Pathways is the new poetry pamphlet by acclaimed poet John Mole.
In these ‘notebook’ poems, John Mole reflects on poetic craft and imagination. In a series of playful sketches, wry prompts, and ironic reminders to himself, we get a unique insight into his own poetic practice and how he achieves his characteristic lightness of touch. As an accomplished jazz clarinetist he finds parallels in the world of music, as well as in dance and painting. For Mole, improvisation, surprise and accident are all essential in the act of composition, as is the need to trust a poem to find its own way. This is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how a seemingly effortless poem comes to life through the fusion of technical discipline and imaginative freedom.
John Mole is the author of numerous collections of poetry, most recently Gold to Gold and Keeping in Step (Shoestring Press, 2020 and 2023).
‘John Mole’s needle-sharp feeling for language feeds both his humour and his seriousness. Often he seems to push us gently into understanding that the most serious things may also be the lightest and slightest’.
— Helen Dunmore
ISBN 9781915968159
28 pp
Paperback
