Meanest Flower
Wordsworth's "meanest flower that blows" suggested to him "thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears". The lyrics, elegies, songs and ghazals in Mimi Khalvati's new book pay attention to things the imagination generally disregards, an attention that is concentrated, intense and unapologetically Romantic. Hers is the true voice of feeling, undeflected by irony or self-deprecation. There is rapture in these poems as well as a tragic sense: nature, childhood, motherhood and family relationships all have a double valency, a give and take, to which Khalvati witnesses with a feeling sharpened by love and grief.
About the author
Born in Tehran in 1944, Mimi Khalvati grew up on the Isle of Wight and attended the Drama Centre, London. She then worked as a theatre director in Tehran, translating from English into Farsi and devising new plays, as well as co-founding the Theatre in Exile group. She now lives in Hackney and is a Visiting Lecturer at Goldsmiths College and a director of the London Poetry School. Carcanet publish her six previous collections, including "In White Ink" (1991), "Mirrorwork" (1995) and "The Chine" (2002).