Description:
A Poetry Book Society Summer Recommendation 2023 exploring the hidden language of nature and the power of communication.
Lisa Kelly's second collection, House of the Interpreter, responds to the repression of British Sign Language (BSL) as its occasion and inspiration. Kelly develops the subject through extended sequences which attend to mushrooms and fungi, lifeforms that develop in secret, unnoticed, unappreciated, yet whose existence enriches everyday life. What can such hidden others teach us - if we attune all our senses?
This collection is for poetry readers, those interested in disability studies, linguistics, nature writing, and social justice. House of the Interpreter challenges social and political repression, finding beauty and meaning in the everyday. Experience empathy, intrigue, and wonder as you explore the power of language, identity, and nature.
Review Quotes: 'First thing I love about Lisa Kelly's work is her incredible imagination - she tells the truth (about oralism, discrimination, injustice) but tells it in a way that's so lyrical it's instantly memorable. Which is to say: Kelly invents her own style. The second thing I love about The House of the Interpreter is that this manifesto for D/deaf culture, shimmering with music and lyric abandon, is unafraid of discovery...' Ilya Kaminsky