My review of Jonathan Davidson’s A Commonplace appears on Wild Court
‘A sense of place abounds in Jonathan Davidson’s A Commonplace (Smith-Doorstep, 2020), and while that might seem natural from the title, the ‘place’ here derives from a translation of the Latin term ‘locus communis’ or ‘a general or common topic’. Commonplace books were collections of sayings, proverbs or quotations on a particular theme, popular during the nineteenth century, and representing private issues of concern wrapped up in the hope of finding a readership. A perfect vehicle for poetry, then. In keeping with the genre, A Commonplace comprises notes, footnotes, original poems by Davidson, and poems by – among others – Zaffar Kunial, Ann Atkinson, Kit Wright; it even has a gazetteer.’
Read more here.
Absence Club 