THE COLLECTED POEMS OF KATHERINE MANSFIELDGerri Kimber and Claire Davison (eds)Otago University PressBy JESSIE NEILSONThis colourful, affordable anthology of Mansfield's collected poetry has been published locally by Otago University Press in conjunction with Edinburgh University Press and is a beauty. Containing 217 poems, it is the first complete anthology of Mansfield's poetry, proving her to be a prolific poet as well as master of the short story. These early works in particular, with a current continually running through her poetry, turn largely to 19th- century collections of children's verse and the sentimentality of pastoral poetry as inspiration. As Mansfield's delight in the poetic form has not been widely known, this comprehensive anthology rectifies that. As the introduction notes, Mansfield's poetry has a "beguiling simplicity'' that belies how much it contains and how well-read and experimental its author indeed was.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 15, 2017 17:56 UTC