Nota is a tour de force of lyric personality. Corless-Smith here makes a compendium: layers of reference, layers of history, layers of minutes over minutes, text over text over text. The character of Sir Thomas Swan, a constant and conscientious observer, stands in for the Self in crisis, with moments of epiphany, clarity, pleasure, disgust, self-disgust, and inquiry; a Self whose scope is hugely inclusive and which admits to a history beyond the moment of simple consumption. The setting is an England in its Golden Age, a nostalgic construction to be paraded through. Nota is part travelogue and part philosophical examination, and was arrived at when the author sat down one afternoon to type up a year’s worth of notes.

From the Book:

The Bee

From beds and borders bordering external waste
Our delving truth nods into everyness
Plain truth inticing as a spic'd perfume
To paint the desert a lush wilderness

Martin Corless-Smith was born and raised in Worcestershire, England. He has studied both painting and poetry, at the University of Reading, England, Southern Methodist University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Utah. His books include OF PISCATOR (University of Georgia Press) and COMPLETE TRAVELS (West House Books, England). He lives and teaches in Boise, Idaho, and spends summers in England, with his wife, the poet Catherine Wagner, and their son, Ambrose.

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