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Niles riddles readers in 'Chapman's Pack'
Posted 12/8/2003
Madison, Wis.— In the latest Parallel Press poetry chapbook, Chapman’s Pack, John Niles weaves different narrative threads to create a rich and lively patchwork of voices.
“I spin a thread so subtle / it can catch all the hues of dawn” Niles writes in one of several mysterious voices he uses in a section titled “Riddles”.
“Chapmen” were peddlers who would hawk any small thing of value from door to door, such as bits of yarn, thimbles, songs, stories, and riddles. Through three sections, Niles deftly evokes the image of the chapman and outlines the character with the fantastic imagery of medieval folklore.
Niles, an English professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, specializes in oral epic and Beowulf. He has written or edited several volumes in this area including: The Poetics and Anthropology of Oral Literature (1999); Old English Literature in Context: Ten Essays (edited, 1980); and A Beowulf Handbook (co-edited, 1997).
The author will give a reading from Chapman’s Pack at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 11, in Special Collections, 976 Memorial Library.
Chapman’s Pack is the 28th chapbook published by Parallel Press
since the series was launched in 1999 and the sixth published in 2003.
The Madison Isthmus recently credited the Parallel Press with helping
to revive the publication of small, collectable editions of poetry.
The majority of Parallel Press poets usually have a regional connection.
The Parallel Press is an imprint of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Libraries. Chapbooks are available at $10 per book or $50 for a yearlong
subscription. For more information, visit:
http://parallelpress.library.wisc.edu/chapbooks/poetry
Orders may be sent to:
The Parallel Press
372 Memorial Library
728 State Street
Madison, WI 53706
Phone: (608) 262-2600
E-mail: parallelpress@library.wisc.edu.
A Selection from “Chapman’s Pack”:
“Firebird”
In poetry:
The bird that had been preening its feathers
outside my window
all night long—
the one with the topaz eyes
and the hundred golden wings,
each wing arching to enfold me
each one with the eye of God
unblinking in the midst—
flew on.
The Madonna among all saints
turned her stone eyes toward the hills.
the moon among all stars
slid toward the blank side of existence
smiling her moony smile.
One lily in a field
trembled, touched by the wind,
and the wind went away
saying nothing.
One hare cocked up an ear
And went on chewing its blade of grass.
In Prose:
Woke up as usual.
Drove the kids to school
And took the dogs for a walk.
