A Different Perspective
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A Different Perspective
Donna Parkinson
ISBN: 9781906439347
Mad Jock Publishers
Reviewed By Wendy Paulson
Official Apex Reviews Rating: 5 stars
The debut poetic collection by standout new author Donna Parkinson, A Different Perspective is a veritable literary treat. In it, she tackles a wide range of divergent topics, including everything from politics to love to domestic violence to drug pushers. One would think that pulling off such a feat would be nearly impossible to do, but Parkinson makes it look easy.
Her conversational writing style, coupled with the insightful – and often sinisterly clever – wit of her delivery, make reading her poetic selections a joy and a pleasure. For a taste of her unflinching honesty, consider this passage from “Tell me where it’s gone”:
“Where is the community that stuck together through thick and thin?
Where is the circle of family and friends that we once lived within?
Those days are long gone and in their place is certain destruction,
We have become a manufactured line of unenthusiastic production.”
And, for an example of her straightforward – not to mention acerbic –insight, check out this passage from “What goes around comes around”,
highlighting the true dangers of drug dealing:
.“You don’t care who you sell to, anyone with the ready cash,
No sex or age barrier, one and all can purchase in a flash…
Your life will take a turn; the day is coming when you will cringe,
As you watch the daughter you love paying with a dirty syringe.”
One can hardly imagine a more effective – or sobering – deterrent to engaging in such risky behavior.
A Different Perspective is best served, though, by the pure wittiness of many of Parkinson’s pieces, perhaps best personified by this passage in “So how do you like your eggs?”:
“Scrambled, poached or fried,
Lovely and runny or hard inside,
On toast or with bacon slices for brecky,
Maybe in a sandwich all double decky,
As an omelette floating in a baked bean sea,
And a few fried onions on the side for me,
I can’t stand eggs they’re not something I’ve idolised,
And I certainly don’t want any more of mine fertilised.”
Also included in A Different Perspective are a number of deeply personal pieces stemming directly from the years of life, love, and experiences from which Parkinson drew the inspiration to compile her overall collection. Most salient among these pieces is a stirring poem co-written with her daughter about a neartragic attack on the youngster that occurred when she was only six years old. The beauty of this piece lies in its ability to resonate on a visceral level in parents who are all too familiar with the earth-bending power of a mother’s love.
Poetic collections are typically reserved solely for die-hard poetry enthusiasts, but A Different Perspective has the unique ability and appeal to
change the mold. Kudos to Parkinson for crafting such an enjoyable literary jewel. Readers of all ages and backgrounds are sure to enjoy this poetic masterpiece.
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Official Apex Reviews Interview: Donna Parkinson (A Different Perspective)
Thanks for joining us for this interview, Donna. We're looking forward to learning more about your book.
Lovely to be here, thanks very much for having me.
Please share with our readers more about the specific event that inspired you to write A Different Perspective.
Wow how long have you got??? LOL ….Well, it all actually started when my best Friend Angela Edgar published her first collection of poetry ‘Inspired’ which Apex reviewed also, so you will be familiar with the book.
Anyway, obviously, I attended her book launch and she was questioned about all of the hard work that goes into writing and publishing a book. And of course she explained the emotional and physical journey that one takes when undertaking such a project.
The next question was what sealed my own fate really... Angela was asked what would make up for all the hard work that had gone into it and she replied that if her book inspired even just one person in the room to take up writing then it would all have been worthwhile...
At which point I looked around the room and remembered thinking “my God none of these lot are going to write a poem, I had better give it a go”...I had only ever written compulsory pieces at school and bearing in mind that I am pushing forty that had been many moons before, but if Angela wanted to inspire someone... I was adamant that I was going to be that someone!!
So on the way home I decided that I was indeed going to write a poem. As it happened I was too tired when I finally got in after midnight but I decided I would give it a go in the morning. So the very next Day I penned ‘free our earth’ albeit in my 15 minute break at work.
I decided it must be rubbish since, in my opinion, surely nothing good could possibly be written in 15 minutes. However, I decided to try it out on the folks at work during lunchtime... And surprisingly they told me it was really good. I was convinced they were just being kind to the boss and trying to gain some brownie points!!!!
But I sent it off to Angela anyway, as that after all was the reason I had written it in the first place and lo and behold she liked it too.
I was encouraged by Angela, friends at work and family to write a few more and people started challenging me to write about particular subjects.
It became like a bit of lunchtime game, they would give me a title or an idea and I would write a poem to suit it. Before I knew it I was writing 3-4 poems a day, every day, and even more surprisingly I was enjoying it.
Soon I found that I felt ‘weird’ if I didn’t write a poem and it became a bit of a compulsion. Angela started her 'brainchild' The April challenge on TPL and MySpace which entailed a daily collaboration with everyone who wanted to join in on the particular social network and that enabled me to interact with other poets as well as writing each day.
