Trinity collects the electronic versions of October Twilight, New England Country Farmhouse and In The Grip of Sirens. Originally published in paper format, these titles are the first three installments in Poetical Perspectives-a series of short volumes of verse from Nocturnal Iris. Also collected is a controversial essay defending the seventeen-syllable haiku, as well as miscellaneous images. With October Twilight (2004), Watkins harnesses the classic Japanese poetry styles of tanka and haiku/senryu in a bid to illustrate the frequent underlying links between contemporary culture and the primitive, archaic-often prehistoric-arrangements of belief, manner, and ritual that were its ancestors. The verse forms and modus operandi in place, Watkins utilises modern customs, pop culture, and Western frivolity as a springboard for diving (albeit subtly) into a dark, murky pool of ancient Celtic (particularly Welsh) myth and folklore, early ceremonial sacrifice, historical malevolence, and humankind's basic 'animal' instincts and primordial fears. The result is a collection that is thoroughly eerie, often esoteric, and sometimes darkly humourous-occasionally, all three at once. Snug in our bedrolls, we contemplate ancestors; outside our pup tent: the spectral blink of blue light hovering above a bog In New England Country Farmhouse (2005), Watkins pays tribute to Laird Koenig's 1970s suspense masterpiece The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. Utilising (mostly) traditional 17-syllable haiku, Watkins draws on the plot of Koenig's novel and screenplay in varying degrees over three sections. The result is a subtly haunting collection in the spirit and mood of the original tale-a cult favourite which continues to echo the dark underbelly of the much-missed 1970s, and which was recently examined at length by Watkins in his e-book View From The Cellar (2012). dying to be heard: Chopin on the turntable in a vacant house This volume also features a brief introduction by alternative rock musician and visual artist G.B. Jones. In The Grip of Sirens (2006) features Watkins collaborating with long-time friend and fellow poet Robin Tilley on a short series of renga-the style of Japanese poetry written complementarily or dialectically by two or more authors. Conceptually and stylistically, the two authors draw on a mixed bag of their most deep-rooted influences-incorporating ancient European myth, Felliniesque imagery, British 'glam' rock of the 1970s, avant-minimalism, and cut-up surrealism. The end result of these often disparate influences within a co-authored context is a sequence of (mostly) lighthearted poems that seem to weave in and out of eras and states of consciousness in a bid to defy the traditional boundaries of time-space. Its 'recreational' construction spanning nearly seven years, this volume also contains three experimental tanka and four envelope-pushing haiku courtesy of Watkins; e.g.: stoned on acid, the boy welcomes a naked spectre's advances in his sister's bedroom October Twilight, New England Country Farmhouse and In The Grip of Sirens are still available as individual electronic titles from Amazon.com.
About the Author: R W Watkins is a poet, essayist, indie publisher and social critic. He is the author of two volumes of haiku and related poetry, October Twilight and New England Country Farmhouse, and the co-author (with Robin Tilley) of a third, In The Grip of Sirens. He has also edited and published issues of Contemporary Ghazals (the world's first English-language journal dedicated exclusively to the titular form) and the one-off Contemporary Sijo. His poetry has appeared in several journals throughout Canada and the US, and he was the only Canadian included in Agha Shahid Ali's Ravishing DisUnities, the world's first anthology of English-language ghazals. He has also published numerous literary essays and reviews in various print journals throughout Canada and the US. Others, of a more sensational nature, have appeared on various websites. Over the years, Watkins has been a member of such literary organisations as Haiku Canada, The League of Canadian Poets, and the Writers' Alliance of Newfoundland & Labrador (WANL). In more recent years he has turned his attention to the internet and comics criticism, editing poetry at Red Fez and launching The Comics Decoder website. His latest major works are View From The Cellar: A Critical Analysis of Laird Koenig's The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane; Contemporary Ghazals: An Anthology of the best poems from his sporadically published magazine; and Trinity, which collects his three aforementioned chapbooks. Watkins holds a bachelor's degree in Religious Studies and English Literature, but invests very little faith in contemporary formal education. Outspoken on many issues, he resides in Newfoundland, Canada.