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The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams
The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams by Colleen Anderson, is a speculative poetry journey into the depths of the human experience, exploring themes of female empowerment, forging one’s own path, and the power of fairytales and magic within us. A masterful blend of imagination, symbolism, and emotion with an introduction by award-winning author Linda D. Addison.
The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams is a must-read for anyone seeking to explore the hidden depths of the human experience. Anderson’s poetry is a testament to the power of imagination, and a reminder that the journey to self-discovery is one that can only be taken with courage, faith, and an unwavering spirit.
The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams is a must-read for anyone seeking to explore the hidden depths of the human experience. Anderson’s poetry is a testament to the power of imagination, and a reminder that the journey to self-discovery is one that can only be taken with courage, faith, and an unwavering spirit.
110 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2023
8 people want to read
About the author
Colleen Anderson
75 books28 followersColleen Anderson writes fiction, dark fiction, erotica, poetry, SF, fantasy, and anything of interest. She has a BFA in Creative Writing and freelances as a copyeditor and proofreader. Her works have been nominated for multiple awards: Elgin, Rhysling, Dwarf Stars, Pushcart, Aurora. As well, her works have been shortlisted for the Gaylactic Spectrum Award, the Friends of Merril short fiction contest, the SFPA poetry contest, and placed in the Rannu competition, Balticon poetry contest and Crucible. Colleen also won the Jerry Jazz Musician short story contest and has received several honorable mentions in the Year's Best SF, Year's Best Horror and Fantasy, and the Writers of the Future.
She is a member of the HWA and SFPA and is the current president of the SFPA helping to promote speculative poetry for all readers and writers. She co-edited Tesseracts 17 with East Coast, dark fiction writer Steve Vernon, Playground of Lost Toys with Ontario, award-winning author Ursula Pflug, and edited Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland.
A recipient of the Ladies of Horror Fiction, Canada Council and BC Arts Council grants in writing, she has published over 300 pieces of fiction and poetry. You can find some of her works online at Polu Texni, Polar Borealis, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Radon Journal and many others, as well as her short fiction collections Embers Amongst the Fallen, and A Body of Work (Black Shuck) through Amazon. She is the author of two poetry collections as well; I Dreamed a World (LVP), 2022, and The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams (Yuriko Publishing), 2023, also available through Amazon
Colleen has served on several juries for the Bram Stoker awards and the British Fantasy Awards as well as on the HWA Scholarship Committee. www.colleenanderson.wordpress.com
She is a member of the HWA and SFPA and is the current president of the SFPA helping to promote speculative poetry for all readers and writers. She co-edited Tesseracts 17 with East Coast, dark fiction writer Steve Vernon, Playground of Lost Toys with Ontario, award-winning author Ursula Pflug, and edited Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland.
A recipient of the Ladies of Horror Fiction, Canada Council and BC Arts Council grants in writing, she has published over 300 pieces of fiction and poetry. You can find some of her works online at Polu Texni, Polar Borealis, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Radon Journal and many others, as well as her short fiction collections Embers Amongst the Fallen, and A Body of Work (Black Shuck) through Amazon. She is the author of two poetry collections as well; I Dreamed a World (LVP), 2022, and The Lore of Inscrutable Dreams (Yuriko Publishing), 2023, also available through Amazon
Colleen has served on several juries for the Bram Stoker awards and the British Fantasy Awards as well as on the HWA Scholarship Committee. www.colleenanderson.wordpress.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 15, 2023
I normally don't read poetry collections, but this one is special. Colleen Anderson has a way with words, to put it mildly. She gets the idea across with twists and turns of language that are delightful to read. She also creates deep works that speak to human life and soul. I enjoyed this collection immensely. Some favorites: Mummy Curse, which is for eternity. Rapunzel and Medusa, a clever relationship formed of longing. Snow What's Apples, starting with the idea of bulimia. And perhaps my fav because I have a thing for them, Gargoyles, those stoney protectors of the sacred. If you love clever and original poetry, this is a must have.
June 19, 2023
I was given an ARC of this book to blurb and decided to review it properly.
Speculative poets from a western cultural background do tend to tread over the same ground. Greco-Roman and Celtic myth is common, French and Germanic fairy tales. More modern entries may detour to Whitechapel and incorporate icons of pop culture. It’s not that Colleen Anderson diverges far from this material (although her outliers are welcome), but the questions she asks. Why would a toad carry a stone in the centre of its forehead, as they were mythically supposed to do? What exactly happens to the ka spirits whose mummies are destroyed or removed to museums? Or when a scarecrow realises that “straw men” have a legitimate way into politics? This collection presents a treasure trove of rare artifacts and arcane lore, but it’s Anderson’s wonderfully humane insight that brings these myths alive.
The poetry here is freeform in the best sense, each work finding and holding its own rhythm. She has a very recognizable style. Anderson goes full imagist in the section titled Future Dreams. This suite of poems based on the Major Arcana of the tarot is a major work in every sense, appearing here for the first time in complete form and in the proper order. All these pieces are excellent and “Last Evening” (The Tower) is one of the best pieces of concrete poetry I have ever encountered. And “Falling Angel” (Death) strikes very close to home for my generation. There is some superb and visionary writing here, and throughout the book as a whole.
Anderson publishes widely and many of these pieces have already seen the light of day. The new work includes such gems as “Tridents” and “Rubik’s Cube” – both biographies of unusual magical objects. With her healthy emphasis on alternate points of view – I especially enjoyed the switched perspective of “Hugin and Munin and Odin’s Eye” - Anderson makes an excellent entry point to contemporary speculative poetry as well as tickling jaded palates such as mine. A stand-out in the field, this book is well worth the time and reading scarcely counts as an effort!
Speculative poets from a western cultural background do tend to tread over the same ground. Greco-Roman and Celtic myth is common, French and Germanic fairy tales. More modern entries may detour to Whitechapel and incorporate icons of pop culture. It’s not that Colleen Anderson diverges far from this material (although her outliers are welcome), but the questions she asks. Why would a toad carry a stone in the centre of its forehead, as they were mythically supposed to do? What exactly happens to the ka spirits whose mummies are destroyed or removed to museums? Or when a scarecrow realises that “straw men” have a legitimate way into politics? This collection presents a treasure trove of rare artifacts and arcane lore, but it’s Anderson’s wonderfully humane insight that brings these myths alive.
The poetry here is freeform in the best sense, each work finding and holding its own rhythm. She has a very recognizable style. Anderson goes full imagist in the section titled Future Dreams. This suite of poems based on the Major Arcana of the tarot is a major work in every sense, appearing here for the first time in complete form and in the proper order. All these pieces are excellent and “Last Evening” (The Tower) is one of the best pieces of concrete poetry I have ever encountered. And “Falling Angel” (Death) strikes very close to home for my generation. There is some superb and visionary writing here, and throughout the book as a whole.
Anderson publishes widely and many of these pieces have already seen the light of day. The new work includes such gems as “Tridents” and “Rubik’s Cube” – both biographies of unusual magical objects. With her healthy emphasis on alternate points of view – I especially enjoyed the switched perspective of “Hugin and Munin and Odin’s Eye” - Anderson makes an excellent entry point to contemporary speculative poetry as well as tickling jaded palates such as mine. A stand-out in the field, this book is well worth the time and reading scarcely counts as an effort!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews