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Penelope Shuttle

Lyonesse

Penelope Shuttle

Publication Date : 24 Jun 2021

ISBN: 9781780375540

Pages: 65
Size :216 x 138mm
Rights: World

Longlisted for the Laurel Prize 2022

The submerged land of Lyonesse was once part of Cornwall, according to myth and the oral tradition, standing for a lost paradise in Arthurian legend, but now an emblem of human frailty in the face of climate change. And there was indeed a Bronze Age inundation event which swept the entire west of Cornwall under the sea, with only the Isles of Scilly and St Michael’s Mount left as remnants above sea-level. Lyonesse was also Thomas Hardy’s name for Cornwall where Penelope Shuttle has lived all her adult life, always fascinated by the stories and symbolic presence of Lyonesse.

After seeing the Isles of Scilly from a small plane at a low altitude – flying over the Wolf Lighthouse ­– and then visiting the recent Sunken Cities exhibition at the British Museum, imagination and memory played their part in joining the Lyonesse dots together for her, prompting what she calls ‘a spontaneous inundation of approaches to the theme, images, soundings of Lyonesse’. As she writes in a preface to this book: ‘The universality of loss, both of physical cities and of the human experience erased from the record, enhanced the resource of Lyonesse in my writing. Lyonesse is a place of paradox. It is real, had historical existence. It is also an imaginary region for exploring depths. It holds grief for many kinds of loss…  The poems seek re-wilding of a city where human loss interconnects with mythic loss; myth is rooted in the real.’

The second part of this book – New Lamps for Old ­– is a collection of poems she needed to write in coming up for air from the watery depths of Lyonesse, to find ways to begin again, to find meaning in life after bereavement. The ‘old lamps’ of a former life have been extinguished, leaving darkness. Her challenge was to find ‘new lamps’ to illuminate and give meaning to life. Lyonesse is a fluid magical world. The poems of New Lamps for Old are concerned with earth, air and fire. Both collections share allegiance with the fifth element, the spirit.

‘… Penelope Shuttle, in her wonderfully clarifying Lyonesse, paints a picture of mythic lands submerged under seas and the loss, personal and environmental, that follows.’ – Rishi Dastidar, The Guardian (Best poetry books of 2021)

‘Still by Christopher Meredith (Seren) has been a favourite read too, for its natural calm and beauty… and Lyonesse by Penelope Shuttle for its tales of a real/mythical ancient/modern submerged land with such contemporary enchantment. This publication includes a second ‘book’, New Lamps for Old, which perfectly complements Lyonesse.’ - Lesley Ingram, Poetry News (Best poetry books of the year 2021)

‘Penelope Shuttle’s wonderful 13th collection is two books in one. The first half of Lyonesse maps a mythical, submerged stretch of land between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, where lions and ballgowns jostle for attention with sunken gods and pre-Raphaelite artist and muse Lizzie Siddal. Shuttle uses this terrain to explore loss, both personal and environmental. The second half, “New Lamps for Old”, focuses more directly on life after bereavement and its shifting sensations… Throughout Shuttle’s language has a vivid, smile-raising immediacy: “venture towards the happiness wherever daylight invites us”.’ – Rishi Dastidar, The Guardian, Best Recent Poetry, August 2021

‘... a singular, arresting and moving book... two collections in one, hinged by a theme of loss. Lyonesse is Cornwall’s mythical kingdom – its Paradise Lost... It is this kingdom that has fired – watered – Shuttle’s imagination and produced an extraordinary flow of work... Shuttle’s Lyonesse is fresh, clear and convincing. It gives grief geography, an address. I believe in its direct dispatches from a submerged front line.’ – Kate Kellaway, The Observer, Poetry Book of the Month for July 2021

'Shuttle uses these threads of history to craft a world rich with everyday colour, but, like ours, ultimately dominated by the threat of environmental change... haunting and atmospheric poems... a deeply moving collection.' - Maggie Wang, Poetry Wales, on Lyonesse

‘The first section of the book, in a breathtaking showcase of skill and imagination, animates the mythical land of Lyonesse, which in legend once sat at the southwestern tip of Cornwall. Symbolism, the surreal, spiritual motifs, and more, shift and swirl together, as fluid and full of changeability as the “shape-shift silvers” of wave and sea that we delve beneath to encounter this once-was place. In the second part of the book… Shuttle paints a picture of life without a beloved, bringing details to the fore in order to tell – and touch – the reader. Fluid, thoughtful, and full of imagination, this is quite simply a must-read.’ – Mab Jones, Buzz Magazine

'In Lyonesse, a substantial collection arranged into two sections, Penelope Shuttle has achieved something remarkable: the creation of a poetic world in which it is possible to become completely immersed... It is a world that is both magical and moving in equal measure... At times demanding, at others truly enchanting, there is so much more that could be said about this extraordinary and beautiful book that it is difficult to do it justice here. Ultimately, the thing to do is get yourself a copy, hold your breath and be prepared to dive in.' - Phil Kirby, The High Window

‘These [‘New Lamps for Old’] are measured poems about grief and loss – “imagine living without sorrow / I’d forgotten life used to be like that” – that complement the fabulous poems about lost Lyonesse. Penelope Shuttle gives us a collection packed with Cornish myth and magic, overlaid with environmental warning, and a deeper sense of yearning for what has gone.’ – Greg Freeman, Write Out Loud

'... Shuttle turns the lost land of Lyonesse into our collective sub-conscious, a place which holds grief for many kinds of loss, and an emblem of human frailty in the face of climate change... Much of the writing in this fine collection is beautifully turned and deeply moving' - Hilary Menos, The Friday Poem

‘Lyonesse is in two parts, the first dealing with the drowned kingdom of Lyonesse, and the second, ‘New Lamps for Old’, describing a slow recovery from trauma. These exist in necessary continuity, and it emerges that their composition overlapped… The intimate and the vast are held in remarkable balance here. It takes a bold and lithe poet to manage that.’ – James McGonigal, Painted spoken

 

Penelope Shuttle reads 'Missing You'

Penelope Shuttle reads her long elegiac poem 'Missing You' from Unsent. This film is from the DVD-book In Person: 30 Poets, filmed by Pamela Robertson-Pearce, edited by Neil Astley.

 

Ireland & EU: Click here to order from Books Upstairs in Dublin

USA: Click here to order from Indiebound or Bookshop.org

  

BOOKS BY Penelope Shuttle

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Penelope Shuttle

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New & Selected Poems 1980-2012

Publication Date : 25 Oct 2012

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Will you walk a little faster?

Penelope Shuttle

Will you walk a little faster?

Publication Date : 12 May 2017

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Related News & Publicity

Poetry Events


Penelope Shuttle Readings

Penelope Shuttle Readings

Penelope Shuttle's joint online launch of Lyonesse is available on our YouTube channel. A transcript of Penelope's interview for Fire River Poets is available online.

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News & Publicity


Penelope Shuttle interviews & reviews for Lyonesse

Penelope Shuttle interviews & reviews for Lyonesse

Penelope Shuttle's Lyonesse reviewed in The Guardian, Observer; Poetry book of 2021 in Guardian; interview on Radio 3's The Verb. Longlisted for the Laurel Prize 2022....

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Poetry Events


Launch reading by Penelope Shuttle, A.B. Jackson and John Challis

Launch reading by Penelope Shuttle, A.B. Jackson and John Challis

Live-streamed launch reading by Penelope Shuttle, A.B. Jackson and John Challis on 22 June 2021 is now on YouTube.

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