Katabasis English Poetry and Prose: Common Words Anthologies

Common Word Number 1
Dinah Livingstone (editor)
Work
Poetry and Prose. 1999. 320 pages.
ISBN 0 904872 31 9. £12.95.
Anthology of poems, essays, reports and accounts of all sorts of jobs. Both paid and unpaid work are included. We meet cleaners, midwives, assemblers, temps, teachers, tarmac makers and many more. Despite the attacks on our common humanity reducing us to 'resources' or 'markets' people insist on wanting to be human beings.

'A valuable resource which no library should be without, and a reassuring left-wing candle shining in a wishy-washy sell-out Blairite world... a timely and thought-provoking book.' --PQR

'Henry Mayhew himself would have been impressed by some of the jobs Dinah Livingstone and her group have highlighted. There are the tarmac maker, the piano tuner, the assistant birdman of Regent's Park... an interesting variety of voices and diction in the anthology overall.' -- The Tablet

'Valuable insights into the universe of work today.' -- New Welsh Review

'Francis McDonagh's essay on the shoe industry reveals a chilling tale of exploitation and intimidation.' -- Briefing

'Wonderful anthology on Work which I have really enjoyed reading, especially [the editor's] introduction and marvellous essay.' -- Tony Benn MP

Common Word Number 2
Kathleen McPhilemy (editor)
Home
Poetry and Prose. 2000. 320 pages.
ISBN 0 904872 33 5. £12.95.

Bricks and mortar or a state of mind: what do we mean by home at the turn of the millennium? How can we feel comfortably at home when we live among so many who are homeless?

Home, the second anthology in the Common Words series, contains twenty personal accounts ranging from a refugee in Dover to an Exmoor farmer. Essays cover issues such as planetary citizenship, nationalism, architecture, communal living, mortgage repossession. A wide variety of poems further explore the meaning and experience of home, a word that excites deeply felt though often ambivalent emotions in us all.

'What is different about this anthology is that -- like its predecessor in the Common Words enterprise, Work -- it is genuinely inclusive and democratic in giving a voice to those who lack real power and representation and whose views are seldom sought...The essays are wide-ranging and provocative.' -- The Lecturer

'A wealth of remarkable voices, reminding us just how culturally diverse and, therefore, how rich we are. It was a real privilege to be given this book to review.'
-- New Hope International