Dance of Blue Dragonflies – Ron Riddell, 2016

 

Dance of Blue Dragonfies is Ron Riddell’s first full collection of verse to be published solely in English since Love Songs for the Dead appeared in 1998. It comprises a wide range of modes and tones: from the humorous, wry and conversational to more open lyrical (and in some cases elegiac) pieces. As ever also, there are his hallmark touches of the surreal and the absurd, underpinned at the same time by a deep sense of reverence for life and compassion for his fellow man. Through all the work there is that equally typical note of the epiphany; the note of surprised delight that has characterised his work for many decades.

“Like Robert Graves before him, Ron Riddell, unperturbed by poetic fashions or fads has for a number of years created verse that is both accessible and clear. By following the dictates of his own distinctive muse, he has created poems that will still be read long after some of his more radical contemporaries will have ceased to be of interest to anyone.”      – Bob Orr

“Riddell wants poems to build bridges and heal. He sustains a rhapsodic commitment to poetry that brings our lives to light.”      – N. Z. Dominion Post

 

This is a limited edition of three hundred copies ( 76 pages ), which has been printed on one hundred percent “Earth Pact” sugar cane paper, a recyclable and sustainable Colombian natural resource.

There will also be a special vellum-bound hard back edition available; twenty copies, signed and numbered at $100 per copy.

 

 Ron Riddell is an internationally-renown New Zealand poet. His poetry is particularly well-loved in the Hispanic world, where his last seven collections have been published in bi-lingual editions.

A painter, percussionist and the author of several plays and novels, he has published twenty-one collections of verse. His most recent novel is The Guardian of the Shield (2013). His work has been translated into seven languages. He divides his time between New Zealand and Colombia.

www.ronriddell.com

Please order by making a donation to Poetry/Spoken Word Art NZ, Charitable Trust.
RRP:25NZ$
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+ postage 4NZ$ within NZ / 10NZ$ international

 

 

 

The Dance of Blue Dragon Flies, the most recent collection of verse by New Zealand poet Ron Riddell :

Riddell, a writer with a long-standing Colombian connection, has just been published by Printable Reality. Among other things, this book is notable for the perennial communion the author has with nature, a quality that is found in almost all his work and which highlights here the beauty of the Colombian landscape.

This fine collection not only describes the multicoloured hues of nature in various parts of Colombia but also of various parts of his native New Zealand. It is a book in English that invites us to read in another language and by doing so become more bilingual. Riddell has been associated with Colombia for over a decade. Throughout this period he has demonstrated the ability to make the best of his visits by celebrating the country and its natural environment in his writing. Each day he is more astonished by what he sees and his poems bear testament to this.

We should welcome this book and its contribution to the Colombian poetry scene.

– Fernando Hernández Vélez

Colombian writer and translator