The Dresden Cantata by J. Brookes was launched on 5 November 2008 at the Senedd. Candidate for the Plaid Cymru leadership, Leanne Wood, was instrumental in enabling the event to take place. As fireworks went off around the building, inside, the book and author were well received.
“Woke to our hearing fireworks, the day the Lottery was born,
but saw nothing, the sun already having risen”
from ‘Lottery’
J. Brookes was the editor of the popular small poetry magazine, The Yellow Crane, which ran to over 30 issues. He received many submissions to the magazine from far and wide, but this did not deter him from frequently including his own poems under pseudonyms.
It was perhaps fitting that Nick Fisk, the editor of another poetry magazine, Square, which began not long after The Yellow Crane had ceased to be, should be the publisher of this book. He had been a fan of the work of J. Brookes for some time, and was very pleased to be putting out a book of his poems.
Respected by just about every contemporary Welsh poet, and having featured in all of the major Welsh poetry magazines, it was about time Brookes was introduced to a wider public. To quote the book’s blurb, Brookes “delights in celebrating everyday people, places and experiences”, he has “an off-beat sense of humour” and conjures up “unusual, yet believable images.” Robert Minhinnick says of him that he “combines elements both heartbreaking and hilarious.”
The cover features the striking image of a modern day centaur in a suburban setting by the realist artist, Naïve John, who very kindly gave permission for the use of the image after Brookes had selected it as a fitting front for the book. Although in coming years the author himself began to wonder if it was the right choice of image, the surreal, yet believable and faintly comic nature of the work definitely matches the poetry within.
Three and a half years since the book was first launched, it has not aged at all, as Brookes does not dwell on topical issues, but instead, in the main, dwells on more timeless experiences. It still ranks as one of the most significant books of poetry published in Wales in recent times.
Brookes does not read his own work very often – he certainly has no interest in being classified as a performance poet, and would rather spend time writing new poetry than doing endless readings of old material. He will however be reading at the Welsh Icons benefit night at The Globe on March 2nd, where he will read both from The Dresden Cantata, as well as new material.
The Dresden Cantata will be on sale on the night at the discounted rate of £5.00. It will subsequently be on sale from the Welsh Icons website for the same price, with postage included. A pound from each sale will go towards keeping the Welsh Icons site alive.
In the meantime it is available from www.squarepublishing.co.uk – it’s on sale there at £6, but but nice man who runs the site has said “I’ll change it to £5 if you mention Welsh Icons.”