I wish I could say that some profound and amazing life changing experience inspired me to write or that from the age of 4 years old I knew I was destined to be a writer as that in itself just resonates poetically, but my taking up poetry, stemmed purely from wanting to please a very special person that had always been there for me. And I haven’t looked back since.
Also please share with our readers precisely how many poems you actually crafted in the process of preparing the book.
Well in the beginning, as I said, I was ‘writing to order’ and before I knew it I had 370 give or take a few. But I guess I did all back to front, I just wrote all of these poems stuck them in a folder and then sat back and thought what shall I do with all of these now? Of course Angela and my friends and family all encouraged me to turn them into a book so I chose the pieces I wanted in the book and ‘A different perspective’ was born thanks to Madjock.
How long did it take you to actually write all those pieces?
Well roughly 6 months to pen the initial 370
The poems in the book cover much ground, including everything from politics to domestic violence to the lingering effects of crime. How were you able to speak on such a vast range of topics so effectively?
Life’s experiences mainly, I lived on a rough council estate in North West London and many of the poems I write are observations made whilst growing up in an environment that was often charged with crime, drugs, domestic violence and antisocial behaviour. But I was also raised in a large family and was no stranger to love, humour and sharing and so some of the wittier poems stem from those aspects of my upbringing. You need a sense of humour when you have grown up on an estate as the oldest of 7 kids!!
I have always been very outspoken and opinionated and this coupled with a very vivid imagination has helped in authenticating some of my work. For instance if I am writing about a subject I have not actually experienced, witnessed or been told about then I just try to put myself in that specific circumstance and I attempt to imagine the feelings that the situation would evoke and endeavour to bring those into the piece.
I enjoy writing about all subjects really but the work I do that focuses on shall we say ‘social issues’ is what is really close to my heart. As a mother in today’s society it scares me to death at how cheap life has become and in the UK in particular at the moment the youths are dropping like flies to gun and knife related crimes. I feel that if I can reach even a few kids and educate them that there is more to life than this then it’s a start towards peace on the streets.
Our reviewer cited a poem that you co-wrote with your daughter, "I Wake Up," detailing a terrifying incident from her youth. Was it difficult for either one of you to compose that piece?
Now that is a very interesting question, as the poem, believe it or not, was actually a fictional one thank God. My daughter has always been very interested in poetry and infact was published even before I was, in a young writer’s anthology at the age of 10.
In all honesty she decided we were going to do this collaboration. She decided it was going to be about an attempted abduction. She wrote the first verse and then passed me the laptop and told me to carry it on... I purely did as I was told!!!
Chelsea had been very moved by the Madeline McCann case and it had been a topic of much discussion in our household, I believe Chelsea’s motivation for the poem was inspired by that particular event. Both Chelsea and I tried to delve into how both characters in our poem would feel and act in such a situation. Evidently we must have captured that quite well as it is interesting that your reviewer believed it to be a real incident.
Our reviewer also made special note of the wittiness of your writing style. Is that an inherent trait of yours, or is it a trait that you've gleaned from your various writing influences along the way?
It was just how it came out; I don’t believe I have a writing style as such. Poetry is a very new thing to me, so I haven’t studied styles and I don’t deliberately set out to write things in any particular way... I just start writing and see where it takes me. Quite often people tell me that they find me funny so I guess it is a bit of a trait. I have always been a what you see is what you get kind of girl and I have always told it like it is, so I guess that attitude has emerged in my writing too.
Please share more with our readers about your publisher, Mad Jock Publishers.
Madjock are a family run business and are independent publishers who actually care about the poetry they publish and their Authors. Their sole intention is to get the writer on the first rung of the ladder to poetic success. They have helped me no end and pointed me in all the right directions. I would wholeheartedly recommend them as a top notch publisher and a constant source of encouragement and strength. Rols and Esther have been an absolute godsend throughout this whole journey.
What are your future writing/publishing plans?
Well my 2nd book of poetry is actually with Madjock already and should be out by the end of November actually. I am at the moment in the process of putting together my 3rd poetry book and I am also about a third of the way through my first novel too.
What's your opinion of how poetry tends to be regarded by the literary world at large?
I’m not familiar enough with the literary world per say but I would guess that poetry is a bit of a niche market. Having said that I hope to cross the barriers and make it more widely read.
Do you have a website or other place where people can learn more about you?
http://www.authorsden.com/donnamparkinson
http://www.myspace.com/parkyspoems
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=601863451&ref=profile
Also, how can our readers contact you directly?
dpersona@live.co.uk
Any final thoughts you'd like to share?
Just that I hope everyone enjoys reading the book as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.
Thanks again, Donna, and best of continued success to you in all your endeavors!
Thanks very much indeed and watch out for book 2 coming soon...
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