can’t exactly say. Perhaps just because that is what I am told it is. But poets use language differently, even as they write what looks like prose. It’s why ‘In Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept’ by Elizabeth Smart will also be a long poem to me, even though it looks like a novel.
All this preamble is a way for me to avoid outlining my detailed feelings about this collection. I enjoyed it, even though there is violence here and grief. There’s politics too. Can the modern poet write anything without touching on politics and identity? This collection fits in neatly between Jay Bernard’s ‘Surge’ and Roger Robinson’s ‘Portable Paradise’ to make a kind of unofficial trilogy. Or perhaps that is how I feel because I have read all three so closely together?
Anaxagorou’s work is razor sharp, smart and affecting. He twists the personal and the historical together intelligently.
“I am your father & the only person keeping you alive”
There’s poems about what it means to be both a parent and a child.
A fine collection. I just wish I had the words to do it justice.
casparb's review against another edition
a really strong collection I'm glad I got to AA I'd like to see what he's producing with Granta soon
notthatcosta's review against another edition
5.0
Ever since I was a child I have wanted to read more poetry - or rather discover poetry that resonated with me - having been dissatisfied by the stale 'classics' from the likes of Rudyard Kipling, but it's always been a struggle.
While there were passages in the collection I didn't quite 'get', After The Formalities resonated me like no other works of poetry. Cypriots are underrepresented in the British arts, so seeing my heritage be referenced explicitly was a transformative experience for me - especially with both Britishness and otherness being explored in tandem.
What I appreciate most is that Anthony Anaxagorou is unafraid to experiment with form - keeping the book varied and dynamic, even if some of the writing didn't always land with me. I look forward to reading his forthcoming collection Heritage Aesthetics and venturing into some more emerging British poetry.
While there were passages in the collection I didn't quite 'get', After The Formalities resonated me like no other works of poetry. Cypriots are underrepresented in the British arts, so seeing my heritage be referenced explicitly was a transformative experience for me - especially with both Britishness and otherness being explored in tandem.
What I appreciate most is that Anthony Anaxagorou is unafraid to experiment with form - keeping the book varied and dynamic, even if some of the writing didn't always land with me. I look forward to reading his forthcoming collection Heritage Aesthetics and venturing into some more emerging British poetry.
leahfigiel's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism
Moderate: Suicide and Death
lokster71's review
4.0
As I have said many times I find reviewing poetry difficult. I am not equipped with the technical vocabulary for in-depth analysis. All I can do judge by how it makes me feel.
Sometimes a whole poem can draw me in, like ‘Sympathy for Rain’ does in this collection. Sometimes I can struggle with a poem but a single phrase or a couple of lines will stand out. Sometimes - I’m thinking of the Boris Pasternak collection I read recently - I struggle with the poems like they are a cryptic crossword or a work of abstract art. What, I ask, are you trying to say?
Reading this also reminded me that I used to think of poetry as separate lines and rhymes. Patterns to be replicated: haikus and sonnets. It has taken me some time to realise that something that looks like a block of prose can be poetry. How and why I still can’t exactly say. Perhaps just because that is what I am told it is. But poets use language differently, even as they write what looks like prose. It’s why ‘In Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept’ by Elizabeth Smart will also be a long poem to me, even though it looks like a novel.
All this preamble is a way for me to avoid outlining my detailed feelings about this collection. I enjoyed it, even though there is violence here and grief. There’s politics too. Can the modern poet write anything without touching on politics and identity? This collection fits in neatly between Jay Bernard’s ‘Surge’ and Roger Robinson’s ‘Portable Paradise’ to make a kind of unofficial trilogy. Or perhaps that is how I feel because I have read all three so closely together?
Anaxagorou’s work is razor sharp, smart and affecting. He twists the personal and the historical together intelligently.
“I am your father & the only person keeping you alive”
There’s poems about what it means to be both a parent and a child.
A fine collection. I just wish I had the words to do it justice.
Sometimes a whole poem can draw me in, like ‘Sympathy for Rain’ does in this collection. Sometimes I can struggle with a poem but a single phrase or a couple of lines will stand out. Sometimes - I’m thinking of the Boris Pasternak collection I read recently - I struggle with the poems like they are a cryptic crossword or a work of abstract art. What, I ask, are you trying to say?
Reading this also reminded me that I used to think of poetry as separate lines and rhymes. Patterns to be replicated: haikus and sonnets. It has taken me some time to realise that something that looks like a block of prose can be poetry. How and why I still can’t exactly say. Perhaps just because that is what I am told it is. But poets use language differently, even as they write what looks like prose. It’s why ‘In Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept’ by Elizabeth Smart will also be a long poem to me, even though it looks like a novel.
All this preamble is a way for me to avoid outlining my detailed feelings about this collection. I enjoyed it, even though there is violence here and grief. There’s politics too. Can the modern poet write anything without touching on politics and identity? This collection fits in neatly between Jay Bernard’s ‘Surge’ and Roger Robinson’s ‘Portable Paradise’ to make a kind of unofficial trilogy. Or perhaps that is how I feel because I have read all three so closely together?
Anaxagorou’s work is razor sharp, smart and affecting. He twists the personal and the historical together intelligently.
“I am your father & the only person keeping you alive”
There’s poems about what it means to be both a parent and a child.
A fine collection. I just wish I had the words to do it justice.
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