Shearsman Books

Paperback, 84pp, 9x6ins, £8.95 / $15
ISBN 9781848610118

Duetcetera is about voices taking each other for granted, saying "etc etc" and not listening, nevertheless turning out to duet. It contains double- and multi-columned poems, where each column can be read in its own right (or left), and also read across the columns. Most of the poems (and translations) were written separately from each other, but happen to fit together. The poems play separately in different rhythms and moods yet sound with and against each other. Ira is recording many of them as duet-videos for his YouTube channel. The themes of the collection range from celebration of marriage and fatherhood, to the feeling of being in a Quaker congregation wherever you go. The book ends on an extended sequence written half in the voice of a six-year-old boy, and half as a set of statements about what's influencing the language and ideas of the overall book.

Download a sampler PDF of work from this book here.

". . . both compelled eyes and ears (and mind) and sent me back to 70s' Ashbery and even a dip into Beowulf (Howell Chickering's) because of that uniform divide and bridge of a caesura—thanks, man." —Fred D'Aguiar

"King of the Tyneside experimental language scene . . . a restless spirit, who likes to play with defi nitions of what writing and performance can be . . . we love people who like to experiment, and by extension then, we love Ira Lightman." —Ian McMillan

Read the author's review of his own book at Stride.

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