Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry [Paperback]

Norton Phillip (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2002

Short Fuse is the first major global collection of poetry from the 21st-century featuring many of the poets who are defining world literature and culture. Over 175 innovative poets from around the world are represented in this remarkable 400-page volume, ebook & CD. The fusion poets define these complex times through new forms of performance and text by mixing the best of the oral and written traditions. The hundreds of poems in this eclectic and powerful gathering are ferocious, funny, erotic, elegiac, and always grounded in the real experiences and voices of our startling present. Included with this collection is a free ebook with additional poems not available in the book and a full-length CD featuring recordings by the poets. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to UNICEF. Major figures are presented alongside the most exciting younger voices. Some of the prominent poets featured in the collection are Simon Armitage, Billy Collins, Todd Colby, Patricia Smith, Bob Holman, Glyn Maxwell, Eileen Tabios, Robert Priest, Andrea Thompson, Wednesday Kennedy, Willie Perdomo, Tug Dumbly, Lucy English, Charles Bernstein, Penn Kemp, Regie Cabico, Edwin Torres, John Kinsella, Ron Silliman, Peter Finch, Guillermo Castro, Michael Hulse, Robert Priest, Nicole Blackman, David McGimpsey, Louise Bak, Golda Fried and many more. Short Fuse is the global, contemporary, and expanded extension of Poetry Nation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Top 10 Global Books of 2002: "Massive undertaking ... spark a broad range of fanfare." -- Global Rhythm Magazine, December 2002

About the Author

Todd Swift is a Montreal-born (1966) poet, impresario and screenwriter whose work has appeared on stage world-wide, from the Edinburgh Festival to New York's Nuyorican Cafe, from Tokyo to Rio. His soundscapes and poems, as part of the Swifty Lazarus duo (with musician Tom Walsh) have been featured on the CBC and ABC and RTE in Ireland, and on the CD Millennium Cabaret. Swift's ground-breaking anthology, edited with Regie Cabico, Poetry Nation (Véhicule Press, 1998; now in its second edition) has introduced a whole new generation of North American poets who fuse the stage and the page. He is co-founder of the legendary Vox Hunt cabaret series which brought slam to Canada in the early '90s. Swift's first book of highly-acclaimed poems is Budavox: poems 1990-1999 (DC Books, 1999). Swift's writing has appeared widely, in such magazines as Prism International, Matrix, Himself (Ireland), The Dubliner, Gargoyle (US) and Cordite (Australia). A member of the League of Canadian Poets and the Writers Guild of Canada, Swift has had scripts produced for HBO, Fox and Paramount, including Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. His current feature film script is being represented by the London (UK) agents, MBA. Swift is currently Guest Lecturer at ELTE University in Budapest, delivering courses on film and poetry. He is Artistic Director of Kacat Kabare, Hungary's first ongoing bilingual poetry/performance cabaret series, which he founded in 1998. A CD with Tom Walsh, The Envelope, Please, is forthcoming summer 2001 from WOW.

Philip Norton is originally from Chicago and was runner-up in Mark Smith's first ever slam series final at the Green Mill in 1984. He then left for Japan where he lived for 6 years, performing at the Kyoto Connection and teaching Modern Poetry at the Kyoto University of Education. Now residing in Australia, Norton was profiled in the ABC television special Voices (Australia's United States of Poetry) commemorating the inaugural National Poetry Day. He was the Text Program Coordinator for Next Wave Festival 2000 (Victoria's premier festival for young and emerging artists) and as a free lance producer has produced programs for ABC's Poetica, Airplay and Radio Eye. Norton is currently working on a City of Melbourne Federation project involving young writers, Melbourne Cemetery and the Carlton Library. In conjunction with video artist Emile Zile, he will be performing a multimedia version of his new collection Teach Yourself Atomic Physics at the 2001 Melbourne Writer's Festival. "Everything Must Go," his first collection, contains an audio CD which includes the spoken word hit Lifeboat. Norton's work has appeared on ABC Radio National, Triple J, Triple R, stations throughout Australia, and on the BBC.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Rattapallax Press; Package edition (September 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892494531
• ISBN-13: 978-1892494535
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,709,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a Find! Love the CD, November 21, 2002

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Jimmy Olds (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Short Fuse: The Global Anthology of New Fusion Poetry (Paperback)

Very Impressive work. This is better than so many other anthologies I have seen of late that miss the boat when it comes to capturing the integral and exciting contemporary. You won't think poetry is boring any more! Well Done. And the CD is awesome. Nicole Blackman's voice is enough to make you become a lover of spoken word.