Treading Lightly

The first English selection of Jacques Reda's poems draws on his earliest major collections, widely regarded as among his finest: 'Amen', awarded the Priz Max Jacob, 1968; 'Recitatif', 1970; and 'La Tourne', 1975. These were a formative influence on the 'new lyricism' that was to change the direction of French poetry in the 1980s. With an eye for detail and drama, his poems roam from day-to-day Paris to other times and places, striking a wry, pensive note that is at once personal and universal. They will appeal to readers who share Reda's belief that poetry lives through its rhythm, or 'better still, le swing' (he is a respected jazz critic). The music is admirably captured in Jennie Feldman's translations.