Swift

Feldman Jennie

In Jennie Feldman's second collection, the earth-shy bird of the title flies high above the territorial rivalries of its region. From the Middle East, "Swift" ranges across Europe to Scotland, always on the lookout for what coheres in the world and its telling encounters – with a Greek beekeeper, a cello maestro, lone figures on society's margins, the Latin poet Lucretius in an East Jerusalem cafe. Buoyed by music as well as water, notably the Aegean Sea and the rare rains of the eastern Mediterranean, these poems combine delicacy and vigour in their pursuit of an elusive equilibrium.

About the Author

Jennie Feldman was born in South Africa, grew up in London and studied French at Oxford. A former award-winning radio producer and presenter, she is married with two children and lives in Jerusalem and Oxford. Her first collection of poems, "The Lost Notebook", was published in 2005, as was her selection and translation from Jacques Reda's poems, "Treading Lightly". Her anthology of seven modern French poets, "Into the Deep Street", edited and translated with Stephen Romer, appeared in 2009. Her second collection "Swift" appeared in 2012.

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