In
The Melancholy of Anatomy
, his ninth collection of poetry, Martin Corless-Smith turns his attention towards ageing and mortality, and in particular to the death of his father. Shifting between formal verse and prose, from the metaphysical to the whimsical, from surreal to anecdotal, the book moves between poetic articulations as a mind might through memories, sifting to find anything to hold on to as everything flows and falls away. At times melancholic at times nihilistic at times luminous and dark, this collection asks questions about poetry, memory and what it is to have loved and lived.
Praise for
The Fool and The Bee:
"Corless-Smith has an extraordinary eye for detail and this meticulously crafted collection is a pleasure to build a relationship with. It is the kind of book that demands attention, to spend pondering, to be read more than once...Wonderful stuff." -Andrew Taylor,
Stride Magazine
"There is something quite extraordinary in Martin Corless-Smith's handling of words, a lyrical hardness or punch that we're not used to and a kind of stagecraft...All glimpses of hope are spectacular fantasies cancelled by intrusions of reality, but there is also a delight in the writing itself, the extremely resourceful and virtuosic countering and elaborating that goes on, the singing and the dancing." -Peter Riley,
The Fortnightly Review