They Were Like Poetry
I’m happy to announce my new book. It consists of poems based on a suggestion by James Joyce.
The poems are exercises, composed from sentences that were themselves meant as exercises. The sentences come from a popular 19th century school grammar by Alexander Allen and James Cornwell. Joyce mentions the “nice sentences” in this book and the idea of them as poetry in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
And there were nice sentences in Doctor Cornwell’s Spelling Book. They were like poetry but they were only sentences to learn the spelling from.
——Wolsey died in Leicester Abbey
——Where the abbots buried him.
——Canker is a disease of plants,
——Cancer one of animals.
It would be nice to lie on the hearthrug before the fire, leaning his head upon his hands, and think on those sentences.
Which is what I did.
The edition consists of 100 numbered copies. The book is self-published, has black & white printing, a paperback binding, and contains 68 pages.
Priced at €24 plus shipping. The book can be ordered through my webshop or by sending me an email. It will also be available at the table I’m sharing with Joachim Schmid at the New York Art Book Fair, September 25-28.
See some images by clicking here.
Elisabeth Tonnard 