Poem in Humanagerie

‘The Great Eel of Jazz’, has been included in the fantastic Humanagerie anthology, brilliantly edited by Sarah Doyle and Allen Ashley. The Great Eel actually has a mention in Storgy’s review of the anthology, which is very exciting. Thank you to Emily Harrison who wrote the review. The poem is also mentioned in the London Grip’s review of the anthology. Many thanks to Wendy French. Humanagerie is also given a brilliant review in Rising Shadow. I’m glad they liked it!

It’s a fabulous book, beautifully presented by Eibonvale Press, with a massive variety of brilliant stories and poems and is described as:

‘Inspired by notions of the animalistic, Humanagerie is a vivid exploration of the nebulous intersection between human and beast […] these thirty-two poems and thirteen short stories explore emergence and existence, survival and self-mythology, and the liminal hinterland between humanity and animality.’ 

Once I’d decided to submit something, I did lots of reading and re-reading of books like Hermann Hesse’s SteppenWolf and Borges’ The Book of Imaginary Beings. I even listened to Poulenc’s Le Bestiaire which is a setting of Appolinaire’s poems of mythical beasts Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d’Orphée. To be honest, the cumulated reading and listening felt like a setback. I originally planned to write a story and I was absolutely stuck until I managed to forget about all that reading, which seemed to take ages.

My poem is part of a sequence (still work in progress) that explores a strange and surreal parallel world that exists as we (or I) go about our (my) daily routine. Wishful thinking on my part perhaps … Anyway, this world is populated by many rather irritating and often sinister animals.

The Humanagerie anthology is an absolutely gorgeous book. A feast of the wild and mysterious. I am proud to be part of it. Huge thanks to Sarah Doyle and Allen Ashley. What a brilliant job they have done!

Here are the reviews:

One of the most interesting poems is “The Great Eel of Jazz” by Amanda Oosthuizen

He slithers into my acoustic meatus, / and just as I’m in the groove, he glisses / through my inner ear, squeezing against my timpanic membrane, / pulsing his breath, flicking his tongue at / my cochlea, tantalising my ossicles with his blue / notes and flattened fifths.

However many times I read this poem I am left feeling very uncomfortable! The words and phrases bounce off one another and the four stanzas work up to a crescendo of discomfort and fear. Precise use of language gives this effect. Well done to the poet!

Wendy French London Grip

‘The Great Eel of Jazz’ by Amanda Oosthuizen is quite the poem. The language choice is lyrical and bodily – although the title suggests it should be – the meaning of the piece arresting. At four stanzas long, the poem is neat in its precision – the lines ‘he jangles his bebop and boogaloo / and Cuban charanga’, ‘he slithers into my acoustic meatus / and just as I’m in the groove, he glisses / though my inner ear’. It is animal, that’s for sure.

Emily Harrison Storgy

The Great Eel of Jazz – Amanda Oosthuizen:
– An imaginative and brilliantly original poem about eel.
– I have to mention that I don’t recall ever reading another poem quite like this one.

Seregil of Rhiminee Rising Shadow