An Oak Hunch by Phil Hall - [WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME BACK THEN] (Brick Books) - Brick Books Poetry Map (sitios de interés)

"Bus depot, 2am, early 80's" -- from [WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME BACK THEN] -An Oak Hutch by Phil Hall.

The title of An Oak Hunch comes from one of the sequences in this five-sequence book of poems: Phil Hall's homage to a poetic mentor, Al Purdy. Its subtitle is "Essay on Purdy," and these highly original, highly personal takes on the poetry and the life of Al Purdy "essay" in the root sense of the word: attempt or probe.

The other four sequences, "The Interview," "Mucked Rushes," "Gang Pluck" and "Index of First Lines" are also probes, each of a different sort, written in a language that stretches the denotative values of words.

Phil Hall is as leftist as he ever was, but his recent books::text like Trouble Sleeping have also been adventures in language. His writing shines with a new economy reminiscent of that of some of the so-called "language poets."

Sometimes the poems of An Oak Hunch carry a narrative, sometimes they are leaping and lyrical, but they are all composed of word-music that connects the ear and the heart.

Cover art: Found photo of old coot. The wall he's propped on is a photo by Simon Dragland.

Phil Hall reads [WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME BACK THEN] from An Oak Hutch on Audioboo

Victoria, BC Tourism

Phil Hall profile (Writers’ Union of Canada)

Phil Hall is learning to play Clawhammer banjo

Buy An Oak Hutch by Phil Hall at Brick Books